Practicing Kanban Using Azure Boards

Practicing Kanban Using Azure Boards (AZU116)

Course Length: 1 day
Delivery Methods: Available as private class only
Course Overview

This one day Practicing Kanban Using Azure Boards class will introduce Kanban and demonstrate how an agile team can configure and use Azure Boards to effectively practice Kanban, achieve flow, and begin improving throughput and predictability.

This course is appropriate for all members of a software development team, especially those who are actively involved with creating and refining a product backlog as well as planning and executing the work. This course will also provide value for individuals outside the development team (managers, Scrum Masters, coaches, and other stakeholders) who are interested in establishing and improving flow for their team.

Course Benefits
  • Understand the fundamentals of Kanban, including its core practices and how it supports effective project management in Azure Boards.
  • Learn to configure Azure DevOps projects and manage product backlogs effectively, setting a strong foundation for project tracking and management.
  • Master the art of visualizing workflows on Kanban boards, making policies explicit, and understanding the differences between Kanban boards, backlogs, and taskboards.
  • Gain practical skills in defining workflows, classes of service (swimlanes), and task checklists to optimize the clarity and efficiency of project tasks.
  • Discover how to implement Work In Progress (WIP) limits to create a pull system that improves throughput and identifies bottlenecks in the workflow.
  • Learn about flow-based metrics like cycle time, lead time, and their applications in project management to enhance predictability and efficiency.
  • Explore advanced Kanban metrics and analytics, including Cumulative Flow Diagrams, scatterplots, and Monte Carlo simulations to forecast outcomes and adjust processes dynamically.
  • Participate in hands-on sessions to apply Kanban principles in real-world scenarios, enhancing learning through practical application and immediate feedback.
Course Outline
  1. Introduction to Kanban
    1. Kanban overview
    2. Kanban core practices
    3. Kanban support in Azure Boards
    4. Configuring an Azure DevOps project
    5. Managing a product backlog
    6. Hands on
  2. Visualizing the Workflow
    1. Kanboard board overview
    2. Kanban board vs. a backlog
    3. Kanban board vs. a taskboard
    4. Defining the workflow
    5. Making policies explicit
    6. Definition of "Done"
    7. Defining classes of service (swimlanes)
    8. Defining task checklists and inline tests
    9. Filtering the board
    10. Keyboard shortcuts
    11. Hands-on
  3. Limiting WIP
    1. Work in Progress (WIP) overview
    2. Visualizing WIP limits
    3. Creating a pull system
    4. Splitting columns into "doing" and "done"
    5. Challenges with limiting WIP
    6. Bottlenecks
    7. Hands-on
  4. Managing for Flow
    1. Flow-based metrics
    2. Cycle time vs. lead time
    3. Little's Law
    4. Flow-based analytics
    5. Cumulative Flow Diagrams
    6. Scatterplots
    7. Actionable Agile Analytics
    8. Monte Carlo simulation
    9. Achieving flow and predictability
    10. Hands-on
Class Materials

Each student will receive a comprehensive set of materials, including course notes and all the class examples.

Live Private Class
  • Private Class for your Team
  • Live training
  • Online or On-location
  • Customizable
  • Expert Instructors
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