Studies show that people are more efficient at getting tasks done if they can focus on only a few tasks at once, as opposed to being forced to task-switch throughout the day. However, most of us usually go with the latter. As a result, 48% of projects are not completed within the scheduled time, 43% of the projects are not finished within their original budget and 31% of projects don’t meet the ori

It’s bad news for the project managers, right? Well, things would have been a lot better if they had a tool to help them streamline the work process and achieve better results.

Wait! There is one.

It is a Kanban board.

What is Kanban board and why should you use it?

A Kanban board is a simple, flexible, and efficient tool for workflow management. It allows you to manage work at both personal and organizational level. It helps you organize and manage your work process by visualizing every step of the process on a visual board aka “Kanban board”.

When used in project management, Kanban boards help project managers and teams depict work at various stages of the project management life cycle. It provides a better understanding of the workflow, helps them organize and manage work more efficiently, and most importantly, it allows teams to keep track of every task with ease. All in all, a project manager or a team uses Kanban board:

To bring versatility in workflows

To encourage continuous improvement

To empower teams to self-manage

To boost responsiveness

To increase output

To yield more accurate outcomes

Looking to cut waste and improve overall efficiency? Try Kanban Boards in ProofHub!

Know when to use a Kanban board — it’s important!

In typical project management, you would start with project planning, you would list tasks, assign them to individuals/groups, and check tasks off as they’re completed. It’s pretty simple and straightforward (and also prone to inefficiency). Now when you include a Kanban board into the process, things work a bit different. That’s why it’s important that you know exactly when to use the Kanban method. For example:

Visualization of work: This is the first and the most important reason why managers and teams must use Kanban. A Kanban board visualizes the work online, helping you see what’s happening and who is working on what with just a glance at the workflow.

This is the first and the most important reason why managers and teams must use Kanban. A Kanban board visualizes the work online, helping you see what’s happening and who is working on what with just a glance at the workflow. Limit work-in-progress: Project management often falls victim to multi-tasking that leads to errors or dissatisfied results. However, with Kanban, team members are encouraged to complete the work at hand than taking up new stuff. They move tasks through various stages and complete them in a streamlined manner.

Project management often falls victim to multi-tasking that leads to errors or dissatisfied results. However, with Kanban, team members are encouraged to complete the work at hand than taking up new stuff. They move tasks through various stages and complete them in a streamlined manner. Maintaining flow: Continuous progress is the motto of the Kanban method. With Kanban, you can monitor work, identify bottlenecks, eliminate them at that specific stage, and keep things moving at the desired pace.

Continuous progress is the motto of the Kanban method. With Kanban, you can monitor work, identify bottlenecks, eliminate them at that specific stage, and keep things moving at the desired pace. Bring continuous improvement: Kanban method can be easily customized as per the needs (and that of your team). It allows you to streamline your efforts in a way that you continue to improve and become more productive.

Kanban board examples for your help

1. Kanban board for a software development team

For software developers, a Kanban board shows how their activities progress from initial contact with the client to product-related tasks like improving API, designing the homepage, and adding payment panel.

2. Kanban board for a digital marketing team

Here’s an example of a digital marketing team using Kanban for a general social media and website campaign. The board covers all the marketing-related activities — from post writing and publishing to social media monitoring, search engine optimization, and final reporting.

3. Kanban board for a sales team

Kanban boards can help the sales team get better over time. It enables them to visualize their full sales on a single board and move through their sales funnel — from qualification, through the proposal, and onto the final sale stage — smoothly and efficiently. It also helps them to visually identify bottlenecks and make necessary improvements in time.

Simplify workflow with Kanban boards in ProofHub

Kanban boards are useful, but they aren’t enough to manage projects. There’s a world of project management software out there, with exceptional workflow management and team collaboration tools. ProofHub is an online project management and collaboration software that has all the right tools you and your team need to get projects delivered, including tools like Kanban boards and Gantt chart.

ProofHub workflow and Kanban boards allow you to visualize, plan, and schedule tasks under one roof. Here are the key benefits you and your team will have when you choose ProofHub as your online workflow management software.

Integrate workflows with task lists to experience better transparency

Create custom workflows to add flexibility into your work processes

Get multiple task list views to manage work the way you want

Move tasks into stages and streamline the way you work

Add labels, post comments, attach files and track time to make task management easy

Trying to figure out how Kanban boards work could be a bit difficult at first. I hope this article helped to clear things up. And now that you know all about it, you can certainly make the most out of the key benefits of Kanban boards.

Give it a try! Use Kanban boards for your next projects.

Author Bio:

Sandeep Kashyap is the Founder and CEO of ProofHub — a leading project management and collaboration software. He’s one person always on a lookout for innovative ideas about filling the communication gap between groups, teams, and organizations. You’ll find him saying, “Let’s go!” instead of “Go!” many times a day. That’s what makes him write about leadership in a way people are inspired to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more.

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