To be successful at your job, you need to get things done well and on time. But with so many tasks on your to-do list and deadlines looming, that’s easier said than done. That’s where kanban boards come in
With your kanban board in Heycollab project management tool, the task management app designed just for freelancers, remote teams, and small businesses, it’s easier than ever to plan out your week in advance and get everything done on time.
This article will show you how kanban boards and Heycollab can help you rock through projects like a true rockstar in no time!
What Is a Kanban Board
A kanban board is a visualization tool for project management and is also called a virtual pipeline, visual work board, or simply kanban.
The virtual board (but in its simplest form can be physical) may contain columns for tasks, people involved, due dates, labels, and more. It helps keep you organized and on track to hit your goals when used correctly.
You can set up the board differently depending on your workflow and which tools you use. With Heycollab, there are two ways to set up your virtual kanban board and use it to visualize your project and keep track of what tasks need to be done.
10 Ways Kanban Boards Make You A Rockstar
Managing your tasks on a to-do list app can be tedious and repetitive. With so many to-dos to get through, how do you even start? And once you’ve started, how do you stay focused on one thing at a time, so nothing slips through the cracks?
The answer lies in kanban boards. Unlike to-do list apps that force you to view your entire week at once, kanban boards are geared toward breaking down your tasks into manageable pieces- a better system than trying to tackle everything at once. Here are 10 ways that kanban boards make you a rockstar.
1) Reduce cycle time
Faster cycle times mean that you get feedback faster, which can help you spot mistakes or areas for improvement earlier in the process. If you want to reduce your cycle time, try implementing these weekly planning tips into your workflow.
With to-do list apps and task management tools like Heycollab, you’ll be able to keep track of everything on one organized platform. And because it’s so easy to add comments or files to tasks within your kanban board, your team will always know where they should be focusing their efforts each week.
2) Avoid bottlenecks
Staying organized is critical for managing tasks across teams, but using to-do list apps, task management systems, and weekly planning tips can help to keep your boards running smoothly.
Try putting together one extensive weekly list of tasks, use different colored post-it notes or small cards on each job (in a different color), or get creative with physical items such as washi tape!
Whatever you do, try not to run into bottlenecks where tasks become frozen or stagnant aboard. A great way to see if areas need attention is through reporting features often built into task management software.
For example, Heycollab has activity reports and value reports which show how much time tasks take over various sprints/iterations or if tasks from previous sprints were completed successfully within these sprints, respectively.
3) Remove unnecessary steps
The first step to getting started with your weekly planning tips is to create a clear list of necessary tasks. Once you’ve identified what needs to be done each week, remove any unnecessary steps.
It won’t get done if an action isn’t part of reaching your ultimate goal.
This can include everything from surfing Facebook at work to making unnecessary phone calls – anything that distracts you from getting more important things done must go. The goal here is to prioritize your weekly planning tips, so you spend your time on meaningful actions that get results. Then once you’ve refined your list, it’s time to get moving!
4) Improve collaboration and communication
Kanban boards make you a rockstar by making communication and collaboration between your team members more accessible, especially regarding to-do lists.
Heycollab allows users to create any kanban board and lets teams use their existing tools like Trello, Jira, Asana, or Basecamp. This way, your to-do list can be an integral part of any project management system already in place for your business!
Plus, Heycollab’s visual nature makes keeping track of things straightforward to do and understand!
5) Do less but more often
With so many to-do list apps, what could be easier than adding something to your to-do list? However, if you’re not careful and don’t have an actionable strategy for reviewing and checking off these items, then you might as well not have them at all.
Do less but more often with your task management app by incorporating regular reviews and check-offs into your day with kanban boards.
With a Kanban board, you have various views to work from – one for tasks that are in progress, one for tasks you’re ready to do, and another list of tasks that are blocked (which are likely being held up because something else isn’t finished or needs approval).
Visualizing your tasks in these different views helps clarify what’s working, what needs improvement, where bottlenecks might exist, who needs to be involved, and whether or not priorities need to change.
6) Share responsibility and accountability
What do rockstars have that you don’t? Probably not too much! One thing they do have that you should learn from, though, is how to share responsibility and accountability with their team.
Visual project management with kanban boards makes it easy to see what everyone on your team is working on. Therefore, you can offer help or step in if someone needs assistance. It also streamlines decision-making by letting everyone see where things stand at all times. With Heycollab, sharing responsibility and accountability is easier than ever.
7) Keep everyone informed
First, everyone knows what they’re working on. This not only keeps you organized but can help boost productivity by letting everyone in your team know what’s expected of them and when to expect it.
