How to Handle an Incomplete Sprint Item

We all love an idol scenario where sprints backlogs are groomed, sprints are planned, estimated and delivered on time. But sometimes it happens that an item is left incomplete at the end of sprint.

Sprint delivery depends on stakeholders ,product owners and development teams. Many factors can cause an incomplete item at the end of sprint. What should be done in such a case?

A Sprint Item to Be Moved Forward:

When you are at the end of a sprint and an item could not be closed then what should be done? This can happen due to any reason, for example a team-member being sick or late delivery of an item on which it depended.

Well now its up to the product owner to decide what has to be done. It surely is to be moved forward in the sprints but still a decision has to be made.

Solution:

1- Prioritize the Item: Since the sprint is complete, the product owner should prioritize the item again based on its important at the time of project. May be the project is at a stage where that item no longer serves to the scope of the project. In such a case the item’s priority can be re-analyzed.

2-Move the Item Forward: There are two options to move the incomplete item forward:

2.1. Move the whole item. This is preferred if the item is being moved to the very next sprint. Then move the exact same item, as team is familiar with it.

2.2. Split the item. This is preferred when you plan to move the left work to backlog. This item will now be picked up sometime in future sprints. Since its for future sprint, its better to create new item, as there may be new members in the team at that time and it will be easier for them to handle an independent item.

3-Does Team Earn Points for That Item: Points of an item are used to calculate velocity credit of a team at the end of each sprint. Since in this case an item is not completed, the question is does the team get points for it?

• If the item is being carried to immediate next sprint, its likely that team gets none of the points in current sprint and all in the next one. In this way they will have extra points in the next sprint when they complete the item.
• If the item has been split, then it can be such that team takes half or all of the points in the current sprint and new points are assigned to the new item.

NOTE: In sprint retrospective always try and find out what caused this delay. You may not find a root cause in some cases but in some you may. And if you find a root cause, it can be used to take preventative measures for future sprints.