Delivery · Work streams
Work stream board
Work through a work stream's tasks stage by stage, moving cards across each stage's board and completing stages as you go.
Work through a work stream’s tasks stage by stage, moving cards across each stage’s board and completing stages as you go.
The board is where delivery work happens. A work stream moves through the stages of its workflow in order, such as design, build and test, and each stage has its own board of columns and task cards. The team drags cards across the columns as work progresses, and when a stage is finished, the work stream moves on to the next one.
The board also gives you the work stream’s details, a quick way to switch to another stream in the project, and a way to branch off a sub-board when unplanned work turns up.
Before you start
Open a work stream by selecting it on a project’s Work streams tab, timeline or overview. See Project work streams.
Understanding the work stream screen
Tabs
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Board | The board for each stage. This page. A switch below the tabs leads to Sub-boards. |
| Pipeline | The stages and approval gates. A switch leads to Approvals when the workflow has gates. See Pipeline and approvals. |
| References | The requirements and files the stream came with. See References. |
| People | The owner, teams and people on the stream. See Work stream people. |
| Activity | Everything that has happened to the stream. See Work stream activity. |
The top bar
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Switch button | Opens a list of the project’s work streams, with their health, so you can jump to another without leaving the board. |
| Arrows | Move to the previous or next work stream in the project. |
| Spawn work stream | Raises a new intake item for a dependency you have found. Shown to delivery leads on top-level work streams. |
The stage bar
Below the tabs, a row of stage buttons shows every stage in the workflow, in order.
- The current stage is marked.
- Completed stages are ticked and green.
- Select any stage to look at its board, including stages that are finished or still to come.
On the right of the stage bar you see the Work stream owner, and the Board actions button.
The board
Each column holds task cards. A card shows the task’s code, title, assignee and when it was created. Select any card to open the task. See Working on a task.
Approve a new work stream
When a work stream has just been promoted, a banner may say it is Pending sign-off from the project owner or work-stream owner. Until one of them approves it, the stream’s delivery gates stay locked.
- Select Approve work stream in the banner.
The banner disappears and the gates unlock.
Use an emergency override
If the work must move on without sign-off, someone with the right access can override the approval.
- Select Emergency override in the banner.
- Enter a Reason explaining why the override is necessary.
- Select Override and unlock gates.
Move a task
- Drag a card from one column to another.
Some columns have rules about who may move a task in, whether a task can leave, or that it must come from the column before. A move that breaks a rule is refused and says why, for example:
- Work cannot be moved out of Done.
- You do not have a role that can move work into Review.
- Testing can only be entered from Build.
Column rules are part of the workflow your organisation set up. See Work stream template editor.
Add a task
- Hover over a column heading and select +.
- Type the task title.
- Press Enter to add it, or Esc to cancel.
The task appears in that column.
Complete a stage
When a stage’s work is done, complete it to move the work stream on.
- Select the Board actions button (⋮) on the right of the stage bar.
- Select Complete stage. A confirmation names the next stage. If any tasks on the board aren’t finished, it tells you how many. You can still complete the stage.
- Select Complete stage.
The work stream moves on to the next stage, and that board becomes the active one. The completed board stays available to look back on.
Branch a sub-board
When unplanned work turns up during a stage, such as a hotfix, branch it into a sub-board so it does not disrupt the main board.
- Select the Board actions button (⋮).
- Select Branch sub-board.
- Enter a Name, for example “Payment timeout hotfix”.
- Enter a Description of what surfaced and why it needs its own thread. This is optional.
- Select Create sub-board.
The sub-board appears on the Sub-boards tab. See Sub-boards.
Change your board settings
Board settings are your own preferences, stored on your device. They change your view only and never affect teammates.
- Select the Board actions button (⋮).
- Select Board settings.
- Turn settings on or off, then select Done.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Always show my tasks first | Within each column, work assigned to you floats to the top. |
| Default to my tasks | The board loads showing only your tasks, with a My tasks chip so it’s clear why. Select the chip to clear it. |
| Highlight overdue tasks | Adds a red outline once a task’s end date has passed and it isn’t finished. |
| Collapse done columns | Minimises any column marked as a completion stage, so the board focuses on work in flight. |
| Hide empty columns | Skips columns with nothing in them after your filters apply. |
| Default sort | How cards order within a column: Manual, Priority, End date or Recent activity. |
Select Reset to defaults to undo your changes.
View the work stream’s details
Select the details button at the right of the tabs to show or hide the Work stream panel.
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Progress | The stream’s health, its progress through the stages, and the overall percentage. |
| Next gate | The next approval gate the stream will reach. |
| Properties | Status, Type, Owner, Dates and Workflow. |
| Risks | Risks raised on this stream. Select Raise a risk to add one. |
| Description | What the stream is for. |
| Why this exists | The Initiative and Feature the stream came from, with links to each. |
Spawn a dependency work stream
If you discover that this work stream depends on work nobody has planned, raise it as a new intake item.
- Select Spawn work stream in the top bar.
- Check the Title. It starts as “Dependency:” followed by this stream’s name.
- Describe the dependency and why it needs its own work stream.
- Select Raise intake item.
A new item appears in the Intake Queue with the source Work stream spawn. A delivery lead reviews it and promotes it to a work stream. See Intake Queue.
When tasks are managed in another system
If the work stream was set up to be managed in another system, a banner says Managed in followed by that system’s name. The Board tab becomes Tasks, and shows a read-only list of what was drafted at intake, with each task’s Code, Task, Board and Priority, plus its reference in the other system once there is one.
From the banner you can:
- Select Open in the system to go to the work there.
- Select Export to the system to download the tasks in a format the other system can import. Choose the Format, check any pre-filled details, then select Export.
There are no stages to complete and no cards to drag here, because the work is tracked in the other system.