What Is an Epic in Agile and How to Measure Its Progress?

In agile development, adaptability and iterative progress are paramount, and managing complex product features can be a challenge. As a product manager, you’re constantly navigating between the big picture, like delivering valuable products, and the day-to-day intricacies of development cycles. To strike the right balance, Agile introduces various structures that help manage scope, expectations, and priorities, and one of the most crucial of these is the Epic.

Epics are the high-level building blocks that drive Agile projects, providing the overarching framework for large features or sets of functionalities that will eventually evolve into smaller, actionable tasks. While Epics themselves may not be tackled in a single sprint, they guide the team through the larger goals and ensure that individual efforts align with the broader vision of the product.

Let’s explore how Epics fit into the Agile methodology, their purpose in driving product development, and why mastering them is essential for successful project management.

What is an Epic in Agile?

In Agile, an epic is a large, high-level body of work that is broken down into smaller, manageable tasks called user stories. It represents a significant objective or feature that cannot be completed within a single sprint. Epics help teams organize and prioritize complex initiatives by grouping related stories under a common goal. They align with broader business objectives and provide a roadmap for achieving them. Typically, an epic spans multiple sprints and involves collaboration across teams. By breaking down an epic into smaller tasks, Agile teams can maintain flexibility, adapt to feedback, and ensure steady progress toward delivery.

Also read: Agile vs Waterfall:Key Differences and Which One to Choose

Breaking Down the Components of Epics

An epic in Agile consists of several essential components that provide clarity, structure, and alignment with project goals. These components help teams manage large bodies of work effectively while ensuring alignment with user and business needs. Here’s a detailed breakdown:

1. Title

The title is a short, descriptive name for the epic that conveys its purpose or feature. It acts as a quick reference for team members, making it easier to identify and prioritize. For example, “Implement User Authentication” clearly indicates the scope of the work.

2. Description

The description elaborates on the purpose and goals of the epic. It answers key questions like:

• What is the epic about?
• Why is it important?
• What problem does it solve or opportunity does it address?

This component provides context for stakeholders and team members, ensuring everyone understands its significance within the larger project.

3. User Persona

A critical aspect of any epic is defining the target audience or user persona. This identifies:

• Who will benefit from the feature or functionality delivered through the epic.
• Their needs, challenges, and motivations.

For instance, if the epic involves developing a mobile payment feature, the persona could be “busy professionals seeking quick and secure payment options.”

4. Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance criteria define the measurable outcomes or conditions that must be met for the epic to be considered complete. These are clear, testable statements that provide a shared understanding of success. For example:

• Users must be able to register with a valid email.
• Transactions should be processed within 3 seconds.
• The interface should comply with accessibility standards.

5. Related User Stories

An epic is broken down into smaller, actionable tasks called user stories. These stories are specific deliverables that contribute to the epic’s completion. For example, an epic for “Enhance Website Performance” could include stories like:

• Optimize image loading times.
• Implement lazy loading for below-the-fold content.
• Reduce JavaScript file sizes.

6. Estimated Timeline

This outlines the projected timeframe for completing the epic. It may span multiple sprints, with milestones or checkpoints defined to track progress. A timeline helps teams manage expectations and ensure timely delivery.

7. Priority

The priority indicates the importance of the epic in relation to other tasks. High-priority epics are aligned with immediate business goals or user demands, while lower-priority ones may address longer-term needs. For example:

• High priority: “Launch mobile app payment gateway.”
• Low priority: “Refine existing notification settings.”

8. Dependencies and Risks

An epic often has dependencies on other tasks or teams, and identifying these early is essential. Additionally, potential risks that might impact delivery should be documented, along with mitigation strategies.

9. KPIs or Success Metrics

Clearly defining how the success of the epic will be measured is crucial. Metrics could include:

• User engagement rates.
• Performance improvements.
• Revenue growth attributable to the feature.

