Creating New Sprint Backlog Items
There are a number of ways to create Sprint Backlog Items:
- Right-click on the "Work Items" Team Explorer folder or through the Visual Studio "Team" menu
- Right-click on a Product Backlog item listed in the result of an "All Product backlog Items" query and choose "Add Related Work Item"
- Publish new Sprint Backlog items from an Excel spreadsheet - covered in Using Excel to work with the Sprint Backlog
Although methods 1 and 3 work well, they leave out the important step of linking or relating the Sprint Backlog item to a Product Backlog item and this has to achieved by an additional step. Method 2 is the most natural method for Sprint Backlog task creation as the Team can add each task as it is identified while working through the Product Backlog items in Sprint Planning.
The screenshot below shows a new Sprint Backlog item being created that will automatically be related to the Product backlog item that it is helping to deliver.
To create a new Sprint Backlog item that is independent of any Product Backlog item, right click on the Work Items folder of your Scrum project in the Team Explorer window. A window will appear that may offer the option to "Add Sprint Backlog Item" in which case select this option. Alternatively if this option is not available you will find it in a further window by selecting "Add Work Item". See the screenshot below:
Having initiated the creation of a new Sprint Backlog item via team Explorer (methods 1 or 2), a "New Sprint Backlog Item" tab will appear with the following fields:
| Field Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Text |  |
Name for the Sprint Backlog item (SB item) |
| Sprint Number | Number | The number of the Sprint in which this SB item is to be worked on | |
| Area | List | Allows grouping of SB items into "Areas" that can be setup in the Team - Team Project Settings - Areas and Iterations menu | |
| Estimated Effort | Number | The estimated effort to complete this task in hours | |
| Work remaining | Number | Updated by team members on a daily basis as the amount of work to complete changes due to progress or issues encountered | |
| Backlog Item Type | List | Describes the type of SB item. Choice of Bug, Impediment or Task. | |
| Owned By | List | Team Member selects their name from the list when they assign themselves this task. | |
| Current Status | Workflow | Tracks the status of the SB item, moving from Not Done - In Progress - Done or Deferred or Deleted | |
| Description | Tab/Text | This should be a sentence describing the SB item in enough detail that it is clearly recognisable. This is not a formal requirement specification | |
| History | Tab/RO | Shows the change history of the SB item | |
| Links | Tab/Links | View, add or remove links relating this SB item to other Sprint Backlog or Product backlog items | |
| File Attachments | Tab/Files | Used for attaching relevant documents to the SB item. E.g. attaching test data used to repeat a bug | |
| Bug Details | Tab | Used when the Backlog Item Type is "Bug". Records information about the bug including its priority |
It is possible to create a new Sprint Backlog Item through Team Explorer with just the title entered. This provides the flexibility for the remaining fields to be added later. For example, the "Owned By" field will be selected when a Team Member takes on the task.
