Definition
Burndown
A burndown chart tracks remaining work against time over a cycle, sloping from the total scope down toward zero as items are completed. It shows whether a team is on pace to finish what it committed to, making slippage visible early. The ideal line falls steadily; a flat line warns that work is stalling.
Key takeaways
- A burndown chart plots remaining work against time over a cycle, sloping from total scope down toward zero as items complete.
- It is an early-warning instrument: a flat early line means work is starting but not finishing; an upward jump means scope was added mid-cycle.
- An ideal trajectory descends smoothly to zero by the cycle's end; the shape prompts the right question, the team supplies the why.
- Pairing burndown with past-cycle velocity gives realistic context for whether the slope is achievable.
A burndown chart has time on the horizontal axis and remaining work — measured in issues, points, or hours — on the vertical. At the start of a cycle the line begins at the full committed scope; each completed item steps it down. An ideal trajectory descends smoothly to zero by the cycle's end.
Its value is as an early-warning instrument. A line that stays flat early signals that work is being started but not finished, often a sign of too much WIP or a hidden blocker. A line that jumps up signals scope was added mid-cycle. Read daily, the burndown turns 'are we going to make it' from a gut feeling into a glance.
Burndown is a conversation starter, not a verdict. The shape prompts the right question; the team supplies the why. Pairing it with velocity from past cycles gives realistic context for whether the slope is achievable.
Planoda generates burndown charts automatically from a cycle's scope and completion events, so the chart reflects real-time issue state with no manual upkeep.
Related terms
- Cycle (Sprint)A cycle — often called a sprint — is a fixed, repeating time-box, usually one or two weeks, during which a team commits to a focused set of work and aims to finish it. Cycles create a regular cadence for planning, focus, and review, turning an open-ended backlog into shippable increments.
- VelocityVelocity is the average amount of work a team completes per cycle, measured in issues or story points. By tracking it over several cycles, teams forecast how much they can realistically take on next. Velocity is a planning aid for a specific team over time — never a target to maximize or a way to compare teams against each other.
- Story Points (Estimation)Story points are a relative, unitless measure of how much effort an issue will take, accounting for complexity and uncertainty rather than raw hours. Teams estimate in points — often using a Fibonacci-like scale — to compare items against each other quickly. Summed across a cycle, points feed velocity and burndown without false precision about clock time.
- KanbanKanban is a visual workflow method that maps work onto a board of columns representing stages — typically backlog, in progress, and done. Cards move left to right as work advances. It emphasizes continuous flow, making bottlenecks visible, and limiting work in progress rather than committing to fixed time-boxes.