How to handle use stories that are blocked

Hey Stephanie,

If you have a bug that is blocked, you should not change its state to a Completed category (like Done, Resolved, or Closed) just to close out the sprint. Marking unfinished work as completed distorts your team's velocity and burndown charts.

According to Azure Boards documentation on end-of-sprint activities, here is the proper way to handle incomplete or blocked work:

1. Leave the bug in its current active state and flag the blocker. Do not change the state to Closed. Instead, make the blocker highly visible. You can add a "Blocked" tag, set the "Blocked" field to Yes (depending on your process template), or create and link an "Impediment" (Scrum) or "Issue" (Agile) work item to the bug detailing exactly what is holding it up.

2. Move the incomplete bug to the next sprint (or return it to the backlog). At the end of the sprint, any unfinished items must be reassigned so they don't count toward the closed sprint's completion metrics.

• Open your sprint backlog.
• Turn on the Planning pane (click the "View options" icon near the top right and select "Planning").
• Drag the blocked bug from the current sprint and drop it into your next sprint's iteration path. Alternatively, you can drag it back to the main product backlog if the team isn't ready to tackle it next sprint.

Once all remaining items in the current sprint are either officially Completed or have been moved to a future iteration, your sprint is effectively closed out.

Hope that helps and let me know in comments if any further clarification is needed.

Reference docs

• End-of-sprint activities in Azure Boards
• Manage problems or impediments

Note: This response is drafted with the help of AI systems.

In Azure Boards, a bug that is blocked should remain in an in-progress state (for example, Active or Committed) and not be moved to a completed state just to close the sprint.

To handle this at sprint close:

1. Leave the bug in its current in-progress state (such as Active or Committed) and clearly indicate the blocker (for example, via a linked Impediment/Issue/Problem work item or description).
2. At the end of the sprint, review the sprint backlog and treat this bug as incomplete work.
3. Move the bug to the next sprint or back to the product backlog using the Planning pane. It will then count as unfinished work and not contribute to the sprint’s velocity.

Blocked work should not be set to Resolved or Closed/Done unless the bug is actually fixed and verified. Incomplete items in a sprint (including blocked bugs) remain in a non-completed state and are reassigned to a future sprint.

References:

• End-of-sprint activities
• Manage problems or impediments in Azure Boards
• Define, capture, triage, and manage bugs in Azure Boards
• Agile workflow in Azure Boards