Kanban Best Practices for Azure DevOps

Introduction

Kanban is a visual framework that helps teams optimize workflow, improve delivery speed, and maintain quality. Azure DevOps provides a flexible Kanban board that adapts to any process. This guide covers the essential best practices to get the most out of your board.

Setting Up a Kanban Board

1. Navigate to Boards > Boards in your Azure DevOps project.
2. Select New board or edit the default Kanban board.
3. Choose the appropriate Team and Iteration path.
4. Save your changes to generate the board.

For a quick start, copy the following JSON and import it via the Board Settings > Columns dialog:

{
  "columns": [
    {"name":"New","state":"New"},
    {"name":"Approved","state":"Approved"},
    {"name":"In Progress","state":"InProgress"},
    {"name":"Review","state":"Review"},
    {"name":"Done","state":"Done"}
  ]
}

Columns & States

Define columns that reflect your workflow. Keep the number of columns low (4‑6) to avoid bottlenecks.

• New – Work items just created.
• Approved – Items approved for development.
• In Progress – Actively being worked on.
• Review – Peer review or testing.
• Done – Completed and released.

Map each column to a work item state in Azure DevOps to maintain traceability.

Work‑In‑Progress (WIP) Limits

Set explicit WIP limits on columns to surface bottlenecks early.

1. Open Board Settings > Columns.
2. Click the pencil icon on a column and enter a numeric limit.
3. Use 0 for “no limit”.

Example: Limit In Progress to 3 items per developer.

Swimlanes & Tags

Organize work vertically using swimlanes for high‑priority items, bugs, or epics.

• Enable Swimlanes under Board Settings > Lanes.
• Assign items to a lane by setting the Tag or Epic field.

Use consistent tags to filter across boards and queries.

Policies & Rules

Enforce quality with board policies:

• Require Definition of Done checklist on every item.
• Enable Branch policies to link pull requests to work items.
• Configure Required reviewers for the Review column.

Key Metrics

Leverage Azure DevOps analytics to track progress.

• Cycle Time: Days an item spends from start to finish.
• Lead Time: Duration from request to delivery.
• Throughput: Number of items completed per iteration.

Sample query to retrieve items closed in the last 30 days:

Work Items and Direct Links
[State] = Done
[Changed Date] >= @StartOfDay('-30d')

Conclusion

Adopting these Kanban best practices in Azure DevOps drives transparency, reduces cycle time, and improves team predictability. Continuously inspect your board, adjust WIP limits, and iterate on policies to match your evolving workflow.

Ready to dive deeper? Explore the Advanced Board Customization guide.