Scrum teams often face situations where they must explore unknowns before implementing a solution. Whether it’s evaluating a third-party API, analyzing performance bottlenecks, or experimenting with architectural options, these exploratory tasks are known as technical spikes. When not managed well, spikes can consume valuable sprint capacity, distract the team, and compromise the sprint goal.

This post explains how to handle technical spikes without derailing the sprint, and offers actionable strategies that teams can adopt. We’ll also link this discussion to concepts you learn in a Certified Scrum Master training or a SAFe Scrum Master Certification.

What Is a Technical Spike?

A spike is a time-boxed research activity used in Scrum to reduce uncertainty. It’s a specific type of backlog item used to gather knowledge, test assumptions, or validate technical feasibility. Unlike user stories that deliver working functionality, spikes produce information, documentation, or prototypes.

Spikes typically arise from:

• Unclear technical implementation
• Unknown technology behavior or integration issues
• High-risk architectural decisions
• Dependencies on external systems

For example, a team planning to implement video streaming might create a spike to assess various streaming libraries and determine their performance under load.

Why Spikes Can Derail Sprints

Spikes can easily disrupt sprint flow if they are:

• Open-ended and not time-boxed
• Not clearly scoped
• Used as a substitute for refinement
• Started ad hoc mid-sprint without planning

When unmanaged, spikes take up development capacity, delay feature completion, and make sprint planning unpredictable.

Best Practices for Managing Spikes

1. Clearly Define the Purpose of the Spike

Each spike should address a specific learning objective. Avoid vague descriptions like “Research microservices.” Instead, use actionable statements like “Compare Redis vs. Memcached for session storage.”

Ask: What decision will this spike help make? What information is needed? This clarity helps the team estimate effort and communicate the spike’s value to stakeholders.

2. Time-Box the Spike

Spikes must be strictly time-boxed. Common durations are 1–3 days. Even if the answer isn’t fully conclusive, the time-box ensures the team avoids spending excessive time on exploration.

This technique aligns with the Scrum value of focus, which is emphasized in both CSM certification training and SAFe Scrum Master Training.

3. Include Spikes During Sprint Planning

Never initiate spikes ad hoc in the middle of a sprint unless it’s a blocker. Treat them as regular backlog items and estimate their impact on team capacity during sprint planning. If spikes are urgent, consider adjusting the sprint goal or adding them to a buffer capacity reserved for uncertainty.

Planning spikes in advance allows Product Owners to prioritize better and keep the sprint backlog aligned with the goal.

4. Use the INVEST Model Where Possible

Although spikes may not produce shippable software, they can still follow the INVEST model:

• Independent
• Negotiable
• Valuable
• Estimable
• Small
• Testable (in terms of learning outcomes)

This helps the team structure spikes in a way that supports sprint predictability and transparency.

5. Track Outcomes in a Lightweight Format

Ensure that every spike ends with a lightweight artifact: a Confluence page, a brief architecture sketch, or a code prototype. The point is to convert exploration into usable insights.

Linking these outputs to stories or documentation helps future work and keeps decision trails visible across teams. Consider reading Atlassian’s guide on spikes in Agile teams for practical inspiration.

6. Involve the Team in the Learning Process

Encourage pair programming or short huddles when conducting spikes. This avoids knowledge silos and enables cross-functional learning. In teams using SAFe Scrum Master Certification practices, this is especially important for scaling learning across ARTs (Agile Release Trains).

Spikes and the Sprint Goal: Striking the Balance

While spikes are valuable, they shouldn’t become an excuse to fill the sprint with unknowns. Anchor the sprint around a clear sprint goal and ensure that spikes support that goal rather than distracting from it.

Ask these checkpoint questions during sprint planning:

• Does this spike help deliver value aligned with the sprint goal?
• Are we allocating too much capacity to investigation vs. delivery?
• Can we defer this spike to a future sprint?

If multiple spikes appear in a backlog, group them into an exploration sprint only if absolutely necessary, and only after a conversation with the Product Owner and Scrum Master. This option works when foundational work is needed before committing to high-stakes features.

Using Spikes in SAFe Teams

In SAFe, spikes are commonly used during PI Planning. Technical evaluation spikes help teams understand implementation risks before committing to program increments. SAFe even recommends explicitly managing spikes in the program backlog.

Scrum Masters working in SAFe contexts must ensure spikes don’t crowd out business functionality. The role of Scrum Master here includes guiding teams on estimation, facilitating effective backlog refinement, and collaborating with Product Managers on priority balancing. You’ll explore this balance in-depth during SAFe Scrum Master Training.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Common Pitfall	How to Address
Spike is too vague	Define a clear research goal and scope
No time-box	Set strict start and end time for each spike
Spike replaces refinement	Use refinement to clarify stories; spikes for exploration only
Ad hoc mid-sprint spikes	Include them during planning or flag them as blockers
No tangible output	Document findings and link to upcoming stories

Conclusion

Technical spikes can empower Scrum teams to make better decisions and reduce risk, but only when planned and executed with discipline. Keep them time-boxed, goal-driven, and aligned with the sprint’s objective. Make sure they support delivery, not distract from it.

For Scrum Masters, managing spikes is part of guiding teams toward focus and value delivery—core skills developed through structured CSM certification or Scrum Master Training in SAFe.

By approaching spikes as strategic learning investments, teams can explore the unknown while still shipping value each sprint.

 

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