Burnup and Burndown Charts

22/05/2025

Burnup and Burndown Charts are agile project management tools used to visually track progress during a project, particularly in Scrum and other agile methodologies. While they look similar and often serve related purposes, they differ in what they show and how they are interpreted.

🔥 Burnup Chart

📈 What It Shows:

Work Completed over time.
Total Work Scope, which may change during the project.

📊 Components:

X-axis: Time (usually in sprints or days)
Y-axis: Work units (e.g., story points, hours, tasks)
Two lines:
- Work Completed Line: rises as progress is made.
- Total Scope Line: may rise if scope increases.

✅ Advantages:

Shows scope changes clearly.
Helps teams visualize how close they are to the goal.
More informative in dynamic environments where scope changes often.

📈 Burnup Chart Data

In Sprint 1, the team completed 10 story points out of a total 100.

By Sprint 2, progress increased to 25 story points, with the total scope unchanged at 100.

In Sprint 3, the team had completed 45 story points, but the total scope increased to 110 due to added requirements.

By Sprint 4, the team reached 70 story points completed, with the total scope remaining at 110.

🔽 Burndown Chart

📉 What It Shows:

Work Remaining over time.

📊 Components:

X-axis: Time
Y-axis: Remaining work
Single line that ideally slopes downward toward zero.

✅ Advantages:

Simple and intuitive.
Easy to spot lagging progress.

❗ Limitations:

Doesn't show scope changes well—if scope increases, the chart may look like work is being undone.
Can be misleading if tasks are underestimated or added mid-sprint.

📉 Burndown Chart Data

At the start (after Sprint 1), there were 90 story points remaining.
After Sprint 2, the remaining work dropped to 75 story points.
By Sprint 3, only 65 story points were left.
Finally, by Sprint 4, the team had 40 story points remaining to complete.

✅ MCQs on Burnup and Burndown Charts

1. What does a Burndown Chart primarily track?
A) Work completed over time
B) Remaining work over time
C) Team performance score
D) Total scope increase

✅ Answer: B) Remaining work over time
Explanation: Burndown charts show how much work is left to do.

2. Which chart is best for showing scope changes during a project?
A) Velocity chart
B) Burndown chart
C) Burnup chart
D) Gantt chart

✅ Answer: C) Burnup chart
Explanation: Burnup charts show both work completed and total scope, so changes in scope are clearly visible.

3. In a Burndown Chart, a flat line indicates:
A) The team is ahead of schedule
B) Scope has increased
C) No progress is being made
D) Work is completed

✅ Answer: C) No progress is being made
Explanation: A flat burndown line means no tasks were completed during that time.

4. Which of the following is not typically shown in a Burnup Chart?
A) Work completed
B) Total project scope
C) Remaining work
D) Forecast completion

✅ Answer: C) Remaining work
Explanation: Burnup charts track cumulative progress and scope, not remaining work directly.

5. In agile, how often are Burndown Charts typically updated?
A) Once a month
B) At the end of a project
C) Daily
D) Weekly

✅ Answer: C) Daily
Explanation: Burndown charts are usually updated daily during a sprint to track progress.

6. If your total scope line increases in a Burnup Chart, what does it indicate?
A) Team is not performing
B) Sprint is ending
C) More work was added to the project
D) Work is being removed

✅ Answer: C) More work was added to the project
Explanation: An increase in total scope means new tasks or stories have been added.

7. What does it mean when the actual line in a Burndown Chart is above the ideal line?
A) Team is ahead of schedule
B) Work is behind schedule
C) Team is perfectly on track
D) Sprint has ended

✅ Answer: B) Work is behind schedule
Explanation: If the team is completing less work than planned, the line stays above the ideal line.

8. In which chart can you more clearly visualize changes in total project size?
A) Control chart
B) Cumulative flow diagram
C) Burnup chart
D) Burndown chart

✅ Answer: C) Burnup chart
Explanation: Because the total scope is plotted, scope changes are directly visible.

9. What does a steep decline in a Burndown Chart indicate?
A) Increase in scope
B) Quick completion of tasks
C) Reduced team velocity
D) Burnup trend

✅ Answer: B) Quick completion of tasks
Explanation: A steep drop in the chart means a lot of work was completed quickly.

10. Which chart uses two lines: one for completed work and one for total scope?
A) Burndown
B) Histogram
C) Pareto
D) Burnup

✅ Answer: D) Burnup
Explanation: Burnup charts show two lines — one for progress, one for total work.