10. Feedback Loop

A plan for gathering feedback during and after the development process ensures that the epic aligns with user expectations. Incorporating regular feedback opportunities allows for iterative improvement.

What Are the Different Types of Epics in Agile?

1. Business Epics

Business epics are large initiatives aligned with an organization’s strategic objectives. They directly contribute to achieving key business goals such as increasing revenue, expanding into new markets, or improving customer retention.

Key Features:

• Focus on delivering measurable business outcomes.
• Often tied to high-priority business initiatives or goals.
• May include product enhancements or new feature development.

Example:

Launching a subscription model for an app to increase recurring revenue.

2. Portfolio Epics

Portfolio epics are high-level epics that span across multiple programs or teams within an organization. They represent large-scale initiatives that align with the company’s vision and long-term strategies.

Key Features:

• Cross-functional, requiring coordination across multiple Agile Release Trains (ARTs) or teams.
• Managed at the portfolio level, often in frameworks like SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework).
• Broken down into program epics or features for execution.

Example:

Developing a global e-commerce platform to support international expansion.

3. Customer Epics

Customer epics are driven by user feedback, needs, or requests. These epics aim to deliver direct value to customers by solving pain points, enhancing user experience, or adding features that users demand.

Key Features:

• Customer-centric and based on direct input from users.
• Focus on improving user satisfaction and engagement.
• Often prioritized based on customer impact and demand.

Example:

Adding a dark mode feature to improve app usability for customers.

4. Technical Epics

Technical epics address internal technical needs, such as infrastructure improvements, scalability, or reducing technical debt. While they don’t provide immediate visible value to end-users, they are essential for maintaining system health and supporting future development.

Key Features:

• Focus on system performance, security, and maintainability.
• Often support or enable business and customer epics.
• May include tasks like upgrading technology stacks, refactoring code, or improving automation.

Example:

Upgrading the backend database to improve scalability and response times.

5. Enabler Epics

Enabler epics are essential for preparing the groundwork for future work or features. They typically involve setting up infrastructure, conducting research, or exploring new technologies that support the delivery of business or customer-centric epics. Enabler epics may not directly deliver user-facing features but are critical for enabling future development.

Key Features:

• Focus on future readiness and support for upcoming initiatives.
• Often involve research, prototyping, or architectural changes.
• Serve as a foundation for subsequent features or improvements.

Example:

Setting up a new cloud-based infrastructure to support scaling the product in the future.

6. Compliance or Regulatory Epics

Compliance epics are driven by the need to adhere to legal, regulatory, or organizational standards. These epics ensure that a product or service meets external or internal requirements, such as data privacy laws, security standards, or industry regulations. Compliance work is often mandatory and time-sensitive, focusing on risk reduction.

Key Features:

• Ensure legal and regulatory requirements are met.
• Can be tied to mandatory external guidelines or internal policies.
• Often non-negotiable and require careful monitoring.

Example:

Updating financial systems to comply with Goods and Services Tax (GST) regulations for transaction reporting.

What Are the Main Benefits of Agile Epics?

Agile epics offer significant advantages in managing large and complex initiatives by providing a high-level framework that breaks down work into manageable parts while maintaining flexibility and strategic alignment. Below are the key benefits of using Agile epics:

1. Simplified Product Planning and Prioritization

Agile epics help teams organize large projects or features into smaller, manageable work units. This enables clear product planning by focusing on overarching business goals and objectives, allowing teams to allocate resources effectively and prioritize work that delivers the most value.

Benefit:

• Improved Roadmapping: Epics provide a clear, high-level structure for mapping out the project from start to finish.
• Easier Prioritization: By understanding the size and scope of the epic, teams can prioritize work based on business needs, delivering critical features first.

Example: A project to enhance an e-commerce platform might have epics like “Improve Search Functionality” and “Redesign Checkout Process,” making it easier to prioritize these based on customer demand.

