Manage Team Project Using Scrum Workflow Process In Visual Studio Team Service

In my previous article, we learned about the Agile Process in Visual Studio Team Services. In this article, we will check the Scrum process template in detail.

Let's create a new project in VSTS as shown in the below screen. Agile Template is the default template so let us change it to Scrum work item process and click on 'Create'.

I have turned on the new navigation so now, we will see this in the new layout.

Let's understand the work item first. From the left navigation menu, navigate to Work. There are no work items here so let's create the work items by clicking on the "New Work Item" option.

From the list, you have all the Scrum Process work item categories like Epic, Feature, Impediment, Product Backlog Item, Task, Test Case and Bug.

Also, there is a Plus icon on the top as shown in the below screen to help the users to quickly add the items no matter which page they are at in the work area. That is the great UI enhancement from VSTS.

Before Starting the work item, let's understand the portfolio backlog in the Scrum Process.

In VSTS, the Scrum process supports the following work item types shown in the below screen. We can plan and track Epic, Feature, Product Backlog Item, Task, Tests, Issue Tracking, Impediment etc., with different types of categories.

Scrum workflow states

Let's dig into Scrum Workflow and understand the Product Backlog Item, bug, and Task flow. The below diagram shows the progression and regression states.

Product Backlog Item, bug, and Task

Product Owner will create the PBI with the default state; i.e., New, or a tester will create a bug with the default state "New". The PO changes the status of the item to Approved after explaining to the team and it is ready for the team to estimate the level of effort.

Generally, items near the top of the Product Backlog are in the approved state, while items in the middle and bottom are in a "New" state.

The team updates the status to "Committed" when they are ready to commit to working on it, in the Sprint.

Lastly, once the item is completed, the Dev Team and product owner agree that it has been implemented according to the "Acceptance Criteria" and they will move it to the "Done" state.

The same way, the team can manage the bug item and tasks. Let's create an Epic, a Feature, and Map the PBI to Features.

Select the Epic and start adding the description and "Acceptance Criteria" as shown in the below screen.

In the same way, you can create the Feature Item as shown in the below screen. I am not going into details as I have explained that in the previous article. You can refer to that here.

Once you enter the Epic and Features, you can see that in the Work Items area.

Let's create the New Product Backlog Item in the form of a user story. As a student, I can see my fee for the semester so that I know my balance.

Also, add the "Acceptance Criteria" for the PBI on which the team agreed.

Example

Semester fee balance is displayed
The fee balance displayed for that semester duration.
etc.

You can plan your sprint by navigating to the Team Boards where you can manage tasks.

To move the PBI in the iteration, click on the Menu Item (3 dot icon), go to "Move to iteration" and click on Sprint 1.

To plan a Sprint, once you have all the PBI defined, you can plan that item in Sprint 1 by just dragging and dropping the item to that sprint.

You can set the sprint date by clicking on Set dates as shown in the below screen.

Enter the Start date and End date and click on 'Save and close'.

The new navigations allows us to manage the work item easily as shown in the below screen. Directly, we can add the PBI and plan in the sprint by dragging and dropping into the Planning Area.

Also, reorder the Backlog item by selecting Add to top, Bottom or Selection.

Once your Backlog is ready, you can manage the resource planning and capacity planning and for that, click on the Capacity tab. All the team member names will appear and you can select the Activities and Capacity per hours in the day, as shown below.

Also, in the Capacity tab, we can manage the Team 's off days or resource's off days, as shown in the above screen.

That's it. You can start your sprint and monitor it daily.

I hope you like this article. In my next article, we will explore the CMMI Workflow template in detail.

Please give your feedback or comments in the comment box.

6 Comments

Join the conversation! Your thoughts help the community grow.

Rushi Mehta8y ago
Fantastic Article was written, All the information will get from one place...This is what actually I want.. Thanks Ankur
- Ankur Mistry8y ago
  Thank you Rushi, Glad it helps
Alpesh Thakor8y ago
Very Informative Article. Keep it up. I now know how to create a new template for Scrum Work flow process. :)
- Ankur Mistry8y ago
  Thank you Alpesh..
Debasis Saha8y ago
Great article...thanks for sharing... it will help peoples who just start work in VSTS using Scrum methodology..
- Ankur Mistry8y ago
  Thank you Debasis Saha yes it will help them to plan using VSTS