Backlog Insights - Total Complete is never less than 100%

Question

Company managed Jira Cloud. It's Gov Cloud if that makes any difference.

On the Backlog Insights > Sprint Commitment > Total Complete, I've found a couple of examples where it is over 100% because the team completed more points than they committed to at the start of the sprint. However, I've yet to find an instance across any of my teams where it was less than 100%, even when I know that they completed less than they committed to. In some cases, the stories were moved out before closing the sprint. In other cases, the stories were moved as part of closing the sprint. In both cases, the % complete should be less than 100%, but it never is. How is that being calculated?

Anwesha Pan · Accepted Answer

Hi @charliesobel 👋🏻

First of all, welcome to community! ✨

If you need the true Committed vs. Delivered percentage (which preserves the Day 1 planning baseline regardless of carryover or removals), you can use either of the below reports:

* Jira Velocity Report:* Go to Reports —> Velocity Report.
* It locks in the commitment baseline at the exact second the Scrum Master clicks "Start Sprint".
* Even if 15 points are moved out to the backlog or next sprint at close, the Commitment column remains at the original value, accurately showing e.g. 20 completed / 30 committed (66.7%).

* Sprint Report / Burnup Chart:* Look at the bottom table under "Issues not completed" and "Issues removed from sprint".
* It lists the exact point values that were dropped.

I hope this helps. 🙂

Thanks,

Anwesha

Project Commander · Accepted Answer

Atlassian's page on backlog insights doesn't say how Total complete is worked out, so I can't give you its formula. What is on record is that the card's two numbers aren't counted the same way: Atlassian's own bug JRACLOUD-90366 showed the commitment ignoring the board filter while the completed figure honoured it.

The Sprint Report on the same board separates both of your cases. Stories taken out before the close are listed under Issues Removed From Sprint, stories moved on at the close sit under Issues Not Completed, and anything added after the start carries an asterisk. Add up all three lists, leave out every asterisked item, and that is what was committed at the start. Completed points without asterisks, divided by that, is the percentage you expected.

Disclosure: I built Project Commander, an app on the Atlassian Marketplace. Its Sprints tab reads a closed sprint as "Delivered 32 of 40", counting work carried into the next sprint as committed but not done, which covers your second case. It doesn't count stories removed before the close, and most Marketplace apps aren't offered on Government Cloud, so the Sprint Report is still your answer.