A sprint review is a meeting held at the end of a sprint in which the team demonstrates completed work to stakeholders and gathers feedback. The focus is the product — what was built, what was delivered, what was deferred — rather than the team's process.
Sprint review is distinct from sprint retrospective. The review looks outward at the product and stakeholders. The retrospective looks inward at how the team worked together. Conflating the two is one of the most common failures of poorly run agile practices.
In distributed teams, sprint reviews often work better when the demonstration is recorded and shared async, with a synchronous window reserved for live questions and discussion.
Why Sprint review Matters for Distributed Teams
Sprint reviews are where the team's work becomes legible to people outside engineering. When run well, they build trust and surface scope corrections early. When run poorly, they become status theater.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a sprint review?
A sprint review is a meeting at the end of a sprint where the team demonstrates completed work to stakeholders and gathers feedback. It focuses on the product and what was delivered, distinct from a retrospective which focuses on team process.
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See sprint review in action.
StandIn is built around these concepts. Engineers publish declared state before going offline. The next shift starts with full context.