Working with Multiple Sprints in an Agile Project

In projects or programs following the Scrum framework, you have to work with multiple Sprints. While working with multiple Sprints, as a hands-on user, you have to know certain intricacies and important points, without which your tracking and monitoring can be confusing. A number of Agile practitioners are also not aware how to track multiple Sprints with ease. In this article, we will see how to use multiple Sprints using the hands-on software tool of MS Project 2019 Agile.

The content of this course has been taken from my new course:

Mastering MS Project 2019 Agile

Similar concepts, in a more advanced way, will be applicable while going with Hybrid-Agile projects. However, in a Hybrid-Agile (or Hybrid-Scrum), you have to manage both the traditional and Agile parts, and hence, a much advanced understanding is needed. To learn how to build a Hybrid-Scrum project, you can use the advanced certification of Certified Hybrid-Agile Master course.

Now, let’s see how to manage multiple Sprints with a live project. I’ll be following the below steps:

• Complete one Sprint (Sprint N)
• Build on the next Sprint (Sprint N+1)
• Visualize the next Sprint 
• Track the next Sprint
• Conclusion 

Complete One Sprint (Sprint N)

In the below project, I’ve planned for three Sprints using MS Project Agile features. The Agile features are available in MS Project Online Desktop Client. 

The Sprints planned for this project are shown below.

 The three Sprints (each two-weeks duration) are:

• Sprint 1: From Monday 9th Sept, 22 to Sunday 25th Sept, 22
• Sprint 2: From Monday 26th Sept, 22 to Sunday 9th Oct, 22
• Sprint 3: From Monday 10th Oct, 22 to Sunday 23rd Oct, 22

Currently, we are mid-Sprint for Sprint 1 and the status date is set as Friday 16th Sept, 22. As on this date, we have the following percentage complete for this project in the Gantt Chart view. (Double click to have an enlarged view.)

As shown in the above figure:

• There are three feature items in Sprint 1, “Login to the online trading system”, “Create a new user”, and “Edit an existing user”. The “Feature” custom flag field has been enabled for all these features. 
• These features are 100%, 50% and 10% complete respectively.
• A number of Daily Scrums are also complete.
• The event of Sprint Planning is complete as on the status date.

Do note that I've change the calculation option for the project temporarily to "off" state. When you set it on, the cumulative % complete value will be shown to you properly. 

This can also be seen by going to the Current Sprint Board view by going to Sprint Tools > Sprints tab > Views group > Sprint > Current Sprint Board command. (Double click to have an enlarged view.)

As the Sprint 1 nears closure, we will close the tasks in the Sprint. For that:

• We have to close all the Daily Scrums.
• The features that we have completed (in our case, we have completed all features).
• The other Scrum events such as Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospectives will also be closed.

After we close all the tasks, the Current Sprint Sheet view will come as shown below. You can go to this view from Sprint Tools > Sprints tab > Views group > Sprint > Current Sprint Sheet command. To close the items in the Sprint 1, you have to simply drag and drop the items. 

Build on the Next Sprint (Sprint N+1)

Next, we are going to build-up on the next Sprint, which in our case is Sprint 2. However, there are some important changes involved.

Before building on Sprint 2, I’ll rename the following ones:

• Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, Sprint Retro and Daily Scrum. All will be appended with “1” in their names. 
• This way, when we add other Sprints, we can distinguish among multiple Sprints. For example, for Sprint 2, I’ll have all the Scrum events appended with “2” in the task names.

To know how to build the Sprint Backlog in a step-by-step manner, you can refer to this article: Building A Sprint Backlog with All Scrum Events in MS Project Agile.

Now I’ll build the next Sprint (Sprint 2) and add the respective Scrum events and the resources. After I add the Scrum events, the Gantt Chart view will come as shown below.

As shown above:

• We have two features – “Buy a stock” and “Sell a stock” in this Sprint 2.
• We have added all the Scrum events. Each one is distinguished by the Sprint name, because of our changed naming conventions.

Note: From the beginning you can have a naming convention for the Scrum event matching the Sprint names. However, as we started with the basic one, I’ve changed later for Sprint 2 and a similar naming convention will be applicable for subsequent Sprints.

Visualize the Next Sprint

Next, we can visualize the Sprint 2, which is our current Sprint. However, for that again you have to change the current date/status date.

As you change the dates, the Sprint 2 becomes the Current Sprint and hence, now it can be visualized in the Current Sprint Board view.

 This also can be in the Current Sprint Sheet view for Sprint 2 as shown below.

Track the Next Sprint

Finally, we have to track the Current Sprint (Sprint 2). For that again we will change the Status Date to a date within the Sprint 2 and do the tracking. 

The status date can be set by going to the Project tab > Status group > Status Date command. I’ll change the status date to Friday 30th Sept, 22, which is the end of the first week of the Sprint.

Also, remember that when you track, track the Sprint items in the Board Views. 

As shown in the above figure, for Sprint 2:

• A number of Daily Scrums are completed.
• The feature “Buy a stock” has been completed.
• The next feature “Sell a stock” is currently in progress and so on.

The tracking information, the cumulative % complete for the Sprint 2 can be seen in the Current Sprint Sheet view. 

If you switch to the Sprint Planning Board view, it will have information for all the Sprints and you’ll have the following visualization. You can go to this view from Sprint Tools > Sprints tab > Views group > Planning > Sprint Planning Board command.

Interpreting the above figure, one can say:

• Sprint 1 column is empty, because this Sprint is complete.
• Sprint 2 is currently under progress. 
• Sprint 3 is yet to start-off as we have just two features without any Scrum events.

Conclusion

With MS Project Agile, you can plan, work, manage and track as many Sprints as you want. Many Agile practitioners are not aware of the complete functionalities available. Hence, they find it difficult (and sometimes even fear!) to operate with MS Project with its Agile features.

I hope with this article, you received a fair idea on how to work with multiple Sprints. You can plan, build and manage as many Sprints as you want and move towards the end goal of your Agile project.

References

[1] NEW Online Course: Mastering MS Project 2019 Agile (Scrum and Kanban), by Satya Narayan Dash 

[2] NEW Certification Course: Certified Hybrid-Agile Master with MS Project, by Satya Narayan Dash