The Complete Guide to Scrum Ceremonies

Two cornerstones of the Scrum framework for project delivery are adaptability and accountability. Scrum ceremonies, sometimes referred to as Scrum rituals, enable Scrum teams to remain nimble as they move through the project life cycle. Scrum ceremonies are also where team members hold themselves accountable for their contributions to the project.

In this complete guide to Scrum ceremonies, we’re taking an in-depth look at the five unique events that comprise the Scrum project management framework. We’ll also explore the different Scrum meeting types and offer tips for getting your team more invested in these rituals.

Key takeaways

• Scrum ceremonies provide structure and focus by giving teams a predictable rhythm for planning, daily alignment, stakeholder feedback, and continuous improvement.
• The five official Scrum events are sprint, sprint planning, daily Scrum, sprint review, and sprint retrospective, with backlog refinement commonly added as an unofficial sixth meeting.
• Time-boxing and clear participants keep ceremonies effective, ensuring each meeting has a defined purpose, duration, and outcome.
• Scrum adapts across contexts, from software to marketing to remote teams, as long as ceremonies stay centered on the sprint goal and the principles of Agile.

What are Scrum ceremonies?

Before we dive into the specifics, it helps to know where ceremonies fit into Scrum. A lightweight framework built on Agile principles, Scrum is designed to help teams work in short, iterative cycles called sprints. To keep those sprints focused and effective, Scrum relies on a set of structured meetings known as ceremonies (or rituals). Each Scrum ceremony has a distinct purpose — from planning the sprint to checking daily progress, reviewing results, and improving how the team works together.

What are the five ceremonies of Scrum?

Five events make up a Scrum sprint, four of which are meetings, also known as ceremonies or rituals. Each of these events serves the sprint goal, which defines the outcome the team is working toward during the sprint. The sprint goal is now considered the guiding thread across all Scrum ceremonies. 

In addition, many Scrum teams hold a recurring backlog refinement session (sometimes called backlog grooming) to keep their product backlog clear and actionable, even though it isn’t considered one of the official Scrum events. The four official Scrum ceremonies (and the sole unofficial one) are:

• Sprint planning
• Daily Scrum
• Sprint review
• Sprint retrospective
• Backlog refinement

The sprint itself is also considered a critical Scrum event — it’s where the rubber meets the road and the actual project work gets done. Let’s take a closer look at each of the four Scrum ceremonies and how they fit into the overall Scrum framework. 

1. Sprint planning

• Duration: Up to 8 hours for a one-month sprint; usually 2–4 hours for a two-week sprint
• Participants: Entire Scrum team (product owner, Scrum master, developers)

As its name implies, the sprint planning ceremony takes place before the sprint commences. This meeting is used to map out the scope, goals, and any issues or concerns for the upcoming sprint. During the sprint planning ceremony, the team determines which items in the project backlog they will work on during the sprint.

Key elements of the sprint planning ritual include: 

• Defining the scope of the sprint
• Establishing which tasks will be tackled and who on the team will be responsible for them 
• Setting concrete goals for the sprint, including deadlines for completion and metrics to determine success
• Addressing potential roadblocks, issues, or scheduling conflicts that might interfere with the sprint
• Ensuring that the plans get logged and scheduled in your project management software or tracking system to monitor progress and maintain accountability

When it comes to sprint planning, you’ll want to be mindful of any holidays, special events, or individual days off that may affect the delivery or completion of certain tasks. Sprints typically last two weeks, which allows you just 10 workdays to accomplish the goals you’ve set for the sprint. Additionally, risk management should always play a role in the sprint planning ceremony. Scrum teams are not immune to unforeseen delays and hangups, so make sure to factor in these possibilities when planning.

2. Daily Scrum

• Duration: 15 minutes (strict time box)
• Participants: Core Scrum team members working on sprint tasks (e.g., developers, marketers, designers, or analysts). Though the Scrum master or product owner may listen in, they don’t participate unless they are actively working on sprint items.

