What is a sprint? Length, sequence and purpose

A sprint is a fixed, agreed period — usually one to four weeks — in which a team completes an amount of work decided at the start. The scope stays stable for the duration; that is the actual point. The promise is not speed, it is that the plan holds.

The sequence

It opens with planning: the team pulls work out of the backlog and agrees what fits, usually based on story points and the velocity of previous sprints. It closes with a review of the result and a retrospective on how the team worked.

How long a sprint should be

Short enough that requirements do not change inside it; long enough that something finished comes out. Two weeks is the common compromise. More important than the number is that the length stays the same — otherwise there is no basis for comparison and velocity becomes meaningless.

When a sprint is not worth it

When your intake is unpredictable. A support or operations team that re-prioritises daily spends sprint planning writing a plan that no longer holds by Wednesday. Those teams do better with Kanban: steer the flow instead of filling timeboxes.

In Zuuna

Sprints are a layer above the board: you plan them out of the backlog, see the team's capacity including absences, and read the burndown at the end. The board underneath stays the same Kanban board.