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Close and review a sprint

You will learn how to close an active cycle, choose a carry-over policy, reopen a cycle when needed, and review sprint outcomes in the Sprint Report.

Tixio calls the planning window a cycle; the close and report UI still uses sprint wording for habit and outcome labels (for example Incomplete (moved to next sprint)).

Before you begin, read Sprint reports and charts.

1. Review the active cycle

  1. Open the project.
  2. Select Cycles.
  3. Open the cycle under Active.
  4. Review the capacity bar and Issues in scope.

Before closing, confirm completed issues are in done statuses and cancelled work has the right resolution.

If auto-close was enabled when the cycle started, Tixio may close the cycle after its end date using the cycle's default carry-over policy. Use the steps below for manual close, review, or any cycle where auto-close was disabled.

2. Check incomplete work

On the cycle detail page, compare total issue count with completed count. Review each incomplete issue and decide what should happen next.

Use these questions:

  1. Is the issue still important?
  2. Should it go into the next planned cycle?
  3. Does it need re-scoping or splitting?
  4. Is it blocked by something outside this cycle?
  5. Should it stay attached to this cycle as historical context (Keep on this cycle)?

3. Prepare the next planned cycle

If you want unfinished issues to move with Move to next planned cycle, create that cycle before closing the current one.

The Move to next planned cycle option is available only when another planned cycle exists.

4. Close the cycle

  1. Open the active cycle.
  2. Select Close cycle.
  3. Review the carry-over policy. Tixio preselects the policy saved on the cycle, but you can choose a different policy for this close.
  4. Select Close cycle again to confirm.

Tixio closes the cycle and applies the policy to incomplete issues.

5. Choose the right carry-over policy

Choose Move to backlog when incomplete work needs another planning decision. This is the safest default.

Choose Move to next planned cycle when unfinished work should continue immediately and you already created the next planned cycle.

Choose Keep on this cycle when you want the incomplete issues to remain attached as historical scope. Use this rarely; it can make future planning less clear.

6. Reopen a closed cycle

Use Reopen cycle only when a cycle was closed by mistake or the team needs to continue the same sprint.

  1. Open Cycles.
  2. Open the cycle under Closed.
  3. Select Reopen cycle.

If the sprint was closed correctly and only unfinished work remains, prefer the carry-over policy instead of reopening.

7. Open the Sprint Report

The Sprint Report is available on active and closed cycles.

  1. Open the cycle.
  2. Select Sprint Report.
  3. Review the summary, burnup chart, committed work, completed work, incomplete work, and scope-change sections.

If the cycle was created before commitment snapshots were available, the report may show a banner explaining that commitment, scope-change, and carry-over sections cannot be reconstructed. The capacity summary still reflects the recorded close outcome.

8. Review committed work

Start with Committed. This section shows what was in scope when the sprint started.

Ask:

  1. Did the team commit too much or too little?
  2. Were committed issues clear and estimated?
  3. Did committed work match the sprint goal?

9. Review completion and carry-over

Use Completed during sprint to see what finished inside the sprint window.

Then review the incomplete section:

  • Incomplete (moved to backlog).
  • Incomplete (moved to next sprint).
  • Incomplete (kept on this sprint).
  • Incomplete (carried).

This is the best place to discuss why work did not finish and whether the selected carry-over policy still makes sense.

10. Review scope changes

Check Added during sprint, Removed during sprint, and Estimate changes.

Scope changes explain why the final sprint result may differ from the original commitment. They also help the team decide whether planning, intake, estimation, or interrupt handling needs to change.

11. Review charts

Use the Sprint Report Burnup chart to see total scope vs completed work.

Use Insights to review:

  • Burndown for remaining work over time.
  • Burnup for scope growth and completed work.
  • Velocity for completed vs committed points across recent closed sprints.

Velocity is planning context, not a performance target.

12. Run a review conversation

Use this agenda for sprint review or retrospective:

  1. What did we complete?
  2. What did we commit but not complete?
  3. What entered or left scope after start?
  4. Which estimates changed materially?
  5. What carry-over decision did we make?
  6. What should change before the next sprint starts?

Next

Return to Plan and run a sprint for the next cycle.