What is Agile Epic?

Based on the needs or requests of customers or end-users, a body of work is broken down into specific tasks, which is known as Agile EPIC. An epic serves to manage tasks when adopting agile and DevOps. Basically, an epic is a collection of user stories that are related to each other and then combine to form one large story. It is basically a project management framework that is used by software development teams in many organizations. Epics are very helpful to organize the work and create a hierarchy.

What is Agile Epic?

An Agile Epic is a large piece of work that can be broken down into smaller, more manageable tasks called user stories. It represents a major feature or functionality that is valuable to the end user. Because epics are too big to complete in a single iteration, they are divided into multiple user stories that can be tackled within sprints. This breakdown helps teams plan, prioritize, and track progress, ensuring that all aspects of a feature are covered. Epics also help keep stakeholders aligned on what is being developed and how.

Agile epic example

• User Authentication System: Examples include user registration and login, password forgetting, and authenticating with social media accounts.

• Mobile App Redesign: refers to changing the appearance of the app’s graphical user interface, introducing new paths or ways of moving in the app, as well as bringing it into the best fit of the growing sizes of the screen.

• Customer Feedback System: These cover aspects such as collecting user feedback, the application of rating features, and the general feedback dashboard.

• E-commerce Checkout Process: Also, this includes stories for CAT Accept payment gateway, support multiple payment methods, and becoming a checkout builder.

• Data Analytics Dashboard: Incorporates creating data visualization elements, assembling different data sets, and designing meaningful reports that may be easily comprehended.

Why use Agile Epics?

• It improves the organization's work.
• It set up clear priorities.

Understanding the terms of Agile Epic

• Stories: These stories are the end-user demands or requirements; that is why they are also known as "user stories."
• Features: It has a variety of functions and stories, as well as multiple themes and user stories.
• Initiatives: It has a common objective that drives the teams working in the organization efficiently.
• Themes: A theme can be defined as the goals of an organization.

How to Create an agile epic?

• Identify the Goal: Present a clear description of what the Epic is trying to solve in simple terms of the value the users or business will get from it.

• Write a Clear Epic Statement: Inform the Epic with a clear message to achieve what has been intended, which entails a summary description to define the end product’s purpose and realms of applicability.

• Break Down into User Stories: Break the epic into smaller, incremental user stories, which will be something tangible that one could easily grasp and work on.

• Prioritize Stories: Prioritize the user stories based on factors such as business value, user needs, and technical requirements to do the most important work earlier.

• Estimate Effort and Time: Help measure the effort and time likely to be used to complete every user story in order to help in "PPlanning the Sprint.”.

• Review and refine: Ensure there is constant practice of the epic and the stories with the team and other stakeholders to ensure they reflect the new priorities and ideas.

How to measure agile epics?

• Completion Rate: Monitor the proportion of stories or epics comprising an epic that have been delivered.

• Business Value Delivered: Determine the results achieved towards corporate objectives with the Epic, including sales or consumers’ satisfaction.

• Effort vs. Estimate: To measure this epic relative to expectations, compare the effort it took to complete the epic against the amount of effort estimated to be required.

• Customer Feedback: It is also necessary to evaluate the gathered feedback and satisfaction of users regarding the features that have been provided by Epic.

• Time to Completion: Under observation of the time it takes between the start and the end of Epic, delays and other potential obstacles are found.

Points to Consider When Creating an Agile Epic:

• Reporting: All the drafting takes place here for the project managers and team associates to keep track of the project.
• Storytelling: In this step, the process or mechanism is described as to how the person arrived at the current or proposed state of the feature or product.
• Epic Culture: This determines the organization’s culture and values.
• Timeline: It defines the complete timeframe so that the product or project can be completed on time.

Let us take an example of a wedding reception:

• Here, Epic had a reception with 200 guests. Now, it is the wedding planner's responsibility to ensure that all the user stories are completed so that clients can be satisfied.
• The user stories could include picking a venue, preparing food, and selecting decorations according to the client's needs.
• Now, each and every user story will have numerous tasks within it. So, it should be completed within the given time frame.

How To Assess Agile Epics?

To visualize the epics, one can opt for burndown charts. The results of these charts keep the team motivated and stakeholders informed about the project. Basically, it shows the estimated amount and the actual amount of work that is to be done on a sprint. It has two axes, where the x-axis indicates time and the y-axis indicates stories.

