Easy and user friendly sprint management with Jira Software
30/05/2019
On 24.05.2019 a sprint management seminar was held at Autentica premises. Visitors of the workshop had the opportunity to learn about the key elements of sprint management, how Jira Software works, how to prepare the Jira Software dashboard for successful sprint management, and how to monitor the development process during the sprint using reports.
Scrum is a framework in which people can solve complex adaptive problems while providing the most valuable solutions in a productive and creative way. It has been used in the development of sophisticated products since the late 1990s. Scrum reveals the relative usefulness and impact of the project management and development practices used in the project, as well as the potential for improvement. The Scrum framework consists of Scrum teams and their associated roles, actions, events, artifacts, and rules. For more details, see the Scrum Guide.
Jira Software provides the widest available functionality for project implementation within the Scrum framework. Below are some examples of how this tool supports some aspects of Scrum.
Backlog
A build-up of backlog is preceded by development work. Requirements are identified and tasks prepared for the team to develop.
There are 2 work accruals - product work accrual and sprint work accrual.
The owner of the product bears responsibility for the accumulation of product work. Work order must always be prioritized so that the team can take tasks from it and put them in the sprint. All tasks in this work collection must be ready for development, i.e. the team must be able to complete the task completely.
Sprint savings are the responsibility of the team. In sprint planning, it is the team that takes the tasks from the work order, prioritizes them in the sprint, and evaluates them.
On the Jira Software dashboard you can easily view both backlogs. The product owner can conveniently organize tasks in the product backlog according to task priority. In turn, during sprint planning, the team takes on tasks and shifts them to the sprint backlog. Anything that the team will put together in the sprint backlog is considered its commitment. After you press the "Start Sprint" button, adding or removal of the task is displayed in special reports. This allows you to keep track of the sprint, as well as perform the analysis later if the team has not been able to complete everything it had committed to.
Through the board configuration, Jira Software allows you to exclude tasks that are not ready for development from the product backlog. The task must be in a status that is not displayed in the dashboard. This configuration ensures that the team only sees jobs that can be created. Below the sprint works, you can see how much work has already been put into the sprint by the total of the assessments. Estimates can be added for both product and sprint backlog.
Sprint planning
During a sprint planning, the team identifies the tasks that will need to be done to complete the sprint, agrees on performing a sprint, identifies task dependencies, and evaluates the tasks. Occasionally, work is reviewed and evaluated prior to sprint planning. Usually this is a meeting is with a time limit (an hour or two), when the team goes through all the work and looks at everything. It is not clear how much work should be reviewed. The meeting ends after a certain time. If such meetings take place, sprint planning may be shorter.
When you start a sprint, you can specify its purpose. The length of a sprint can be selected either by a number of weeks or by specifying an end date. To determine the exact number of working days, you can specify which days are working days and holidays in the dashboard. Name, purpose, start and end dates of the sprint can be modified later while the sprint is active. Once the sprint is complete, only the sprint name and purpose can be edited. You can also delete sprints, for example, if there was a mistakenly scheduled sprint.
Daily standups
Jira Software offers an easy-to-organize dashboard where you can use filters to review what each team member is doing, change statuses, and mark tasks that have been blocked. As a result, the team is aware of the current sprint situation and problems, if any.
Definition of completeness
Jira Sofware offers a flexible configuration to support different team structures and needs. Each task is based on a workflow with defined statuses.
Columns are configured on the dashboard. The first column always represents the work to be done. The latter refers to the work that the team understands is completed.
Velocity
On the Jira Software dashboard, it is possible to specify which unit to use as an evaluation unit. At the start of a sprint, when the "Start Sprint" button is pressed, the system records the total score for all tasks in the sprint pool.
At the end of the sprint, the system saves an estimate amount for all tasks that are completed, i.e. located in the far right column of the desktop. These data are reflected in the report.
Retrospective
Jira Software helps identify problems with various reports and tools.
The burndown chart can keep track of events in the sprint. The sprint report summarizes the sprint result. The Velocity chart shows how much work the team planned and completed. It is possible to create a desktop with various reporting tools that allow you to browse the situation and keep track of your work.