Scrumban template

If you’re looking to make the switch between Scrum and Kanban, a Scrumban template can help your team transition. This template can ground your team with the aspects of the method they’re familiar with while they learn to use the new one. 

What is a Scrumban template? 

A Scrumban template is a reusable tool that project managers use to create and organize Scrumban projects. Think of this template as a blueprint for your team’s Scrumban projects. This helps standardize the Scrumban process, so your team has an easily repeatable framework as they shift between projects. 

Scrumban is an Agile framework that combines two common project management strategies: Scrum and Kanban. Scrumban is commonly used to help teams transition from Scrum to Kanban, or the other way around. 

How do you create a Scrumban template?

Scrumban projects are organized on a Kanban style board. Tasks are written on individual cards sorted into different columns that correspond to task stages. As team members work on tasks, they move the card into the corresponding column that represents the stage that task is in. 

Based on your team’s workflow, you can organize your Scrumban board template in one of three ways:

• Basic Kanban workflow: This method is the simplest way to organize your Scrumban board template. There are three main stages: Task backlog, In progress, and Done. Team members pull cards from the task backlog and into in progress as they work on them, and then move it to the done column when the task meets their team’s definition of done.

• By task priority: This method works best when there are two separate Kanban boards. In one Kanban board, you organize tasks by priority. This entire board is considered the backlog. From there, move cards onto a separate Kanban board that aligns with the corresponding stage of your task based on your team’s workflow.

• By story points: Similar to the task priority method, you can organize cards by story points. Story points are a method used in the Agile methodology to estimate how much effort or time a task may require.Tasks marked with more story points are prioritized over those with fewer story points. 

How to use your Scrumban template

A Scrumban board template is simple to use. The first step you should take is to work with your team to standardize your unique Scrumban process. Once you figure out your team’s consistent workflow, you can use that as a template across multiple Scrumban projects. If you need to adjust your process for a single project, you can tweak the template for that specific project to fit your needs. The best way to do this is by using a digital project management software.

When you’re creating your Scrumban template, it’s important to have a pull system correctly in place. The simplest way to do this is to set up your template with the most basic Kanban system, using three stages: backlog, work in progress, and done. From there, you can tailor the different steps that fall under the “in progress” stage and identify what works best for your team.

It’s important to note that your Scrumban team should have a consensus on the definition of “done.” This means that every single member of your team knows exactly what stages each card needs to go through to mark a user story complete. 

The benefits of using a Scrumban template

Using a template can make learning the Scrumban methodology a breeze. Here are a few reasons why your team should use a Scrumban template.

• Consistency in formatting: If your Scrum team is transferring from Scrum to Kanban, using a Scrumban template will provide some similar steps to your current workflow. This also means that as your team moves from project to project, they’ll know exactly what to expect.

• Easily customizable: When you’re creating a project using a Scrumban template, it’s easy to customize that template to fit your needs. If you’re finding the standard template causes too many bottlenecks, adding different stages or custom fields can help mitigate the number of tasks in the backlog. 

• Transition between Scrum and Kanban: Scrumban is a hybrid of two of the more popular agile project management frameworks. Using a Scrumban template can help teams transition from one or another. If you’re looking to train multiple teams, this tool can be extremely helpful. 

Integrated features:

• Board View. Board View is a Kanban board-style view that displays your project’s information in columns. Columns are typically organized by work status (like To Do, Doing, and Done) but you can adjust column titles depending on your project needs. Within each column, tasks are displayed as cards, with a variety of associated information including task title, due date, and custom fields. Track work as it moves through stages and get at-a-glance insight into where your project stands.

• Automation. Automate manual work so your team spends less time on the busy work and more time on the tasks you hired them for. Rules in Asana function on a basis of triggers and actions—essentially “when X happens, do Y.” Use Rules to automatically assign work, adjust due dates, set custom fields, notify stakeholders, and more. From ad hoc automations to entire workflows, Rules gives your team time back for skilled and strategic work.

• Subtasks. Sometimes a to-do is too big to capture in one task. If a task has more than one contributor, a broad due date, or stakeholders that need to review and approve before it can go live, subtasks can help. Subtasks are a powerful way to distribute work and split tasks into individual components—while keeping the small to-dos connected to the overarching context of the parent task. Break tasks into smaller components or capture the individual components of a multi-step process with subtasks. 

• Custom fields. Custom fields are the best way to tag, sort, and filter work. Create unique custom fields for any information you need to track—from priority and status to email or phone number. Use custom fields to sort and schedule your to-dos so you know what to work on first. Plus, share custom fields across tasks and projects to ensure consistency across your organization. 

Recommended apps:

• Jira. Create interactive, connected workflows between technical and business teams to increase visibility around the product development process in real time—all without leaving Asana. Streamline project collaboration and hand offs. Quickly create Jira issues from within Asana so that work passes seamlessly between business and technical teams at the right time. 

• Google Workplace. Attach files directly to tasks in Asana with the Google Workplace file chooser, which is built into the Asana task pane. Easily attach any My Drive file with just a few clicks.

• GitHub. Automatically sync GitHub pull request status updates to Asana tasks. Track progress on pull requests and improve cross-functional collaboration between technical and non-technical teams, all from within Asana.

• ServiceNow. Reduce manual work for IT teams working in ServiceNow by automating task creation in Asana and providing cross-platform visibility into real-time status and context. Internal-facing service teams that use ServiceNow to track and manage employee tickets often receive requests that require actions outside ServiceNow, like fulfilling hardware requests, or responding to a payroll question. This integration makes it easy to connect ServiceNow to actions and updates taken in Asana.

FAQs