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Version: 25.0

Using Tasks to Breakdown Stories or Backlog Items

This article explains how to use tasks to breakdown stories or backlog items in Agility.

Overview

Tasks can be used to break down a backlog item into manageable units to be worked by the development team. They are typically created during the sprint planning process. Tasks can vary in size based on the development team's experience and the sprint length, but a range of 2 hours to 2 days of effort is often considered an appropriate task size. Tasks can have one or more owners, which allows assignments to an individual or a group of team members.

Reporting at the sprint or project level includes those totals only once for the task.

Tracking Tasks

Task tracking typically involves updating the following core aspects:

  • Owner - you can sign up for a task you are taking on
  • Status - update the status to reflect tasks that are in progress or completed
  • To Do - how many hours remain on the task
  • Effort or Done - (Optional based on configuration) you enter how much Effort was expended since the last update; Done reflects an accumulation of all entered Effort

Task owners can track the status of tasks from the following locations within Digital.ai Agility:

  • TeamRooms
  • Detail Tracking
  • Taskboard
  • My Work

Close a task that has been completed and has no remaining work. Closed tasks are filtered out of tracking pages by default, so this helps to keep your views clean and focused on what's left.

Reports

Task details can be viewed in the following reports:

  • Detail Estimate Trend Report
  • Member Actuals Report
  • Member Load Trend Report
  • Project or Release Burndown Report
  • Quicklist Reports
  • Sprint or Iteration Dashboard Report

Acceptance tests

Working with defects

Managing stories backlog items

Managing stories backlog items

Detail tracking

View tasks on taskboard

Using My Work page

Product

Sprint or iteration planning

TeamRoom basics

Detail estimate trend report

Member actuals report

Member load trend report

Projec or release burndown report

Quicklist reports

Sprint or iteration dashboard report

Why did I receive a type error when converting a story to defect and defect to story

Planning

Acceptance tests

Why can't I edit a story

Why can't some members or users see stories

Backlog goals or objectives

Backlog groups

Programs

Managing budgets

Retrospectives

Regression tests

Regression planning

Roadmapping

Strategic themes overview

Teams feature administration

Test sets