Comments on Scrum Breakfast: Towards a better burn down chart

Hi "Unknown" I came real close to calli...

2012-02-02T13:02:18.165+01:00

Hi "Unknown"

I came real close to calling the last comment spam. But I have a weakness for two guys posting something on the web for free :-).

The demo doesn't show how to handle scope changes. I think it important to distinguish between progress made by the team (burn-down) and changes made by the product owner.

For some thoughts on whether to use electronic or tangible tools, check out my "Rock, Paper, Scissors"articles on the relative merits of various approaches. For a list of tools, see Directory of Scrum Management Tools

I think it's better to use online tools for th...

2012-01-22T00:13:52.794+01:00

I think it's better to use online tools for that so it's easier to share with teammates and managers.

For the rest we like to use real boards and post-its.

Try this one
http://www.burndown-charts.com

This is what a chart looks like:
http://www.burndown-charts.com/teams/dreamteam/sprints/demo

Isn't it simpler?

I'm a lecturer and the students find this much...

2011-02-25T16:56:46.525+01:00

I'm a lecturer and the students find this much easier to understand - and so do I!

Thanks for posting the answer!

2009-07-10T14:43:23.152+02:00

Thanks for posting the answer!

nevermind, in Excel (2007 at least) you can right-...

2009-07-10T14:13:37.498+02:00

nevermind, in Excel (2007 at least) you can right-click on the chart, choose "Select Data Source" and then click on "Hidden and Empty Cells" to tell it to fill the line in when data is missing.

how did you get excel to draw the "ideal line...

2009-07-10T14:08:45.900+02:00

how did you get excel to draw the "ideal line" by only providing the start/end point? when i opened the XLS file you provided the ideal line wasn't showing so I had to go fill in the numbers.

Thanks for the files, and for checking out my blog...

2008-11-07T21:28:00.000+01:00

Thanks for the files, and for checking out my blog.

My food blog is somewhat unrelated to my job as a software engineering manager, although I tend to use an inordinate number of "pizza" references when doing product demonstrations :-)

Cheers,

James

Hi James,

Sure!

The original
2008-11-07T21:24:00.000+01:00
Hi James,

Sure!

The original Better Burn Down Chart in OpenOffice .ODT format as well as an exported .XLS file are now online for download.

BTW - Your blog looks delicious! Do you use Scrum for cooking, or what's the connection?

Hi Peter,

Can you please provide a sample E...

2008-11-07T19:56:00.000+01:00

Hi Peter,

Can you please provide a sample Excel file that builds a chart like the one you're talking about?

Thanks for posting on this topic. My team is asking for this information to be displayed in the burndown chart, and I think you've got a great solution here.

Best,

James

Hi Mark,

Changes in scope are shown by vert...

2008-10-19T12:41:00.000+02:00

Hi Mark,

Changes in scope are shown by vertical lines on the chart. Velocity is represented as the slope of the (non-vertical) lines connecting the sprints.

So you can clearly see changes in scope and changes in velocity.

The total impact of the changes in scope is simply the (vector) sum of the height of the vertical lines.

You are correct that the chart does not show the cause of anything, only the impact of scope and velocity changes. So you see what questions to ask.

Cheers,
Peter

There's a problem with that kind of chart though: ...

2008-10-18T18:47:00.000+02:00

There's a problem with that kind of chart though: when you do a post mortem, you can't easily say whether the cause of the slow/fast rate was increased speed of the team or changes in scope. In some situations, changes in scope do happen and that needs to be accounted for. That's why the changing baseline and changing 100% lines were proposed.

But if you can guarantee 100% that the scope of the project will not change over time, then I guess the one you proposed above will do.

And again :-) - I just wish I knew whom to say 'th...

2008-10-13T13:45:00.000+02:00

And again :-) - I just wish I knew whom to say 'thank you' to!

thanks, it is really a best way of managing the sc...

2008-10-13T13:30:00.000+02:00

thanks, it is really a best way of managing the scope changes! I like it a lot.

:-) - Thank you, Srikanth!

Peter

2008-10-07T21:41:00.000+02:00

:-) - Thank you, Srikanth!

Peter

Thanks Peter. Burn down chart proposed seems more...

2008-10-07T21:14:00.000+02:00

Thanks Peter. Burn down chart proposed seems more intuitive than other options I read about. I am, at present, doing some reading in order to introduce agile steps in my project. You article helped me a great deal!.

Regards,
Srikanth

Comments on Scrum Breakfast: Towards a better burn down chart

Hi "Unknown" I came real close to calli...

I think it's better to use online tools for th...

I'm a lecturer and the students find this much...

Thanks for posting the answer!

nevermind, in Excel (2007 at least) you can right-...

how did you get excel to draw the "ideal line...

Thanks for the files, and for checking out my blog...

Hi James,Sure! The original 2008-11-07T21:24:00.000+01:00 Hi James,Sure! The original Better Burn Down Chart in OpenOffice .ODT format as well as an exported .XLS file are now online for download.BTW - Your blog looks delicious! Do you use Scrum for cooking, or what's the connection?

Hi Peter,Can you please provide a sample E...

Hi Mark,Changes in scope are shown by vert...

There's a problem with that kind of chart though: ...

And again :-) - I just wish I knew whom to say 'th...

thanks, it is really a best way of managing the sc...

:-) - Thank you, Srikanth!Peter

Thanks Peter. Burn down chart proposed seems more...

Hi James,

Sure!

The original
2008-11-07T21:24:00.000+01:00
Hi James,

Sure!

The original Better Burn Down Chart in OpenOffice .ODT format as well as an exported .XLS file are now online for download.

BTW - Your blog looks delicious! Do you use Scrum for cooking, or what's the connection?

Hi Peter,

Can you please provide a sample E...

Hi Mark,

Changes in scope are shown by vert...

:-) - Thank you, Srikanth!

Peter