How Does the Burndown Chart Assist Teams in Meeting Their Objectives?

With the help of the burndown chart, the team can monitor its progress and the work that is left to be done. In this way, they can achieve their goal at the right time.

How To Manage Agile Projects?

Kanban boards can be used to manage projects and epics. It shows transparency and great execution of the project. With this connection, one can break down the work without any interference in their on-going work.

Benefits of Agile Epic

• It breaks large workloads down into small tasks. Basically, epics cut down on unnecessary activities.
• Stakeholders can check the progress of the team's Agile epics if they need access to the information.
• It increases team productivity by allowing them to track their progress towards their goals.
• As epics are broken down into small tasks, it saves time and effort.
• It has better organization of data. Basically, it helps to keep track of all ideas in the form of user stories in a single place.
• It improves timeline estimates and performance monitoring.
• Improved communication: Epics facilitate better communication among the team members, as they provide clarity on the overall goals and objectives of the project. This allows team members to work collaboratively towards the common goal, ensuring that everyone is on the same page.
• Greater flexibility: Agile epics allow teams to be more flexible and adaptable to changing requirements. Since epics are broken down into smaller tasks, they can be easily reprioritized or adjusted as needed to accommodate new priorities.
• Enhanced visibility: Epics provide greater visibility into the project's progress, making it easier for stakeholders to track and measure success. This, in turn, leads to better decision-making and increased stakeholder satisfaction.
• Improved quality: As epics are broken down into smaller tasks, it allows for better quality control and testing. This ensures that any issues or defects are caught early, reducing the risk of delays and additional costs down the line.
• Better risk management: Epics can help identify potential risks or roadblocks early on in the project, allowing teams to proactively address them before they become major issues. This helps to ensure that the project stays on track and is delivered on time and within budget.

Drawbacks of Agile Epic

• Because of the small tasks, there is sometimes confusion about the end product.
• The clash of ideas and mechanisms creates complications, and then the task of story and epic tracking becomes more complicated.
• The chance of vagueness increases when the teams do not coordinate well with each other.
• Lack of understanding: The Agile Epic methodology requires all stakeholders to be on the same page. However, if the stakeholders have different ideas and do not understand the process, it can lead to confusion, delays, and misunderstandings.
• Lack of transparency: In some cases, Agile Epic can be too flexible, leading to a lack of transparency in the development process. This can make it difficult to track progress, identify issues, and make informed decisions.
• Overcomplication: In some cases, Agile Epic can be overcomplicated, leading to an unnecessary increase in time and effort. This can lead to confusion and frustration among team members, which can have a negative impact on the overall quality of the project.
• Dependency on technology: Agile Epic requires the use of specific software tools and technologies to be effective. If the team is not comfortable using these tools, it can lead to a lack of productivity and effectiveness in the development process.
• Dependency on teamwork: Agile Epic requires strong teamwork and communication among all team members. If the team is not working together effectively, it can lead to delays, mistakes, and a lack of progress towards the end goal.

Conclusion

Epic refers to a large feature or goal that is divided into subsets, which are called user stories, and can be implemented in an agile environment. To build an epic, start with the goal, make a statement of purpose, decompose the epic into user stories, prioritize and approximate the work done, and iterate. An epic can be defined in terms of its completion rate, business value, effort estimation accuracy, customer satisfaction, time taken to complete, and quality. An orderly approach works to make sure complicated attributes are well addressed by embracing the users’ demands besides viewing the business objectives.

What is an Agile Epic?

An Agile Epic can, therefore, be described as a large piece of work that is comprised of many user stories and that denotes major functionality.

How do I create an Agile Epic?

Define the goal, state the epic, decompose the epic into user stories, prioritize and give an estimation of the effort required, which must be done, and review the cycle.

How is the measurement of an Agile Epic done?

Track using the number of projects completed, evaluating the business impact, reviewing the estimated adoption vs. actual time, getting feedback from customers, observing the time taken, and quality testing.

Can you define the epic and the user story?

An epic is a huge and general characteristic, while a user story is a small detail that helps to complete the epic.

Which particular story comes first or second, and so on?

Organize according to the priority level, such as business value, customer’s requirements, or technical dependencies, to guarantee that priority tasks are done before others.

Can an Epic be done in one sprint?

Usually no, because epics encompass a lot of work and can be split into parts, which are implemented in several sprints