This document discusses how to build effective agile boards that radiate important information. It recommends starting simply with basic standards for story cards and task stickies. The board design should evolve based on the team's real estate needs and experiences. Teams should make their policies and definition of done visible on the board. Visual annotations like ownership indicators and dependencies can help convey status at a glance. The team should collaboratively build and own the board to ensure the information stays truthful and up-to-date. Periodic retrospection is important to evaluate if the board continues providing needed visibility into progress and issues.

1. Building Agile Boards that
Radiate Information
Michael DePaoli
Lean-Agile Coach
cPrime
June 2013

2. Your Speaker
Mike@LeanAgileLeadership.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mdepaoli
@AgileMike
Michael DePaoli
Sr. Lean-Agile Coach, cPrime
 13 Years Agile and Lean experience
 27 Years in software industry – roles
from developer to CTO, Product
Owner, Management Consultant
 Experience gained at American
Express, Adobe Systems, AOL, Deloitte
Consulting, Sapient and NetApp
 Specializing in helping companies
evolve strategies for Lean-Agile
transformation and context specific
tactics leveraging systems &
interdisciplinary thinking

3. Why Physical Boards
• Information Radiator vs Information
Refrigerator
• Superior Collaboration
• Enables faster mastery of basic Scrum Team
disciplines
• Utility / Design easily evolved
• Good proving ground for board format before
electronic tool
• Cheaper

4. Agile Teams Radiate Information
Information
Information
“When you put problem in computer, box
hide answer. Problem must be visible!“
-Hideshi Yokoi,
Former President of the Toyota Production System Support Center

5. Start Simple!

6. Have Some Basic
Standards
Story Card Format Task Sticky Format
Story # Estimate
<Story Title>
<Story Description>
Due Date: <Assignee>
Story #
<Task
Description>
<Assignee>
To Do
Estimates

7. What Are Your Team’s Board
Real Estate Needs?
People on Team
Stories
Tasks
Work Cycle
Policies

8. Task Board – Making Progress Transparent
Blocking Issue

9. What Are
The Team’s
Explicit
Policies?
Make Them
Visible on
the Board!
1. All Acceptance Criteria of the User
Story are met
2. Code meets general Coding
Standard
3. Functional tests are performed by
team members other than those
working on the implementation of
that feature
4. Code is either reviewed or produced
with a pair-programming method
5. The code is covered by a minimum
of 70% Unit Tests and all tests are
Green
6. Automated acceptance tests
(Selenium) are prepared for the
feature and are Green
7. Integration tests of the affected
areas are conducted and passed
Definition of Done

10. Experience Should Drive
Board Design Evolution
Sprint Retrospective
Experience
w/ Board
Improvements to Board

11. We are Visual Creatures
Leverage That Fact!
Image Source: Volcanic Web Design Company

12. Add Annotations
Based on Need
BLOCKED
Dependency
MT-1895
Avatars showing ownership
And who’s doing what at a glance
Can add some personality & fun
Unplanned
Work
Visualize Between
Planned vs Unplanned
Work

14. © 2013 cPrime Inc., All Rights Reserved
Example of a Simple Scrum TaskBoard

16. Recommended Materials
Portable Whiteboard
(Magnetic is best)
Full Stick
PostIts for
Tasks
Pinstriping Tape to
Layout Lanes
4x6 Index Cards For
Stories
Bungee Cords
for Columns
Highlighting Stickies
for Blocking Issues
and Dependencies
Avatars to show
Ownership and
WIP

17. It’s The Team’s Board
They Should Build It
and Own It

18. Hold a Board Creation Party
Make building the board a fun event, even a
celebration!
Have treats or if at the end of the day and your
company allows it, a happy hour.
Image Source: TLC’s How Stuff Works Website

19. Steps for Building the Board
Finalize Task Board Design – Mock it up on a whiteboard
Capture Photo of Mocked Up Board
Using Photo as a guide to create team task board:
1. Layout horizontal lanes
2. Layout columns for each relevant state for stories and tasks
3. Create Column Titles
4. Place team’s explicit policies on board
5. Create Legend for Board Visuals
6. Place source of blank story cards and task stickies on board
7. Place sources of board annotation stickies, magnets, etc…
8. Take a picture to preserve initial design of task board
9. Place story cards and task stickies as appropriate

20. When is the board not useful?
Not Up To Date
Data is not truthful
Doesn’t show needed info

21. Summary
• Understand the information needs of your
board first. Team and stakeholders
• Start simple and evolve
• Consider making explicit policies of your team /
org visible on the board
• Team Definition of Done – Make it visible
• Visual Annotations – Ownership / WIP /
Dependencies / Blockages
• Team should build and own the board
• Continual vigilance for providing a ‘safe’
environment so board data is the truth

22. Retrospective on the Presentation
 What did you like about
the presentation?
 What could make it better?
 Write down the one action
your going to take based
on what you learned
today…
SEND Me Your Feedback 

23. Thank You!
Radiate
Information
Now Go Out and…

24. Questions….Need Help?
Mike@LeanAgileLeadership.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mdepaoli
@AgileMike
Drop me a line!
Michael DePaoli
Sr. Lean-Agile Coach, cPrime