How to use tools such as PingCode to iteratively manage in the agile development mode

Iteration ( Sprint ) is the core of the Scrum agile development framework, and correct iteration can help agile teams improve work delivery speed. The Scrum team works towards the completion of the iteration backlog and delivers a certain product increment at the end of the iteration. PingCode uses the product backlog as the core of iteration management, so the team can estimate work story points around the backlog, adjust the scope of iterations, and adjust the priority of work, etc.

This tutorial will explain how to use good iteration in PingCode.

What is iteration? An iteration is a fixed period of time in which the team completes the product backlog. Iterations are typically one, two, or four weeks long. At the end of an iteration, the team usually delivers a certain product increment.

Step 1: Create Iteration

The first is to open an iteration component of a Scrum project at PingCode . Click the "Create Iteration" button in the upper right corner. If you want to plan your work weeks in advance, you can create multiple iterations.

Step 2: Move work items into iterations

After the iteration is created, the work item backlog of the iteration needs to be confirmed, and you and the team can confirm the specific work item list in the iteration planning meeting. Make sure everyone on the team has the right amount of work.

How much work should we add to the iteration? When doing iteration work planning for the first time, you may not know how much work to add. But as the team's iterative experience increases, the iterative workload planning will become clearer. To help with this, ask the R&D team to estimate their work capacity before planning work items into the iteration, and when the iteration is over, you'll see how much work the team has completed in the iteration. Over time, you'll gain a better understanding of your team's capabilities, which will help you plan your next iteration more accurately.

You can move work items into iterations in a number of ways:

1. Create work directly in the iteration:

2. Batch move into iterations in the requirements to-do list :

3. Edit the work item iteration attribute field to add the corresponding iteration:

4. Move work items into iterations in iteration planning:

Step 3: Start Iterating

After adding work items to the iteration and confirming with the team what work to be done, the iteration can begin.

start iterating

Go to the iteration list of the Scrum project.
Find the iteration you want to start, and click the "Start Iteration" button. Note: The "Start Iteration" button can only be clicked when the iteration status is "Not Started".
Edit name, target, start date, and end date can be updated if necessary.

How long should our iterations (Sprints) last? If you're not sure about iteration cycles, we recommend going for 2 weeks - that's long enough to get things done, but not too long for the team to receive regular feedback.

Step 4: Monitor Team Progress

During an iteration, you can view the iteration report in the report component of the Scrum project to monitor the team's work progress at any time:

During iterations, what should we do? During an iteration, the team works together to complete the work they committed to at the beginning of the iteration. This often requires a lot of collaboration, so it is recommended to hold daily team stand-up meetings in order to understand the progress and problems encountered by team members on a daily basis.

Step 5: End Iteration

In the iteration list of the Scrum project, open the overview of the iteration to be ended, and click the "End Iteration" button. After clicking, if there are unfinished work items in the iteration, you can choose:

Move to list of unassigned work items
move to next iteration
Mark all as done or closed

When should we mark an epic as done? An epic can be marked complete whenever all of its child work items are complete. To make this easier, we recommend that you have a clear definition of done for your epic.

Step 6. Optimize iterative processes through automation

Once you're familiar with an iterative workflow, use PingCode automation to optimize your process. Below are the three most common automation rules that PingCode uses to iterate.

Regularly send outstanding work items from the iteration to the owner.
When an iteration ends, unfinished work items are automatically assigned to the next iteration.
Automatically sets the iteration property when the work item status is "in progress" and the iteration is empty.

For more rules, please check the PingCode automation template library .

Further reading: Guide to Agile Development

Scrum Development Guide: Detailed Explanation of Scrum Framework | Four Scrum Meetings and Correct Ways to Hold | Correct Way to Plan and Execute Sprint | 4 Key Points for Doing Iterative Planning | Do these 4 points to make daily stand-up meetings more suitable for agile Team | 3 Key Steps to Opening a Good Iteration Review | Why Hold an Iteration Review | The 3 Scrum Roles and Their Specific Responsibilities | The Role of the Scrum Three Artifacts in Agile Development | 14 Best Scrums in 2022 Agile Project Management Software | More

Kanban Agile Guide: 5 Benefits of Using Kanban (Kanban) Management Method | Kanban VS Scrum: How to choose? | Which scenarios are suitable for the mixed mode of Kanban and Scrum | More

Product Management: How to Build a Qualified Product Roadmap | How to Become a Good Product Manager | The Importance of Agile Roadmaps and Construction | How to Build Simple and Effective Product Requirements Documents | Use NPS to Determine Functional Priority | Every Product Manager Needs Learn Product Analysis Skills | More