Anatomy of a Task Board

Wayne is a software developer, ScrumMaster and Agile Coach.

  Agile   Estimating   Scrum   Talent Management   Teams   ProjectsAtWork  

Just as all projects are different, their main information radiator, the humble task board, should reflect their different characters and requirements. Here is an anatomical tour of my current team’s task board in the hope that it may spark ideas for other Agile teams.

One sign of a healthy Agile community within a work place is an abundance of varied physical task boards. By varied I mean that the boards are not identical copies of each other in form and composition. For example, boards that do not have the exact same swim lanes, card types and information items on the cards.

Just as all projects are different so their main information radiator, the humble task board, should reflect their different characters and requirements. Variation in task boards is an indication that teams are adapting to overcome their own particular issues and not just participating in an Agile cargo cult.

The task boards in my current workplace certainly demonstrate this kind of healthy variety. This is advantageous, not only because it shows each team exploring their own different path to improvement, but because seeing what other teams are doing can spark change in your own team.

In that same spirit of sharing, I present an anatomical tour of my current team’s task board in the hope that it may spark ideas for other Agile teams. Note that in no way am I recommending our …

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