Scrum burndown chart

Key features of Scrum Burndown Chart

A Scrum burndown chart visualizes, tracks, and forecasts the work scope delivered by one or several Scrum teams (defined by one or multiple Scrum Boards).

With our burndown chart for Jira Scrum Boards, you get forecasts built automatically based on the past minimum, average, and maximum velocity:

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How different roles use burndown charts in Scrum

✅ Scrum Master: We often look at the amount of remaining work - in this way, we can spot backlog scope creep immediately. This affects our commitments, which can instantly be seen by forecasts moving further and further into the future. All such information is a great starting point for the conversation with our Product Manager.

✅ Product Manager: I have commitments for different stakeholders, be it marketing, sales, or executives. Usually, this comes in the form of “we need this functionality by this date.” With the forecasting of scope completion dates, I can adjust the scope and see how forecasted completion dates automatically move to the safe zone.

✅ Release Train Engineer (Program Manager): I work in a SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) organisation on one huge software product. I have dozens of Scrum teams united under the umbrella of the Release Train. I need to track and forecast both the delivery of huge products and the delivery of smaller parts of it; therefore, having one Jira Dashboard with a number of charts for different goals is like conducting an orchestra for me.

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Key feature - Automatic forecasts

Get forecasts automatically created based on the historical velocity in already completed sprints on the chart:

• minimum velocity
• average velocity
• maximum velocity

📊 How to read the chart: From the scrum burndown chart example above, we derive that for the last 6 sprints (1️⃣) average velocity was 38.6 story points (2️⃣). For the given average velocity, it will take 7 sprints (3️⃣) to deliver the remaining scope of work. In other words, the team will deliver the scope by 08/09/2024 (4️⃣).

The Automatic Forecast feature is useful for:

• Planning delivery dates based on the historical velocity of one or multiple Scrum teams
• Communicating pessimistic, realistic, and optimistic scenarios to stakeholders
• Identifying delivery risks early

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Key feature - DIY forecasting scenarios

Create your forecasting scenarios by specifying:

• Velocity - answers the question “By what date would a team deliver a scope if the velocity is the following?”
• Desired completion date - answers the question “what should be the team’s velocity to deliver by the given date?”

Key feature - Remaining work growth modelling

Work backlog is not static, it’s growing all the time.

• The remaining work growth modelling chart example shows the scenario of the scope growth by X story points for each future sprint:

• Another option is to specify a custom backlog size and see how forecasts change:

Key feature - Delivery planning with deadlines in mind

If there is a deadline, then it’s good to have it visualized on the chart:

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What about native Scrum burndown chart in Jira

There is no built-in functionality in Jira to create a burndown chart for any work scope (you can build only a burnup and a burndown chart for a sprint).

With the Scrum Burndown Chart gadget from this interactive example, you can:

• Build the burndown chart for any work scope from the Scrum Boards
• See the chart as a gadget on your Jira Dashboard

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Advantages of using Scrum burndown graph for Jira Dashboard

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• Multitude of forecasting scenarios
• Ability to build an aggregated Scrum burndown chart for multiple Scrum teams
• Ability to create multiple side-by-side charts on Jira Dashboard
• Rich work scope filtering options: by epics, initiatives, issue types, or custom JQL
• Work breakdowns to analyze the history of future work scopes

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Apps used in this Scrum Burndown Chart example

Use our examples to build your use cases on the Jira Dashboard.

Both apps used in these examples have a 30-day free trial and are completely free for teams under 10 people:

• Burnup Burndown Charts
• Agile Reports and Gadgets

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is burndown chart in Scrum?

A burndown chart in Scrum is a term often referred to by two types of charts:

• Sprint burndown chart - the report used in Scrum to track the team’s progress in a sprint.
• Scrum burndown chart - the report used to track and forecast the progress of a team towards completion of the work scope, bigger than a sprint scope.

2. How can I add the “Agile Burnup Burndown Charts” gadget to my Jira Dashboard?

When the app is installed, open your Jira Dashboard and search for the gadget named “Agile Burnup Burndown Charts”:

3. Can I use estimation units other than story points?

Yes, the app supports any numeric Jira field. Here are a few examples of estimation units that you can use:

• Issue count
• Story points
• Epic points
• Time estimates

4. How can I see Jira issues that contribute to the Agile Scrum Burndown Chart?

Just click on any section of the chart, and you’ll see the list of contributing Jira issues:

5. How can I get more information about different types of work?

That’s where our 2-dimensional breakdown feature comes into play. Just a few examples of what can be used in breakdowns:

• Issue types
• Jira projects
• Teams
• Assignees
• Releases