The Scrum Task Board Explained

The scrum task board
The scrum board is the main object of interest for the entire scrum team, since each activity carried out using scrum methodology is reflected directly or indirectly on the scrum board. It is generally located in the venue where the daily scrum meetings or the daily stand ups are held before the sprint is initiated for the particular day. Scrum boards are the center point of focus for the entire team. The sprint backlog, in the form of story cards, is represented on it. Each day as the sprint progresses, the scrum board reflects the updates of work carried out by the development team. As the user stories develop, the cards are rotated on the board, and provide information to the team as to which particular activity is currently being undertaken and processed. In real time, the scrum board is updated before the sprint commences for the particular day, and it typically exhibits the sprint activity carried out the day before.   
 

Story
The story column displays the list of user stories taken up for development during the sprint. "User stories" is the work accepted by the team during the sprint planning meeting. Each user story is broken down into development tasks, and each task is individually taken up for development by the team member during the sprint.
 

To Do
The column reflects the tasks taken up for immediate development from the sprint backlog. The backlog constitutes the entire work to be completed during the tenure of the sprint – over the coming days. The stories can be picked up on a random basis, or according to a specific plan followed by the team. The “To Do” list is populated by those stories which are to be considered for development on an immediate basis, unlike the entire sprint backlog which is processed in small segments.
 

In Process
This column is populated by those tasks which are currently being developed by the programmers or developers on the particular sprinting day. Ideally, the stories included in the column should be completed on the same day before it ends. However, if the task is complex, or lengthy, the task may be extended over the next day.
 

To Verify
This column includes the stories which have been taken up for development during the sprint, but need some further clarification before they can be taken up for development purposes. Also, when a particular task is taken up for programming and if some issue is found connected with it which prevents further development, the task is transferred to the “Verify” column. The doubts or the issues connected with the story are resolved by taking help from the scrum master or the product owner, and subsequently transferred to the “Story” column or the “To Do” column depending upon the team’s decision when to develop it.
 

Done
The column includes all the tasks which have been completed by the team during the sprint activity. During the sprint review meeting, the tasks included under the “Done” column are verified by the product owner and accepted as “Done” or rejected.
 

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What Should The Perfect And Ideal Daily Stand-Up Scrum Meeting Consist Of As Per The Official Scrum Guide?

The daily stand-up scrum meetings play a vital role in ascertaining that the development activity is carried out in a sustained manner. They also help to find potential pitfalls experienced during ongoing sprints. It is important to know how the daily meetings are carried out, and what they should ideally consist of. On the basis of official scrum guide specified by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber, the originators of scrum methodology, the article tries to explain in details about the daily scrum meetings.
 

Who should attend the meeting?
Everyone associated with the scrum project should attend the meeting. It is important for the scrum master and the team members to remain present, while the product owner and stakeholders too can remain present if they desire to do so.
 

What should be discussed during the meeting?
It is very important to remain focused and only discus about those topics which are directly related and associated with the sprint activity. The attendees should try not to wander off the main topic and discus about other trivia which are not pertaining to the scrum activity. In fact, the guide is specific about discussing topics which are directly connected to the sprint to be carried out during the particular day, even other topics dealing with the project, or project related issues should be avoided during the stand-up meetings. There are special provisions like the sprint retrospective meeting to discuss about such issues.

The main topics to be included during the meeting should consist of:

• What tasks were accomplished during the sprint carried out the day before?
• Which tasks are to be developed today?
• Did the particular team member face any problems or impediments during the sprint implementation? If so, what were they?

In what order should the discussions be carried out? 

There is a lot of flexibility while deciding about the order in which the discussions can be carried out during the meeting. Team members can take turns in discussing about what they have achieved, and what they plan to do on the particular day. Alternatively, the scrum master may decide who should speak first and which team member should follow the discussion. A popular method is to take up discussions regarding important tasks first, followed by the order of priority. The order of discussion can vary from project to project, and from need to need.
 

Where and when should the meetings be held?
The stand up meetings should be ideally held at the place of work, and in front of the task board. While they can be conducted almost everywhere, including conference rooms, holding the meetings in the actual place of work can help the team members to remain more focused and target oriented. The meetings should be held before the daily sprint is initiated.
 

How to sustain the energy levels during the meetings?
The stand up meetings are also commonly referred to as “huddles” by many people, simply because each team member stands very close to the next one during the meeting. The scene is much similar to the scrum used in rugby. The proximity often encourages the team members to become proactively involved in the discussion. The energy levels start rising up as each team member briefly, and professionally, discusses and outlines his or her activity for that particular day. The meeting is to be held in such a manner that the “atmosphere” becomes charged up with anticipation, and each member focuses upon the goals he or she plans to achieve during the sprint carried out that day.
 

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Significance Of Daily Scrum Meetings And How Scrum Experts Refer To Them – What You Should Know

Scrum is based upon collaboration. Each team member participates in some way or the other, and contributes towards the common goal defined for the particular project. When scrum is implemented, each day the team members spend some time discussing about the development to be carried out on that particular day in the daily scrum meeting. The meeting is brief, and held before the sprint commences for the day. This meeting is important since it supports one of the basic features of scrum methodology – Share your findings and discuss about the pitfalls which are likely to occur during the sprint.
 

The basic questions asked during the daily scrum stand-up meeting are:

• What has been accomplished or “completed” in the sprint carried out the previous day?
• What is planned to be achieved during the sprint activity today?
• Is any team member facing some problem or impediment during the sprinting process?

 

The daily scrum meeting is generally conducted in front of the task board. A task board is the list of development activity which is carried out by individual team members on a daily basis. It is important to keep the meetings brief, and to the point. Only those topics should be discussed in the meeting which are relevant to the sprint activity. Ideally, the meeting should not last for more than fifteen minutes or so. However, scrum implementation is flexible. If the team is large in size, or if the project is big and includes many tasks to be developed, the meeting can be further extended as per need. Nevertheless, even after considering all the technical points and issues, the meeting should not last for prolonged durations.
 

Other names used in lieu of “Daily Scrum Meeting” to describe the meeting
Scrum experts and professionals sometimes use different names to describe the daily meeting. The words used means the same thing, but using different terminologies may tend to confuse the readers as to what the person is trying to say, or implying. Some of the commonly used words are:
 

Daily stand-up 

The term is extensively used by individuals who follow extreme programming methodology. It means that the participants attending the meeting should remain standing, and the meeting should be kept brief and short.
 

Daily scrum
This term is generally used by professionals who follow the Scrum framework. It alludes to the huddle-like appearance typical to a rugby scrum because the members stand close to each other, or “huddle” when the meeting is conducted.
 

Huddle, roll-call, or any other name
These terms are used by people who understand and know about scrum methodology, but due to some reason use other terms to describe the daily meeting.
 

The daily scrum meeting is very important during scrum implementation. Irrespective of which terminology you use to describe the meeting, it does not lose its significance. The meetings help to identify potential pitfalls, and support the “self-correction” feature which is very important to scrum.
 

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