Are you up for an Excel burndown chart?

If you understand what the burndown charts are, you will get to know how important tools they are. You will get help in managing the deadlines of your projects. In Microsoft Excel, the burndown charts let you track how many leaves are left to collect in the basket. While dealing with larger data in Excel, you may develop migraine, as this is not an easy thing.

However, don’t worry, we are here to help you out in such scenarios.

First of all, let’s overview what a burndown chart is.

What is a Burndown Chart?

You may call it a progress-monitoring tool that lets you track and manage computational procedures throughout a project. With the Agile framework, the sprint cycle is assimilated and planned as per scrum tactic while making different software and applications. During a software development project, it helps the chart in becoming a primary tool for analyzing the progress.

Why Should I Use Burndown Chart in Excel?

As you know, burndown files are worthy tools for handling all project needs. It might be possible that scrum and agile teams apply these sources to fulfill needs to speed up the progress. For Excel, making a structure is also valuable so that teams can utilize persistent updates to project owners, management, and other team members.

Hence, it is vital to generate some elements while creating a burndown chart in Excel.

• Estimated number of finished sprint tasks 
• The real number of finished sprint tasks 
• Estimated time for all residual tasks
• Real-time for all finished tasks  

Let’s come back to our main topic, how to create a burndown chart in Excel.

How to Create a Burndown Chart in Excel?

Here you will find some easy steps to follow in order to make Excel burndown charts. 

Follow the below-mentioned steps for making an easy burndown chart Excel. 

• Generate a New Spreadsheet

First, you need to open a new spreadsheet in Excel and make labels for your data. With a simple layout, utilize the first row for the labels. Merge cells A1 and B1. Now, label the newly created cell as a “timeline” to make a double-column following A and B. 

For the date, you can use cell A2, and for the day, use cell B2. Now, track the real working days you have done the sprint tasks. 

Next, merge cells C1 and D1. Now, make another cell and double column for tracking the sprint progress. You may label it as “tasks.” 

For the next two cells C2 and D2, you can label them as “expected” and “real.” These cells are labeled for the number of tasks you have supposed to do and the number of tasks you have finished in reality during a day of the sprint phase.

• Track the Sprint Timeline 

You need to list every date and resultant weekday under the “timeline” cells while setting up and labeling the excel sheet. For instance, suppose your sprint has 14 days starting from Thursday with an off on coming Monday. You will see 17 entries overall with “date” and “day” columns that can uncover the real status of your project.

• Register the Estimated Tasks from the Sprint Logjam 

You may list the estimated tasks to finish each day by using the data from the logjam. Suppose, the sprint starts on Monday, 8th September, you would have to record the resulting amount of estimated tasks in the same row labeled as the “expected” column. 

In case, if you try to finish six tasks on Monday, September 8, you will see “Monday” in cell A3 and in cell B3 you will see “September.” Apart from that in cell C3, you would see the number of tasks “6.”

• Check the Number of Tasks Done in Reality 

Updating the spreadsheet side by side while completing tasks each day to file the number of tasks you need to complete under the “Actual” cell in column D. As in the previous example, you may be expecting to finish six tasks on Monday, 8th September, but in reality, you successfully done with five and one-half tasks. So, you would consider it as 5.5 under the “actual” column in cell D3.

• Transfer the Data into a Graph 

Whenever you try to fill in the burndown chart, Excel transfers the results into a graph presenting the alteration in development eventually. For this, you need to choose and mark the columns labeled as “date,” “expected” and “actual.” 

Choose the insert option to pop up a menu. You can choose the line graph option from the Insert menu.   

Drawbacks of Excel Burnout Charts 

With Excel, you can make larger data simple, reliable, easy to understand, and readily available. However, at some points, you may feel like traveling in two opposite directions. It simple is unrealistic. Don’t ever think about it.

Keep in mind that Excel is never enough for all burndown chart requirements. Let’s have a look at some evident drawbacks.

• Boring Manual Process

Remember, each sprint of the project is different and works on a different paradigm. Primarily, Excel allows you to analyze your data quickly and reliably. Obviously, you cannot make a separate table and chart for each column or sprint. These limits Excel to expanding its functions. 

• Non-Collaborative 

Microsoft Excel is a kind of piece that can fulfill the puzzle. However, it is an awesome thing to work on only when it is alone. Whenever you try to join it with another app or tool, you will get disappointed because it is so tricky and you can never complete the task you just started. 

• Poor Mobile Support

Did you ever try Excel working on your mobile phone? 

Hopefully, you got many issues handling even smaller data. Well, mobile phones are nowadays working as oxygen for human beings, and never assume your tool’s success when it is not mobile-friendly.

Always remember that Excel has lots of problem solutions and you should never underestimate the power of Excel tools. Keep practicing Excel’s basic functions as well as advanced functions. And that’s it!