Sprint Burndown

5 minutes 5 Questions

The Sprint Burndown is a graphical representation of work left to do versus time. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents work remaining, typically it is updated every day. The Sprint Burndown provides a simple view of the Sprint progress and typically includes a line …

Guide: Sprint Burndown - Importance, Definition, Functioning, and Exam Tips

Importance: Sprint Burndown is a critical aspect of the Scrum framework. It helps team members visualize the amount of work remaining in a Sprint, thus facilitating transparency and better planning. This tool is instrumental in promoting accountability, understanding progress and impediments, and supporting iterative development.
What it is: Sprint Burndown is a graphical representation that shows the completed work versus the remaining work over time during a Sprint. It typically has two axes: Number of Tasks (vertical) and Time (horizontal). Each day, after the daily scrum, the team updates the chart to reflect the remaining effort.
How it Works: The Sprint Burndown chart is updated daily. The total work remaining is calculated, and then logged on the chart. This trendline helps to predict whether the team is on track to complete the work planned. If the work is tracking above the ideal line, this indicates potential risks and an adjustment in strategy might be required.
Exam Tips: Understanding the mechanics of the Sprint Burndown chart is important for exams. Focus on how it is created, updated, and interpreted. Questions might be related to how the trendline is analysed, what it reflects, and what various patterns might mean. For example, a flat line might indicate no progress; a steep decline might suggest that tasks were underestimated and completed swiftly, and so on. Also, you might be asked about who updates the chart (ideally, it's the Development Team), who uses it, and its purpose.

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PSM I - Sprint Burndown Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Sprint Burndown

Question 1

A sprint is halfway through, and the burndown chart reveals a downward trend indicating that the team is completing tasks much quicker than anticipated. What should the Scrum Master do?

Suggest the team to redistribute the remaining work to focus more on technical debt and less on new features for the rest of the sprint. Advise the team to increase the scope of the sprint by bringing in more items from the product backlog without a formal sprint planning. Encourage the team to review the tasks in progress and assess if more value can be added within the sprint goals. Recommend the team to conduct an impromptu meeting to redefine the sprint goals based on the current pace, potentially adding more features to the product increment.

Correct Answer: Encourage the team to review the tasks in progress and assess if more value can be added within the sprint goals.

The correct action is to engage the team in a conversation about the sprint's progress toward its goals and whether the completion of additional work will add value to the sprint, without disrupting the sprint's focus or scope. Changing the goal mid-sprint or arbitrarily adding more work can negatively impact the team's velocity and motivation. The objective is to maintain the quality of work and ensure that the team delivers value in accordance with the sprint goals agreed upon during sprint planning.

Question 2

The Sprint Burndown chart shows that the team finishes tasks late in the Sprint. The Scrum Team is stressed. As a Scrum Master, how should you respond?

Increase the Sprint length to provide the team with more time to complete tasks, thus reducing the pressure and stress. Implement a more rigorous daily stand-up where each team member commits to the tasks they will complete by the end of the day, closely monitoring their progress. Evaluate the reasons for late completions, focusing on improving task breakdown and estimation accuracy. Introduce a policy that tasks not started by the midpoint of the Sprint are to be dropped or moved to the next Sprint to ensure timely completion.

Correct Answer: Evaluate the reasons for late completions, focusing on improving task breakdown and estimation accuracy.

The correct approach involves understanding and addressing the reasons behind late task completions without immediately resorting to drastic measures such as changing team processes or putting additional pressure on the team members. Increasing Sprint length might temporarily alleviate symptoms but does not address the root causes, possibly making the situation worse by reducing urgency and efficiency. Dropping or moving tasks may disrupt the product backlog and Sprint planning process. Implementing a rigorous stand-up routine focuses too much on daily micro-management, which goes against the self-organizing principles of Scrum. The correct answer focuses on improving planning and estimation, aiming at long-term team and process enhancement without compromising Scrum values.

Question 3

The Sprint Burndown chart shows that the team finishes tasks early in the Sprint. What conclusions can be drawn?

The team should reduce their capacity for the next Sprint. The tasks might be overestimated, and the team should re-evaluate their estimation techniques. The team is very efficient and should receive a reward. The Product Owner should assign more tasks to the team. The team should use the extra time for nonproject work. The Scrum Master should force the team to work on multiple tasks simultaneously.

Correct Answer: The tasks might be overestimated, and the team should re-evaluate their estimation techniques.

Finishing tasks early in the Sprint could indicate that the team's estimation techniques need improvement and adjustments. The team should collaborate and re-evaluate their estimation methods to achieve more accurate Sprint Backlogs.

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