Here is a simple diagram to illustrate this: So if we are going to toss together a basic task board, then we need to take the ingredients above and find a little wall (or window) space to work with. I wonder what Edward Tufte (The data visualization genius, ) would have to say about task boards? I bet he would like them. All of these task boards have a few simple things in common:Ī task board is really just a glorified swim lane diagram. These are just few examples of task boards in the real world that many of our customers use to track their sprint progress. Just print it out and fill in the blanks. This is just based on a printout of an excel spreadsheet. Here is another example of a printed poster that was used as a task board: I’ve seen a few more of these posters springing up lately, so maybe they’re catching on. There are some little bits that I might change, but I love the idea in general. It’s organized a little bit differently than the other task boards that I have shown you. This is a laminated poster that was created a team member with an innovative streak! He’s done a great job of standardizing the information and making it easy for people to update. Now I would like to share a rather unique idea for a task board that I was introduced to the other day: So, a task board can be applied not only to a team, but also to the work of an individual (especially one as busy as Brent). The interesting thing about this task board is that it is used just for tracking the work that Brent does. Very interesting! Again, it has the same columns that I described above. It seems that he prefers the “Beautiful Mind” style of task board. Now we venture into the den of our very own CTO, Brent Barton! I wonder what he does? Again, we see the burn down charts displayed prominently next to our task board. Task progress and status is indicated by putting little stickers on the cards and updating the hours remaining. The yellow cards indicate the stories and the teal cards indicate the tasks. This one is just 3 by 5 cards taped on the wall. Here are a couple more examples of some task boards that we have seen “out in the wild”. It also makes you look smart if you stand next to it and gesticulate. This demonstrates that with a little imagination you can create a task board just about anywhere.įigure 2 – The “Beautiful Mind” Task Board It was located in an office building where there were many windows, but not very many walls. We just took some of that blue masking tape used for house painting and laid out the task chart directly on the window. I call it the “Beautiful Mind” task board. Then you not only see the status of the tasks being worked on, but you also see the burn down information which provides a overview of the progress that the team is making on the tasks for that sprint.īelow is a rather more elegant version of a task board. One way to improve this task board would be to add a burn down chart. For example, this one uses a corkboard and three by five cards. Out in the “wild” there are many different examples of what a task board looks like. It’s interesting to look at the different kinds of task boards that teams use, and compare and contrast the differences. From what I have seen, every task board is unique. Everything is neatly laid out and you can get a very clear picture of the product that they are working on. Some teams operate in a very minimalist style – only the most essential information is displayed. I would maintain that the task board is an expression of the personality of the team. For example, it’s in their work area or in the war room where they hold their stand-up meetings. Usually the task board is located in an area that is central to the team. A task board illustrates the progress that an agile team is making in achieving their sprint goals. The task board is the single most important information radiator that an agile team has.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |