SC-03
Sprint Scope Churn Rate
Scope Control
Default severity: medium
PrioritizationProcessRiskEffort
What it detects
Total scope change (additions + removals) during a sprint exceeds the configured churn threshold across any dimension — the sprint plan was fundamentally unstable. High churn invalidates velocity, retrospective analysis, and predictability metrics. total_churn_issues = injected_count + dropped_count total_churn_sp = injected_sp + dropped_sp churn_rate_issues = total_churn_issues / committed_issues churn_rate_sp = total_churn_sp / committed_sp
Detection formula
IF churn_rate_issues > config.sc.churn_rate_threshold // default: 20% OR churn_rate_sp > config.sc.churn_rate_threshold THEN FLAG IF churn_rate_sp > config.sc.critical_churn_rate // default: 35% THEN CRITICAL — sprint is effectively replanned mid-execution Track churn_rate per sprint over time to detect chronic instabilityExamples in practice
- A team shows total scope change (additions + removals) during a sprint exceeds the configured churn threshold across any dimension while churn rate threshold is set to 20%.
- Example signal: Total scope change (additions + removals) during a sprint exceeds the configured churn threshold across any dimension — the sprint plan was fundamentally unstable.
Suggested response
Gate sprint and PI scope changes with visible rationale and stable commitments.
Coaching playbook
Symptom
Total scope change (additions + removals) during a sprint exceeds the configured churn threshold across any dimension — the sprint plan was fundamentally unstable. High churn invalidates velocity, retrospective analysis, and predictability metrics. total_churn_issues = injected_count + dropped_count total_churn_sp = injected_sp + dropped_sp churn_rate_issues = total_churn_issues / committed_issues churn_rate_sp = total_churn_sp / committed_sp
Why it matters
When "Sprint Scope Churn Rate" 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
Gate sprint and PI scope changes with visible rationale and stable commitments.
Facilitation questions
- What system change would stop "Sprint Scope Churn Rate" 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.