Increasing Your Productivity Using Online Kanban Board
The present world is quickly developing, so it’s not shocking that the normal individual thinks that it is hard to stay up with it. Do you feel overpowered? With such countless things at the forefront of your thoughts, does it continue to get harder to remain focused? Additionally, with new tasks springing up consistently, does it appear to be difficult to adhere to a severe daily practice and follow your plan for the day?
All in all, how might you be more useful and coordinated without squandering a few hours planning the ideal timetable? Then, at that point, there’s the test of monitoring every one of your undertakings. To keep yourself and your business coordinated, you can utilize an online Kanban board.
What Is Kanban?
Kanban is a management method created during the 1950s by Taiichi Ohno, and it prompted the formation of the Toyota Production System. It is a visual strategy for keeping the team on target, overseeing various assignments of a project and making nonstop improvements.
Kanban is not the same as agile time-box approaches, as it centres around maintainability and efficiency.
Kanban is a visual strategy for booking your tasks. You make a rundown of the tasks that should be done then move them through various phases of the work cycle.
What Is a Kanban Board?
In its most essential structure, a Kanban board comprises a whiteboard and sticky notes. You make three segments on the whiteboard. The principal you name Tasks to be done, the second Tasks in progress and the third Tasks finished.
Next, you record every one of the singular tasks on the sticky notes. You can utilize colours according to the tasks’ priority or nature. You then, at that point, stick them all under the primary segment.
As you begin chipping away at these tasks, their statuses will change, implying that you will move them starting with one segment then onto the next.
An online Kanban board takes a similar idea and transforms it into a virtual interface. Along these lines, rather than a whiteboard you have an online dashboard that can be imparted to your whole team. Rather than sticky notes, you have online cards. You can make your dashboard more intriguing by utilizing various labels to sort the online cards, attach pictures to them, and considerably more. That is the reason these dashboards are turning out to be increasingly famous.
Who Can Use a Kanban Board?
Any individual who needs to smooth out his work and become more useful can utilize a Kanban board. In this way, attempt an online Kanban board in case you are:
- a manager who needs to complete a project efficiently
- a business owner who wants to streamline business-related procedures
- a team looking for ways to increase collaboration and improve communication
- a team member who wants to improve on self-management
- an individual who wants to lead a productive, goal-oriented life
- a student who wants to stay on top of tests, assignments and projects without missing social events.
Through a Kanban board, you can accomplish:
- visualisation of the process flow
- incorporation of an urgent task in an already hectic schedule
- the capability of experimentation.
Extraordinary Features of an Online Kanban board
They say that “A picture paints a thousand words”. Examination currently affirms this way of thinking. While reading, our mind initially recognizes the letter shapes then, at that point, translates the data they contain. On the flip side, while taking a gander at an image, our mind removes various snippets of data simultaneously.
Besides, our mind functions multiple times quicker when seeing an image than when understanding the text. This is no big surprise in light of the fact that our grey matter has 30% brain neurons for visual perception as compared to 8% for hearing and 3% for touch.
An online Kanban board is incredible due to these components:
– Shows Team Progress
An online Kanban board helps all participants to visualise how far they have progressed. The manager can monitor all the team members and their assigned tasks. At the same time, the entire team can view the big picture.
– Accessible
Online Kanban boards are a great asset for any business owner. In the virtual world, the benefits of a Kanban board are amplified. Not only is it a highly visual approach that saves time on team meetings, but it is also remotely accessible. You can update your Kanban board at any time from any location and to any extent.
– Real-Time Updates
Whether you’re at home, in the office, or on vacation, an online Kanban board keeps you updated and on track. It’s great for those of us who have branches or team members in different time zones. No more late-night Skype calls!
– Saves Time
You can drag and rearrange the items on your Kanban board as the project moves forward and priorities shift. During these changes, you don’t need to organise a team meeting to inform everyone; it’ll show on their screen automatically. By using an online Kanban board, you can save time on planning and documenting each step of a project.
– Reduces Blockages
A Kanban board shows you the status of each task, making it easy for you to spot bottlenecks and blockages.
– Style It Your Way
Each team member can modify the layout of the Kanban board according to their style preference. Having a personalised Kanban board feels more comfortable and interesting to use.
– Distributed Rights
Another bonus feature is that each team member can have different access rights. As the team leader, you can control the entire workflow but restrict your team members from being able to control only those tasks assigned to them.
Try Kanbanchi and find out what a great online Kanban board feels like. It works with any type of browser. It’s great for business startups, growing businesses and individuals as well. It also offers special add-on features at competitive prices.