2. Improved Collaboration Across Teams

Epics often span multiple teams, departments, or skill sets, which encourages collaboration and ensures that all parts of the project align with the larger goal. The work required for an epic can involve both technical teams and business stakeholders, ensuring that different perspectives contribute to the final solution.

Benefit:

• Cross-functional Cooperation: By defining an epic, teams from various functions—like design, development, and marketing—can collaborate more effectively.
• Unified Focus: Collaboration ensures that all stakeholders work towards the same outcome, reducing misunderstandings and improving the flow of information.

Example: An epic such as “Launch New Marketing Campaign” may require the design, content, and marketing teams to coordinate efforts, improving overall efficiency and delivery.

3. Enhanced Flexibility and Adaptability

One of the core principles of Agile is its flexibility. Epics allow for this adaptability by providing the flexibility to adjust priorities as the project progresses. As new insights emerge through feedback or testing, the scope of the epic can be refined, ensuring the team remains responsive to evolving requirements.

Benefit:

• Dynamic Adjustments: Epics can evolve in response to user feedback or market changes without disrupting the project.
• Continuous Improvement: The iterative nature of Agile allows teams to continuously refine epics, adding value based on real-time data and customer feedback.

Example: A company building a mobile app may start with an epic to “Improve User Interface” but could pivot to focus more on user experience based on early feedback from beta testers.

4. Clearer Vision and Strategic Alignment

Agile epics ensure that the project is consistently aligned with business goals and strategic priorities. Each epic represents a larger business objective, allowing teams to see how individual tasks and stories contribute to the company’s long-term vision. This ensures that every piece of work has a purpose and aligns with the broader organizational strategy.

Benefit:

• Focus on Business Outcomes: Epics help teams align work with organizational goals, whether it’s increasing customer retention, launching new features, or reducing costs.
• Holistic View: Stakeholders can view the bigger picture, ensuring that resources are allocated to initiatives that offer the most value.

Example: A product development epic like “Launch Subscription Model” aligns with a company’s goal to shift from one-time sales to recurring revenue, ensuring business strategy is reflected in day-to-day work.

5. Streamlined Work Breakdown

Epics break down complex features or goals into smaller, more manageable user stories, which are then executed in sprints. This hierarchical structure provides teams with a clear plan for how to approach large tasks and reduces the risk of feeling overwhelmed. It also makes it easier to estimate effort and track progress.

Benefit:

• Decomposition of Complex Tasks: Epics enable teams to break down large, complex projects into smaller, actionable stories.
• More Accurate Estimation: Smaller user stories provide better clarity on effort, leading to more accurate sprint planning and resource allocation.

Example: An epic like “Create New User Dashboard” could be broken down into individual stories such as “Design UI for Dashboard,” “Implement User Authentication,” and “Integrate Data Visualizations.”

6. Better Stakeholder Communication

Epics help improve transparency with stakeholders, providing a clear view of the overall progress and major milestones. Because epics are high-level, they enable project managers and teams to provide updates on key objectives and accomplishments without getting lost in detailed tasks or stories. This simplifies communication and ensures that stakeholders remain informed and aligned with the project.

Benefit:

• Transparency in Progress: Epics offer a high-level view of the project’s progress, making it easier for stakeholders to understand what’s happening without getting bogged down in minute details.
• Better Decision-Making: With a clearer understanding of goals and priorities, stakeholders can make more informed decisions about resource allocation and timelines.

Example: A stakeholder can quickly see that the “New User Dashboard” epic is in progress and that stories related to UI design and data integration are currently being worked on, providing confidence in the project’s direction.

7. Scalability and Long-Term Vision

Epics are especially beneficial for large projects or teams that need to maintain a long-term strategic vision. By grouping related tasks under a single epic, Agile teams can maintain focus on the bigger picture while delivering incremental value through sprints. Epics ensure that long-term objectives do not get lost in day-to-day activities.

