How can I work on backlog work without commiting to it?

Question

When one of my teams finishes their sprint work and goes to bring in extra work from the backlog, it ends up screwing up my burn down since it increases the total amount of committed work.

Is there a way to reflect this work was not committed to?

I currently have them do the work and keep it in the backlog until it's completed and then move it in, but that doesn't seem like the proper way to do it either since once it's completed the committed work goes up again.

What's the accepted practice here?

Warren_mz9b4z · Accepted Answer

Ask 3 people and you'll get 3 different answers ;-)

I don't know that there is a good practice, apart from trying to be so accurate that you don't need to bring anything in, which isn't useful advice.

I build my own burndown chart, with an extra (usually horizontal) line showing the committed value. If we then bring in another item, that line will go up on the day it came in and similarly if we remove anything. That way we are clearly showing changes in commitment