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With projects and team setups becoming more complex, Scrum tools have become essential for project management. Scrum tools provide teams with the necessary resources for planning, tracking, and managing projects. They also allow teams to collaborate and communicate more effectively, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and working towards a common goal.
With the abundance of choices available, how do you pick the right Scrum tool? Let’s look into the most important features you need to look for.
What Are Scrum Tools?
Scrum project management tools are software programs designed to help teams use the Agile Scrum methodology. They allow teams to plan, track, and manage work in an efficient and organized manner. They also facilitate collaboration between team members, allowing them to quickly and easily provide feedback on each other's progress.
Scrum tools allow teams to break down projects into smaller tasks, also known as sprints. Each sprint has a defined timeline, allowing teams to measure progress and stay on track. They also provide visibility into the overall project, making it easier to identify and address any potential risks or issues. Scrum management tools also allow teams to assign tasks and track the progress of each member, making it easier to hold everyone accountable.
5 Essential Features You Need In Your Scrum Tool
1. Task Management
Task management is an essential feature of any scrum tool. With task management features, teams can easily break down large tasks into smaller, individual tasks, prioritize tasks, assign tasks to team members, track progress, and manage deadlines. This helps teams stay on track and stay organized as they work towards their goals.
Workamajig is the only project management platform made for creative teams.
With task management, teams can stay focused on the tasks at hand and make sure that nothing is forgotten or overlooked. Task management tools also provide teams with visibility into their progress and can help them to adjust their strategy if necessary.
2. Workload Management
Resource management is essential for successful projects, and workload management features help project managers do this efficiently. Failing to manage workload can cause underutilization or overallocation.
Underutilization can result in wasted resources. Constant overutilization, on the other hand, can result in a decrease in output quality and burnout.
Workamajig Resource Management
The best tools for Scrum should allow you to see the number of tasks your team members are taking on. This way, you can ensure that each individual is taking on the right amount of work they can efficiently complete.
3. Board View
The ability to make a Scrum board can be an essential feature of your Scrum tool as it allows for a more visual representation of your team’s work. The kanban view provides a bird’s eye view of the tasks that are in progress, the tasks that are completed, and the tasks that are blocked. This allows scrum teams to have a more organized way of tracking their progress.
Workamajig Scrum Board
Kanban view can be used to easily identify bottlenecks and problems, as well as identify the tasks that need to be worked on or completed. This helps teams to have a better understanding of the tasks that need to be worked on and completed to reach their goals.
4. Messaging
Messaging is an essential feature for any scrum tool, as it allows teams to communicate quickly and efficiently. It is the backbone of effective collaboration and is a critical part of any agile scrum process. Agile Scrum tools are designed to help teams stay on track, and messaging is an integral part of this. It allows teams to stay in touch with one another, no matter where they are located.
Messaging can be used for a variety of purposes, from simply providing updates to discussing potential solutions to any issues that may arise. It can also be used to keep team members on the same page, as well as to quickly disseminate important information. In addition, messages can be used to assign tasks, track progress, and provide feedback.
At the heart of any scrum process is the need for effective communication, so it is important to ensure that your Scrum tool has the necessary features to enable this.
5. Team Calendars
A team calendar is an essential feature for your scrum tool as it helps to keep the entire team on the same page when it comes to planning and scheduling tasks. It is a great way to keep track of who is working on what and when tasks need to be completed. It also helps to identify any gaps in the team's capacity or availability, so that timelines and estimates are more accurate.
Schedule tasks with your team’s availability considered.
Team calendars can also be used to set up meetings and reminders for upcoming tasks or deadlines, which are important to lead projects to success.
Benefits Of Using Tools For Scrum Project Management
Efficiency
The best Scrum tools can make the entire process of scrum more efficient by providing features that ensure that the team is on the same page and that everyone understands the common goal. While you can track your project manually, having a tool can help you eliminate some grunt work so you can focus on things that matter. Scrum tools provide an efficient way to manage tasks, track progress, and plan sprints. They provide transparency to the entire process, allowing the team to communicate and collaborate more effectively.
Remote Project Management
When it comes to working with teams located in different parts of the world, online Scrum tools are essential. They provide the framework and support that any organization needs to successfully manage projects across various geographical regions.
Tools for Agile Scrum provide the visibility that is needed to effectively manage projects across the globe. Additionally, these tools also offer features like chat and video conferencing, which allow teams to communicate with each other easily, regardless of their physical location.
Convenience
Scrum tools provide a convenient way to manage projects and tasks by providing a platform to store, organize, and access information. With the right software, teams can access information from any device, no matter where they are located.
Storing files and documents in an organized manner is also a feature that Scrum online tools offer. This makes it easier for teams to find the information they need quickly and accurately. Additionally, these tools provide an easy way to create reports and charts that can help teams evaluate their progress and identify areas of improvement. This helps teams stay ahead of their goals and ensure they are meeting their objectives.
How To Choose The Right Scrum Tool
Availability Of Essential Features
Teams need to select the right tools for an Agile Scrum that offer the features they need. With the right tools in place, teams can achieve their goals more effectively, stay organized, and collaborate more effectively.
Ease Of Use
When choosing the right scrum tool, ease of use is an important factor to consider. It should be user-friendly and intuitive so that everyone on the team can easily understand how to use it and take advantage of its features.
The tool should also provide helpful guidance on how to use it effectively, as well as provide a dashboard that gives an overview of the entire project and its progress. The dashboard should provide helpful analytics and insights so that the team can make informed decisions about the project.
Customer Service
Good customer service means that you have access to support when you need it, that you get answers to your questions quickly, and that the company is responsive to your needs and concerns.
When evaluating Scrum Agile tools, it’s important to find out what customer service is available and how it works. Does the company offer online support? What is their response time? Can you submit a ticket and expect a response within a few hours or days? How knowledgeable and helpful are their customer service personnel?
It’s also important to look at the company’s track record. What do other users say about the company’s customer service? Do they have a history of providing good support? Are there any customer service horror stories? This can give you a good indication of what kind of customer service you can expect if you choose to use the company’s tools for Agile scrum.
Wrapping Up
Tools for Agile Scrum are invaluable when it comes to working with Agile teams. They provide the framework, visibility, and support that is needed to effectively manage projects, whether you’re working with a local team or one that is spread all across the globe. . Additionally, these tools allow teams to measure the progress of the project and identify areas of improvement.
When picking a Scrum tool, choose one like Workamajig, the only project management tool built for creative teams. It has all the essential features you need so you can stay on top of your deadlines and be an efficient, Agile team.