Team Foundation Server is an Agile tool that can help you organize your daily activities such as tracking big picture items as well as smaller ‘to-do’ tasks. I use TFS to track .NET software development projects, but I decided to try it to plan my daily activities for today’s blog post. Read further to learn how I created a TFS process for everyday use.
- Start by adding activities to your ‘To-Do’ list. It is very important to prioritize these activities by placing the most important one at the top.
- Add the title of the activity, but don’t be too specific. Rank the importance: Estimate how much effort it would take to complete (Story Points) and write a brief description on how to perform it.
- Click on “View backlog” to see your list of activities. Here you have one more chance to prioritize the order.
- To add activities to your “Sprint,” drag and drop them to the current sprint. A sprint is a time range of days set by yourself (weekend, 1 week , 2 weeks). Add only what you think you can commit to during the time of your sprint. All the activities in the sprint HAVE to be completed before the sprint is over.
- Break down activities into simple tasks. Add a title, set a priority for the task, and estimate the amount of time it will take to complete the task.
If a task is dependent on other tasks, you can create a relationship between them so you can visualize the order of the hierarchy. 
(Take note of the Task ID number.)
Task Breakdown
- To add the amount of hours you are going to be spending, click the capacity tab. Here you can also add people that will be helping you complete those tasks. TFS will keep track of how many hours you have available for each sprint and how much work you assign to yourself and others.
- After finishing your tasks, you can drag and drop them to the closed column to keep track of what still needs to be done. This can be done by hitting the board tab.
- You can track your progress by analyzing the burndown chart on the Home tab.
With some dedication and by following these simple steps, TFS can help you organize your work tasks better by providing a clearer picture of what needs to be done and breaking it down into many simple, smaller tasks.
{{cta(‘e5a7480e-ae92-4c1a-8bc3-cec33cac59f4’)}} to discover how we implement TFS in a larger way in our services.
