Program increment scope change

About this report

The program increment scope change report captures features that have been added and/or removed during a PI. It provides a snapshot of features that were in scope at the beginning of a PI, and allows you to track all changes and view the current features in scope. This report also shows how estimates may have changed on stories and features during the PI. The chart is especially useful for Portfolio Managers and Release Train Engineers to understand scope changes during a PI. 

The report shows data for a single program and PI combination. If you have selected more than one program or PI, corresponding Program and Program Increment dropdowns will display at the top of the page to set the report's context.

The report consists of three main sections:

1. The first section is a line graph that shows how scope changed with respect to effort points from stories. The Y-axis shows a count of total story points planned for the PI. The X-axis displays date markers.
2. The statistics section below the chart displays a roll-up of scope change metrics for the PI, based on story effort points added to or removed from the PI.
3. The last section is a detailed list of features, categorized by when they were committed, added to, or removed from the PI. 

To navigate to this report:

1. Select Programs in the top navigation bar and select the program you want to view information about.
2. On the sidebar, select Reports in the list of options.
3. Select Program increment scope; the report displays.

Prerequisites

1. PI must exist in the system and must be tied to a program. 
2. Features must be created and tied to the program and PI. 
3. Stories, with effort point values, must be created and tied to features. 
4. Estimation method must be defined and configured in estimation settings. 

Note: Only features with a primary program assignment that matches the selected program or Program dropdown will be included in the report.

How are report values calculated? 

All sections of the report are built bottom-up, starting from the story level. Notes:

• Stories that are assigned to a sprint that belongs to the selected PI are included, even if the story is directly associated with a different PI (misaligned stories).
• Stories are included if they are associated with the PI, yet the sprint assignment is not set (Unassigned Backlog).
• Orphan stories without a feature parent are included, as long as the story is associated with the PI.
• Features that belong to multiple programs will count any stories that are associated to the selected program or Program dropdown at the top of the page.

Line graph

• The blue line that displays the sum of all points is pulled from the Effort Points field on stories planned for the PI.

Rolled-up statistics

You may view these statistic roll-ups in either points (default) or team weeks. Use the Show counts in the dropdown found in the Extra Configs menu to change this setting. When using team weeks, effort point values from stories are converted into team weeks using the settings configured in the Estimation Conversions settings. 

• Starting scope: Sum of all effort points from stories planned for the PI, before the PI start date.
• Scope change: The net difference of effort points from stories that were added or removed from the PI, after the PI start date.
• Scope delivered: Sum of all effort points from accepted stories planned for the PI.

List of features

Three feature grids display below the statistics. Here, you can view features assigned to the program/PI before the PI start date, features added after the PI start date, and features removed after the PI start date. Columns in each grid include:

• Estimate: The estimate entered on the main tab of a feature’s Details panel, displayed in team weeks. If necessary, estimates are converted into team weeks using the settings specified in Estimation Conversions.
• Points: Sum of effort point values from stories parented by the feature and planned for the PI.
• Priority: Priority of the feature, pulled from the feature's Details panel.
• Date Added: Date the feature was added to the PI.
• State: State of the feature, pulled from the feature's Details panel.

In the Features removed from the Program or Program Increment after it began grid, an additional column is available:

• Reason: Describes how a feature was removed from the PI. Reasons include:
  • Cancelled
  • Deleted
  • This feature now belongs to a different program
  • This feature now belongs to a different program increment
  • This feature now belongs to a different program and program increment

Features added to the PI after the PI start date, then removed from the PI are marked with a blue Not Committed label.

 How to interpret this report

Ideally, all scope should be added at the start of a PI. A slightly upward trend on the line graph or statistics is normal. However, a downward trend shows that you over-committed work and had to remove story points from the PI. RTEs should evaluate the trade-offs that were made during the PI to help with accurately scoping PI work in the future.