Targets, progress and status
Burndown chart
Tracks remaining work over time against an optional ideal trajectory.
- Chart
- Progress
- Trend over time
What it answers
Is remaining work declining as expected?
- Shape
- Remaining-work line and plan line
- What it shows
- Pace and remaining workload.
Example
The question
Will the team finish the sprint’s work on time?
Story points remaining in sprint 14, day by day
Illustrative data. It belongs to no company.
When to use it
Use it when
Monitoring a fixed or explicitly tracked work scope.
Avoid it when
When scope changes are hidden or effort units change.
How to read it
Read remaining work by date against a planned trajectory if present.
Note
Scope changes also affect remaining work.
The data you need
- Layout
- Long table
- Fields
- Date: date; RemainingWork: nonnegative number
- One row is
- One date and its remaining-work estimate. What is the grain?
- Rules
- Use consistent work units and scope rules. Do not cumulatively sum remaining values.
- Optional
- IdealRemaining or start/end dates and initial scope.
- Preparation
- Validate the input grain and missing values. Use consistent work units and scope rules. Do not cumulatively sum remaining values.
- Units
- Remaining work uses a consistent effort/item unit; do not sum snapshots across dates.
Worked example
Remaining 100,85,70 across three dates falls 15 each interval. A new scope increase would require explanation.
| Date | RemainingWork |
|---|---|
| 2026-01-01 | 100 |
| 2026-01-02 | 85 |
| 2026-01-03 | 70 |