Decide whether this week deserves a sprint
Your team lead raises it, you say yes or not yet. Nothing gets opened just because a week rolled over, and a team without a sprint keeps working its list.
The Weekly Sprint Check-In
Once a week your team lead raises the sprint with you: worth starting one, or time to wrap the open one up.
Once a week your team lead looks at the state of the work and starts a conversation. Is there a stretch of work worth naming and turning into a sprint? Has the open sprint passed the date you agreed and earned a wrap-up? You answer in a sentence and the team acts on it.
It is a conversation, not a report. Nothing is generated on a timer and nothing lands in your inbox to be skimmed and forgotten. The check-in exists so a sprint gets opened when it should be and closed when it should be, instead of drifting for a month because nobody looked.
When you agree to wrap up, the team lead writes the closing review in their own words: what landed, what did not, and what got in the way. Unfinished work stays exactly where it is on the board. What carries into the next sprint is your call, made on purpose.
A Weekly Conversation, Not a Generated Report
Once a week the team lead considers the shape of the work and raises it with you. If a launch, a push, or a deadline deserves to be named, the lead proposes a sprint and a goal to go with it. If nothing does, nothing gets opened, and the team keeps working its task list.
That is the whole ritual. No standing meeting, no digest to read, no cadence that fires whether or not it has anything to say. The check-in only produces something when there is something to decide.
Closing a Sprint Honestly
The other half of the check-in is the sprint already open. If it has passed the date you agreed, the lead says so and suggests wrapping it up rather than letting it run on quietly for another three weeks.
When you close it, the lead writes the review: what shipped against the goal, what did not, and why. Written by your team lead in their own words, drawn from the Work Journal and the Task Board. A colleague's account of the work, not a score.
Why the Cadence Stays Human
A sprint on Sistava has exactly two states, open and closed, and only you or your team lead moves it between them. Nothing expires on a timer, nothing closes itself, and no unfinished task is moved or archived behind your back.
That is a deliberate choice. A cycle that runs itself produces reports nobody trusts. A cycle that needs one short conversation a week produces decisions you actually made, on work you actually recognise.
Use Cases
Wrap up a sprint that has run long
When the sprint passes the date you agreed, the lead says so instead of letting it drift, and you close it with a proper written review.
Get an honest account of what landed
The closing review is written by your team lead in their own words: what shipped against the goal, what did not, and what got in the way.
Carry unfinished work forward on purpose
Work that did not land stays on the board. You choose what goes into the next sprint instead of watching it move on its own.
Comparison
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| A new cycle starts every fortnight whether or not anyone looked. | A sprint opens when someone decides the work is worth naming. |
| Reviews get skipped when the team is busy. | Closing a sprint always produces a written account of what landed. |
| A sprint quietly runs three weeks past its date. | The weekly check-in raises it while you can still act. |
| Unfinished work vanishes into the next cycle. | It stays on the board until you deliberately carry it over. |
FAQ
Do I have to run a sprint at all?
No. Sprints are optional. A team with none open works from its task list exactly as it would otherwise, and nothing opens one for you. Open one when a stretch of work is worth naming.
What happens in the weekly check-in?
Your team lead raises two questions: is there work worth naming as a sprint, and has the open sprint passed the date you agreed? You answer in chat, and the lead opens one, keeps going, or wraps up accordingly.
What is in the closing review?
What shipped against the goal, what did not, and what got in the way. Your team lead writes it in their own words, drawn from the Task Board and the Work Journal.
What happens to unfinished work when a sprint closes?
It stays exactly where it is. Nothing is moved or archived on your behalf. You and your team lead decide what carries into the next sprint, deliberately.
Can a sprint close itself when the time is up?
No. A sprint ends when you or your team lead ends it. The weekly check-in exists so an overdue sprint gets raised rather than forgotten, but the decision is always yours.
My team lead pings me on Friday with one question: wrap this up or keep going. That single conversation replaced every status meeting we used to run.