Dual-Track Sprint Calendar

Delivery + Discovery tracks · Sprint 18 → 19 transition · March 29 – May 2, 2026

Process transition: Sprint 18 closes Friday March 27 (old cadence). Monday March 30 is a transition buffer day. Tuesday March 31 is the first ceremony day under the new process (Sprint 18 Review / Retro, Sprint 19 Planning). Sprint 19 begins Wednesday April 1 — the new cadence starts here. Sprints now close on Mondays.
Delivery (Dev)
Discovery (PM/Design)
Ceremonies
Release
Milestone / Cutoff
Transition
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
29Mar
30
Transition Day
Sprint 18 closed Fri 3/27
Buffer: deploy cleanup, retro prep
Finalize stories for Sprint 19
31
First New Ceremony Day
Sprint 18 Review 12:30 PM ET
Retrospective 1:15 PM ET
Sprint 19 Planning 2:00 PM ET
1Apr
Sprint 19 Starts
Heads down · Async standup
Release (Sprint 18) Mid-morning
User interviews
2
Standup 12:30 ET
Stakeholder check-in
3
Standup 12:30 ET
Data review (dashboards)
4
5
6
Standup 12:30 ET
Solution sketching w/ Design
7
Standup + Mid-Sprint Check 12:30 ET · 30 min
Feasibility spike review
8
No meetings · Async standup
Prototype building
9
Backlog Grooming + Standup
Present validated stories
T-shirt sizing w/ devs
10
Standup 12:30 ET
Code cutoff COB
Refine stories from grooming
11
12
13
PR reviews · QA · Deploy
Sprint 19 closes COB
Verify acceptance criteria
14
Sprint 19 Review 12:30 PM ET
Retrospective 1:15 PM ET
Sprint 20 Planning 2:00 PM ET
Collect stakeholder feedback
15
Sprint 20 Starts
Heads down · Async standup
Release (Sprint 19) Mid-morning
User interviews (S21 prep)
16
Standup 12:30 ET
Problem framing session
17
Standup 12:30 ET
Usability testing
18
19
20
Standup 12:30 ET
Opportunity prioritization
21
Standup + Mid-Sprint Check 12:30 ET · 30 min
Validation results synthesis
22
No meetings · Async standup
Prototype iteration
23
Backlog Grooming + Standup
Present validated stories
T-shirt sizing w/ devs
24
Standup 12:30 ET
Code cutoff COB
Refine stories from grooming
25
26
27
PR reviews · QA · Deploy
Sprint 20 closes COB
Verify acceptance criteria
28
Sprint 20 Review 12:30 PM ET
Retrospective 1:15 PM ET
Sprint 21 Planning 2:00 PM ET
Collect stakeholder feedback
29
Sprint 21 Starts
Heads down · Async standup
Release (Sprint 20) Mid-morning
User interviews (S22 prep)
30
Standup 12:30 ET
Problem framing session
1May
Standup 12:30 ET
Solution exploration
2

Dual-Track Rhythm

Delivery Track (Dev Team)

  • Wednesday: No meetings — async standup, deep work
  • Daily (except Wed): Standup at 12:30 ET / 9:30 PT
  • Mid-sprint Tuesday: Health check (30 min extended standup)
  • Thursday (Week 2): Backlog grooming + t-shirt sizing
  • Friday (Week 2): Code cutoff COB
  • Monday (Week 3): PR review, QA, deploy — sprint closes COB
  • Tuesday (Week 3): Review → Retro → Planning
  • Wednesday (Week 3): Release mid-morning + new sprint starts

Discovery Track (PM + Design)

  • Ongoing: User/stakeholder interviews (2–3 hrs/week)
  • Ongoing: Data review & analytics (1–2 hrs/week)
  • Early sprint: Problem framing & opportunity prioritization
  • Mid sprint: Solution exploration with design (2–3 hrs/week)
  • Mid sprint: Feasibility check-ins with engineering
  • Late sprint: Prototype & validate solutions for next sprint
  • Thursday grooming: Present validated, dev-ready stories
  • Fri–Mon: Refine stories based on grooming feedback
  • Tuesday review: Collect stakeholder feedback → discovery input
  • Wednesday release: Release comms & stakeholder notification

Transition: Sprint 18 → 19

Convergence point: Discovery and delivery converge at Thursday backlog grooming. Validated opportunities from the discovery track become dev-ready stories that enter the delivery track. Stakeholder feedback from Tuesday sprint review flows back into the discovery track as new problems and opportunities. Discovery should always be working 1–2 sprints ahead of delivery.

See scrum-process.md (delivery) and discovery-process.md (discovery) for full process documentation.