Benefit:

• Supports Large-Scale Projects: Epics allow teams to manage and track progress in large projects, ensuring that key milestones are achieved even when multiple teams are involved.
• Encourages a Long-Term Focus: Epics keep teams focused on long-term business objectives, even as they work through individual stories in shorter timeframes.

Example: A company working on a major product overhaul can create multiple epics like “Enhance Payment System” and “Redesign User Experience,” ensuring that the overarching project vision is achieved while keeping the process manageable.

Agile Epic Example

Here are several Agile Epic Examples across various industries, showcasing different objectives and features that can be addressed through epics:

1. Epic: Launch Mobile App for E-Commerce Platform

Description:
This epic involves developing and launching a mobile application for an existing e-commerce platform, focusing on features such as product browsing, user account management, and secure payment integration.

User Stories:

• As a user, I want to browse products by category so that I can find what I’m looking for quickly.
• As a user, I want to create and manage my account so that I can track orders and view my purchase history.
• As a user, I want to securely check out using my saved payment information so that my purchase is fast and secure.

Outcome:
A fully functional e-commerce mobile app offering an enhanced shopping experience and boosting user engagement.

2. Epic: Improve Website Search Functionality

Description:
This epic focuses on enhancing the search feature on a website to make it more intuitive and efficient, enabling users to find products or information faster.

User Stories:

• As a user, I want to filter search results by price range so that I can find products that fit my budget.
• As a user, I want to see search suggestions as I type so that I can find products more quickly.
• As a user, I want to be able to sort search results by ratings so that I can find the highest-rated products.

Outcome:
A more efficient and user-friendly search functionality, increasing user satisfaction and conversion rates.

3. Epic: Develop Employee Performance Management System

Description:
This epic involves building a system to track employee performance, allowing managers to set goals, provide feedback, and assess progress over time.

User Stories:

• As a manager, I want to set performance goals for employees so that I can track their progress over the year.
• As an employee, I want to view my performance reviews and feedback so that I can improve my skills.
• As an HR administrator, I want to generate performance reports for all employees so that I can identify trends and take action.

Outcome:
An integrated system that facilitates performance reviews and enhances employee growth and productivity.

4. Epic: Redesign Customer Support Portal

Description:
This epic involves redesigning the customer support portal to make it more user-friendly and efficient, including improved ticketing, knowledge base access, and live chat features.

User Stories:

• As a customer, I want to easily submit support tickets so that I can resolve issues quickly.
• As a support agent, I want to track the status of all open tickets so that I can prioritize and respond to customers promptly.
• As a customer, I want to access a knowledge base for self-service solutions to common problems.

Outcome:
A redesigned, more user-friendly portal that improves customer satisfaction and support team efficiency.

5. Epic: Implement Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for Security

Description:
This epic focuses on adding an extra layer of security to user accounts by implementing two-factor authentication (2FA), ensuring that users can access their accounts only after providing additional verification.

User Stories:

• As a user, I want to enable 2FA so that my account is more secure.
• As a user, I want to receive a one-time code via SMS to verify my identity when logging in from a new device.
• As a security officer, I want to monitor 2FA activation across all accounts to ensure maximum security compliance.

Outcome:
Enhanced security for user accounts, reducing the likelihood of unauthorized access and improving user trust.

Creating an Agile Epic

Step 1: Identify the User Persona for Your Epic

The first step in crafting an effective Agile epic is defining the user persona. A user persona represents a specific type of end-user who will benefit from the epic or feature. This helps ensure that your epic stays aligned with user needs and business goals.

Why It Matters:

• Provides clarity on who the epic is serving.
• Ensures that the epic focuses on delivering value to the right audience.

Steps to Define the User Persona:

1. Target User Group:
   Identify who will benefit most from the epic. Are they customers, employees, or administrators?
   Example: For a retail app, the persona could be “regular shopper” or “new customer.”
2. Understand Their Objectives:
   Determine the user’s main goal or the challenge they face that the epic will address.
   Example: A user may want a quicker checkout process to save time.
3. Identify Pain Points:
   What issues do users face with the current system? The epic should solve these challenges.
   Example: Users struggle with filling out lengthy forms during checkout.

