如何在VSTS中将两个团队的工作关联至年度整体计划？

Got it, let's walk through how to structure your 2018 plan in VSTS (now Azure DevOps) so you can tie both your bug-fix and feature-enhancement teams to the overall roadmap, plus clearly see how unexpected bug volumes hit feature delivery. I’ve helped teams set up similar workflows before, so these steps should fit your needs perfectly.

1. First, Align Your Teams in VSTS #

Before diving into planning, make sure both teams are working within a shared framework so their work can map to the same release milestones:

• Head to Project Settings > Teams and confirm both your Bug Fix Team and Feature Enhancement Team are added to the same project (or linked projects if needed).
• Set up shared iteration paths (e.g., 2018 Q1, 2018 Q1 Sprint 2) that both teams can use. This lets you associate work from both teams to identical release cycles.

2. Map Out 2018 Release Milestones #

Start by defining your annual release cadence—whether you’re doing quarterly major releases, monthly patches, or a mix. For each milestone:

• Create a Release in VSTS (under the Releases hub) for each key 2018 version (e.g., v2018.1, v2018.3).
• Document clear, team-specific objectives for each release:
  • Bug Fix Team: Target count of critical/blocker bugs to resolve, plus backlog grooming for lower-priority bugs.
  • Feature Enhancement Team: Curated list of small features tied to business goals, with clear acceptance criteria.

3. Quantify Workload for Each Release #

Use VSTS work items to break down capacity and avoid overcommitting:

• For the Bug Fix Team:
  • Estimate workload using story points or hours for each bug, prioritizing P1/P2 bugs first (since these block features or critical functionality).
  • Use VSTS’ Capacity Planning tool (under Boards > Capacity) to set team capacity per sprint—this helps you spot early when bug volumes might exceed what the team can handle.
• For the Feature Enhancement Team:
  • Break each small feature into user stories, estimate their size, and assign them to sprints within the release.
  • Add a dependency tag (e.g., DependsOnCriticalBugs) to feature stories that can’t start until high-priority bugs are resolved.

4. Link Teams & Visualize Cross-Team Dependencies #

To keep both teams aligned and make interdependencies visible:

• Build a cross-team dashboard in VSTS:
  • Add widgets like Burndown Chart for each team, Release Progress to track overall milestone completion, and Bug Trend to monitor incoming bug volumes in real time.
  • Add a Query Results widget that shows all high-priority bugs linked to the current release—this lets everyone instantly see if bug work is eating into feature capacity.
• Use VSTS’ Dependencies feature (in the Boards hub) to link feature stories to their dependent bug work items. This creates a visual map so you can quickly see which features are blocked if bug work takes longer than expected.

5. Track & Visualize Impact of Unexpected Bug Volumes #

Since bug fixes take priority, you need a way to quickly see how spikes affect feature delivery:

• Set up a custom alert in VSTS: When the number of P1/P2 bugs in the current sprint exceeds your pre-defined threshold (e.g., 10 bugs), trigger an alert to both team leads. This lets you adjust plans before delays snowball.
• Use a cumulative flow diagram (CFD) for the Feature Enhancement Team: If bug work slows down, you’ll see feature stories stuck in the "Ready" column longer—this is a clear visual indicator that delivery will be delayed.
• Update your release plan dynamically: When bug volumes exceed expectations, reallocate capacity from feature work to bug fixes in the VSTS Capacity tool. The sprint burndown charts will automatically reflect this shift, showing the impact on feature delivery at a glance.

Quick Pro Tip #

Tag all bug work items with BugFix and feature work with SmallFeature—this makes it easy to run queries to compare workloads across teams and adjust the annual plan as needed.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者J Cox