How should I read/interpret a SCRUM Burndown graph? [closed]

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Intro: I have been trying to introduce SCRUM into our company. Getting into this subject I noticed the SCRUM burndown chart. I want to extract some information about the team performance, or maybe the ability to make a correct guess of the workload.

Question: I know what the ideal line is on this chart. But how should I interpret any dis-alignments?

To make it a bit more concrete:

• What does it mean when its above ideal?
• What does it mean when its below ideal?
• What does it mean when its oscillates around ideal?

And:

• Does it say more about the team's performance, or more about the way the workload of the work-items are determined?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The burndown shows how the tasks planned during sprint planning are progressing. The team would have discussed,estimated and committed to the user stories they can complete in the sprint.

What does it mean when its above ideal? This means the team is unable to burn enough tasks (complete enough tasks) so that all the tasks committed during sprint planning can be completed. This can be due to various reasons: - Too much work committed during sprint planning. - The team has impediments and cannot progress further with the user stories until the blockers are resolved. - There might be chances that the team is being asked to do adhoc tasks that are not planned during sprint planning.

What does it mean when its below ideal? The team is able to complete the tasks faster than planned. So they can take more user stories. However need to ensure if the entire Dod is completed and the user stories are really DONE.

What does it mean when its oscillates around ideal? - The team has been able to estimate the user stories that they can complete in the sprint with pretty much accuracy.

Answer 2

The Scrum burndown simply shows how much work is left at a point in time.

As a very general rule:

If you're above the ideal line, you have too much work and/or not enough time left. You should consider taking some work out of the sprint.

If you're below the ideal line, you have too little work and/or too much time. You should consider taking on extra work.