In Scrum, inspection involves formal events and activities to review progress and assess it against the agreed-upon goals. These activities encompass the Sprint Review, where the product increment is demonstrated and feedback is gathered, as well as the Sprint Retrospective, where the team reflects on their process and identifies areas for improvement. Inspection in Scrum fosters transparency and continuous improvement throughout the development process.
Product Backlog
In the context of the Product Backlog, inspection involves regularly reviewing and refining the backlog items to ensure they remain relevant, prioritized, and well-understood by the team. This inspection is typically done during backlog refinement sessions, where the Product Owner and the team collaborate to clarify requirements, estimate effort, and adjust priorities as needed. The goal is to maintain a clear and actionable Product Backlog that reflects the current understanding of what needs to be built to achieve the product vision.
Sprint Backlog
In the Sprint Backlog within Scrum, inspection involves the ongoing monitoring and adjustment of the selected work items (often called backlog items or tasks) during the sprint. The inspection process ensures that the team is on track to achieve the sprint goal and deliver the committed increment.
Increment
Inspection of the increment refers to the assessment and evaluation of the product increment that is produced at the end of each sprint. The increment is the sum of all the completed and “Done” backlog items (user stories, features, or tasks) that the development team has delivered during the sprint. Through this inspection process, stakeholders gain visibility into the progress made by the development team, and adjustments can be made to the product backlog based on the feedback received. The goal of inspecting the increment is to ensure that each sprint’s deliverables are of high quality, meet the stakeholders’ expectations, and contribute to the overall value of the product.
Task Board
Inspection of task boards involves regular reviews and updates of the board’s status to monitor progress and identify potential issues or bottlenecks. Task boards are visual representations of work items (tasks, user stories, etc.) organized into columns representing different stages of completion (e.g., “To Do,” “In Progress,” “Done”). By continuously inspecting and updating task boards, the Scrum teams can ensure that work remains aligned with sprint goals or project objectives, and they can proactively address any challenges that may arise during the development process.
