Sprint Burndown Chart

5 minutes 5 Questions

A Sprint Burndown Chart is a visual measurement tool that shows the completed work per day or sprint against the projected work rate for a scrum team. The chart is updated daily throughout the sprint, and it gives the team a real-time snapshot of their work. This helps teams manage their progress and respond accordingly to any changes, maintaining a steady, sustainable pace of work. It encourages transparency and helps identify potential issues early in the process.

Sprint Burndown Chart: A Comprehensive Study Guide

A Sprint Burndown Chart is a visual representation used in Scrum to track the completion status of sprint work. It indicates how much work remains to be done in a sprint over a specific timeframe.

Importance: Sprint Burndown Charts are crucial for effectively managing the progress of a project. They offer a quick, visual representation of the project's trajectory, helping teams detect issues before they become problems and adjust the workload or timeline if necessary.

How it works: It starts with the total amount of effort (usually measured in hours or story points) identified for the sprint. As work gets completed, it’s tracked and the total remaining work is recalculated and represented in the chart. If the chart's line is deviating upwards from its expected trajectory, it indicates a risk of not completing the work as planned.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Sprint Burndown Chart:
  • Understand the principle behind the Sprint Burndown Chart - tracking work remaining over time.
  • Know how to interpret the chart. If the line is trending downwards, it indicates that work is being completed. If it is flat, no work is being completed. If it is trending upwards, more work is being added.
  • Be prepared to discuss why it is a useful tool for managing and adjusting work during the sprint and how it can help to provide a clear picture of the sprint progress.
Test mode:
Start practice test

CSM - Sprint Burndown Chart Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Sprint Burndown Chart

Question 1

As a Scrum Master, you observe several small rises and dips in the Sprint Burndown Chart. What does this indicate and what action should you take?

Correct Answer: Small rises and dips in the Sprint Burndown Chart typically indicate normal progress fluctuations as tasks are completed and minor adjustments are made; no immediate action is necessary aside from monitoring for continuous improvement.

Small fluctuations in the Sprint Burndown Chart are normal and represent the day-to-day variations in the team's progress as they work on tasks. These changes do not typically require immediate corrective actions by the Scrum Master. Instead, they can be used as discussion points in the Sprint Retrospective to identify potential areas for process improvement. The wrong answers depict other plausible scenarios that could cause changes in the burndown chart, but these are based on different assumptions and not the most likely reason for small rises and dips.

Question 2

As a Scrum Master, you have noticed the Sprint Burndown Chart depicting a stair-step pattern. What could be the cause of this trend?

Correct Answer: It indicates that the team is probably working on multiple stories at the same time and completing them altogether.

The stair-step pattern on the Sprint Burndown Chart is typically indicative of the team working on multiple tasks simultaneously and completing all at once, which is captured by the answer 'It indicates that the team is probably working on multiple stories at the same time and completing them altogether.'. This pattern refers to a large number of tasks being marked as done at the end, thus forming the 'steps'. The other options are incorrect. Answer 'It indicates that the team is not working at all.' is incorrect as a stagnation on the chart, not a stair-step pattern, would show this. Similarly, answer 'It suggests that the team is completing tasks too quickly.' isn't true. The stair-step pattern shows that work completion is not evenly distributed but rather bunched together, not necessarily too quick. Finally, the statement 'It shows that only one team member is contributing to the work.' is also inaccurate, as this pattern does not provide information about individual team member contributions. It is rather a reflection of the worked completed by the team as a whole.

Question 3

As a Scrum Master, you see a sudden drop in the Burndown Chart a day after the team’s day off. What is the likely reason for this sudden drop?

Correct Answer: The team likely did not update their progress before the day off and completed the update when they returned.

The most likely reason for a sudden drop in the Burndown Chart a day after the team’s day off is that the team did not update their progress before their day off and only updated it when they returned. This means that the actual work done wasn't reflected on the chart until they updated it, leading to a delayed and sudden drop. If the team had worked through their day off, there wouldn't have been a sudden drop, the burndown chart should have reflected steady progress. The possibility of an error while updating the chart can't be ruled out, but it's less likely as charts are typically reviewed and rechecked. The notion that the team intentionally manipulated the chart to show good performance is an unlikely scenario, and in any case, this contradicts Scrum principles of openness and honesty.

More Sprint Burndown Chart questions
33 questions (total)
Start 33 question test

Other Advanced Scrum Concepts concepts

Definition of Done (DoD)Product Backlog RefinementScrum EventsScrum Review & RetrospectivesScrum ScalingSelf-Managing TeamsStory Points & EstimationThe Role of the Scrum MasterTime Boxing
All Advanced Scrum Concepts questions · CSM practice test