What Should You Do with Spillover Work in Scrum?
Instead of focusing on scope, the team should focus on flow, on achieving their Sprint Goals and delivering value every Sprint.
When using Scrum, spillover work, also known as carryover work, refers to product backlog items from the Sprint Backlog that were not completed during the Sprint and must be carried over to the next one.
This can happen for various reasons, and handling it well ensures continuous value delivery and improvement of team performance.
1. Focus on the Sprint Goal
The Sprint Backlog contains the Sprint Goal, the commitment for the Sprint, the single most important objective to be met, and the forecast of the work needed to achieve it.
While each product backlog item in the Sprint Backlog was added for a reason, a successful Sprint is one in which the Spring Goal is met. The Sprint Backlog is emergent, and priorities may change as Developers learn more about the work.
2. Understand What’s Valuable and What’s Not
Understanding why work spills over is essential. It might be due to irrelevance to the Sprint Goal, over-commitment or lack of proper forecasting, unforeseen complexities, or blockers.
Analysing these factors during the Sprint Retrospective helps identify patterns and implement strategies to optimise the flow of work. This approach leads to better Sprint Planning, more realistic future commitments, and the understanding that some work items can be finished in the next Sprint.
3. Re-ordering the Product Backlog
The Product Backlog should be revisited to determine the priority of the spillover work. Just because a work item needed to be completed in the previous Sprint does not automatically make it the top priority for the next one.
The Product Owner, sometimes with the stakeholders or during the Sprint Review, must assess the potential value of the spillover work.
4. Refine and Right-Size Work Items
Sometimes, product backlog items are too large or not well-defined, leading to spillovers. Dividing tasks into manageable and valuable parts can enhance the team's ability to finish work within a Sprint. This refinement is usually an ongoing activity as the team discovers more about the work.
5. Enhance Team Collaboration
Effective communication and collaboration can help identify and address issues early. Daily Scrum events allow the team to discuss progress, impediments, and needed support. Encouraging a culture of openness and teamwork can help better understand the value of product backlog items and their relevance for the Sprint Goal.
6. Try Better Forecasting Techniques
The team's ability to deliver value should be realistic and based on data, past performance and the team’s inputs. Regularly reviewing and adjusting team data helps set achievable goals.
7. Focus on Continuous Improvement
Each Sprint offers a learning opportunity. The team should focus on continuous improvement practices such as Sprint Retrospectives, where they can discuss insights and improve in subsequent Sprints. This will lead to a better flow of work.
It is important to remember that in Scrum, the team does not commit to the Sprint Backlog, and having multiple product backlog items in different stages of our flow may be beneficial.
Therefore, we should embrace carryover work and understand that it is about more than just moving unfinished tasks to the next Sprint. It’s about understanding our flow of work and what’s valuable for our goals.
The practices mentioned here can ensure that the team remains productive, achieves the Sprint Goals, and consistently delivers value.