Sprints, epics and board reports

When to use sprints

A sprint is a fixed period in which a team commits to a set of cards. Boards in PGB Business have a Backlog view for planning, and sprints are switched on in board settings by the board owner. You can use boards without sprints for continuous flow work and add sprints when you want a regular rhythm.

Plan a sprint

1. Open your board and switch to Backlog. You see Backlog (no sprint) and any sprints.
2. Choose Plan a sprint.
3. Give it a Name (leave it empty to get "Sprint 1", "Sprint 2" and so on) and a Goal that answers "What should be true when it ends?"
4. Set Starts and Ends dates, or leave them empty. Without dates, a sprint starts the day you start it and lasts two weeks.
5. Choose Plan sprint.

Drag cards from the backlog into the sprint. Each group header shows the number of cards, the total points and how many are done.

Start and finish

Choose Start on a planned sprint. Only one sprint can be active at a time, so finish the current one first. While it runs, the active sprint is highlighted as Sprint in progress.

When the work is over, choose Finish sprint. A dialog tells you how many cards and points are done and asks Where should the unfinished cards go?

• Back to the backlog
• Into another planned sprint
• Into a new sprint

If everything is done it simply says so. Deleting a sprint sends its cards back to the backlog.

Epics

Use the Epics view to group cards under a bigger goal such as "Online shop launch". Make a New epic, then give cards an epic from the card panel. Open an epic to Show its cards, and filter the board by epic.

Story points

Story points are relative sizes, not hours. A card of 3 should be roughly three times a card of 1. Add them in the card panel; the backlog and sprint headers add them up. Keep the scale simple and use it consistently.

Reports

The Reports view has seven reports:

• Burndown: how much work is left each day against a steady pace.
• Velocity: planned and finished points for the last six sprints. The average is a fair guide for planning the next one.
• Cards by column: cards in each column per day. A growing middle band means work is piling up.
• Workload: open cards and points per person.
• Overdue: open cards past their due date.
• Cycle time: days from added to done, and from started to done.
• Time logged: time logged on the board's cards, by person, card and epic. The board owner sees everyone's time; others see their own.

Automatic status changes

Board owners can open Board settings, then Developer tools, to link commits, pull requests and builds to cards with a card key. Optional automations include moving a card when a pull request is opened or merged, marking it complete when merged, and adding a red "build-failing" label when a build fails. These are optional and off until you switch them on.

Sprint review checklist

1. Open the Burndown report and note what slipped.
2. Choose Finish sprint and move leftovers deliberately.
3. Check Velocity before planning the next sprint.