Kanban 101
Ledger integrates the Kanban method to enhance workflow, visualize tasks, and optimize efficiency. Explore the Kanban method and discover how using the Kanban board can simplify project management, making it more accessible and efficient for your team.
Kanban method principles
- Visualizing Work: Representing work items visually on a board helps teams understand the flow of work. This is typically done using a Kanban board.
- Limiting Work in Progress (WIP): Setting limits on the number of work items that can be in progress at any given time helps prevent overloading the team and promotes a smoother flow of work. As a team, decided the maximum number of tasks under each column.
- Managing Flow: Analyzing and optimizing the flow of work through the system is a continuous process. Teams aim to identify and eliminate bottlenecks to improve overall efficiency.
- Making Process Policies Explicit: Clearly defining the rules and policies that govern the workflow helps everyone understand how work is done and what to expect.
- Continuous Improvement: The Kanban method encourages a culture of continuous improvement. Teams regularly reflect on their processes and make incremental changes to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
Kanban board overview
A Kanban board is a visual tool that helps teams manage their work by providing a clear and real-time representation of the work process. Ledger's Kanban board can be found in each stream's tasks tab.
The following are the elements of Ledger's Kanban board:
- Cards are individual units of work, each representing a task or a piece of work. These cards move horizontally across the board, from one column to the next, as the task progresses through the workflow. Users can simply drag and drop to move cards around.
- Columns on a Kanban board represent the various stages of your workflow.
- Tags are used to add extra information or categorization to tasks. In Ledger, tags are unique to each user.
- Priority helps team members quickly identify the urgency or importance of each task. In Ledger, different priority levels include low, normal, high, or none.
The default columns on Ledger's Kanban board include:
- To Do: New tasks waiting until the project begins.
- In Progress: Tasks that are currently being worked on.
- Complete: Completed tasks.
You can add more columns and change names to make the Kanban board fit your project. Here are some common examples of kanban columns that you might consider incorporating into your board:
- Backlog: This column represents a pool of tasks that need to be done but are not yet ready for active work. Tasks in the backlog are typically prioritized and moved into the "To Do" column when they are ready to be worked on.
- Review: Once a team member completes a task, it can be moved to the "Review" column. This stage allows for peer review or quality checks before the task is marked as complete.
- Blocked: If a task encounters an obstacle or dependency that prevents further progress, it is moved to the "Blocked" column. This alerts the team to the issue and prompts action to resolve it.
- Waiting: Sometimes, tasks might be waiting for external input or approval. In such cases, they can be placed in the "Waiting" column until the necessary conditions are met.
- Urgent: This column can be used to highlight high-priority tasks that need immediate attention or require special handling.
- In Review: For tasks that are undergoing a formal review process or awaiting approval, you can use this column to track their progress.
- Deployed: If your team is working on software development or similar projects, the "Deployed" column can indicate tasks that have been successfully released or deployed to the production environment.
The visual nature of the Kanban board allows teammates to quickly understand the status of work, identify bottlenecks, and collaborate more effectively. It promotes transparency and continuous improvement by providing a shared understanding of the work and the workflow.
Kanban Board Use Cases
Here are some ideas on how you might want to edit your team's Kanban board.
Sales: Track leads by customizing the Kanban board to reflect the internal sales process.
Possible Columns
- Identified
- Qualified
- Evaluation
- Proposal
- Won
Marketing: The Kanban board helps keep everyone on the same page. Track and evaluate the progress of your content marketing project, and easily check who's working on what.
Possible Columns
- Ideas
- Concept
- Concept Review
- In Progress
- Content Review
- Published
Support/Services: Support and Service teams are required to clearly and quickly response to client requests. Use the Kanban board to track each request and check if you need additional support from other teams to meet the client's needs.
Possible Columns
- New Requests
- In Progress
- Additional Support Required
- Waiting on Client
- Done
Design: Create columns to represent each state in the process of creating and maintaing a design system.
Possible Columns
- Backlog/To Do
- Up Next
- In Progress
- In Review
- Ready for Publishing
- Done
Development: Ledger's kanban board is perfect for simplifying the stages in SDLC. Create columns that represent stages in the development process.
Possible Column
- Backlog
- Planned
- In Progress
- Developed
- Tested
- Completed
Improve project management with Ledger
With Ledger's kanban boards, you will gain insights into the current status of your project at a glance. The Tasks tab was designed to help your teammates easily and quickly understand the pending tasks, work in progress, and completed milestones within a project. In addition to the simplicity and transparency of the Kanban board, Ledger's Tasks features empower your team to navigate through projects with ease and efficiency.