Considered ‘classic’, Gantt charts tend to be rejected by the agile community in favor of roadmaps and Scrum boards. Modern Gantt charts, however, let you include iterations/sprints on the timeline, including Jira Sprints. Let’s go through three methods of adding sprints to the timeline of BigGantt.
Afterward, we’ll demonstrate how BigPicture can handle sprints better.
Method 1: Import Jira Sprints
If you wish to use Jira Sprints in BigGantt, you need to tick the checkmark next to ‘Sprints’ in the Scope definition page of your BigGantt program. Have a look at the below screenshot.
Tick the checkmark next to Sprints in the ‘Task types’ multiple-choice box to have Jira Sprints available in BigGantt.
While still in the program configuration, enable the ‘Jira Sprint’ structure builder so that BigGantt bases its work breakdown structure on Jira Sprints.
Enjoy Sprints you have in Jira in the Gantt chart of BigGantt:
A variant of this approach would be to add the Jira’s ‘Sprint’ field to the left pane of BigGantt by going to View > Column Views > Manage Column Views,
and then to group tasks by the ‘Sprint’ field – Data > Group tasks > Sprint. See the below screenshot.
The collapsed ’34’ group is your backlog ;)
Method 2: Use BigGantt’s basic tasks as sprints
Let’s suppose we didn’t have Jira Sprints in place, and so we begin with an unstructured or even blank Gantt chart.
To create a sprint in BigGantt, try + > Create task > Basic task. It’s how I created Sprint 1, Sprint 2, Sprint 3, and Sprint 4 in the below screenshot. Also, apply the ‘Auto top-down’ task mode for those placeholder tasks that represent sprints (Task mode > Auto top-down).
Now that we have sprints, how do we create sprint goals?
For the upcoming Sprints, use regular Jira stories or tasks, as is the case with Sprint 1 and Sprint 2.
For a more distant future, you can set goals in the form of placeholder tasks (Task > Create task > Artificial task), as I did with Sprint 3 and 4.
Are story points, epic links, and other agile facts of life available in BigGantt? Of course, take note of the column headers in the ‘Create Sprint #5’ screenshot. Add whatever columns you wish by hitting View > Column views > Manage column views.
Sprints in BigGantt ver. 8
At the time of writing, BigGantt 4 is current. Beginning BigGantt version 8 another major way of dealing with sprints will see daylight. Boxes, think of them as folders, will debut in this new BigGantt version, and SoftwarePlant will recommend using those Boxes as sprints or iterations, rather than the methods discussed above. Stay tuned, the redesigned BigGantt 8 will be available from Atlassian Marketplace shortly.
Sprints (iterations) in BigPicture
If BigGantt can handle Sprints properly, what does BigPicture add to that?
- agile modules – Roadmap, Board, Reports
- iterations/sprints are Boxes as opposed to placeholder tasks. A particular iteration Box is then available throughout the modules of BigPicture – Roadmap, Board, Reports, and so on
- the Gantt chart in BigPicture “officially” supports those iteration Boxes, as evident below (greenish-violetish overlay)
