Kanban boards, a visual project management tool, offer numerous benefits to organizations across various industries.
Most of us could probably benefit from being more organized and getting more done at work. The good news is that today there are plenty of tools designed to help you do just that.
Some tools are ideally used by individuals, others are a better fit for teams, and many will help both get great results. By providing a clear and real-time overview of work, Kanban helps improve efficiency, productivity, and overall performance in organizations.
What is a Kanban Board?
A Kanban board is a visual tool used to manage and improve workflow. It provides a clear overview of tasks, projects, or processes at different stages of completion. Think of it as a digital or physical board with columns representing different stages of work and cards representing individual tasks or items.
Kanban board is a simple and effective tool that not everybody might be aware of but is gaining more popularity in recent times. Kanban board is often used for project management and can be a physical board in the office or a software program such as Trello or monday.com.
Kanban is based on a Japanese technique that was designed to boost productivity and efficiency. It is named after the cards used in factories.
The first company to use Kanban was Toyota, but it has been adapted over the years and picked up for use by several other large companies including Microsoft.
The Kanban board is an integral part of the process since it makes it easy for both teams and individuals to visualize the workflow from the beginning to the end, along with making it clear to see how much work everybody has left to do.
Key components of a Kanban board
Kanban boards are made up of columns that contain cards that can be moved into different columns on the board as and when appropriate.
Basic Kanban boards have three columns to visualize tasks that need to be done, tasks in progress, and tasks that have been completed, although this can be modified to best suit your work.
- Columns: These represent the different stages of a process, such as “To Do,” “In Progress,” and “Done.”
- Cards: These represent individual tasks or items being worked on.
- Work-in-progress limits: These define the maximum number of cards allowed in a specific column to prevent overloading.
By visualizing the workflow and limiting work in progress, Kanban boards help teams improve efficiency, productivity, and quality.
How do kanban boards help the organization?
Kanban boards are particularly effective in environments that prioritize continuous improvement and flexibility. Here’s how Kanban boards can benefit organizations:
1. Choose the Right Kanban Software or Kanban Tool
First of all, decide whether you are going to be working with a physical or a virtual Kanban board. Physical Kanban boards are often more suitable for workplaces such as factories and production lines as they are easy for everybody to access to track the work.
On the other hand, individuals and teams who work online or in offices on computer-based projects such as web design or software development often benefit from a virtual, cloud-based Kanban program such as Trello.
The board can be updated in real-time by any user making it an ideal choice for office workers, remote workers, and business owners who hire freelancers. For example, a software development team can use a virtual Kanban board to track the progress of features from development to testing and deployment.
2. Make Sure Everybody Understands Kanban
If you want to introduce Kanban to your team to improve productivity, boost efficiency, and reduce waste, then the first step is to ensure that everybody knows how it works and how to get the most out of it.
By now, you should have decided whether you will be using a physical or a virtual Kanban board. Choose the right Kanban software for you before showing your team how it works to avoid any confusion.
For instance, a marketing team can use Kanban to manage content creation, but only if all team members understand the workflow and column definitions.
Kanbanize has a wealth of information about Kanban software and how the system works. You can use that to train your team before you get started. They offer a handy guide to choosing the right software for you and your team that is well worth reading before you decide to move forward.
3. Define Urgent and Non-Urgent Tasks
Throwing everything that needs to be done straight onto the to-do column of the Kanban board can be a great place to start, but after a while, this might start to cause some problems.
This is because some tasks are undoubtedly going to be more pressing than others, so it is worth splitting your tasks into different columns to make it easier for teams to see what needs to be done quickly.
Software programs like Trello allow you to set deadlines for different tasks and order them based on which ones need to be finished first, which can be an ideal solution. This enables you to make sure that urgent tasks are completed first rather than the team wasting time on tasks that could wait a little longer.
For example, a customer support team can use a Kanban board to prioritize tickets based on severity, ensuring critical issues are resolved first.
4. Focus on the Kanban Board Quality
To get the most out of your Kanban board or Kanban software, it is important to ensure that you look after it and that you strive for excellent quality.
This is important whether you are using a physical or digital board. Make sure that everybody knows the importance of moving tasks to different columns as and when needed so that the workflow remains up to date.
If you are using a physical Kanban board, it is important that everybody can read what is written down – it might be worth printing cards out or nominating somebody with good handwriting to write on the cards. Keep tasks and instructions short and to the point.
It is best to avoid overlapping Kanban cards – if your board is getting crowded, it may be too physically small or you might be dealing with too many tasks. A product development team can use a Kanban board to track product features, but only if the board is kept up-to-date and visually clear.
Conclusion
Kanban is a great tool for improving efficiency and productivity at work, but it is important to ensure that you and your team are using it most effectively.
By effectively implementing Kanban boards, organizations can achieve significant improvements in efficiency, productivity, and quality, ultimately leading to increased customer satisfaction and business success.
I am Adeyemi Adetilewa, the Editor of IdeasPlusBusiness.com. I help brands share unique and impactful stories through the use of online marketing. My work has been featured in the Huffington Post, Thrive Global, Addicted2Success, Hackernoon, The Good Men Project, and other publications.