4 Advantages of Physical Task Boards | Agile Velocity (2024)

4 Advantages of Physical Task Boards | Agile Velocity (1)For new teams, I try and encourage them to use a physical task board over tracking tasks in a tool. This can be problematic when all team members are not in the same location, but it has some huge advantages for co-located teams.

Structure of our Task Board:

  • 5 Columns: Planned, In Progress, Verify, Hours Remaining, Complete
  • Each Committed story for the iteration is given a swimlane/ row
  • All Development tasks are on white cards
  • All Testing tasks are on green cards
  • All defects are on hot pink cards
  • Orange sticker dots were used for tasks that are blocked
  • Story cards are 4×6, task cards are 3×5
  • We have used whiteboards with tape or cork board with push pins
  • Daily Standups are done in front of the board, we encourage team members to point at the card during their 3 questions, move cards, burndown hours. Each team member should be signing up for their daily commitment and putting those cards in progress.
  • Hours burndown is updated for each story at end of standup
  • Burndown chart and any other metrics are placed on and around the board – radiate information
  • Should be visible to all team members (i.e. that way when a QA person sees a developer move a task they know to ask if it is ready for testing)

Advantages of Task Boards:

  • Promotes team interaction and discussion – Throughout the day you will see teammates, stakeholders and members of other teams stop by the board for discussion. This increases greatly if the board is located near the team and highly visible
  • Visibility – Anyone walking buy can make a quick second assessment on where the team is in the iteration. No cards left for a row? That story is complete. No white cards left, just green cards? Only testing remains. Lots of pink cards? Lots of defects.
  • Good for new teams to visualize Scrum – By having this tangible thing in front of them that they can touch, makes it easier for new Scrum teams to understand the process
  • Support full team commitment – Now the whole team sees all of the tasks daily and keeps them from just focusing on “their” tasks. When using task tracking tools it is too easy to just create a view of “my tasks” and then tune out the rest.
4 Advantages of Physical Task Boards | Agile Velocity (2024)

FAQs

4 Advantages of Physical Task Boards | Agile Velocity? ›

An Agile task board enables teams and individuals to organize their workflow by visualizing the stages in their process and tracking how items progress through the board. The reason Agile task boards are so preferred by marketers is that they're simple visual instruments for keeping track of a project or process.

What are the major benefits of using task boards in Agile? ›

An Agile task board enables teams and individuals to organize their workflow by visualizing the stages in their process and tracking how items progress through the board. The reason Agile task boards are so preferred by marketers is that they're simple visual instruments for keeping track of a project or process.

What are the advantages of storyboarding in Agile? ›

One of the main strengths of storyboarding in agile business analysis is that it enables teams to quickly identify potential issues and risks. By creating a visual representation of user stories, teams can ensure that all requirements are met, and that all stakeholders are involved in the process.

What does a task board show? ›

A task board is a tool used by individuals, teams or organizations to represent work and its path towards completion. This includes tasks that are in progress, finished tasks and upcoming tasks that may be in a backlog.

Can a scrum project be run without having a task board? ›

Physical or virtual boards help to visualize the work, and so this practice is commonly borrowed from Kanban and related frameworks. However, the Scrum framework is not highly prescriptive, and so the use of such boards is widely considered a best practice but not a framework requirement.

What are the benefits of task management system? ›

Benefits of team task management
  • Helps the team stick to the deadline.
  • Singles out bottlenecks early on to prevent unforeseen mishaps.
  • Keeps the team on the same page.
  • Promotes effective communication.
  • Prioritizes tasks efficiently.
  • Streamlines workflows.
  • Optimizes work allocation.
  • Helps monitor progress.

What are two benefits of using a Kanban board? ›

As one of the principle methods of agile task management, Kanban boards are designed to offer a multitude of benefits for all kinds of organisations.
  • 1) Visual display of progress. ...
  • 2) Great for collaboration. ...
  • 3) Highly efficient. ...
  • 4) Perfect for delegating tasks. ...
  • 5) Increased focus & productivity. ...
  • 6) Increasingly versatile.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of storyboarding? ›

Both traditional and digital storyboards have their advantages and disadvantages. Traditional storyboards are often more time-consuming to create, but they can be more expressive and easier to change. Digital storyboards are often quicker to develop but can be more challenging to change.

What are the advantages of storyboarding? ›

The biggest benefit of using a storyboard is, they help identify potential technical and creative challenges/errors early on and provides a clear path for fixing them.

What are the 5 advantages of using agile and it's disadvantages? ›

5 Advantages & Disadvantages of using an Agile Methodology
  • Improved quality.
  • Speed and flexibility.
  • Complete visibility of the progress of each project in real-time.
  • Stakeholders engagement.
  • Cost control.
Nov 23, 2020

What is a task board in Scrum? ›

What is a Scrum task board? A Scrum task board is an integral part of the Scrum method. It consists of rows and columns - each row is a user story, which functions as a unit of work that the Scrum team uses for their product backlog. Tasks are recorded on colored cards.

What are the different types of task boards in Scrum? ›

As we know we have two type of Scrum Board, Physical and Online Scrum Board. The online Scrum board is easier to setup and use. The Project management tools allow user or Scrum master to drag and drop the tasks from different Sprints either it could be a backlog of previous sprint or from the existing sprint.

What is the main purpose of a task list? ›

The purpose of a task list is not to get things done. Rather, the purpose is to organize the things you need to do so you can do them. Organizing yourself with a to do list or list in general helps make the workload significantly more manageable.

Why do we need Scrum board? ›

Scrum boards track individual sprints and help team members visualize their progress. Scrum boards are also known as Scrum task boards or sprint boards. Humans are visual creatures, and the Scrum board builds on that by helping team members better understand the sprint's progress.

What is the difference between agile Task Board and Kanban board? ›

This Agile board uses cards, columns, and just-in-time continuous improvement to help development teams commit to the right amount of work and get it done. A Kanban board tracks the process flow while limiting the number of in-progress tasks and maximizing the workflow.

When should Scrum not be used? ›

If the team members are inexperienced or lack the necessary skills, then Scrum may not be the best fit. In such cases, it is important to provide adequate training and support to ensure the success of the project.

What is the main goal of using a Kanban board in agile? ›

A kanban board is an agile project management tool designed to help visualize work, limit work-in-progress, and maximize efficiency (or flow).

What is the purpose of an agile board? ›

An agile board is the visual representation of an agile development process. The board lets you view the current status of each task, group related tasks, estimate your efforts, and track the progress toward completion for each task. The columns on the board represent the development cycle.

What is a characteristic of a task board in agile project management? ›

Agile Task Board Features

The process of evaluating, scheduling, and assigning tasks that have been put on the back burner in favor of higher priority items. Ability to accommodate the methodology that incorporates frequent work reassessment and continuous short periods of focused work.

What is a task board in scrum? ›

What is a Scrum task board? A Scrum task board is an integral part of the Scrum method. It consists of rows and columns - each row is a user story, which functions as a unit of work that the Scrum team uses for their product backlog. Tasks are recorded on colored cards.

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