The daily Scrum, also called the daily stand-up, is a short, time-boxed daily meeting in which each team member delivers a brief status update. These meetings are intentionally short and sweet, ideally taking only 15 minutes and no more than 30 at the most. The daily Scrum helps ensure that everyone is progressing with their tasks as scheduled and that issues or roadblocks are being addressed.

The daily Scrum is focused on inspecting progress toward the sprint goal and adapting the plan as needed. The Scrum guide no longer prescribes specific questions, but many teams still find prompts like these helpful:

• What has been accomplished so far?
• What’s currently being worked on?
• What’s up next?
• Are there any obstacles or impediments preventing progress?

The daily Scrum must not turn into an in-the-weeds discussion. Otherwise, you risk spending too much of the workday talking rather than being productive. It’s the Scrum master’s job to keep this ceremony on track. If a team member has an issue that needs further attention, schedule some time outside of the daily Scrum to address it. 

3. Sprint review

• Duration: Up to 4 hours for a one-month sprint; typically 1–2 hours for a two-week sprint
• Participants: Scrum team + stakeholders (e.g., managers, clients, business partners)

The sprint review is the first of two post-sprint ceremonies. Because Scrum was originally designed as a software development framework, each sprint was meant to produce a shippable increment of work, such as a new feature. During the sprint review, that new feature is demonstrated and feedback is solicited from managers and stakeholders. 

Scrum has since been adopted by project teams across multiple industries and disciplines outside of IT. However, the concept of the sprint remains the same: To produce a specific and defined outcome. The sprint review is when that outcome is demoed or presented to stakeholders for comments and feedback.

4. Sprint retrospective

• Duration: Up to 3 hours for a one-month sprint; usually 1–1.5 hours for a two-week sprint
• Participants: Scrum team only (product owner, Scrum master, developers)

The sprint retrospective is the second ceremony to take place after a sprint has been completed. It’s also the final ceremony of the Scrum process. During the retrospective ritual, the Scrum team reviews its processes to determine what can be improved in subsequent sprints. Remember, the Agile philosophy calls for consistent assessment and improvement. To that end, the sprint retrospective ritual is one of the most critical of the entire Scrum framework. Many teams also reflect on how well they worked toward the sprint goal during the sprint, ensuring their process improvements directly support future outcomes.

5. Backlog refinement

• Duration: 1–2 hours; once or twice per sprint
• Participants: Product owner and developers, often facilitated by the Scrum master

Although not officially listed as one of the five Scrum events, many teams treat backlog refinement as a recurring ceremony. This meeting happens once or twice during a sprint, and its purpose is to review, update, and prioritize the product backlog.

During backlog refinement, the team and product owner work together to:

• Break down larger backlog items into smaller, more manageable tasks
• Clarify acceptance criteria
• Estimate effort levels or story points
• Reorder items so the backlog reflects current priorities

Unlike the time-boxed Scrum events, backlog refinement is more flexible in duration and scheduling. Still, most teams keep it to an hour or two and involve the whole Scrum team. The goal is to ensure the backlog is always clear, actionable, and ready for future sprint planning.

When refining backlog items, Scrum teams should ensure each item supports the product goal, which is the commitment attached to the product backlog. This helps maintain alignment between day-to-day tasks and the broader direction of the product.

How to run a Scrum meeting

You can run a Scrum meeting successfully by implementing the following steps: 

• Have your meetings at the same time and in the same place, every day
• Meet face-to-face or require video chat if communicating virtually
• Keep them short and to the point — these meetings are often only 15 minutes long 
• Focus on any updates since the last meeting and the work to be done before the next meeting 
• Concentrate on immediate actions and problems that need to be solved. You can address any new ideas, plans, or issues that’ll require more attention later

To maintain focus during a Scrum meeting, ask the team these three questions:

• What have you accomplished since we last met?
• What do you plan to accomplish in the next 24 hours?
• What issues or problems are you currently facing?

Five more tips for effective Scrum meetings: 

• Stick to your schedule and agenda — don’t let your meeting go off track
• Bring up your Scrum board during the meeting so your team can see progress
• Don’t bring outsiders to the meeting unless necessary
• Hold it as a stand-up meeting
• Enforce start and stop times and expect your team to come prepared

Why are Scrum ceremonies beneficial to projects?

