The task board is the single most important information radiator that an agile team has. A task board illustrates the progress that an agile team is making in achieving their sprint goals. Usually the task board is located in an area that is central to the team. For example, it’s in their work area or in the war room where they hold their stand-up meetings. I would maintain that the task board is an expression of the personality of the team. Some teams operate in a very minimalist style – only the most essential information is displayed. Other teams are quite disciplined. Everything is neatly laid out and you can get a very clear picture of the product that they are working on.
All of these task boards have a few simple things in common:
1) 4 basic columns (there can be more)
- a. Stories
- b. To Do
- c. In Process (In progress, WIP, etc.)
- d. Complete (Completed, Done, etc.)
2) A Row for each story
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. The layout is very straightforward. Here is a simple diagram to illustrate this:
On the left, you have a list of the stories that you are working on for the sprint. In the next column, “To Do”, you have the tasks necessary to complete the story. You move the tasks from “To Do” into the “In-Process” column while you are working on them. When you are done, you move the task from “In-Process” to “Complete”. It’s really pretty simple.
Task boards should be vivid illustrations of the achievements of a team. They should present a compelling picture of the challenge the team has undertaken. Along with a vision statement, they should draw us in.
Make people want to work on your team – take the time to make your task board tell a compelling story.
