# Iterations Overview

Iterations are time-boxed periods of development for Stories that can span multiple Epics, Teams, and Workflows.

## Overview

An **Iteration** is a defined, time-boxed period of development for a collection of Stories. In Shortcut, Iterations can span multiple Epics, Projects, and Workflows.

If you work in sprints, using the Shortcut Iterations feature will help you streamline, manage, and review your work.

## Enable Iterations

Iterations can be enabled/disabled on the features page in settings, Settings>Features>Iterations.

## View Iterations

Clicking on the Iterations icon in the left navigation panel will bring you to the Iterations Manage page.

The Iterations Manage page is where you can [create Iterations](/help/iterations/iterations-overview), edit or delete them, add Stories to your Iterations, as well as move Stories between them by dragging and dropping them across Iterations on this page.

## Iteration States

Iterations can exist in three states: **Unstarted**, **Started**, and **Done**. The state of your Iteration will update automatically in accordance with the start and end dates you define when creating your Iteration.

The green progress bar on top of each Iteration on the Iterations Manage page is a visual indicator of how your Iteration is tracking towards completion. Hovering over the progress bar will show the number of Stories/Points in the Iteration as well as the percentage of Stories/Points that are either Unstarted, In Progress, or Completed.

## Story Dependencies
On Iteration Detail Pages, view Story blocked and blocking relationships as a Mermaid chart, including relationship type and whether each Story has been started. Expand or collapse the section anytime to help keep things focused.

View all Stories (including completed) by selecting "Show Completed". **To view relationships, ensure all the Stories are in the same Iteration.**

You can change the color key to either Story state type or relationship type via the drop-down in the bottom left corner of the chart.

## Insights and Reports

Hit your Iteration goals with at-a-glance versions of your Burndown and Cumulative Flow reports to quickly understand how work is progressing, identify bottlenecks in the process, and if you'll meet your commitments.

Use these insights to:

* **View Iteration Progress:** The Burndown chart shows work remaining vs. an ideal pace to finish work on time. This is a quick gauge of iteration status and health.
* **Monitor Flow:** The Cumulative Flow Diagram shows work progressing through workflow states. It's useful for identifying bottlenecks and viewing overall status of work.

Insights are available once the Iteration starts, and are locked in for retrospective after the Iteration ends.

- [Burndown chart](/help/reports/burndown-chart)
- [Cumulative Flow chart](/help/reports/cumulative-flow-diagram-chart)

## Iteration page

Clicking into an individual Iteration will open the Iteration detail page, containing additional details about the Stories within the Iteration, as well as reporting features such as a Burndown Chart and Cumulative Flow Diagram for the Iteration.

> **Want to see Iterations in action?** Explore our Sample Workspace, which contains pre-filled information that will allow you to see how it all works together. Access it by clicking on your User Icon on top right > Help / Feedback > Sample Workspace.

## Filtering

The Iterations Manage page may contain Iterations across different squads, or product-focused groups across your organization. Adopt a naming convention for your Iteration names that includes the squad or Team name. Then, the filter/search bar on the Iterations Manage page can be used to search for or filter down this page to show only specific Iterations.

**Filtering and Grouping by Iteration**

Iterations can also be surfaced on an individual Epic page, where you can group Stories by Iteration, or on the Stories page, where you can filter by Iteration.

You can view all Iterations associated with any Team or select a specific Iteration via the Reports page.