How to use Scrum (Agile) in Trello for Non-Tech Projects
One misconception that I have heard so many times is that Scrum (an Agile framework) can be used only for tech projects. Yes, the scrum was originally designed for software development projects, but you can use it in any project. We, at I Innovate magazine, also use Scrum to launch a new issue. So, I decided to write How to use Agile in Trello for Non-Tech Projects.
I was running a campaign where I was asking startup-related problems that my subscribers are facing. I got a mail from Ashley and she said that she is facing difficulty in implementing Agile for legal projects.
Here is her email. She described her problem very-beautifully.
I replied to her how she can use Scrum for legal projects. But, I thought that I should write a story on it also.
Before we begin, let’s understand what is a scrum.
What is Scrum?
Scrum.org defines scrum this way — Scrum is a framework within which people can address complex adaptive problems, while productively and creatively delivering products of the highest possible value.
Sounds very complicated, right? Let me explain it to you in a simpler language.
Scrum is a process which allows a team to break down a big project and into several small tasks and complete all the tasks within a timeframe, hence completing the project.
Originally published at iinnovatemag.com on November 16, 2018.
It is a framework of Agile, perhaps the most famous. It was originally designed for software development projects but it can be used in any kind of project because of its versatility.
I will explain this and this entire story by taking I Innovate as an example. We are launching our December issue by using Scrum. And I am going to show you how we are doing it.
How to use Scrum in Trello for Non-Tech Projects?
In Scrum, we list out all the tasks that are there in a project. So, we listed the tasks that we needed to do to launch in our December issue. Basically, we broke down the entire project into several smaller tasks.
We have four categorizations where we can put a task. Here are they:
- Backlog — This is where all the tasks are put first. So if your project has 100 tasks, you put all those 100 here.
- This sprint — A Sprint is a 14 days (generally) period. You can change the number of days in a sprint accordingly. We chose 7 days in a sprint to make things faster. In this category, you need to put the tasks that you’re going to complete in this sprint. So, if your sprint is 7 days long, all the tasks in this sprint needs to be completed in 7 days. If it’s 14 days long, all the tasks should be completed in 14 days.
- In progress — this is a custom category we made because our tasks are quite smaller in size. We put all those tasks here that belong to the current sprint but we are in progress. If you have a look at Fig 1, “Proofread all stories” belong to the current sprint we’re having but we have started doing it. “Design the magazine belong to current sprint but we’re yet to start it.
- Completed — This is where you put all the completed tasks.
Power-Ups for Scrum
There are lots of Power-Ups and Chrome Extensions that will help you get even more out of Scrum and Trello. One of them is Scrum for Trello, which will automatically add up the number of story points on a card so you can see how many total points are in a list, and Trello Card Counter, which counts up the number of cards in each list and the total number of cards on the board.
There are a lot more of different Power-Ups in Trello’s directory. Here are a few more and how I use them:
Google Drive: Attach files and even entire folders to each project. Attachment previews are embedded on the card, and also show when they were last edited and by whom.
Slack: Keep your team up-to-date when an initiative moves to another stage by piping Trello updates into relevant Slack channels. You can also comment on and move Trello cards right from Slack.
Custom Fields: If there’s something that you want to update for every task and labels don’t quite work, Custom Fields are amazing! They allow for additional card customization for scannable details.
Calendar Power-Up: It organizes your Trello board into a calendar. You need to have due-date assigned to all of your tasks so that they can show up in the calendar view.
Some other great agile Power Ups are Burndown, Planning Poker, and Agile Cards.
Got any query?
Tweet your query at @iinnovatemag .
Originally published at iinnovatemag.com on November 16, 2018.
