Practical Scaled Agile (CIPSA Certification): CIPSA Sprint Goal – What It Is and What It’s Not!

Earlier in this article, I articulated about Product Goal, which is part of the Product Backlog – be it CIPSA Scaled Scrum or CIPSA Scaled Kanban. 

While Product Goal is a key goal, another key goal is the CIPSA Sprint Goal. 

As the Product Goal is part of the Product Backlog, the CIPSA Sprint Goal is part of the CIPSA Sprint Backlog. It’s different from the Sprint Goal that you’d have learned from typical team-level Scrum framework.

At scale, the goal for the entire CIPSA team will is not equivalent to the individual Scrum Team’s Sprint Goal. 

In this article, we will know what a CIPSA Sprint Goal means for a large scaled Scrum team and clarify common misconceptions about this goal. 

Among many, I’ve outlined the following points. Detailed understanding will be part of the CIPSA Certification Course. 

CIPSA Sprint Goal – What It’s and What It’s Not! 

1 # Not Long-Term, but Short-Term

Unlike the Product Goal, the CIPSA Sprint Goal is not long-term. It is a short-term objective for the current CIPSA Sprint, helping the CIPSA Team make progress toward the Product Goal! 

As it’s specific to the CIPSA Sprint, it has to be achieved by the end of the CIPSA Sprint, which is of short duration. 

2 # Not Individual Team Goals, but One Shared Goal

The CIPSA Sprint Goal is not a collection of separate Team Sprint Goals. It is one shared goal for the entire CIPSA Team. The individual Scrum Teams will still have their own Team Sprint Goals, which will be part of their individual Team Sprint Backlogs. 

The CIPSA Sprint Goal provides a common direction across those teams, rather than allowing every team to optimize only for its own work. Local optimization, while ignoring the entire CIPSA team, is a big NO. With that attitude and behavior, CIPSA is not going to work. 

3 # Not Independent of Product Goal, but Aligned with Product Goal

The CIPSA Sprint Goal does not exist in isolation. It should contribute toward achieving the Product Goal. This goal provides the longer-term direction for the product. Again, if you’ve read the Product Goal article, read to know the differences. 

4 # Not Task-Focused, but Value-Focused

The CIPSA Sprint Goal is not about completing a list of tasks. It describes why the Sprint is valuable and provides a common purpose for the work undertaken by multiple and individual Scrum teams. 

5 # Not Outside, but Inside 

The CIPSA Sprint Goal is inside the CIPSA Sprint Backlog. Similarly, the CIPSA Kanban Goal will be part of the CIPSA Kanban Backlog. It’s clear and visible to the entire CIPSA team. 

6 # Not a Replacement for Team Sprint Goals, but an Overarching Goal!

This is another area I want to emphasize. The CIPSA Sprint Goal is overarching goal for the entire CIPSA team. 

The CIPSA Sprint Goal does not eliminate individual Team Sprint Goals. Rather, the CIPSA Sprint Goal sits at the scaled level, with individual Team Sprint Goals supporting it. 

7 # Not the Final Destination, but a Step Toward the Product Goal

The CIPSA Sprint Goal is not the ultimate goal of the CIPSA Team. It represents one step toward the Product Goal. Multiple CIPSA Sprint Goals can therefore contribute to achieving the Product Goal over successive Sprints.

8 # Not CIPSA Sprint Backlog Driving, but CIPSA Sprint Backlog Driven

This another area where team makes mistakes. You first decide on the CIPSA Sprint Goal. This goal should drive the items to be taken for the CIPSA Sprint Backlog. It’s not the other way around. 

9 # Not Strategic, but Tactical

As we have seen before, the Product Goal is strategic in nature. It’s there to meet an organization’s strategy. CIPSA Sprint Goal, on the other hand, is tactical nature.  

CIPSA Sprint Goal – Summary Table

In summary, CIPSA Goal is another indispensable as this article has clearly informed. The CIPSA Sprint Goals are taken one at a time to achieve the Product Goal. 

The above points that we just learned is summarized in the table below.

Conclusion

To put it very simply, you can have this one line.

Product Goal →👉 CIPSA Sprint Goal →👉 Team Sprint Goals →👉 Work Done →👉 CIPSA Integrated Increment

This hierarchy is particularly important for CIPSA. As you would have noticed by this time, one Product Goal can be supported by multiple CIPSA Sprint Goals. And each CIPSA Sprint Goal can be supported by multiple Team Sprint Goals.

CIPSA – What It's and What It's Not Series:

All Articles in What It's and What It's Not - CIPSA

CIPSA Certification:

[1] Scaled Agile Certification Course: Certified In Practical Scaled Agile (CIPSA)

[2] Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - CIPSA Certification

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