How to implement Scrum in Azure DevOps?

In this article, I will explain how to set up an Azure DevOps Board with sprints, user stories, and tasks.

The general steps for implementing Scrum in Azure DevOps (ADO) are the same as any other style of project management - create projects, set goals, assign tasks, and monitor progress.

Getting Started with Azure DevOps

Visit https://dev.azure.com to register for a free Azure DevOps account, then add a new project called LearnDevOps and select the Work item process as Scrum, as shown in the below screen.

Once the project is created, it will be redirected to the Overview section, where we can see options on the left-hand side.

Create a project and a backlog

A project in Azure DevOps is a container for planning and tracking work for specific work goals. You’ll need to create a project and then add team members. Then, based on your goals for the project, you’ll need to create a product backlog of all the ADO work items related to the project.

Activities include

• User Stories: customer requirements for a software feature. These documents a description, conversations, and tests to decide when a need is delivered.
• Features: functionality that brings value to users.
• Bugs: defects that need to be fixed.

We can add new items to the product backlog by clicking the +New Work Item button.

Choose Story Points for this user story, which are used to compare the size and complexity of each story.

Finally, assign a Priority, which allows us to sort which activity should be tackled next from the backlog.

Define Sprints for each project

A Sprint is an iteration path consisting of a certain number of work items that the team needs to deliver within a specific time interval (usually one in two weeks).

Click Taskboard in the menu bar to see the three stories for Sprint1.

I’ve also highlighted the Sprint menu, which is helpful for switching to previous and future sprints.

Once we start working on these items, we can move them To Do, in Progress, and Done status.

Add Tasks

Our first sprint is correctly set up with the three user stories; it’s time to add tasks.

Inside the Express Order Entry story, click the green + button and click Task:

We can select an activity category for each task added.

• Deployment
• Design
• Development
• Documentation
• Requirements
• Testing

Execute the Sprint and manage the taskboard:

Every Sprint has a taskboard in ADO where teams can see who’s assigned to which work item and what the status of each item is. As they run through the Sprint backlog, they update each item’s status on the taskboard and close them out one by one.

Thanks for reading!..