Closing a Sprint
This article explains how to close a Sprint in Agility.
Overview
All items within a sprint should be complete (or Closed) before you close the Sprint itself. This topic explains best practices and provides instructions on how to close a sprint within the system.
What Happens When You Close a Sprint
After a sprint is closed, the sprint is essentially locked down so no future changes can be made. This also removes active items from each member's My Work page.
Option 1. Closing a Sprint on the Close Sprint Page
To close a sprint, your Admin Privileges role must be set to Project Lead or higher and your Project role must be set to Team Member or higher.
- Click the hamburger menu
> Sprint > Close Sprint. - Select a project in the Project Navigator.
- Select the sprint you want to close from the Sprint drop-down list.
- Optionally, select a team from the Team drop-down list.
- The Remaining items in the Backlog grid lists any pending open items. Choose any of these options to empty the sprint:
| If you want to... | Then... |
|---|---|
| Close one or more items | 1. Click Quick Close next to the item you want to close, or 2. Select all items, and then click Quick Close by selecting an appropriate option from the drop-down (Close, Move to Project, Move to Team, Move to Sprint and so on). Closing a story or a defect zeros out all remaining To Dos for it and closes any tasks and tests associated with it. |
| If there are any open (not yet started) items | You can move them to another sprint: 1. Select each item (or all items). 2. Drag them to the Next Sprint panel at the top of the page. Moving a story or defect moves all of its associated tasks and tests. Any Effort (Done) expended against items while in the sprint still remains attached to the current sprint for reporting purposes. |
| If there are any incomplete work items (started, but not complete) | In situations where significant progress has been made and some portion of the functionality has been delivered, you can split the story to separate the 'completed' portion of the story from the remaining work and move the remaining work to the next sprint. You can allocate the relative portion of the story estimate so that each sprint gets its appropriate portion of the story estimate to count in its velocity. 1. To split a workitem, click Quick Close >** Split**. 2. From the Split page, modify the details as necessary, and then click Split. 3. By clicking Edit, you can also make any additional changes, and then click Save. (Note that fields highlighted in yellow are pending until you click Save). |
Option 2. Close a Sprint from the Sprint Scheduling Page
- Click the hamburger menu > Sprint > Sprint Scheduling.
- Select a project in the Project Navigator.
- Locate the sprint you want to close.
- Click Edit > Close.
How to Close a Sprint with Incomplete Work Items
It is not recommended that you extend sprint dates because it breaks the team's rhythm and makes future planning more difficult. This is a fairly common issue for Agile practitioners. The general philosophy is "if it's not done, it doesn't count".
This leaves you with two options:
- Move Unfinished Stories to the Next Sprint
- Split Open Stories
Splitting should not become a common practice. If your team feels the desire to split stories too often, it could be a sign that your stories are too big.