Manage team backlog in EAP

Using the Backlog page of Enterprise Agile Planning, create, update, and prioritize work items. Additionally, schedule work items into iterations such as Planning Intervals (PI) or Sprints.

The following sections provide a brief overview of EAP Backlog and the actions that you can perform in it.

Layout and default grouping

The layout of Backlog across different team levels such as Agile Team, Agile Release Train (ART), Solution Train, or Portfolio, remains the same. The change is in the way that the work items are grouped. As you go bottom to top in an Agile structure, the work assigned to the teams is grouped as follows:

Important:

The team hierarchy and the iterations within teams are based on your EAP configuration. The following information applies to the default Full Configuration.

• Agile Team: Grouped by Sprints.
• ART: Grouped by Planning Intervals.
• Solution Train: Grouped by child ARTs.
• Portfolio: Grouped by child Solution Trains.

Any work item that doesn't fall into any of these groups is displayed in the Backlog section.

By default, the number of iterations that the Backlog page displays is set to 6. You can work with your admin to modify this number using a system property. For more information, see Configure the display limit of iterations in EAP Backlog.

Layout and default grouping for Kanban teams

The Backlog for teams using the Kanban configuration is grouped as follows:

• Portfolio: Assigned work items are grouped by child teams. Any work item that is not assigned to the child teams is displayed in the Backlog section.

  

• Team: Assigned work is displayed in a list.

Default work items

The work items shown in Backlog are of the Type that is mapped for this team in the configuration. As you move up in your Agile structure, the level of the work assigned also increases. At an Agile Team level, you see information of stories. As you move up through ARTs and Portfolios, you see information of Features, Capabilities, and Epics. However, at any level, you can change the type of the work items displayed.

For example, in the screenshot, Capability is the default item type mapped to Compliance and onboarding tech Solution Train based on its configuration. You can change this selection to see work of other types assigned to this team. When this selection is changed to Feature, you can see all the features assigned to this ART. Similarly, you can choose to create and assign a different type of work item for this Solution Train, even though its default item type is Capability.

View the details of any work item in the side panel by selecting its primary column. To access all the fields and related lists of the work item, select Full details from the side panel.

Note:

The Backlog page for an EAP team shows only those work items that are enabled in its default configuration. For example, for an ART with Full Configuration, the Backlog might show only Features by default. If you want to view other work item types such as Capabilities, Epics, or Stories, work with your admin to update the required EAP configuration details. For more information, see Configure display of other work item types in EAP.

Completed and cancelled items in Backlog

The Backlog section hides completed and cancelled work items by default, so the list shows only items that are active and ready to plan or schedule. Sprint and Planning Interval (PI) sections continue to show all work items, giving you visibility into both ongoing and finished work for each iteration.

You can work with your admin to change either default per section using two system properties: sn_apw_advanced.show_inactive_items_in_backlog_list for the Backlog section and sn_apw_advanced.show_inactive_items_in_iteration for iteration sections. For more information about both properties, see Properties installed with Enterprise Agile Planning.

Column-level filtering of data

Quickly find the work items that you need by using column-level filters for the data on your EAP Backlog. Using the Column filtering option (), you can filter data on any column displayed on the Backlog tab, which is of the type choice, string, or reference.

Actions within the Backlog

Within the Backlog, you can perform the following actions:

• Create iterations such as PIs or Sprints for your teams.
• Add work to the team's Backlog.
• Schedule work from Backlog into different iterations.
• Make in-line edits to update information of work such as Status, Assigned to, or Story points.
• Reorder planning items (in a section) to prioritize them.

  However, reordering is not possible when the planning items are grouped. For example you grouped the items in the Backlog section by State, you won't be able to reorder the items unless the grouping is removed.

• Start and complete those iterations.
• Move incomplete work to the Backlog.
• Filter the data that's displayed.
• Choose the columns to be displayed.
• Open a work item in a new tab.

Use the following tasks to start creating and scheduling work for teams in EAP.

• Creating iterations for teams in EAP
  Create Planning Intervals (PIs) and Sprints directly from the Backlog by entering start and end dates, without setting up planning calendar entries first.
• Create a Planning Interval or Sprint from EAP Backlog
  Create iterations of Planning Intervals (PI) and Sprints so that teams can start prioritizing and scheduling their work from the Backlog in Enterprise Agile Planning (EAP).
• Update iteration details in EAP
  Edit details of a PI or a Sprint to update details such as name, team capacity, committed points.
• Create work items for teams in EAP Backlog
  Create stories, features, epics, or capabilities for teams to add work to their backlog in Enterprise Agile Planning.
• Breakdown work from parent work item into child items in EAP
  Streamline breaking down work by creating child work items directly from the parent record page in Enterprise Agile Planning workspace.
• Create stories for work items in EAP
  Create stories directly from a work item's form. Create them manually or save time by generating them using Now Assist in the Enterprise Agile Planning (EAP) workspace.
• Assess the status of an epic using ServiceNow Otto
  Use the Epic status assessment skill to evaluate epic health across six risk dimensions in Enterprise Agile Planning (EAP). ServiceNow Otto returns a red, yellow, or green health status with plain-English reasoning, giving portfolio managers a consolidated view of epic risks.
• Generate a story from an epic using ServiceNow Otto in EAP
  Generate a complete user story directly from an epic using Quick story generation feature in EAP. Provide brief context, and ServiceNow Otto generates a story title, description, and acceptance criteria that you can review and edit before saving.
• Generate multiple stories at once in EAP using ServiceNow Otto
  Breakdown epics and features into stories using the ServiceNow Otto panel in the Enterprise Agile Planning (EAP) workspace. Based on the work item details, ServiceNow Otto generates stories.
• Generate acceptance criteria for EAP stories using ServiceNow Otto
  Create clear, comprehensive, and testable acceptance criteria for user stories without writing them manually in Enterprise Agile Planning (EAP). Review and refine suggested options to ensure they meet your requirements.
• Create a copy of work items in EAP Backlog
  For creating work items with details similar to an existing item, save time and effort by creating a copy of the existing item.
• Schedule work items into iterations in EAP Backlog
  Perform backlog grooming and schedule work from the team's backlog for the upcoming iteration Enterprise Agile Planning.
• Start or complete iterations in EAP
  Start an iteration of a Sprint or PI so that your team can start working and tracking progress of work. After your team finishes the assigned work, mark this iteration as complete, directly from the Backlog in Enterprise Agile Planning.
• Add or remove teams from Favorites in EAP
  Add the EAP teams that you frequently work with to Favorites so that you can save time navigating to them in the workspace without searching for them.
• Personalize and filter data in EAP Backlog
  View the information that is most relevant to you and your team on the Backlog tab by choosing the columns to be displayed. You can also apply filters to narrow down the data on the page.