Scrum tasks for stories in CWM

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Scrum tasks for stories in CWM

    Collaborative Work Management (CWM) in ServiceNow allows teams to extend their agile workflows by breaking down user stories into scrum tasks. Scrum tasks represent the individual units of work within a user story, enabling more precise effort estimation, work distribution, and daily progress tracking throughout a sprint. These tasks are always linked to a parent story and cannot exist independently on the board.

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    Creating and Managing Scrum Tasks

    • Manual Creation: After saving a story, a Scrum Tasks tab appears on the story form for adding tasks by entering titles and details. Tasks can also be created inline from List and Sprint Planning views.
    • AI-Generated Tasks with ServiceNow Otto: Otto analyzes the story description to suggest scrum tasks. Users can trigger this from the story form or Scrum Tasks tab, review, edit, and insert the generated tasks, which serve as a starting point for task breakdown.

    Scrum Tasks on the Kanban Board

    Stories with scrum tasks display an indicator icon on their Kanban cards. Selecting this icon opens a side panel showing task details without leaving the board. Quick filters enable teams to focus on specific sprints, states, or columns, facilitating sprint execution and daily stand-ups.

    Key Considerations and Limitations

    • Scrum tasks are bound to their parent story and cannot be moved or copied outside it.
    • When a story moves between sprints, all associated scrum tasks move automatically.
    • Percent complete is tracked only at the scrum task level and not rolled up to the parent story.
    • Scrum tasks cannot be assigned or edited for sprint information independently and are not visible in the Backlog section, only within the sprint.
    • Deleting a scrum task removes it from CWM view but does not delete the underlying record.
    • Scrum tasks require the scrum task work type to be enabled and appropriate access permissions (beyond Viewer) on the CWM Board.
    • Imported stories via Connected Work include their scrum tasks, but tasks cannot be imported separately. To avoid duplicates after upgrading to version 9.0.0, existing scrum task configurations in Connected Work should be removed.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By leveraging scrum tasks in CWM, teams gain granular control over story decomposition, enabling accurate workload distribution and progress tracking. The integration with ServiceNow Otto accelerates task creation, reducing manual effort and improving sprint planning efficiency. The Kanban board enhancements and filtering capabilities promote transparency and focus during sprint execution.

    Extend your agile workflow in CWM by breaking user stories into scrum tasks. This gives your team the granularity needed to estimate effort, distribute work, and track daily progress through a sprint.

    In CWM, scrum tasks represent the individual units of work that make up a user story. While stories capture a feature or requirement from the user's perspective. Scrum tasks break that story into steps that team members can pick up and complete independently during a sprint. Scrum tasks are always associated with a parent story and aren't a standalone work items on the board.

    Creating scrum tasks

    You can create scrum tasks manually or use ServiceNow Otto to generate them based on the story content.

    Manual creation

    After a story is saved, a Scrum Tasks tab is available on the story form. From this tab, you can add tasks by entering a title and any relevant details directly on the story. You can also create scrum tasks for stories inline from the List and Sprint planning views. For more information, see Add scrum tasks to a story in CWM.

    The Scrum tasks tab on a story form showing the option to add a scrum task from the side panel.

    AI-generated scrum tasks

    ServiceNow Otto can analyze the story description and context to suggest a set of scrum tasks. The Create with ServiceNow Otto button on the story form and the inline sparkle button on the Scrum tasks tab both trigger generation. You can review the suggestions, regenerate if the results don’t fit the story, and then insert the tasks. AI-generated tasks serve as a starting point and can be edited after they're created. For more information, see Generate scrum tasks for a story with ServiceNow Otto.

    Scrum tasks on the Kanban board

    When a story has one or more scrum tasks, a scrum task indicator icon appears on the story's Kanban card. Selecting the icon opens a side panel that shows the scrum tasks for that story, so team members can view task details without leaving the board.A Kanban board showing a story card with the scrum task indicator, and the side panel open with the associated scrum tasks listed.

    Quick filters on the Kanban board let teams focus on specific sprints, states, or other columns. Multiple filters can be active at the same time, and a counter at the top of the board shows how many filters are currently applied. This makes it easier to track sprint-specific work during daily stand-ups and sprint execution.

    Scrum task considerations and limitations

    • Scrum tasks belong to a parent story and can’t exist independently as standalone work items on the board.
      • When a story is moved from one sprint to another, the child scrum tasks also move to the new sprint.
      • You can reorder scrum tasks only within its parent story.
      • Scrum tasks can't be moved (drag and drop) or copied outside its parent story.
    • Percent complete isn’t rolled up from scrum tasks to the parent story. Percent complete is tracked only for CWM tasks.
    • When a story is imported through Connected work, its associated scrum tasks are brought in automatically along with it. Scrum tasks can’t be imported directly through Connected work.
    • Scrum tasks can’t be assigned to a sprint independently. They inherit the sprint of their parent story. When you change the sprint for a story, all associated scrum tasks move to the new sprint automatically.
    • Scrum tasks aren’t displayed in the Backlog section of the Sprint planning view. They’re shown only in the sprint section.
    • Sprint information can't be edited on a scrum task record.
    • Deleting a scrum task in CWM doesn’t delete the underlying record. It's only removed from viewing in CWM.
    • You can't add scrum tasks if the scrum task work type is disabled in your ServiceNow instance.
    • You can't add scrum tasks if you have just the Viewer access to the CWM Board.
    • If scrum tasks were previously imported through Connected work before upgrading to v9.0.0. If stories are then imported through Connected work after the upgrade, duplicate scrum tasks may appear on the board. To resolve this, remove the existing configuration for scrum tasks in Connected work for your Board.