Agile project tracking - burn up charts

Agile project tracking
A gentle introduction to using burn-up charts to manage Agile projects

One question …

“Is my project on track?”

Yes
Target
date
Scope
Time

No
Target
date
Scope
Time

Yes
Today
Target
date
Predicted finish
Scope
Time

No
Today
Predicted finish
Target
date
Scope
Time

Easy …

… how do I make one of those?

completion of scope
plotted over time

Scope
Time
completion of scope
plotted over time

scope = story points*

*story point = estimation unit

time = iterations
*story point = estimation unit

iteration scope added

Scope
Time
iteration scope added

iteration scope completed

Scope
Time
iteration scope completed

Scope
Time
Iteration 1

Scope
Time
Iteration 1
Iteration 2

Scope
Time
Predicted trend
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Iteration 3
Iteration 4

do cross the beams!

Scope
Time

Scope
Time
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Iteration 3
Iteration 4

hurrah!

when lines go bad

Scope
Time
Target
date
Ahead of target

Scope
Time
Target
date
On target

Scope
Time
Target
date
Behind target

Scope
Time
Target
date
On target

Scope
Time
Off target
Target
date

Scope
Time
Scope trends too!
Target
date

Scope
Time
This project may never end!

What to do if the lines don’t meet?

have a conversation

of course …

… how do I get one again?

Scope your work in stories
Story: Add a big red button to the homepage

Estimate those stories
Estimate: 2 points

Track when a story is added
Estimate: 2 points
Iteration added: 1

Track when a story is done
Estimate: 2 points
Iteration added: 1
Iteration signed off: 3

Plot them on a chart
Estimate: 2 points
Iteration added: 1
Iteration signed off: 3

Scope
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Iteration 3
Iteration 4
Time

Mingle can do this too!

Don’t forget …

Scope
Time
Expect scope to grow …
So factor in a schedule buffer in your release plans

Agile teams test as they go …
If you’re not continuously testing in a production-like environment, expect to spend time testing and stabilizing at the end of the project

Capture all requirements as stories
Otherwise your chart won’t be showing you the whole picture

Development complete ≠ complete
A story doesn’t count as finished until it’s verified to be working in a production-like environment

There are still risks
Continue to track risks, issues and external dependencies(they’re not going away)

Mythical man-month
Predicting the impact on velocity of changes in team size is hard

Remember a team has velocity, not an individual

Further reading
http://www.xprogramming.com/xpmag/BigVisibleCharts.htm
http://alistair.cockburn.us/Earned-value+and+burn+charts
http://www.agilekiwi.com/agile_charts.htm
http://studios.thoughtworks.com/mingle-agile-project-management/2.2/help/creating_charts_and_tables_in_wiki_pages.html

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Agile project tracking - burn up charts

by jonnyleroy on Feb 01, 2011

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