BC-06
Epic Burn-Down — Epic Stalled
Burn Charts
Default severity: medium
PrioritizationMetricsOutputEffort
What it detects
An individual epic\'s burn-down shows zero progress across all dimensions for longer than the configured stall threshold — no stories completed, no time logged, no BV delivered within the epic for the stall window.
Detection formula
FOR each_epic E: FOR each_dimension D: recent_completion(D, E) = delta(done(D), E, last config.bc.epic_stall_days) // default: 14d IF recent_completion(D, E) = 0 THEN stalled_dimensions++ IF stalled_dimensions >= config.bc.epic_stall_dimension_count // default: 3 of 4 AND epic.status NOT IN config.workflow.done_statuses THEN FLAG epic_stalled Report: last_activity_date, stall_duration, remaining per dimensionExamples in practice
- A team shows an individual epic\'s burn-down shows zero progress across all dimensions for longer than the configured stall threshold while epic stall days is set to 14d.
- Example signal: An individual epic\'s burn-down shows zero progress across all dimensions for longer than the configured stall threshold — no stories completed, no time logged, no BV delivered within the epic for the stall window.
Suggested response
Re-plan remaining scope when burn charts show late work, scope creep, or stalls.
Coaching playbook
Symptom
An individual epic\'s burn-down shows zero progress across all dimensions for longer than the configured stall threshold — no stories completed, no time logged, no BV delivered within the epic for the stall window.
Why it matters
When "Epic Burn-Down — Epic Stalled" keeps appearing, the team is signalling a repeatable process gap. Left unexamined, the pattern hides where work really stalls and makes improvement metrics harder to trust.
What you can achieve
Re-plan remaining scope when burn charts show late work, scope creep, or stalls.
Facilitation questions
- What system change would stop "Epic Burn-Down — Epic Stalled" from firing again?
- What do the cited issues have in common — same root cause or same workaround?
- Who owns the two-week experiment and how will we verify on the next import?
Run this rule against your own tracker data with Flow Analyzer.