Like most activities we do, setting sprints is a key to keep us on track when getting work completed. This is important in software, mobile, and web app creation because it gives a deadline on when tasks must be finished, and are ready for the next step. 

Each and every sprint that is made for a piece of software or app development project is carefully planned out in hours, according to how long each task will take to finish. This can be decided with the scope of the work stage, as well as the functional specification document stage.

The process of setting sprints is overseen by the Project Manager. The development team will also agree on what exactly needs to happen to accomplish the sprint in the time frame decided.

The Development team has the deciding vote on how much work is practical to be accomplished when working toward a sprint. The Project Manager has the deciding vote on what principles must be met in order for the project to be approved and accepted.

The length of sprints can vary, for example you can come up with a final deadline where everything has to be finished, but then you can also have “mini sprints” that are to be completed within the overall time frame. 

Once the sprint has started, the project manager will let the development team do their work. However, at ISU Corp we will ensure to communicate progress, any questions, and any hiccups that may arise with our clients regularly. 

When a sprint is being completed, the team will hold daily meetings to ensure that everyone is staying on track, and to resolve any hiccups that may have come up. The Project Manager may attend the meetings, to ensure everything is going smoothly, as well as to answer and ask questions. It is preferred that there are no requests for changes to occur during a sprint in order for the project to stay on schedule. 

Any change requests that the client would like, will have the opportunity to be added after Milestones have been completed.

Once the sprint is finished, the development team sends it off to the Quality Assurance team to be examined, and then to the Project manager for final review before it gets shown to the client.

Milestones

A milestone is an important stage during a project because it gives an idea of the progress in the view of what achievements have been predetermined as “milestone goals”. 

The way that milestones are tracked is by reminder dates for the client, which can contain several internal sprints.

Some common Milestones that are noted are:

• Completed project phase

• Approved deliverable

• Completed planned review

• The beginnings of a task – like an addition or a change request

Now, is there a specific number of milestones a project requires?

Well, milestone frequency depends on the developing iterative phases, commonly known as agile development. This enables for testing and real looks into the development progression. 

Having the ability to examine and view completion progress throughout a project has been a game changer, because it allows for everyone that needs to be involved in the process during development to be in the loop. Being able to manage what’s going on each phase, saves the team time, while also maintaining a reasonable cost. 

Rules to keep in mind when working with Milestones:

ALL software, web, and mobile app projects will have important milestones:

1. Obligations / scope and completed FSD

2. Completed Design

3. Prepared code & quality assurance testing for the finished sprints

4. Deployed product

If you have any questions about sprints and milestones for project management in software, we at ISU will be more than happy to help! Contact us today.