With the arrival of summer holidays, one question often comes up: should we change the duration of Sprints?
Scrum generally recommends keeping a stable cadence to support inspection, adaptation, and regular delivery of results.
However, it is possible to adjust the length of a Sprint when the context justifies it, for example when a large part of the team is absent during summer or year-end holidays.
Some teams therefore choose to temporarily move from a two-week Sprint to a three-week Sprint during these periods.
It is important to keep in mind that a Sprint should never exceed four weeks.
Extending the Sprint length also means extending the feedback loop. The team receives information about the product less frequently, which can increase risks.
Another approach is to keep the same Sprint length while reducing the amount of planned work to account for absences.
In the end, there is no universal answer. It depends on the team’s context and constraints.
The key is to choose an approach that maintains a sustainable and predictable rhythm of work.
And you, have you ever tried changing Sprint length? How did it go?
Sources: https://www.scrum.org/resources/blog/scrum-time-offholidaysvacations