When working according to Scrum you face to choose between physical tools or software tools.
There are situations when software tools are required, i.e. distributed development. However, physical tools have the benefit of letting all information necessary to be accessible in one place. Team members, ScrumMaster, Product Owner and stakeholders can easily get access to the gathered information. Having all information in one place promotes collaboration.
Here I present a simple comparison, between visualization by means of white board or similar and visualization by means of SW tools. At the bottom of this post you can find links to posts covering the same topic.
Comparison
| Whiteboard or similar | Software tool |
|---|---|
| Food for thought before choosing a tool | |
| Daily Scrum meeting in front of task board makes the team members focus on their task since everyone is reminded of the goal, requirements and tasks of the Sprint. | You cannot find a display big enough for team members to gather around and read all the details in connection with the daily scrum meeting. There is a risk that team members communicate through the tool instead of directly with each other. |
| Team members can update status/progress by moving cards or updating an estimate. | You need to get access to the tool in order to find information or a requirement that is in need of updating. |
| Anyone who passes the working area of the team can see the status at once just by passing. | You have to get access to the tool in order to see status. |
Reflections on tools by Mishkin Berteig:
What is your take on tools in Agile and Scrum?
Please add your view in the comments.