Ajayaram, I certainly wouldn't argue that there's never a benefit of tracking actuals in certain instances. As a Six Sigma Green Belt, I could definitely see the possibility for opportunitites in understanding where the team is spending too much time.

And don't get me wrong -- I'm not arguing against tasks in the Sprint Backlog -- that would be quite an obscure approach indeed. No, instead I'm simply suggesting that I've never, in 24 years, seen much opportunity in tracking actuals. Usually the circumstances from one "similar" task to another is so varied that it is quite difficult to isolate enough of the circumstantial effects to actually compare tasks.

Indeed, if improving team performance is a goal, may I recommend Sprint Retrospectives where the team is asked how and if they feel they are wasting or losing time on specific types of tasks of even if they are routinely forgetting types of tasks that they should remember during Sprint Planning or adding tasks during Sprint Planning that they really don't need. While I understand the possible use of task actuals in this scenario, I believe you'll find a in-depth retrospective much more efficient.

However you choose to proceed, good luck! I hope you get the same satisfaction from using Scrum as I've gotten over the past years.

Jim