Next Sprint

This document outlines essential procedures for transitioning between sprints in Agile development. It covers closing out completed work, properly handling unfinished stories, maintaining accurate velocity metrics, and setting up for the next sprint. These practices ensure continuity, proper credit for work performed, and reliable velocity calculations for future sprint planning.

End-of-Sprint Activities

After all sprint meetings have concluded, several important activities must be performed to properly close the current sprint and prepare for the next one. These activities ensure that work is properly tracked, velocity is accurately measured, and the team is ready to begin the next sprint cycle.

Closing Completed Work

The first step is to properly close all completed work items:

1. Move all items from the “Done” column to the “Closed” column on the Kanban board
2. Close out the current sprint milestone in the project management tool
3. Ensure all completed stories are properly documented and associated with the closed milestone

Some project management tools such as ZenHub may automatically close sprints based on the end date, but others like GitHub require manual closure. Closing the milestone is essential to get proper credit for velocity on velocity charts.

Handling Unfinished Work

Not all planned work may be completed by the end of a sprint. There are two categories of unfinished work that require different handling:

Untouched Stories

For stories that were not started during the sprint:

1. Remove them from the current sprint milestone
2. Move them to the top of the product backlog
3. Do not automatically move them to the next sprint

This approach avoids making assumptions about priorities for the next sprint. Even though these stories were planned for the current sprint, business priorities may have changed, and new features or fixes may now take precedence.

Partially Completed Stories

For stories that were started but not completed:

1. Adjust the story size to reflect the work actually completed
2. Add appropriate labels or modify the description to indicate the story is incomplete
3. Close the story in the current sprint to get velocity credit for the work performed
4. Create a new story for the remaining work with appropriate story points
5. Place the new story in the product backlog for consideration in the next sprint

For example, if an 8-point story is half-completed, adjust it to 4 points and close it. Then create a new 4-point story for the remaining work. This ensures accurate velocity tracking while maintaining a record of all work.

Preparing for the Next Sprint

Once the current sprint is properly closed and all stories are appropriately handled, the team can prepare for the next sprint.

Creating a New Sprint Milestone

A new sprint milestone should be created either at the end of the current sprint or at the beginning of the next sprint planning meeting. This milestone will track all the work for the upcoming sprint.

Reviewing the Product Backlog

Before the next sprint planning meeting, ensure the product backlog is properly ordered by priority. This includes:

1. The newly created stories for remaining work from partially completed stories
2. The untouched stories from the previous sprint
3. Any new stories that have been added during the previous sprint

The product owner should review and reprioritize items as necessary to ensure the most important work is at the top of the backlog.

Maintaining Accurate Velocity

The proper handling of unfinished work is crucial for maintaining accurate velocity measurements. Accurate velocity helps teams:

1. Make realistic commitments for future sprints
2. Track improvement over time
3. Identify impediments or process issues affecting productivity

By closing stories with adjusted points in the current sprint and creating new stories for remaining work, teams can maintain an accurate record of how many story points they can typically complete in a sprint.

Conclusion

Proper end-of-sprint activities are essential for maintaining agile workflow continuity and accurate metrics. By correctly closing completed work, handling unfinished stories appropriately, and preparing for the next sprint, teams can ensure they receive credit for completed work while maintaining reliable velocity measurements. These practices contribute to better sprint planning, more accurate forecasting, and continuous improvement in the development process.

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