It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. Let’s begin with
What is Kanban Board?
Kanban is a Japanese word meaning, ‘Kan’ for ‘Visual’ while ‘Ban’ stands for ‘Cards.’ The first Kanban board was crafted by Toyota when they re-imagined their approach to engineering and manufacturing. The literal meaning of the word ‘Kanban’ is a billboard.
However, in the past few years, Kanban boards are being used in almost every industry vertical. From IBM to Apple, everyone is using them as a replacement tool for the nerve-wracking daily-status-report.
The best part of a Kanban board is to render team collaboration easier for your team. In their purest form, Kanban boards only have three columns. The to-do list, the progress, and the completed tasks. Here is a Kanban board example to make things clear.
So, from the above Kanban board example, we can conclude that Kanban boards make a visual representation of your tasks easier. A physical Kanban board uses sticky notes to display the status of every task.
As for the Kanban board online, you draw upon software and update it online.
In an online Kanban board, only relevant people are invited in the group. This makes it easier for people to focus on the most important things first.
In a small business setting, usually the owner takes the panoramic view of weekly tasks. However, in a large-scale organization, it falls upon the project manager to keep an eye on every project. The to-do list, which is created in a Kanban, incorporates Tasks or User stories. These tasks are assigned, along with the priority of each task.
Normally, for the owner, a Backlog filed is added before the to-do list which displays the queued items. It is also the column where brainstorming occurs before the tasks are prioritized and shifted to the to-do list.
Related Read : What Project Managers say About Significance of Kanban Boards?
Benefits of using Kanban Boards
Kanban Allows you to minimize work overload
Typically, accumulating tasks create a bottleneck. To overcome this, if we create a Kanban board template (which can be later used for repetitive tasks), each task will be prioritized and can commence as soon as a need arises. Thus, preventing a work overload. Everyone will know which task is being performed by whom and who to contact if anything goes south.
Kanban Board will give a visual overview of everything online
By creating a backlog, we will be able to see which tasks are in queue and also the progress of tasks in the to-do list. Based on priority, low-medium-high colors are assigned to each task, which makes it easier for the project manager or the owner to make sense of the bigger picture at a glance.
Related Read : Leave Multitasking Woes Behind With Personal Kanban
Kanban board will limit extra projects
In a normal business setting, it is advised to increase sales regardless of the workforce. However, with Kanban boards, you’ll get a clear picture of how many extra projects you can take on. Thus preventing the time and energy of employees who are already assigned to projects and have their hands full.
Related Read : Kanban Systems are not just about reliable project delivery
More work, less talk with team collaboration
When a selected few people are assigned to a single task, imagine the amount of focus and commitment they can give. With a Kanban board, online work will be prioritized, and communication can be kept to a minimum.
You’ll know the cause of delay in a project
At times, it gets too challenging to figure out what is causing a delay in a project. In a Kanban dashboard, you’ll have a spiral view of the whole project which will give you a clear idea of what or who is causing a delay in the project. Once identified, you could accelerate the phase and move on to the next project.
How to use Kanban board in TaskQue?
The good news is that Kanban board in TaskQue enables you to stay on board with your work progress and never lets you down due to the clarity and sense of focus it affords you.
Here is how you can use Kanban boards to increase your productivity in TaskQue. Go sign-up with TaskQue and follow the following steps:
- Visualize each project
- Limit the number of projects
- Focus on flow
- Practice continuous improvement
Imagine you are a company owner who doesn’t have time to go through the details of each element of the project separately. TaskQue will help you glean an Arial view of what exactly is happening in any project. In short, every detail of the project will be visualized step-by-step.
By visualizing your tasks on one screen, you can identify bottlenecks, unassigned tasks, and missed deadlines at a single glance. Afterward, you can solve these issues right from the board’s workspace.
The number of projects can be limited, which means that a professional will be able to assign tasks and re-consider before taking any new project. When everything is in the view, it will be easier for project managers to take on projects, which will not overwhelm the team.
TaskQue will help you take the existing workflows and view them in Kanban board view. You can then follow the three steps mentioned above to complete the project on time.
A user can shuffle between workflows to re-prioritize items and do essential things.
From the Kanban board view screen, drag and drop tasks to maximize productivity and facilitate ease of control.
When you assign all your resources on one task, it will be easier for you to get in the flow and work on it. This focus can only be achieved because TaskQue has a queue feature that enables idle resources to jump in and help the team.
Finally, when you complete all the steps in order, practicing personal development will be easier. You’ll precisely know where you need to invest your energies and which of the areas of the project need less attention.
For every task, an email notification will be sent to the relevant person with the changes made in the project.
Visual project management is still one of the most effective ways of controlling your project development and workflow. If you’re looking for a way to monitor your projects at a glance with fewer risks and less stress, Kanban boards might be the right tool for you.
