Azure Boards: Kanban Boards

Kanban boards in Azure Boards are a powerful tool for visualizing workflow, limiting work in progress (WIP), and improving the flow of work. They provide a clear, interactive view of your team's progress, allowing for continuous delivery and adaptation.

What is a Kanban Board?

A Kanban board is a visual system for managing work as it moves through a process. It typically consists of columns representing stages of a workflow, and cards representing individual work items. The movement of cards across columns provides a real-time status of tasks.

Key Components of an Azure Boards Kanban Board

• Columns: Represent the stages of your team's workflow (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Testing, Done). Columns can be configured to map to specific Azure Boards work item states.
• Swimlanes: Horizontal lanes that can be used to categorize work items by features, release versions, or specific teams.
• Work Items: Represent individual tasks, features, bugs, or user stories. They are displayed as cards on the board.
• Work In Progress (WIP) Limits: A core Kanban principle. WIP limits restrict the number of work items that can be in a particular column (or set of columns) at any given time, preventing bottlenecks and encouraging focus.
• Card Styling: Customize the appearance of cards based on work item type, age, or other criteria to quickly identify important items.
• Board Filters: Filter the board to show specific work items based on assigned user, tags, areas, or other criteria.

Configuring Your Kanban Board

To configure your Kanban board, navigate to your Azure DevOps project, then select Boards > Kanban boards. From there, click the gear icon (Configure team settings) in the upper-right corner of the board.

Columns and Lanes

You can add, remove, rename, and reorder columns to match your team's unique process. You can also define the mapping between board columns and Azure Boards work item states. Swimlanes can be configured here as well.

Screenshot showing the column configuration in Azure Boards.

WIP Limits

Setting WIP limits is crucial for effective Kanban. Access this setting within the column configuration. For example, you might set a WIP limit of 3 for the 'In Progress' column.

Card Settings

Customize how your work items appear on the board. You can set conditions for card styling (e.g., color-code overdue tasks) and choose which fields to display on the cards.

Using Your Kanban Board

Once configured, your Kanban board becomes the central hub for managing daily work:

• Visualize Workflow: See where each work item is in the process.
• Identify Bottlenecks: Columns with work items hitting their WIP limit immediately signal potential bottlenecks.
• Limit Work in Progress: Team members focus on completing tasks before starting new ones.
• Facilitate Daily Stand-ups: The board provides a natural focal point for team discussions.
• Track Flow: Monitor metrics like lead time and cycle time to continuously improve.

Advanced Kanban Techniques

Classes of Service

Azure Boards supports Classes of Service to prioritize and manage different types of work, such as Expedite, Fixed Date, or Standard. This can be configured and visualized on the board.

Kanban Metrics

Azure Boards provides built-in analytics for Kanban, including:

• Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD): Shows work in progress, lead time, and throughput over time.
• Cycle Time: The time it takes for a work item to move from 'In Progress' to 'Done'.
• Lead Time: The time it takes for a work item to be delivered from the moment it's requested.

Access these metrics under Analytics in the Boards section.

Conclusion

Kanban boards in Azure Boards offer a flexible and effective way to manage and optimize your team's workflow. By visualizing work, enforcing WIP limits, and focusing on flow, teams can achieve higher productivity, better predictability, and improved delivery.