Prior to having twins I was definitely considered a “free spirit” by people that knew me. Although I meant well, I was jumping around from creative project to creative project whenever I felt like it. Let’s just say there were a bunch of things that didn’t see completion. Now that I am a mom in New York with six-year-old twins, a hectic schedule, and new ventures on the horizon (launching my meditation app), I had to find a way to get streamlined. While watching one of my favorite YouTubers, she mentioned something called a Kanban board. It’s basically a project management system for people that want to maximize their efficiency and visualize their progress. It helps you track your progress with three columns “To-Do, In Progress, and Done.” It’s also a great way, if you have a team, to keep everyone on the same page. The first Kanban system was developed in the early 1940’s by Taiichi Ohno (Industrial Engineer and Businessman) for Toyota automotive in Japan as a simple planning system. The goal was to control and manage work and inventory at every stage of production optimally.
The Visual Component
The nice thing about these boards is that you can get as creative as
you want. You can use colorful sticky notes and markers or add
decorative borders or whatever inspires you.
Virtual vs. Physical
The type of environment will determine the type of board you need. If
your team works virtually and lives in 6 different cities then a
carefully designed virtual board could work. If everyone works in the
same office, you can use a dry erase board and decide between one board
for the whole team or individual boards for everyone.
Virtual Boards
Trello is an easy, free, flexible, and visual way to manage your projects. You can also integrate the apps your team already uses directly into your workflow. Power-Ups turn Trello boards into living applications to meet your team’s unique business needs.
Jira Software has a kanban project template that is easy to set up and customize. You can plan by creating user stories and issues, plan sprints, and distribute tasks across your software team. You can track by prioritizing and discussing your team’s work in full context with complete visibility.