Unlocking Project Management Potential: A Deep Dive into TFS Preview for Agile Teams

Welcome to my blog! I’m Martin Hinshelwood, a Visual Studio ALM MVP, Visual Studio ALM Ranger, and a professional Scrum trainer. Today, I want to share my insights on TFS Preview, Microsoft’s cloud-based offering that’s making waves in the world of application lifecycle management. If you’re looking to enhance your project management capabilities, you’ll want to pay attention to what TFS Preview has to offer.

What is TFS Preview?

TFS Preview is essentially Microsoft’s cloud-based Team Foundation Server (TFS) solution, available at TFSPreview.com. The best part? It’s free as long as you have a Microsoft Live ID. This makes it an excellent option for teams looking to experiment with TFS without any financial commitment.

Getting Started

Once you log in, you’ll be prompted to choose an account name. For me, it’s Mr Hinch. After that, you can create a new team project, which serves as the central hub for your work. Within this project, you’ll have access to:

• Source Control: Keep your code organised and versioned.
• Work Item Tracking: Manage tasks, bugs, and features effectively.
• Reporting: Gain insights into your project’s progress.
• Testing: Ensure your product meets quality standards.

Building Your Backlog

After setting up my team project, I headed straight to the backlog to add some product backlog items. While there are various fields to fill out, I focused on the titles for now. Each item defaults to a state of “New,” which is a great starting point.

As I added items, I noticed a green line indicating where new items would be placed. Once I had my items in, I wanted to stack rank them to prioritise effectively. The beauty of TFS Preview is that it automatically saves your changes behind the scenes, so you can focus on what matters most.

Using the Kanban Board

Next, I navigated to my Kanban board, which features several columns representing different states of work items. Each column has a Work In Progress (WIP) limit, which I set to two for the committed state and four for the approved state. This is crucial for maintaining focus and ensuring that the team isn’t overwhelmed.

I could easily drag items into the approved column, and as I did, the column turned green, indicating that I was within my limits. However, if I tried to exceed the WIP limit, the column would turn red, signalling that I was breaking the rules. While TFS Preview allows you to break these rules, it’s essential to adhere to them for effective workflow management.

Moving Items Through the Workflow

Once I had a couple of items in the committed state, I was able to move them to “Done” as I completed tasks. The visual feedback of the columns changing colour helped me keep track of my progress, and I appreciated how intuitive the interface was.

Exciting New Features

What’s particularly exciting about TFS Preview is that it’s a testing ground for new features that will eventually make their way to the on-premise version of TFS and Visual Studio. For instance, the new cumulative flow diagrams are a fantastic addition for visualising work item flow, although I didn’t have any data to display just yet.

Microsoft is moving towards a tighter release schedule, with new features rolling out every three months. This means that if you’re using TFS Preview now, you’ll be ahead of the curve when these features become available on-premise.

Conclusion

In summary, TFS Preview is a powerful tool for teams looking to enhance their project management capabilities. With its cloud-based nature, ease of use, and innovative features, it’s an excellent choice for both new and experienced teams. I encourage you to sign up at TFSPreview.com and explore the possibilities for yourself.

As always, I’m here to help you navigate the complexities of Agile and project management, so feel free to reach out with any questions or insights you’d like to share!