Advice - User stories in Greenhopper sprints

[David Nunn]

Our company is an events, paper and digital publishing company (ie not specialist software house!).

We use JIRA and Greenhopper ondemand. We have numerous small, but often complex, projects.

Our problem is knowing how to use stories to best effect. Here's our workflow

• We create an epic on our Agile board for new segments of work. Usually in response to a new client requirement for a new or existing project
• Then we add stories for each client requirement. This is a great way for us to talk with our sales teams and define in detail exactly what clients require

• We then create tasks to achieve the client requirements
• And finally we prepare sprints blending work from all our current projects.

The problem is we don't really know what to do with the stories once we have created the tasks - they just seem to get in the way.

• Stories clog up the scrum board
• If they are included in the sprint, they distract worker from their tasks
• If they are left in the backlog, they clog up the backlog

Are we missing something?

Please can you suggest the best way for us to utilise stories in the life cycle?

[David Nunn]

Thank you! It's good to get someone else's perspective! I was on the understanding that stories and tasks have distinct purposes. Tasks are the practical steps to achieve outcomes (stories). While stories themselves show the value/ utility that has been created/achieved. So the ideal would be to know what stories have been achieved by the tasks completed within a sprint

[Timothy]

If that's the case, you don't add stories to the board. You have 2 boards. You can use the Script Runner (https://jamieechlin.atlassian.net/wiki/display/GRV/Script+Runner) add on to create validators on when you can resolve issues based on another issue.

[Timothy]

The main thing here is to do away with the Stories right? Either you resolve them or don't include them in the board.

What I can recommend is to do away with the Tasks and use Stories only. Create two boards. One board captures the 1st half of your process/workflow and the 2nd board captures the 2nd part of the workflow.