Example Persona:

• Persona Name: “Alex, the Busy Shopper”
• Goal: Alex wants a fast and easy checkout process without having to repeatedly enter payment details.
• Pain Point: He finds long forms and slow page load times frustrating.

Step 2: Break Down the Epic into Smaller Work Items

Once the user persona is defined, the next step is to break down the large epic into smaller, actionable user stories or tasks. These work items should be manageable enough to be tackled within an Agile sprint.

Why It Matters:

• Allows teams to focus on incremental progress.
• Makes complex features more manageable.

Steps to Structure the Work Items:

1. Decompose the Epic into User Stories:
   Each user story should address a specific part of the epic that delivers value to the user.
   Example: “As a customer, I want to store my payment info in my account for a seamless checkout experience.”
2. Organize in a Centralized Location:
   Map out these work items in a single place like a task board, digital tool (e.g., Jira, Trello), or backlog for easy tracking.
   Example: Add all user stories under the “Optimizing Checkout Process” epic.
3. Estimate the Effort for Each Story:
   For each work item, estimate the level of effort or complexity involved. This helps with sprint planning and workload distribution.
   Example: Estimating “Optimize Checkout Page” at 3 story points and “Add One-Click Payment Option” at 5 story points.

Example Work Items for the Epic:

• User Story 1: As a shopper, I want the ability to save my payment information for future purchases.
• User Story 2: As a customer, I want an option to reorder previous items with one click for a quicker checkout experience.

Step 3: Incorporate Feedback Loops During the Process

Agile methodology thrives on feedback loops to ensure that the product aligns with user needs and business goals. Feedback helps teams validate their work and make necessary adjustments before the epic is fully completed.

Why It Matters:

• Feedback ensures that the epic meets user expectations.
• It aids in spotting and resolving issues early in the process.

Steps to Incorporate Feedback:

1. User Testing:

After completing certain work items or features, gather feedback from users. This can include A/B testing or usability testing to validate the epic’s effectiveness.
Example: After implementing the “one-click payment” feature, collect feedback from a group of beta testers.

2. Review by Stakeholders:

Regularly present progress updates to stakeholders, such as product owners or managers, to ensure the epic aligns with the broader business objectives.
Example: Organize a bi-weekly review with stakeholders to check if the epic’s features align with business goals.

3. Continuous Refinement:

Use feedback to refine and adjust the epic. Whether it’s user input, team feedback, or stakeholder reviews, iterative improvements should be made to deliver the best possible result.
Example: If users find the “one-click payment” confusing, revise the interface to make it more intuitive.

Example Feedback Loops:

• Post-Sprint Testing: After the initial sprint, gather feedback from users on the usability of the new payment options. Refine the design based on their suggestions.
• Stakeholder Feedback: Regular reviews with stakeholders to check if the epic aligns with company objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs).

Key Practices for Crafting Successful Epics

1. Focus on User-Centric Goals

Epics should always be created with the end user in mind. Understanding the user’s demands, pain spots, and objectives can help you ensure the epic delivers genuine value. A user-centric epic helps the team stay focused on solving genuine problems rather than getting weighed down by technical details. Incorporating customer feedback throughout the process helps make sure the end result effectively meets their needs, increasing product satisfaction and engagement.

2. Break Down Epics into Manageable User Stories

Large epics can be overwhelming, so split them down into smaller, more digestible user stories. This simplifies sprint planning, progress tracking, and incremental value delivery. Each user story should address a specific feature of the epic and be brief enough to fit into a sprint. This allows the epic to be continuously worked on and adjusted, resulting in faster delivery and clearer milestones.

