Skip to content

Agile Steps

Jira for Scrum Masters

TOOLS

  • Jira: A project management tool for agile teams.
  • Atlassian Confluence: A collaboration tool used for documentation and knowledge sharing.

Topics & Definitions

Company Managed Projects

  • Definition: A “company managed project” in Jira refers to a project specifically configured for agile scrum teams, providing essential features like sprint boards and backlogs.
  • Key Points:
    • Ideal setup for agile scrum.
    • Essential features: sprint board, backlog.
    • Contrast with standard business projects (lack of agility).
    • Recommendation: Prioritize company-managed projects.

Backlog & Sprint Planning

  • Definition: The “backlog” is a prioritized list of work items (user stories) that the team will address during a sprint. Sprint planning is the process of selecting items from the backlog to be included in the sprint.
  • Key Points:
    • Sprint planning meetings (1-4 hours)
    • Objective: Plan the sprint
    • Daily review of the backlog.
    • Selecting items from the backlog and moving them into the sprint.

Grooming Sessions & Refinement

  • Definition: A “grooming session” is a meeting where the product owner and the team refine the backlog items, clarifying requirements, estimating effort, and ensuring they are ready for sprint planning.
  • Key Points:
    • Product owner guides refinement.
    • Clarify requirements and estimates.
    • Ensure backlog items are ready for sprint planning.

Story Point Estimation

  • Definition: Story points are a relative unit of measure used to estimate the effort required to complete a user story. They are based on complexity, risk, and effort, rather than time.
  • Key Points:
    • Estimating work during sprint planning.
    • Using story points (relative measure).
    • Discussion around points per story.

Assigning Issues & Workload Management

  • Definition: Assigning issues means assigning responsibility for specific user stories to individual team members within the Jira project.
  • Key Points:
    • Assigning issues to team members.
    • Ensuring equal workload distribution.
    • Using the workload summary view to monitor team capacity.

Jira Insights - Sprint Progress

  • Definition: Jira Insights is a feature that uses historical data to provide insights into team performance, helping scrum masters identify potential issues and optimize sprint planning.
  • Key Points:
    • Analyzing sprint progress based on historical data.
    • Identifying potential over or under-commitment.
    • Using insights to adjust sprint capacity.

Sprint Start & Issue Movement

  • Definition: Starting a sprint in Jira involves moving issues from the backlog into the sprint column, initiating the sprint workflow.
  • Key Points:
    • Moving issues from the backlog to the sprint.
    • Initiating the sprint workflow.

Daily Scrum & Impediment Management

  • Definition: The daily scrum is a short, daily meeting where the team discusses progress, identifies impediments, and plans for the day.
  • Key Points:
    • Monitoring team progress during the daily scrum.
    • Identifying and addressing impediments.
    • Using “blocked” issues to track and resolve roadblocks.

Sprint Review & Burn Down Chart

  • Definition: The sprint review is a meeting where the team demonstrates the completed work to stakeholders and gathers feedback. The burn-down chart is a visual representation of the work remaining in a sprint.
  • Key Points:
    • Review completed work with stakeholders.
    • Analyze burn-down chart to track sprint progress.

Velocity Chart & Sprint Reporting

  • Definition: The velocity chart is a metric that measures the amount of work a team can complete in a sprint. Sprint reporting is the process of generating reports on sprint progress.
  • Key Points:
    • Analyzing team velocity to predict future sprints.
    • Using burn-down charts for sprint reporting.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Achieving efficient agile workflows with Jira requires selecting company-managed projects, prioritizing backlog refinement, and diligently tracking progress through burn-down charts and sprint reports.