The Sprint is a container
The Sprint is an event — the container inside which all the others happen. It is one month or less, a fixed length, and a new Sprint starts immediately after the previous one ends. There are no gaps between Sprints.
Why it is like this
A fixed cadence turns "when will it be done" into "what will be done by then", and the no-gap rule stops the hardening week, the stabilisation Sprint and the rest of the scheduling that quietly reintroduces a phase gate.
Not to be confused with
A time period that the other events sit in. The Sprint *is* one of the five events — the Guide lists it first — and the Sprint length cannot be shortened or extended mid-flight to fit the work.
In practice
Sprint Planning opens the Sprint, the Retrospective closes it, and the next Sprint starts the same day. A "Sprint zero" and a "release Sprint" are both outside the Guide.
Source: The Scrum Guide, November 2020 (Schwaber & Sutherland) — The Sprint. Read on .
The Scrum Guide is published by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland under CC BY-SA 4.0. These cards are independent commentary written in our own words, not a derivative of the Guide's text. ytyk.org is not affiliated with, endorsed by or licensed by Scrum.org, Scrum Alliance or the Guide's authors.
Odd one out Check yourself
Three of these are the Guide's rules about the Sprint. Which one is not?
Show the answer
A Sprint may be extended by up to two days to finish committed work
Extending a Sprint is the one thing the fixed cadence exists to prevent. If the work is not done, the Sprint still ends and the work returns to the Product Backlog.