3. Align Epics with Business Objectives

Each epic should directly contribute to the business’s objectives, whether it’s improving customer experience, increasing revenue, or optimizing internal operations. Aligning the epic with business goals ensures that the effort invested in its development yields visible results. This alignment also keeps stakeholders informed and involved, ensuring that the team is working towards meaningful goals. Without a clear connection to business objectives, the epic may fail to deliver significant ROI.

4. Encourage Cross-Functional Collaboration

Epics are generally created by collaborations between developers and designers, as well as marketing and operational teams. Involving multiple viewpoints in the planning and implementation stages results in more full, well-rounded epics. Cross-functional collaboration encourages creativity, aids in the early detection of potential issues, and ensures that all parts of the epic are taken into account, from technical feasibility to user experience. This collaborative approach leads to better product creation and smoother implementation.

5. Maintain Flexibility and Adaptability

Adaptability is a major element of Agile, and it also applies to epics. Epics should be flexible enough to accommodate changes in requirements, user needs, or market conditions. Being open to input and changing epics as needed ensures that they remain relevant and useful throughout the development phase. This flexibility enables teams to pivot rapidly if necessary, lowering the risk of wasted effort and ensuring that the end product fulfills user expectations.

6. Prioritize Based on Business Value

Not all epics are the same, and some will have a greater business impact than others. Prioritizing epics based on their importance to the business guarantees that the most important tasks are completed first. Estimating the work and impact of each epic allows teams to focus on what adds the most value and deliver the most crucial features faster. This strategic prioritization keeps the project on track to create value while also making optimal use of resources.

How to Manage Agile Epics?

Managing Agile epics effectively requires careful planning, ongoing tracking, and clear communication across teams. Here are the essential steps to manage Agile epics:

1. Break Down Epics into Smaller User Stories

An epic is frequently too huge to finish in a single sprint, so breaking it down into smaller, more manageable user stories is important. This enables teams to work progressively while consistently producing value. Each user narrative should be aligned with the epic’s primary goals, making it easier to track progress and guarantee that the epic is on pace to meet its objectives. This decomposition also provides flexibility, as the scope of work can be changed as needed.

2. Prioritize Epics Based on Business Value

Not all epics hold equal business value, so prioritizing them is crucial to ensuring resources are used effectively. Assess each epic based on factors like urgency, impact on the customer, and alignment with business objectives. Prioritizing ensures that the most important epics are tackled first, which leads to a more focused and goal-driven development process. The priority of an epic may shift over time as business needs evolve, so continuous reassessment is necessary.

3. Use Agile Tools for Tracking and Visibility

Epic progress can be tracked using agile project management systems such as Jira, Trello, and Asana. These technologies increase transparency across teams, allowing everyone to keep on track with the epic’s progress. Epics can be visualized in terms of user stories, sprints, and overall progress, making it easy to detect bottlenecks or areas that require additional resources. These tools also allow teams to update and change the epic as the work advances, which helps to maintain flexibility.

4. Review and Refine Epics Regularly

An epic should be reviewed and refined on a regular basis to ensure that it remains in line with user needs, business objectives, and project requirements. During sprint retrospectives or backlog grooming sessions, get feedback from all stakeholders and make any necessary changes to the epic. This iterative process enables teams to incorporate input and alter priorities as needed, keeping the epic current and valuable throughout its existence.

5. Collaborate Across Teams

Managing epics involves multiple teams, including developers, designers, and product owners. Maintaining clear communication and collaboration among all involved parties ensures everyone understands the epic’s objectives and is working toward the same goals. Regular check-ins and feedback loops allow for any issues to be addressed early, preventing misunderstandings or delays. Cross-functional collaboration is key to creating epics that meet both user expectations and technical feasibility.

6. Track Progress with Metrics

Tracking the progress of an epic through metrics helps ensure that it’s moving forward as expected. Use metrics like story points completed, burn-down charts, or velocity to gauge how much work has been completed and how much remains. Monitoring these metrics allows teams to identify any potential risks early on and take corrective actions if needed. Metrics also provide insights into how efficiently the team is working and if there are areas for improvement.

