Sprints

A sprint is a fixed stretch of time, often one or two weeks, in which the team commits to a set of items. Projects made from the Software · Scrum template use sprints from the start. Project admins can turn sprints on or off for any project in Settings → General → Features.

The Sprints tab#

The Sprints tab lists the project’s sprints by state, Active, Planned and Completed, each with its dates and how much of it is done (in points when the project uses estimates, otherwise in items).

Select a sprint to open its page: its state and dates, its goal, Start sprint or Complete sprint, its burndown, and its items grouped by status category. On wider windows the list and the sprint’s page sit side by side.

Create a sprint#

Select Create sprint in the Sprints tab or the Backlog. Any member of the channel who isn’t a guest can create one. The new sprint is named for you, Sprint 1, Sprint 2 and so on, in your language. Creating a sprint needs a connection.

Plan a sprint#

Put items into a planned sprint before it starts:

In the Backlog, drag items into the sprint, or use Move to on an item’s row. See Boards and the backlog.
In an item’s Details, set its Sprint field.

Start a sprint#

Project admins start a sprint with Start sprint on the sprint’s page or in the Backlog.

Check the dates. They start as today and the project’s sprint length, which project admins set in Settings → General.
Add a Sprint goal (optional): what the team means to achieve in this sprint.
Select Start sprint.

Only one sprint can be active at a time: complete the active sprint before starting another.

Backlog items move onto the board#

The Board shows only the statuses its columns hold. When a sprint starts, its items that are still in a backlog status (such as Backlog) move to the first status on the board, usually To do, so they show on the Board straight away. The start dialog says how many items will move, for example “3 items in the backlog move to To do, so they show on the board.”

Some items may stay where they are: when their workflow has no status on the board, or its rules don’t allow the move. The dialog says how many, and the sprint still starts. Each move shows in the item’s history, ending with “when Sprint 7 started”, and sends no notifications.

Complete a sprint#

Project admins complete the active sprint with Complete sprint. The dialog shows how much is done and asks where the open items should go:

The next sprint, if one is planned, or a new one if none is;
A new sprint;
The backlog.

Done and cancelled items stay with the completed sprint. Afterwards a summary shows how much the team completed of what it committed to, and where the open items went.

The day before a sprint ends, project admins and everyone with open items in it get a Sprint ends tomorrow notification. See Work notifications.

Sprint reports#

The Reports tab, on a computer and the web, has two sprint reports:

Burndown: the work remaining in a sprint day by day, against an ideal line, with markers on days when items were added or removed. It shows the active sprint, or any started sprint you pick from the menu. It starts when the sprint starts, and its daily figures are recorded each night.
Velocity: what the team committed to and completed in each of the last six completed sprints, with the average.

Each chart has Show as a table to read the numbers. Reports need a connection.