Does your department or team utilize a Scrum task board when it comes to outlining major projects?
What is a Scrum Board?
A “Scrum board” is a virtual or physical board with different columns that ultimately track the progress of a major project or task. In Scrum terminology, the month-long (or less) project is called a “sprint”. A sprint can help reduce project backlog and help teams work ahead.
The Scrum board columns are typically broken up into the following categories: To Do, Doing, and Done. The final part of this structure consists of the product backlog and sprint backlog as well. Organizations often have more in-depth columns labeled: Requirements, Testing, Feedback, Tasks Completed, End Result, etc. All tasks start in the first column (To Do) and are subsequently moved forward. More importantly, this board updates on a daily basis, to help keep teams and employees focused and motivated.
The Scrum task board comes from the “Scrum” framework, where “people can address complex adaptive problems, while productively and creatively delivering products of the highest possible value.” From the early 1990s and beyond, organizations have used this framework to help manage major projects and ultimately, improve their work environment and work techniques.
Benefits of a Scrum Board
There are many benefits of using a scrum board for any type of team or department. These are some of the most common benefits that lead teams to continue using scrum boards and other task boards. A scrum board:
Promotes interaction between team members. Team members will be able to see the board and discuss how different tasks are progressing. This discussion can improve interaction and collaboration.
Increases progress visibility. Every team member can constantly visualize project progress with a scrum board. It is easy to see what tasks are done and what still needs to be finished. Visual representation helps teams not only hear about progress but see it as well.
Supports commitment from every team member. Instead of team members focusing on their individual tasks, they will be more committed to the overall project. With a scrum board, team members will be able to track progress together as a team instead of only individually.
Scrum boards provide many benefits for a variety of different teams and departments. One of the challenges with a scrum board in the modern business environment is that more and more team members collaborate from all across the globe. So while a physical scrum board has worked in the past, many businesses are now looking to the next step for scrum boards: digital scrum boards.
Some companies have already integrated online scrum boards with a variety of software tools, and more will continue to do so. Below are three organizational benefits of an online Scrum task board.
1. Encourages team collaboration & ownership
An online scrum board is a great way for teams and departments to build better collaboration skills. Often with a Scrum board, teams will have a “Daily Scrum”, which is a 15-minute meeting where they discuss the current status of tasks and the plan of action for the next 24 hours. No matter how big or small your teams are, online task boards can facilitate better team communication as well as address issues as soon as they arise.
In addition, when everyone has access to the online task board, they can see all the inner workings of their team and help keep them individually motivated and engaged in their tasks. It can also help strengthen team-building skills by having employees recognize all of the effort involved needed to successfully finish the project.
2. More project control
Although there is a limited amount of time teams have to complete a sprint, an online task board gives teams the opportunity to make corrections and adjust priorities throughout the duration of the project.
Often times outside factors may pose a major issue, but an online task board can allow your team to regroup and solve the problem head-on without affecting other areas of your major project. It will also enable teams to absorb feedback before hitting a critical stage of their sprint. With more project control, teams can learn and refine their processes for future projects and develop a better quality product.
3. Less wasted time
Take a moment and think about your current project management system. Chances are you may be losing precious hours defining the workflow process, unproductive meetings with team members, or answering emails that are interrupting your daily work.
Online task boards eliminate this wasted time as anything that could hinder task completion is removed by the team. The whole idea of a Scrum task board is to help your team work efficiently and only have specific processes in place that help you reach your project completion and goals
Using Bluescape Enterprise
While some teams can use a physical scrum board in the office, many teams are spread across different locations and need a digital option. The virtual whiteboard Bluescape Enterprise provides is a digital option to help teams create scrum boards and edit in real-time.
Team members can add projects to the master column “To Do” anywhere in the world, and they move the items over as the project progresses. A virtual scrum board allows other team members to see the project’s progress across the scrum board in real-time from any location.
The Enterprise whiteboard also provides teams with the ability to attach documents and visuals for a project to the scrum board. If a product development team is using a Bluescape scrum board, the team members can attach sketches, details, and comments to the scrum board.
This feature allows teams to not only manage a sprint but to store more project information in the same place. Teams will be able to track progress collaboratively while keeping the focus on the end results.
See what an online Scrum board can do for you today with a scrum board example and learn more about how Bluescape’s virtual workspace helps organizations from all industries with product development to project management and more. Find out more about how Bluescape Enterprise can be used with a free demo and scrum board example.