How to Increase Productivity Using a Kanban Board:
At Work
Using Kanban at a personal level yields high productivity. Nevertheless, Kanban was originally invented to help balance demand and production. So, if you decide to use Kanban in your workplace, get ready to see immediate results.
Kanban is highly recommended for small business owners and entrepreneurs. It is easier to assess your progress when you are working in a large organisation alongside many team members. It’s quite a challenge to keep yourself motivated and on track when you are on your own.
When you have a small team to lead, there is always a need to boost morale and let people know why their work is equally important. Although an online Kanban board can never substitute for verbal communication, it can help you in this area.
Team members get excited and work more efficiently when they see cards moving up the board. They feel important when they see how their small tasks fit into the bigger picture. As an entrepreneur, you will notice that using an online Kanban board helps you to focus your attention on the important aspects. You will feel less disoriented because now you will be visualising your path to success.
Another great aspect of using a Kanban board is that you get foresight. It’s easier to remember every task. And when all the tasks are on the same screen, it gets easier to work out an efficient plan. You will know what inventory you are going to need so you don’t have to make an urgent order or make multiple trips to the market.
Moreover, small details are easier to follow when you’re working on a Kanban board. You get to view any blockages and you can remove them easily. In short, Kanban is the ultimate way to boost your productivity.
For large business owners and managers, online Kanban boards offer a great deal more. It’s possible that you are working on multiple projects and different teams. It gets very difficult to keep informed about every task. However, it’s important to stay well informed so that you know the project is moving in the right direction.
The Kanban board was created specifically to increase productivity. Through the Toyota Production System, only as many parts were manufactured as were needed. You, too, can increase the productivity of your business or team using this approach through an offline or online Kanban board.
With Kanban boards, you can achieve higher productivity without any stress. Remember, the main idea is to limit the work in progress. For your team to achieve a larger goal in a shorter amount of time, assign a limited amount of work to each member. This way, you can reduce the possibility of time wastage and slowdowns. You can also visualise the areas that need improvement.
Kanban is a pull system. A worker can pull as much work as he can complete rather than having work pushed towards him. Kanban is a great way of increasing team collaboration. Each day you can gather around a table and discuss the project, new ideas and progress. Every team member will know where the project stands because they can see it on the online Kanban dashboard.
An added advantage of virtual Kanban boards is that you can calculate necessary statistics during and after project completion. These statistics can help you overcome potential problems and bottlenecks. These will also help you identify the source of problems so that you can avoid them in the next project.
At Home
A family is like a team. It has its collective goals and each family member needs to display good teamwork. When you stick together and help each other out, you live a happier life. How about letting an online Kanban board improve your personal life?
For those of us who have to manage work, family and social life, having an online Kanban board is bliss. We need to focus on many tasks simultaneously to have a successful and balanced life. It’s a talent to manage all three. It’s all about managing priorities and paying attention to the right task at the right time.
A Kanban board makes the entire workload visible. And when used at home, it keeps you and your family motivated and improves your communication.
You can use a Kanban board to manage the never-ending chores and keep a check on every family member’s responsibilities, to plan that weekend picnic. You can get to know your family better by listening to their ideas and feelings.
Another major advantage of using a Kanban board in your personal life is that you can keep track of your expenses. When you see all your work on the board, it gets easier to work out the time and money it will require. Budgeting becomes much more bearable.
At College
The Kanban board is equally great for students, especially at the college level. With so many assignments, projects, tests and competitions going on, you practically have no time to attend all the parties and gatherings. Kanban can help you there.
If you think ticking items off a checklist are satisfying, wait until you see the tasks moving along your Kanban board. Say you have to work on a long report that you need to submit next week, and you just can’t make yourself work on it? Break the report into different stages and stick them on your online Kanban board.
After finishing one task, move it along the virtual board and start on the next step. You will feel motivated to work on the tasks as you see their progress along the board.
Assign time slots for study and revision. Research shows that we forget 40% of what we learn after 20 minutes and 77% after 6 days.
To make the board more interesting, use an array of colours. You can also use images to remind you of certain tasks. Ideally, you work just as much as you need. No more, no less. So if you observe that you’re still not getting things done, you need to check your workload.
Take up a new task only if you’re sure you can complete it. Drop the unimportant tasks. Reorganise if you have to. Working less to get more done is the key rule of productivity.
On the other hand, if your workload is not that heavy but you’re still not seeing things moving up the board, then you need to reassess your work habits. The only other problem is laziness. Yes, we all get a little lazy occasionally. So, take a break then start back up. You need to move forward to have a healthy, productive life at college.
Have you tried Kanbanchi already? Tell us about your experience!