The Review is a working session with stakeholders, not a status presentation — and its real output is a changed Product Backlog.
The Sprint Review happens near the end of the Sprint. The Scrum Guide describes its
purpose as inspecting the outcome of the Sprint and determining future adaptations — and
it is explicit that the event is a working session, not a presentation.
Who is there
The Scrum Team and key stakeholders. That second half is what makes it work.
The people who will use the result look at the result, and their reaction is data you
cannot get any other way.
What actually happens
- The Developers show the Increment — working, not described.
- Progress toward the Product Goal is discussed.
- Attendees collaborate on what to do next.
- The Product Backlog is adjusted to meet new opportunities.
Step 4 is the output. A Review that ends with the backlog exactly as it started
either delivered nothing surprising, or nobody was listening.
Show, do not tell
What about unfinished work?
Items that did not meet the Definition of Done are not presented as done. They return
to the Product Backlog and are reconsidered — not automatically carried into the next
Sprint, which is how a team accumulates a permanent backlog of nearly-finished work.
Say plainly what was not finished and why. A Review that hides it teaches the
stakeholders to distrust the ones that do not.
In Agile Together
The window matters: without it, work from Sprint 1 would keep counting in Sprint 3, and velocity would be meaningless.
Next
Next: the Retrospective — the event that changes how you work.
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Project Management