Why are done tasks from previous sprint still listed in current sprint?

[Deleted user]

When I complete a sprint and start a new one, what typically happens is that all "non-done" tasks become part of the new sprint, and all "done" tasks from the previous sprint disappear.

Last week, however, when I completed a sprint and started a new one, the "done" tasks from the previous sprint remained in the new sprint. They are still marked as done. They just shouldn't be there. Aside from manually deleting them, I'm not sure what to do. I'm mostly curious to know why this happened and how I can ensure it doesn't happen in future sprints.

Any help would be appreciated!

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @[deleted] 

Is the Status assigned to those "done" tasks mapped to the column farthest to the right on your board?

Only the issues in the column farthest to the right on your board are considered "complete" when you end the sprint, regardless of the Status value itself.

If you have two columns mapped to two different green/"done" statuses, only the ones in the column farthest to the right will be considered "complete". All other issues will be considered "incomplete" and you will get a pop-up about moving them to another sprint or the backlog.

Additionally, issues that have "incomplete" Subtasks are considered "incomplete" themselves.

[Deleted user]

Yes, they are all the way to the right! In the "Done" column with a check mark in the heading.

And those tasks don't have any subtasks.

[Trudy Claspill]

Is this in a Team Managed project or a Company Managed project? That information will be shown at the bottom of the navigation panel on the right.

[Deleted user]

It's a team-managed project.

[Tanishka Bansal]

My Fixed column is the farthest right one but still its getting listed in current sprint

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Tanishka Bansal 

Welcome to the community.

Are you using Jira Cloud?

Are you working with a Team Managed project?

Are the issues that are added to the next sprint Subtasks or parent issues?

If they are parent issues, do they have any Subtasks that are not also in the farthest right column?

[Tanishka Bansal]

Hi, its a company managed project.
They are both subtasks and parent issues. Even if all subtasks of parent issues are in the farthest right column its getting listed in newer sprints.

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Tanishka Bansal 

Since you are working with a Company Managed project rather than a Team Managed project like the original post, please start a new Question so that we can address your issue without adding confusion in trying to also answer the original post.

In your new Question can you please provide screen images that show the Status/Column mappings for your board and an example of an issue that was in the farthest right column and got moved to another sprint when the sprint was completed?

[Dave Mathijs · Accepted solution]

Hi @[deleted] welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Do the "Done" tasks have a resolution set? Is this status added to the utmost right column in your board?

[Deleted user]

Thank you, Dave! What do you mean by a "resolution set"? Something like "To do", "In progress", and "Done"?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

No, those are Status in your workflow.

Resolution is a totally independent field.  It is intended as a very brief reason why you have closed ("resolved") an issue - you'll see values like "done", "fixed", "cancelled", and "duplicate" - all a short reason for "we're not going to spend any more time on this"

Status shows where the issue is in your workflow (process).  On your sprint boards, an issue is only considered "done" when it is in the last column on the board.  If you close a sprint with issues not in the last column, they will go into the nest sprint.

So most of us try to set resolution as an issue enters the last column, and clear it out if it moves back to a not-done column.

[Deleted user]

We don't currently use resolutions (and don't intend on using them). I'm just wondering why the "done" tasks are still in the current sprint when in the past they would have disappeared after starting a new sprint.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Ah, if you're going to be effective with Jira, you really need to use Resolution.

I won't bore you with the full essay (or the history of how we got here), but you always need to be thinking of Status and Resolution in Jira.

Jira only considers an issue to be done (resolved) when it has a resolution set.  Any resolution will do, but it's either empty or filled.  Empty = unresolved, filled = resolved.  None of the built-in reporting will work unless you set and clear resolution at the right times in the lifecycle.

Jira Software's boards have a concept of "done", which is local to the board (team) working with it.  One team's done for an issue might actually be another team's "to do".  

So, as I said before, the problem you have here is that you need to look at your "done" column for the board.  An issue will move to the next sprint (or backlog) unless it is in the last column on your board (a column can have many status in it though)

In many cases, you will want to set a resolution as an issue enters the last column, and clear it when it leaves, but not always.

[Deleted user]

Thanks for this explanation. I just took another look and there was an additional status that I didn't notice earlier, so the Done column wasn't the last one (even though it has the check mark in the heading).

Do I still need to create resolutions? If so, how?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Ahh, that would explain it, yes.

Yes, you should still worry about resolutions, but you can keep it simple and mostly hidden.

Earlier, I said "you set and clear resolution at the right times in the lifecycle."

The most simple solution is to add "set resolution to fixed" as a post-function to any transition from an "open" status to a "closed" one (i.e. in the right-hand column of the board), and "clear resolution" when moving from closed to open. 

Neither of those post-functions will bother your users, it's all handled silently.  And all your reporting will work (you can use a single resolution if you want)

[Trudy Claspill]

@Nic Brough -Adaptavist- 

In response to one of my questions Elise indicated that the project is Team Managed.

@[deleted] in a Team Managed project the workflow customization doesn't support Post Functions nor multiple values for the Resolution field. If the column has a green check mark on it, then the Resolution field will simply be set to Done. If the issue status is then changed to a status in another column, the Resolution field will be automatically cleared.

[Deleted user]

Thank you both! @Nic Brough -Adaptavist- , I'm so sorry, I didn't understand much of what you wrote there (adding "set resolution to fixed", "post-functions", setting and clearing resolutions at the right times in the lifecycle)!

But based on what you just said, @Trudy Claspill , it seems to me that my issue might not be fixed, because all the issues that remain in my sprint even though they were completed last sprint are still listed, and yet they are under the Done column which has a check mark. Do you think that the fact that I moved the final column (which didn't have a check mark - it's called something like "On Hold") back such that the Done column is last fix my problem for next sprint?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Thanks for pointing that out @Trudy Claspill 

@[deleted] I apologise for the stuff about post-functions - that only applies to company-managed projects.  Trudy pointing to the check-mark in your team-managed projects is what I should have said.

But yes, as I said earlier - On your sprint boards, an issue is only considered "done" when it is in the last column on the board.  

It doesn't matter what the column is called, or whether the resolution is set on it (but do use that tick box), it has to be the last column.  

Move your on-hold back into the "in progress" (or even to-do) part of the board, your done column must be the last one.

[Deleted user]

Thank you @Nic Brough -Adaptavist- ! I moved it back. Now, my completed tasks are still listed, but I assume they'll go away when I wrap up this sprint and start the next one. Does that seem right?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Yes, spot on!

[Deleted user]

Great, thanks!