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Some tasks are important but can be pushed off until the next sprint (period in which we add developments to software).

But some tasks are essential and aboslutely must be completed in the current sprint.

Is there a word or expression for these kinds of tasks (can be from other contexts as well)?

Example sentence:

Please classify these tasks as ____________ that must be completed by November.

EDIT: I know that in other languages the word "iron" is used to express the strict nature of the task. But I'm not familiar with a similar English expression.

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    You're clearly not talking about English but rather some kind of jargon designed for (some) software developers… In ordinary English, you would prolly want something like "First priority" but exactly how that would pan out would depend on your jargon's rule about next and current sprints, among other things.
    – Robbie Goodwin
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 21:32
  • Hi @RobbieGoodwin, I edited the OP. Thanks for your comment.
    – DAE
    Commented Aug 19, 2018 at 9:22
  • In the language of "agile management," the highest-priority tasks to be addressed during a particular a sprint may be referred to as "expedited work items" (a phrase that appears in Agile Modeling's page on Agile Core Practice: Prioritized Requirements. However, I don't think that all practitioners of the methodology have agreed on a single term for "tasks that must be done in the current sprint." For example, "critical action items" or (in less jargonny English) "essential tasks" convey roughly the same idea.
    – Sven Yargs
    Commented Aug 19, 2018 at 22:47
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this question is asking for jargon.
    – CJ Dennis
    Commented Jan 25, 2020 at 9:26

4 Answers 4

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critical

ADJECTIVE

3.2 Having a decisive or crucial importance in the success, failure, or existence of something.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/critical

Please classify these tasks as critical that must be completed by November.

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Priority (noun)

OED

You need to place priority tasks in priority queue. Priority queue is time-bound queue.

Meaning: A thing that is regarded as more important than others.

Usage: "housework didn't figure high on her list of priorities."

Your sentence,

Please classify these tasks as priority that must be completed by November.

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  • Thanks, but I'm looking for something that expresses that it must be done and cannot be moved, despite the fact that it is most important.
    – DAE
    Commented Aug 19, 2018 at 9:23
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Blocker/Impediment

I am not going to bother with a dictionary definition as this isn't an English dictionary question, so I will go with a scrum page

The Impediment List

As soon as the first Sprint has started, each Team Member can add the so-called impediments (Blockers) to a list. Each Team Member announces their Blocker for the implementation of a task as soon as it arises and places it in the list of Blockers. It is the task of the Scrum Master to eliminate these Blockers. A Blocker may be a framework condition, but could also be the wait for an unfinished task. The Blocker is conveyed to the other Team Members in the Daily Scrum Meeting and recorded in the Impediment List.

https://www.itemis.com/en/agile/scrum/compact/introduction-to-scrum/scrum-process

so Please classify these tasks as Impediments/Blockers that must be completed by November.

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"Urgent" is frequently used as perpendicular to "important". Urgent things need to happen soon (or not at all), whereas important things just need to get done. President Eisenhower famously used a system of four boxes, one for each combination of (non)urgent and (un)important. (https://www.eisenhower.me/eisenhower-matrix/) The idea is that if something is urgent AND important, you do it immediately. If it's only important, you can put it off. If it's only urgent, then you do it if there's time, but otherwise discard it. If it's neither urgent nor important, you probably just ignore it unless you're bored.

Granted, your question seems to be looking for a word that means both urgent and important, so for that I'm not sure. "Urgent" seems like a step in the direction you're looking for, though.

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