How to Measure and Track Agile Epics?

Measuring and tracking Agile epics is crucial for ensuring that they are progressing as expected and delivering value. Here are the key ways to measure and track Agile epics effectively:

1. Use Agile Metrics to Track Progress

Agile metrics like story points and velocity are vital for tracking the progress of epics. Story points show the relative effort required to accomplish a user story, whereas velocity quantifies the rate at which the team completes tasks. By analyzing the amount of story points accomplished over time, teams may determine how much work remains in the epic and change their expectations accordingly. These metrics assist visualize progress and detect obstacles early on.

2. Burn-Down and Burn-Up Charts

Burn-down and burn-up charts are visual tools that show the progress of work over time. A burn-down chart tracks the amount of work remaining in an epic, while a burn-up chart shows how much work has been completed. Both charts provide valuable insight into the progress of the epic, helping the team understand whether they are on track to meet deadlines. These charts also highlight any discrepancies between planned and actual progress, enabling better adjustments.

3. Track Through Sprints

Agile epics should be broken down into smaller user stories that fit within sprints. By tracking the completion of these stories in each sprint, you can measure how much work has been done toward completing the epic. Each sprint review provides an opportunity to evaluate the epic’s progress and make adjustments. Tracking epics through sprints allows teams to stay focused on short-term goals while keeping the larger picture in mind.

4. Progress Updates in Daily Stand-Ups

Daily stand-up meetings provide an important opportunity for teams to update one another on the status of their projects and epics. These discussions are an opportunity to discuss any issues or roadblocks that may be hampering development. By checking in on a regular basis during stand-ups, team members can ensure that the epic is progressing smoothly and make real-time tweaks as needed. This constant communication ensures that no concerns are ignored and that work continues on schedule.

5. Use Agile Project Management Tools

Agile project management tools, like Jira, Trello, or Asana, offer built-in features for tracking epics. These tools allow teams to organize and prioritize tasks, assign user stories to specific sprints, and track the status of epics and their components. They provide visibility into the progress of epics by showing completed tasks, upcoming work, and any roadblocks that may arise. These tools also allow teams to manage dependencies and adjust timelines based on real-time data.

6. Regular Epic Reviews and Refinement

Epic reviews and refinement sessions should be held on a regular basis, usually during sprint reviews or backlog grooming meetings, to track an epic’s development. During these reviews, teams examine whether the epic is aligned with business objectives, user demands, and project requirements. Refining the epic ensures that it remains relevant throughout the development cycle, with changes made as necessary. This process helps teams stay focused on delivering the proper value while also addressing any changing requirements or obstacles.

7. Measure Business Value

Tracking the business value delivered by an epic is just as important as tracking progress. Measuring the business value involves assessing how well the epic’s completion contributes to the overarching goals of the organization, such as increasing revenue, improving customer satisfaction, or meeting regulatory requirements. Business value can be tracked through metrics like customer feedback, revenue growth, or user engagement. This ensures the team remains focused on delivering outcomes that align with strategic objectives.

8. Use Feedback Loops for Adjustments

Regular feedback loops from stakeholders, customers, and team members are crucial for measuring an epic’s performance. Sprint reviews, user testing, and customer surveys are all options for gathering feedback. This data enables the team to determine whether the epic is achieving user needs and business objectives. Feedback enables teams to alter priorities, tweak features, and move the epic’s focus as needed. By adding input on a regular basis, teams can track the epic’s development and make modifications to stay on schedule.

9. Monitor the Completion of Key Milestones

Agile epics typically have key milestones that indicate significant stages in the epic’s progress. Monitoring these milestones helps teams track whether the epic is progressing according to plan. Milestones might include the completion of critical features, user acceptance testing, or integration with other systems. By keeping an eye on these milestones, teams can stay focused on the larger objectives while ensuring that the smaller tasks are completed on time.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)