If you have some general knowledge of project management, you’ve likely come across or heard of Scrum boards.

While they are most associated with software development, the methodology behind them can be used across industries and certainly tops sticky notes. In this article, we’ll cover what you need to know about digital Scrum boards, from burndown charts to sprint backlog items— without making your head spin.

What is a Scrum board or a Scrum table?

A Scrum board is a project management tool used by teams to visualize the items in their sprint backlog.

A sprint backlog is a list of tasks or items that your team will use to populate your Scrum board.

Your physical or virtual Scrum board is constantly being updated by team members and shows all items that need to be completed for a current sprint or time period.

Like most project management methods, the goal of a Scrum board is to align everyone on what they need to accomplish and to provide a central place for monitoring progress.

Here are a few common traits of Scrum teams that will impact your Scrum tool’s board design:

• In Scrum, you divide your larger development team into smaller Scrum teams of 3-9 people.
• Scrum teams are self-sufficient, with all the skills needed to complete their project requirements.
• Larger projects are divided into shorter, more manageable sprints of 1-4 weeks.

In a nutshell, a Scrum board can:

• Visually organize a sprint backlog and the individual user stories (features or functionality from a user’s perspective).
• Denote ownership of user stories and workflows to team members.
• Give everyone context so they can identify potential bottlenecks in the process.

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