Second, no task gets lost in a sea of emails or unspoken expectations-everyone has to access all tasks at all times, so nothing falls through the cracks.
If you want to look as good as possible while rocking out with your kanban board game strong, Heycollab gives you mobile apps for both iPhone and Android. So bring it with you wherever you go!
8) Raise visibility
Kanban boards can help you raise visibility through collaboration and visual aids. For example, you can use them to communicate timelines or project dependencies to your team. Most of us have used various to-do list apps at some point in our lives; these are probably most useful for individuals who want to maintain personal productivity.
Before Heycollab, teams had to use traditional to-do list apps, which are easily lost in email and could cause clutter in our inboxes. With Heycollab, teams can manage their project visually in a kanban board, timeline, or calendar view. It’s much easier to keep everyone on your team on track with their work and tasks when it’s all visible at once.
9) Automate work processes
Many people believe that they need to sit in front of their computer all day to get things done. While using your mouse and keyboard will eventually help you get familiar with each program, automating repetitive processes can indeed free up time for more important things.
For example, automation could automatically do so if you regularly forward emails from one person to another. This will ensure that vital messages are forwarded without checking and forward them constantly.
That said, Heycollab can help you automate processes too. You can create standard templates to create new projects or record tasks on your board. Your board automatically updates in real-time, so it’s easy to keep track of your work with just a glance.
10) Avoid unnecessary meetings and save time
When in doubt, toss it out. Meetings are necessary when you need to share important information and plan out tasks-but. Can your meeting be done by phone or email? What about via a quick 10-minute chat?
Either way, an in-person meeting might not be necessary. That’s where kanban boards come in handy. With a visual view of what needs to be done, you have fewer reasons for unproductive meetings and more opportunities for working together on a project from afar.
Whether it’s just a few minutes here and there or across time zones, Heycollab makes it easier than ever for teams to work together without feeling like they’re drowning in emails.
Kanban to Help You Manage HR Teams
Let’s face it – working in a creative environment is stressful and fast-paced. Often, employees get overwhelmed or caught up in too many deadlines at once. That’s where
Kanban boards come into play; specifically, Heycollab’s visual scheduling tool can be used to manage and prioritize tasks for your team. Here are some tips on how you can use Heycollab to help manage HR teams more effectively:
- If you’re working with an HR team, you need to put workers in order of priority and plan accordingly. All projects are not created equal; if there’s limited time or staff to get things done, don’t try to squeeze everything into your schedule right away – it’ll result in confusion and work stress down the road. Instead, use Heycollab’s visual scheduling tool to quickly determine what must be completed now, what can wait, and when deadlines should occur. That way, employees know exactly where they stand in terms of progress, and everyone is clear on their responsibilities at all times. Heycollab also gives project-specific features, such as percent complete indicators, so your workers understand precisely how close they are to hitting deadlines. Your employees will love being able to check off milestones as they go!
- Delegation is one of management’s most important skills – but delegating specific tasks isn’t always easy when people come and go on different schedules, have other availability requirements and locations, etc. Luckily, you can get around that with Heycollab. For example, maybe you want to split project-specific tasks into milestones so your HR team can take care of specific parts in pieces over time instead of everything at once.
Kanban to Help You With Marketing
Marketing teams have to juggle dozens of competing priorities, but not having enough time is never one of them. By using a visual workflow tool like Heycollab, marketers can stay on top of every project and see how it ties together.
With so many moving parts, kanban boards make it easy to see what’s happening and what needs to be worked on next. This allows marketing teams to focus on their goals without getting distracted by low-priority projects.
Using Heycollab, marketing team members can view: everything currently in progress or completed at a glance, how long each project has been in progress, how much time is spent on each part of an ongoing process, and any interdependencies between different aspects of a project.
That way, when you’re prepping for your presentation, you know exactly which parts have been assigned to whom-and you don’t have to waste time wondering if all team members will be available when needed.
The Bottom Line
With kanban boards, you can see your whole project at one glance. Of course, there are many productivity to-do list apps out there. But you should give kanban boards an open-minded look before making any decision to choose your work management tool.
If you want to raise your team’s productivity, communication, and organization, it’s time to take a hard look at what these boards can do for you and your colleagues. As discussed above, Heycollab allows you to create kanban boards that can easily be shared with your entire team.
This makes it easy for anyone on your team to visually manage their tasks in one place, making them a rockstar in their own right. For example, project managers can pull up to-do lists for each team member, or individual contributors can list out all of their tasks.