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# Work on your stories

Once you have assigned items, manage your own individual backlog. Do this from the Team Backlog module or the Backlog module.

In this topic:

## Break items into tasks

Tasks enable you to work on an item in more manageable chunks.

To create tasks:

1. Do one of the following:

   - While creating a new backlog item, you can type tasks in the Tasks to generate text box. Each line in the text box will be converted to a task.
   - In existing backlog items, you can create tasks in the Tasks tab.

2. To assign a task to a team member, select a user in the Owner field. If you are working in the Team Backlog, you can drag a task to a user bucket in the Team pane.

3. Estimate the effort needed for each task, in hours.

   You define the estimated hours as integers or decimal fractions.

   To use decimal fractions, the TASK_SUPPORTS_FLOAT_VALUES parameter must be turned on. For details, seeTASK_SUPPORTS_FLOAT_VALUES.

Import tasks

You can also import tasks from an Excel file.

Choose one of the following options:

- To import tasks to one specific backlog item, open the item's Tasks tab, and click Import from Excel.
- To import tasks to several backlog items, in the Settings menu, under the Import section, click Tasks.

For details, see Import from file.

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## Use the task board to manage work

Use the Board View to manage task progress.

To use the Task Board:

ALM Octane displays the Board View by default:

- In the Backlog: in the Tasks tab when you open an individual user story, quality story, or defect

- In the Team Backlog: in the Tasks tab

ALM Octane groups tasks per user story, quality story or defect. The board displays each task phase in its own column. Drag the tasks from column to column to update the phase.

To add tasks, click the + Task button in a Task board column. Provide a name for the task. Then, click on the task number link to define other necessary attributes.

Note: You can view up to 100 lanes of tasks in a given period. If ALM Octane does not display the necessary lanes, add a filter. If you have a filter set, the Board View displays only stories that contain tasks.

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## Work on assigned items

In the item, advance the phases as you complete work. For details, see Advance the phase of an item.

Tip: If you are working in the Team Backlog module, use the Board View for a visual, customized display of work items. For details, see Using the board view.

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## Block an item

Sometimes, when working on a story, you cannot proceed in your work. In these cases, update the item to show you cannot work on this item.

To block an item:

1. Open the item and navigate to the Details tab.

2. In the Details tab, set the following fields:

   - Blocked: Select Yes from the drop-down list

   - Block reason: The reason why you cannot keep working.

3. Save your changes.

In both the Grid view and Board View, ALM Octane displays a Blocked icon:

Ensure that the Blocked column is included in the grid.

Note: The description above matches the default behavior for blocking stories. This behavior can be customized for the project using business rules.

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## Track work completion progress

Track your work completion progress to ensure you finish items at the right time.

To track work completion progress:

Chart/graph | Where? | Description
--- | --- | ---
Task board | Backlog module and Team Backlog module | The story details show the completion status of the tasks in the selected story:
Team buckets | Team backlog module | Each team member bucket shows the progress for assigned items (stories and tasks): Tip: Hover over the graph to see a numerical breakdown of progress by hours. This graph does not show the individual per-story breakdown.

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## Update your task hours

Update your task hours using the following time counters:

Counter | Description
--- | ---
Estimated hours | The time estimation for the task. The Remaining hours counter is initially set to equal the Estimated hours. If you adjust the Estimated hours before the Remaining or Invested hours are updated, the Remaining hours will be adjusted to match the new Estimated hours.
Remaining hours | The number of hours remaining for the task. This is initially equal to the Estimated hours. As you decrease the Remaining hours, the Invested hours counter increases accordingly. Adding to the Remaining hours does not subtract from the Invested hours.
Invested hours | The time invested in the task. As you increase the Invested hours, the Remaining hours counter decreases accordingly. Subtracting from the Invested hours adds time back to the Remaining hours.

To disconnect the Remaining hours and Invested hours counters, click the lock button.

To re-establish the connection between the counters, click the lock icon again.

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## Split unfinished user stories

Usually, at the end of a sprint, you should close all user stories. If you are unable to complete all the tasks, split the user story.

To split user stories:

1. In the Backlog or Team Backlog module, select the user story to split.

2. In the toolbar, click the Split Backlog Item button .

3. In the Split Story dialog, specify the details for the current user story and new user story.

4. If necessary, use the Move open tasks option to instruct ALM Octane how to resolve all open tasks.

When you split the user story, ALM Octane creates another user story in the New phase.

ALM Octane moves all tasks not marked as Done to the new user story. ALM Octane also adds these attributes and items to the new user story:

- The value of any field other than the Name, Sprint, or Phase

- Tests associated with the original user story

- Attachments included in the original user story

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Next steps:

- Create and run tests
- Analyze release progress and quality
- Assign items to application modules

https://admhelp.microfocus.com ALM Octane 8942
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