If there’s one thing employees do not want any more of, it's meetings. Around 28% of meetings leave employees with “meeting hangovers,” and worse yet, 90% of employees report feeling this way at least occasionally. When meetings are unstructured and unfocused, it only leads to frustration.

Scrum ceremonies, on the other hand, are highly structured and focused. Each Scrum ritual has a distinctly defined purpose: to set expectations, facilitate effective collaboration, and drive measured results. Scrum ceremonies provide the framework for teams to complete their work in a disciplined, orderly manner, as well as to continually refine their processes and sharpen their skills.

Common mistakes in Scrum ceremonies (and how to avoid them)

Even though Scrum ceremonies are designed to be lightweight, teams often run into common issues that impact their effectiveness. Here are a few pitfalls to watch for:

• Going over time: Ceremonies should be strictly time-boxed. A daily Scrum that drags past 15 minutes or a sprint planning meeting that eats half the day can kill momentum.
• Turning into status reports: These meetings are for the team, not for managers. Keep the focus on collaboration and shared goals.
• Poor preparation: Sprint planning and backlog refinement fall flat if backlog items aren’t rclear and ready. Encourage the product owner to prep ahead of time.
• Losing sight of the sprint goal: If discussions wander, bring them back to the agreed objective for the sprint.
• Skipping retrospectives: Teams that skip retros miss out on continuous improvement, one of Scrum’s biggest advantages.

By watching out for these traps, Scrum teams can preserve the purpose of each ceremony and keep their process lean and effective.

Scrum ceremonies in remote and hybrid teams

Scrum’s principles don’t change when teams are remote, but the ceremonies require a little adaptation. A few best practices include:

• Async standups: If your team spans time zones, use a shared board or chat channel so everyone can post updates daily, even if live meetings aren’t possible.
• Use video whenever possible: Seeing faces helps strengthen engagement and accountability.
• Keep the Scrum board visible: Use digital tools (like Wrike) so the whole team can see sprint goals, progress, and blockers in real time.
• Document everything: Remote teams thrive on clarity. Make sure sprint goals, retro action items, and decisions are written down and accessible.

When teams adapt ceremonies thoughtfully, remote Scrum can be just as effective as in-person — sometimes even more so, thanks to the added discipline around communication and documentation.

How do you get your team excited for Scrum rituals?

As we’ve seen, each Scrum ritual has a specific purpose, unlike ad hoc meetings that workers are often involuntarily roped into. That doesn’t mean that your team will always be bursting with excitement at the thought of yet another daily Scrum. Even if they’re not necessarily enthused, your team members should be willing participants at each Scrum ceremony.

When workers feel that their contributions truly matter and they own their work, enthusiasm often follows. Here are a few tips you can use to help instill a sense of ownership in your team.

• As the Scrum master, don’t look at your team members during the meeting. Instead, keep your eyes on your notepad or keyboard as you take notes. This is a sort of psychological hack that will force your team members to look at each other as they deliver their daily updates, rather than looking at you and feeling like they are simply reporting to their manager.
• Another simple “hack” for signaling that the meeting truly belongs to the team is to arrange the ceremony in a circle, then slowly step out of it. At first, workers will likely still want to look at you as they report, but they’ll quickly realize that they are running the ceremony and reporting to one another.
• Instead of asking, “What have you done?” or, “What do you expect to complete today?”, focus your questions on the sprint’s goals. For instance, you could ask, “Are you confident that the team can reach its sprint goal?” or, “Is it clear what needs to be done today for us to reach our goals?”

How to organize your Scrum rituals with Wrike

Organizing and managing your Scrum rituals is much easier with the proper tools in place. Wrike provides several templates and tools to help streamline your Scrum ceremonies. You can access performance metrics, assign action items, monitor progress, and keep all your files and data in one centralized location. Wrike empowers Scrum teams to collaborate more effectively and maximize each sprint.

Ready to make the most of your next Scrum sprint? Start your free two-week Wrike trial today!