What Is A Kanban Board And How Can You Benefit From It?

Are you tired of spending more time planning your work than actually doing it? Today, the average professional spends a large portion of every workday on low-value tasks - leaving little room for meaningful progress. But what if there was a way for you to cut through the clutter and focus on what really matters? 

From individual task lists to team project management, Kanban boards provide a visual organization system that streamlines workflows, helps set realistic deadlines, prevents burnout, and improves time efficiency. This simple yet effective strategy can transform your office productivity.

Whether you’re juggling multiple clients or managing a large-scale project, implementing a better process promises transformative results.

A Kanban Board uses a system of columns and cards to organize workflows. Columns denote various categories, and individual tasks are assigned cards that move through the board.

Traditionally, the columns break up a project into three categories:

• To Do - Assigned Tasks
• Doing - Tasks in Progress
• Done - Completed Work

With digital Kanban software like KanbanFlow and Kanbanchi users can physically sort their tasks in piles, dragging each ‘task card’ into the correct category. This makes keeping track of work progress easy and seamless so you can stay on top of all your deadlines without wasting a minute!

Kanban boards are incredibly intuitive and easy to use, with columns and cards making up the core elements of this organizational system. This simple process will help you easily organize your workflow:

Step 1: Set Up Your Kanban Columns

The Kanban method works best when users customize it to their needs. While the traditional format follows a three-column system labeled - to-do, in progress, and done - you can alter these to best fit your project’s needs.

For example, a content agency may create additional columns for ‘edits’ and ‘re-writes’ to keep track of their workflows. A sales agency may add labels for ‘meetings’ and ‘follow-up calls’ to keep tabs on their leads.

Step 2: Break Down Your Project Into Kanban Cards

Assign each task a separate card in your Kanban board. You can add details for task description, deadlines, and assignees. Dividing your project into descriptive cards is vital to the success of this method.

Step 3: Categorize Your Kanban Cards

Drag each card to its respective column, tagging the team members expected to work on the task and uploading any pertinent information to the card.

Step 4: Drag Your Cards To Track Your Progress

As team members complete tasks they will drag their cards from one category to another. For example a writer may move an assigned task from ‘Doing’ to ‘Done’ letting their editor know it’s ready to be reviewed. While this is happening, a manager will be able to stay updated on the progress of each member in their team, creating a seamless project workflow.

Step 5: Set A Work-In-Progress Limit

A work-in-progress (WIP) limit restricts the number of tasks that can be in a particular stage, or in other words, the number of cards allowed per column. Managers can customize the Work Progress Bar to help manage the workload per project, day, or team member.

A key feature of the Kanban Board, WIP limits help prevent overloading and guarantee effective time management with realistic deadlines.

Step 6: Track Swimlanes

Horizontal lanes called swimlanes are used to separate different types of work or teams within the same board.

The benefits of a Kanban board resonate throughout a company, benefiting everyone from CEOs and managers to individual team members. When these individual advantages are combined, their impact compounds, driving success for the company.

Benefits For The Company

• Improves Efficiency: By visualizing the workflow and creating a unique Kanban Board that serves their needs, companies can identify bottlenecks, resolve problems, and create more efficient processes
• Boosts Quality: The transparency of the Kanban system pushes each person in the team to perform at a higher level, ensuring an attention to detail that boosts quality of the team’s work
• Speeds Up Delivery: With efficient management processes at every level, tasks are completed faster, speeding up delivery
• Reduces Costs: Faster delivery times, higher quality, and a more productive workforce guarantee reduced costs for any business

Benefits For The Team

• Increases Coordination: By logging into the Kanban board, each team member is updated on the project's progress, upcoming targets, and roles assigned, offering clarity at every level
• Improves Collaboration: In addition to increasing workflow efficiency and overall productivity, Kanban boards benefit teams because they strengthen collaboration and create work transparency
• Creates Workplace Equity: The transparency in terms of work assignments and progress means tasks are divided equitably

Benefits For Managers

• Simplifies Workflow Tracking: Managers can track employee workflows without direct interference or taking time away from their primary tasks
• Eases Workload Management: Implementing the Kanban Board strategy allows managers to evenly distribute their workload among their employees since all their pending tasks are clearly visible on the board
• Informs Decision-Making: Managers can set realistic deadlines while keeping track of their team members’ respective workloads, removing the risk of over or under commitment for employees

Benefits For Individual Team Members

• Clarifies Expectations: The visual log of expected work targets offers team members complete clarity of their manager’s workload expectations
• Reduces Stress: When a Kanban Board system is implemented, team members no longer have to spend time planning out their workdays. Tasks are assigned systematically and appear in an easy to follow visually engaging interface
• Increases Autonomy: Team members do not need to check in with managers to get their assignments and can work independently
• Offers Workplace Recognition: Kanban Boards create a healthy working environment where each team member’s progress and contribution are clear to see and easy to appreciate

Creating a customized Kanban Board is the best way for teams to get the most out of this method. The simplest way to start is by visualizing your business’s workflow. What kind of work do you do? What steps can it be broken down into?

In a sales team, members must track leads, follow-up with potential clients, and close deals. An optimized Kanban Board is the best way to make sure no leads fall through the cracks. The sales team can set up a Kanban Board with the following columns.

Kanban Board Example For A Sales Team

• New Leads: Potential clients the team should reach out to
• Contacted Leads: Leads that have been approached with an initial offer
• Follow-Up Required: If they showed an interest in the first conversation a follow-up may be required
• Negotiation: A separate column is needed for interested clients that are negotiating terms and prices
• Closed-Won: Successful deals that resulted in sales
• Closed-Lost: Leads that did not make a purchase

Now every time the sales team receives a new lead that can add them to the Kanban Board. The company may need to create specialized teams for each column/category.

Similarly, a small business may need a different kind of set-up.

Kanban Board Example For A Small Business

• New Orders: Potential clients who have expressed an interest in placing an order
• Payment Pending: Customers who have received an invoice but need to make their payment
• Payment Received: Paying customers who have finalized their orders
• Product Preparation: Orders that are being prepared for dispatch, including packaging and quality checks
• Product Dispatched: Orders that have been dispatched by the business owner. These may be done in bulk or on an assigned date 
• Orders Received: Customers who have received their orders
• Follow-Up/Feedback: A column for keeping track of follow-up emails that need to be sent addressing any complaints or return requests
• Business Maintenance: The business may have other routine maintenance needs that need to be scheduled

That way every time a new customer approaches the business a ticket can be generated in the form of a Kanban Card that will move through the board. Ideally, the columns on your board should cover every potential scenario your business might encounter.

The best part of course is that you can upgrade your Kanban Board to improve the flow of your work as you go along.

Kanban Boards empower teams to organize their workflows and enhance efficiency at every level.

When properly implemented, Kanban boards:

• Help team members visualize their workflows and work more efficiently
• Boost project delivery success rates by avoiding bottlenecks
• Improve team productivity by eliminating redundancies
• Enhance team collaboration by keeping everyone on the same page
• Enable managers to assign work equitably based on individual workloads
• Help managers set realistic deadlines based on the team’s progress
• Create transparency within the workplace
• Ensure positive recognition for team members’ contributions
• Help managers identify workflow issues and refine processes

By leveraging digital Kanban Boards, teams can unlock their full potential, streamline their processes, and achieve greater success across the board.