How Agile teams use short, focused investigations to reduce uncertainty and improve delivery confidence.

In Agile project management, a ‘spike’ is a short, time-boxed piece of work designed to investigate, research, or test something that’s not yet well understood. It’s a learning activity — not about delivering product features, but about gaining clarity and removing unknowns that could derail later development.

What Is a Spike?

A spike is essentially a mini-experiment that helps a team understand a problem area, validate an assumption, or evaluate potential solutions. The outcome is knowledge: a decision, a recommendation, or data that allows the team to proceed confidently.

Why Spikes matter

Projects often encounter uncertainty — around technology, integration, or business logic. Instead of guessing or delaying decisions, Agile teams use spikes to learn just enough to make informed choices. This prevents wasted effort and aligns teams on a shared understanding of the problem.

Common reasons to run a spike include:

• Evaluating a new technology or library.
• Exploring how to integrate with an unfamiliar system.
• Testing performance or scalability options.
• Clarifying ambiguous requirements or workflows.

How to Plan and Run a Spike

Spikes are deliberately lightweight but structured. They should have a clear goal, a fixed duration (typically one or two sprints), and a defined deliverable such as a short report, demo, or technical decision.

A simple planning checklist

1. Define the question — What uncertainty are you trying to resolve?
2. Limit the scope — Only explore what’s necessary to answer that question.
3. Time-box the effort — Prevent open-ended research.
4. Document findings — Summarise outcomes for the wider team.

When to Use a Spike

Spikes are most valuable when uncertainty blocks progress or threatens sprint predictability. They are also used at the start of new initiatives or when facing complex integrations. In hybrid or traditional environments, spikes serve the same role as feasibility studies — but faster, cheaper, and more focused.

Spike vs Proof of Concept

Spikes and Proofs of Concept both explore uncertainty but differ in scope and intent. A spike is usually smaller, time-boxed, and team-driven — its goal is understanding. A PoC, on the other hand, is a more formal validation effort, often involving stakeholders or sponsors, proving that a concept or technology can work. Many successful PoCs begin as spikes that uncover the key unknowns.

Summary

Spiking is a disciplined way to manage uncertainty. By running short, focused investigations, teams replace assumptions with evidence and make better decisions. It’s one of the quiet strengths of Agile project management — fast learning that keeps projects on course.