Azure Boards: Simplified Work Tracking for Your Team
- Epic
- Issue
- Task
To access Azure Boards, navigate to your project and select Boards
from the menu on the left.
Submenus in Azure Boards
Azure Boards provides five key submenus to organize and manage your work:
- Work Items: Create and view all work items for
your team.
- Boards: Visualize work items on a Kanban
board.
- Backlogs: Plan and organize your work items in
a list format.
- Sprints: Plan, manage, and monitor sprint
activities.
- Queries: Create custom views for work items
based on specific criteria.
Work Items
The Work Items section is where you can create or view all
work items. Use the New Work Item button to add an item, such
as an Issue, and provide key details like the title, assignee,
and initial state (e.g., "To Do").
Key Fields for Work Items:
- Title: A mandatory field to name the issue.
- State: Represents the current progress of the
item (To Do, Doing, Done).
- Priority: Determines the importance of the
item (1 = highest priority).
- Effort: Estimation of the work required (in
hours or days).
Each work item is divided into sections:
- Details: Add a description and track progress
through discussions or comments.
- History: View all changes made to the item.
- Links: Associate the work item with related
items or commits.
- Attachments: Upload relevant files, such as
images or documents.
Once you’ve completed the details, save the work item. Created items will
appear in the Work Items list, where you can edit, reassign, or change their
type.
Boards
The Boards section displays work items as a Kanban board
with columns that match their states (To Do, Doing, Done). This board allows
you to:
- Create
new items directly by clicking New Item
in the To Do column.
- Drag
items across columns to reflect progress.
- Customize
the board using the settings icon to modify views and card details.
Backlogs
The Backlogs view organizes work items in a hierarchical
list. It includes tools for:
- Mapping
issues to Epics using the side pane.
- Planning
work in sprints by dragging items into specific iterations.
Use the Mapping or Planning mode to
structure work and assign it to sprints or team members.
Sprints
A Sprint is a short, time-boxed iteration for completing
tasks. To configure a sprint:
- Navigate
to the Sprints submenu and set
start and end dates.
- Define
the team’s working days and plan capacity based on team members’
availability and daily work hours.
- Assign
tasks to team members during sprint planning to balance workload.
During the sprint, team members can move tasks across the Kanban board as
they progress. The burndown chart in the Analytics section helps monitor sprint
progress and compare planned versus actual effort.
Queries
Use Queries to create custom views of work items based on
specific filters. For instance, you can filter for high-priority items
(Priority = 1). Save queries for later use and integrate them into project
dashboards for easy access.
To display query results on a dashboard:
- Navigate
to Dashboards and click Add a Widget.
- Search
for Query Results and
configure the widget with your saved query.
- The
dashboard will display the query results, providing an at-a-glance view of
critical items.
Summary
Azure Boards simplifies work tracking and planning by offering tools for:
- Managing
work items through Work Items,
Boards, and Backlogs.
- Planning
and monitoring sprints using the Sprints
submenu.
- Creating
custom views and integrating them into dashboards via Queries.
By leveraging these features, you can ensure better collaboration and
project management for your team.
