Scrum Question - Can't Break Down Tasks
In pre-sprint planning meetings/backlog grooming (a few days before sprint planning), the team and I can't seem to break down the high-priority tasks. They say that they need to investigate/explore the tasks further before they know what the different chunks of the task are. And then they get caught up in the current sprint and don't find time to do this. What ends up happening, then, is these tasks end up going into the next sprint as still large tasks and end up not being completed. Any thoughts/advice?
Do you work with a Definition of Ready that mitigates the risk of stories/tasks remaining unfinished and carrying over to the next sprint? If not, what is the team's solution for the situation described above?
Teams should never accept work into a sprint (implicitly forecasting completion by end of sprint) without feeling comfortable and confident that they can finish it during that sprint.
What are the issues around the difficulty in splitting/refining the tasks? Splitting is a learned art, and maybe it would benefit your team to consult an expert in that discipline.
How much time does your team spend doing backlog refinement? Bear in mind that backlog refinement can be more than just a meeting.
Backlog refinement may include technical spike investigations which allow Product Backlog Items to be sized.
My advice Would be to add a kanban system in your sprint backlog which will limit the work in progress and allow high priority task to finish even if they aren't any task break down ..it would be scrumban approach
In pre-sprint planning meetings/backlog grooming (a few days before sprint planning), the team and I can't seem to break down the high-priority tasks. They say that they need to investigate/explore the tasks further before they know what the different chunks of the task are.
Why cannot the team breakdown the task? I think Julian's question makes sense. How much time does your team spending doing Backlog Refinement? Is it continues throughout the sprint or is it a one-time meeting? According to Scrum Guide, the team can have multiple backlog refinement activities/meetings as long as it is no more than 10% of the sprint.
And then they get caught up in the current sprint and don't find time to do this. What ends up happening, then, is these tasks end up going into the next sprint as still large tasks and end up not being completed. Any thoughts/advice?
And I agree with Ian's suggestion here as well. Maybe the high-priority task is too big and requires dedicated time for investigating and exploring. In this case, how about recognizing this work is required and allocating time for it?
After the team has completed the initial investigation and exploring, the team can help provide feedback and work with Scrum Team to create plans for the remaining works.
Below are some articles I found about Spikes