Burndown Charts

Correct Answer: No tasks are being completed or the status of tasks is not being updated.

A Burndown Chart tracks the completion of work over time in a Scrum project. If the chart shows a horizontal line with no movement, it can indicate that either 'No tasks are being completed' or 'the status of tasks is not being updated'. This is because, under normal progress, the line on the Burndown Chart should be falling as the tasks are completed and remaining work decreases. Other options are not valid because: 'The Sprint backlog is perfectly balanced with the team's velocity' would result in a downward sloping line; 'The team is working on tasks unrelated to the sprint' may result in an upward sloping line if they record it; 'The development team is extraordinarily fast and completed all the tasks at once' would result in a vertical drop but not a horizontal line.

Correct Answer: The team failed to update the chart during the sprint and made updates only towards the end.

A Burndown Chart that shows a flat line for most of the sprint, followed by a steep decline at the end, typically indicates that the team has not been updating the chart regularly. This scenario can happen if the team only updates their progress toward the end of the sprint, making it appear as though there was a sudden completion of tasks. The incorrect answers are plausible scenarios in a sprint but do not directly explain the pattern seen in the described Burndown Chart.

Correct Answer: New tasks were added to the sprint

A Burndown Chart reflects the work remaining in a sprint over time. Ideally, the line of the chart should slope down and approach zero remaining tasks towards the end of the sprint. If it starts to rise midway through the sprint, it typically means additional tasks were added to the sprint scope. This matches the answer that 'New tasks were added to the sprint'. The other answers are incorrect because: 'Tasks were removed from the sprint' would cause the chart to drop, not rise. 'The team is not working effectively' might cause the slope of the line to flatten out if tasks are not being completed, but not necessarily rise unless new tasks are being added. Lastly, the idea that 'The chart is broken' is an unlikely first conclusion to draw from seeing the chart rise; while it is technically possible, usually issues with work progress are reflected in the work itself, not the tracking tool.