How to set up a temporary scrum board

Recently I had to set up a temporary scrum board for a shared sprint I had with my husband.

My personal scrum board is located in my office. But we had to set something else up for the project we were both involved in.

I want to share it with you in case you can’t have a permanent scrum board at the moment but want to experience the power of an analog scrum board!

Supplies for a temporary scrum board

You will need the following supplies:

1. Painter’s tape
2. Sticky notes of different colours to represent different goals or categories of tasks
3. Marker
4. Level (optional)

Setting up a temporary scrum board

Step 1: Create 3 columns

I used a level to make sure columns and rows were straight. I have to look at this thing at least 10 times a day, so I didn’t want the crookedness to annoy me 🙂

Step 2: Label the columns

There are different ways you can label the columns.

Basic setup:

1. To-do
2. In-progress
3. Done

Recommended setup:

1. To-do
2. In-progress
3. Blocked (second row in the second column)
4. Done

My setup:

1. To-do this week
2. To-do next week(s) (second row in the first column)
3. Today (same as in-progress)
4. Blocked (second row in the second column)
5. Done

Step 3: Put up your sprint goals/tasks

This shared sprint didn’t follow my preferred sprint setup (5 project-based goals). In this shared sprint, we had one huge sprint goal – get the house ready for AirBnB before we leave for Europe for the winter. This goal required completing a lot of tasks in different areas.

Feel free to colour code your tasks based on which goal it belongs to. I colour coded them based on where the task will be done (on my computer or phone, outside the house, or inside the house).

Benefits of a temporary scrum board

Mental load be gone

I used this scrum board for a project with a lot of moving pieces. Before I set the board up, it was all in my head. And every day my husband would ask me what seemed like a million questions on what still remains to be done, what he needs to do and when. I also had to constantly remind him to complete some tasks. It was an utter nightmare for me. I was exhausted from just a few days of me doing it without a board.

The moment I put up a board, I felt an immediate mental load relief. It was out of my head. I didn’t have to constantly think about it and try to remember all of it.

Great for shared sprints

There are some projects that you can’t do alone. You need to collaborate with a partner. If this person lives with you, a shared analog scrum board is a great solution. Make sure to put it in a common area where both of you can see it. That way you are always on the same page and one person doesn’t have to project-manage another. The team dynamic is also much healthier since there is less nagging, complaining, and reminding. You both feel like equal partners when engaging with this board. Both of you can add tasks, choose the task to work on, and move them across the board. More democracy, less dictatorship 🙂

Renter-friendly

There is absolutely no damage being made to the walls using this method. If you want to be 100% sure, you can test a small area in the corner with the painter’s tape and sticky notes  you are planning to use. Leave it for 24 hours and then remove it. If no damage is recorded, proceed with your scrum board setup.

Great for travel

This a perfect travel solution. You can set it up anywhere – hotel room, hallway, living room of an AirBnB you are staying. If you are staying for more than 2 weeks and plan on working on your sprint goals while traveling, I highly recommend bringing a painter’s tape and some sticky notes with you. This is what I’ve done for our winter in Europe.

If you are new to Agile philosophy, you can find the core principles on the Start Here page.

You might enjoy these posts:

1. How to Use Product Backlog for Personal Productivity
2. Sprint Capacity for Personal Productivity
3. Sprint Planning for Personal Productivity
4. My Love Letter to Analog Scrum Board
5. How to Use Definition of Done for Personal Productivity
6. Daily Standup for Personal Productivity
7. Sprint Retrospective for Personal Productivity