Scrum board is filtering out issues in our "Ready to Test" column - why?

[Gil]

Hi all,

We're using the following JQL for our scrum board:

project = ZZZ AND (sprint in (openSprints()) OR sprint in (closedSprints()) OR sprint in (futureSprints()) OR sprint is EMPTY) AND status != Rejected ORDER BY Rank ASC

I have discovered by chance that we have 10 Jira issues in our 'Ready to test' column, but they do not appear on our Jira scrum board!

I found that these Jira issues have this in common:

• Sprint field IS EMPTY or
• Sprint field = Backlog
• They all have Status = "Ready to test"

However, the above JQL factors in `Sprint is EMPTY` and futureSprints. Using the above JQL I can find these issues, but as I mentioned they do not display on our board.

So while the scrum board is displaying only issues in openSprints() how can we avoid missing such cases and force the board to show Jira issues that are in a 'Ready To Test' status regardless of the Sprint field value?

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Gil 

I am puzzled by your filter, as it seems to cover every possible value for the Sprint field.  So you can probably remove it entirely, resulting in:

project = ZZZ AND status != Rejected ORDER BY Rank ASC

And, if the Rejected status is not mapped to the board's columns, you can remove that clause also.

Regardless... a scrum board shows the work matching the filter and in the current, open sprint.  It seems you want to show other items that are not in the sprint.

What is the reason for showing items in other sprints which are Ready to Test? Does your team's process have work that occurs after the sprint completes?

Best regards,

Bill

[Gil]

These items are not in other sprints, technically they are in Backlog and/or empty sprint value.

The reason: As long as their status is not Open/Closed/Rejected, I want their status to take precedence, regardless of the sprint because they fall between the cracks.

Clearly, something happened there that made us miss the Jira issues. Since they were in Ready To Test status, I still need to be aware of them regardless of the sprint value in these Jira issues.

Not knowing about them, means I can't action them properly. I don't know what happened, but I was hoping the JQL will show them.

Seems the sprint value takes priority over anything else.

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Gil 

Thank you for providing more information.

In the simplest case of one active Scrum Sprint at a time:

• You would just have the selected and active work in the sprint on the scrum board
• Other issues would be in the backlog; quick filters can help manage that
• For items not completed in a sprint, they would carry forward, potentially to the next sprint

However, if instead there are other process steps happening, such as Ready to Test, perhaps you also need a Kanban board to make visible open or in progress work that is not in the current sprint and its process steps.  Or instead, add those steps you your scrum board so all the work from start to finish is visible during the sprint.

[Gil]

those steps are on my scrum board.

[Bill Sheboy]

Thanks for that info.

If the Ready to Test status/step is on your scrum board, but you want to show items that are not in the active sprint, perhaps you shouldn't be using a scrum board.  Please recall that the scrum board shows what is in the active sprint based upon the filter.

When you want to also show items on that board that are not in the sprint, well... that is isn't really a scrum board. That is why I was suggesting considering you entire workflow and *why* items in Ready to Test are not in the current sprint and yet somehow in progress of work.