Display Epics in the Sprint they are Due

[Michael Norman]

I would like to know if we can display the Epics in the sprint they are due just like any other task?  

So I would like to have a process that I can assign an Epic in the sprint that it should be completed by.  This way in the Sprint DoD I can have that all other stories and tasks should be completed by this point.  

The problem that I am having is that the DevOps side does not have good visibility with the Epic perspective.  They focus on the Kanban and backlog so much on the small tasks, that they forget that overall Epics need to be done by then.  So at times its they cannot see the forest because of the trees situation.  

We have an Epic Report, and we have a specific Epic Board.  But that is not direct line of sight for Developers and DevOps on the day to day operations.  Day to Day people are looking at My Work, Sprint Kanban, and the Sprint backlog.  So we are having a hard time keeping visibility that an Epic must be done in a specific Sprint and Time.  And that when an Epic is due in a Sprint that should be one of the main focus's to make sure the DoD and Acceptance Criteria for that Epic is done.

Epics show up in the release notes and that is great, but sometimes that is too late.  As a Project / Product Manager I need to make sure that specific Epics are completed in specific sprints to feed into our QA and UAT testing department.  But again developers and dev leads loose sight of this because they do not see Epics that are due in there normal work screens day by day.

Below is a MOCK UP of what I would love to see in the Sprint Backlog.

[Randy O_Neal]

I believe EasyAgile's User Story Map will give you 99% (or more) of everything you're looking for here.  You can visualize the epics in terms of sprints or fix versions, and you can do virtually anything you want regarding filtering things to get the desired results.

We've been using User Story Map since last summer, and it fills an important gap in Jira, namely a clean method for visualizing the entire hierarchy - from Initiatives to sub-tasks, and everything in-between.  You might find it useful too.

Randy

[Tenille _ Easy Agile]

Thanks for thinking of us @Randy O_Neal!

Hi @Michael Norman, Tenille here from Easy Agile. The app that Randy mentioned is one of ours, Easy Agile TeamRhythm.

The User Story Map in TeamRhythm displays epics across the top, with your stories and subtasks lined up beneath. You can configure a level of hierarchy above Epics also, so it's easy to see all the work in context.  

If you'd like to try a full working version online, you can visit our sandbox here: https://go.easyagile.com/TRdemo

The sandbox uses sample data so that you can see how the User Story Map works without needing to install anything.

But if you would like to see how the User Story Map could work for you with the way you've configured your work in Jira, you can find us on Marketplace and start a free trial for 30 days: https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1212078/?tab=overview&hosting=cloud

We're always happy to chat, so email us via hello@easyagile.com if you have any questions. 

Cheers

Tenille

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Michael Norman 

Jira doesn't support showing the Epics in the issue list in the Backlog screens of Scrum boards. Epics are instead displayed in a separate panel.

This is because Epics are not typically assigned to sprints.

If you want to provide a visual to the team for when Epics are due, have you considered using the basic Timeline feature for the board or the Advanced Roadmaps Plans feature?

[Michael Norman]

I will have to play around with the Timeline and Advance Roadmap. 

We have tried to use the side panel but for what we are doing it is inadequate.  For us we have Epics that are due at specific times or Sprints.  So Dev Ops can move the individual Stories and Tasks around sprints leading up to this deadline.  But the expectation is that by a set sprint the EPIC must be done.  This is to meet needs of both internal and external customers tided to those deliverables.  

And the process has broken down waiting to close Epics all in the last sprint of the release when we generate Release Notes.  So we are looking to make Epics more visible to more people and make them part of the daily standup Kanban review meeting.  

For us the Epic = Feature, and this feature can take many sprints to develop.  But for us Epics cannot indefinitely carry on and have a due date to close out.  

[Trudy Claspill]

You can, technically, assign the Epics to the sprint, but they won't be shown as cards in the backlog.

A card will be shown for the Epic on the board view, depending on how you set up your swimlanes.