Productivity is full of false myths and hyperbole in the form of exaggerated promises, but one proven method is KanbanIt is very simple and serves to manage tasks and projects.
Born in Toyota eight decades ago, has such solid principles that it has evolved from the industrial environment into the digital age, and is still valid. In fact, it is especially popular both in software development and in personal management.
What is Kanban. Its translation from Japanese is “visual card.” It uses cards to represent tasks and a board to visualize the workflow. A basic board has three columns:
- To be done.
- In progress.
- Made.
Each task is written on a card and moved between columns as its status progresses.
Image: Eden Constantino on Unsplash.
Key Benefits:
- Clear display of pending, in-progress and completed work.
- Limiting work in progress to avoid overload.
- Identifying bottlenecks.
- Flexibility to adjust priorities.
- Promotion of the continuous improvement.
How to implement it:
- Use a physical board or a digital tool with this format, such as Trello, Todoistetc.
- Define your columns. The three mentioned are the basic ones, you can add more depending on the type of environment and work: on hold, under review, reviewed…
- Limit work in progress: Decide how many tasks you can handle at once.
- Prioritize visually. With different colors for each card depending on priority, or by establishing a hierarchical position from top to bottom.
- Review and adjust frequently. Without this step, the system tends to collapse sooner or later.
In teamsThis system can be used personally to organize pending tasks and projects, adding to each card (in tools such as Trello) extra information such as subtasks, resources in the form of notes, comments, URLs, images, etc.
Example of the internal resources that we can associate with each card. Image: Trello.
However, it is in group environments where Kanban shines. It helps visualize the collective workflow for virtually any field: software development, content, marketing, human resources… always facilitating the coordination and optimization of processes.
CautionKanban is very effective and delivers results, but it is not magic: without a certain discipline, focus and appropriate decision-making, it will not go far.
It allows you to manage and visualize the work in a useful way, but the responsibility of completing it and adding the review and maintenance of the board as another task remains ours.
On Xataka | 99 unsolicited tips on productivity
Featured image | Trello, Xataka with Mockuuups Studio.
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