Your First Kanban Board

Your First Kanban Board

Insight from Launch Notes

Last week we touched on using Kanban boards as part of our Value Stream Mapping exercise. Let's dig into that a bit more.

Kanban boards help you see your work laid out. Think of a digital whiteboard with columns: "To Do," "Doing," and "Done." You write tasks on sticky notes and move them across. 

It's a way to track what's happening without a bunch of meetings (you can see why I’m a fan 😎).

I've been using a Kanban in Notion for a while now. Here's what I've learned:

1. Add a "Stuck" column. It shows what's held up and why.

2. Use color-coding. I mark urgent stuff in red, new ideas in blue, and bugs in orange. Makes it easy to spot what needs attention without reading every card. It's like a visual shorthand for our team.

3. Time your tasks. See how long things take from start to finish. It helps find slow spots.

I check mine every week to see what's working and what's not. It's not set-it-and-forget-it.

Want to try it? Here’s an entire Notion database of templates you can try, and they work for all kinds of teams - ops, marketing, whatever you do.

One last thing: Kanban is all about the pull system. It's key.

Instead of piling on new work, you only start new tasks when you finish old ones. It's like restocking groceries - you don't add more until there's space on the shelf.

This keeps your workflow smooth and stops you from getting swamped.

It's tough at first, but stick with it. You'll see the difference.

Learn more: 6 Kanban board templates for the compulsively organized