Iteration Demo and Review Meetings

Agile teams embrace the notion of "Inspect and Adapt" as a means to continually build learning and improvement in how they work. Running an effective Iteration Demo and Review Meeting goes a long way in engaging this principle.

At the end of an iteration, the entire team comes together to reflect on the iteration. Attendees include:

• the ScrumMaster, who facilitates the meeting,
• the Product Owner,
• the developers,
• the testers,
• any other contributors, and
• any interested stakeholders.

The goal of the meeting is to create visibility around what occurred in the course of the iteration and to amplify learning about what could then be planned for the next iteration. That means that the Delivery team (those people who completed tasks in the iteration) presents the done items by demo'ing them. Done items are all items that have been accepted by the Product Owner. The demo invites clarification, reflection and celebration with regard to the team's commitment.

The meeting also invites inspection of the metrics that show what occurred in accepting (or not accepting) items. The attendees evaluate:

• how many items were not completed;
• what risks arose;
• what items were more complex than originally planned;
• what tests were run, passed, or failed;
• how many defects were logged; and
• any other measurements the team has chosen to track in an effort to continually improve how it prioritizes, estimates, and commits to value delivery in every iteration.

The Product Owner and Stakeholders take advantage of the Iteration Demo and Review meeting to evaluate the Product Backlog and Release Backlog priorities. Has one item been too costly to complete given its estimated value and as such should like items be re-evaluated? Is another item now not worth working on at all? Should priorities shift higher for some items in the Release Backlog based on what has just been demonstrated and reviewed? Should we re-allocate team resources based on the done items and metrics? Are there new items we need to add to the backlog? Or, should the team stop work entirely on the product based on what we have just learned?

At the end of a good Iteration Demo and Review meeting, all attendees have a clear understanding of the look-and-feel of the just completed Iteration as well as a good sense of the value that was delivered. Armed with this information, the Product Owner continues work on value definition in the form of backlog priorities and details. And, the team continues its work by taking the learning and applying it to the next Iteration Planning meeting. The ScrumMaster collects Action Items and ensures each has an owner. The ScrumMaster then takes on the ownership of ensuring each Action Item is completed.