When you own a business, it’s important to focus on peak productivity. Yet, there are so many productivity methods out there. How can you find the one that works well for you? If you’re looking to fast-track your productivity, there’s a Japanese trick that you can use. It’s a project management process known as Kanban. Before we talk about how it can fast-track your productivity, let’s learn more about what it is and how it works.
What Is Kanban?
Kanban is the Japanese word for “signboard.” So, in essence, it is a method you can use to track your projects and know their status. It’s a fantastic visual aid. You can set it up in a Word document using a table, set it up in Trello, use it in OneNote, or use it in close to any other project management software that you use for your business.
Is Kanban Easy to Learn?
Yes. At its core, Kanban consists of three columns. You have a to-do list, an in-progress list, and a completed list. From there, many people expand it out (which we’ll discuss later). The process itself is simple. You start with your to-do list. Then, as you start on projects, you move them to the in-progress list. When projects are finished, you move them to the completed list.
How Kanban Improves Your Productivity
While Kanban is actually a project management tool, it can also improve your productivity. It’s important to note that while Kanban is almost always used because a business has multiple projects, it isn’t necessarily about multi-tasking. Believe it or not, this is a good thing because despite what most of us have been taught, multi-tasking doesn’t make us more productive. It makes us less productive because people who multitask are prone to working so fast that they miss something. And then they have to go back and fix the issue they caused.
As a business, you can still use Kanban to improve productivity with your business. Using a project management tool like Trello, you use labels and assign users to certain tasks that are placed on the in-progress list. This allows you to watch the progress, ask questions, and measure what’s getting done. When projects are moved to the completed list, you can use that time to reflect on the entire process. This time of reflection is important because you’re able to note what worked well and what didn’t work well. This gives insight into what can be improved to continue to make the process more productive. Over time, you’ll see your productivity continue to rise.
In order to really take advantage of Kanban, it’s important that you limit the number of projects that are in progress. This will help you keep your focus on the most important tasks of your day, week, month, quarter, or even year. Remember, you can always add a new project when you finish what’s on your list. Try to limit your in-progress list to three items if it’s just for you and just for a day or week (unless your business takes on massive projects; then you may want to create individual Kanban boards for each project to notate the steps involved for each). If you have a team, you could limit it to a reasonable number or projects for the team; you could have three things for each person for the week, for example.
Kanban is extremely easy to use and customize to fit the needs of your business. When you rely on the process and don’t overcomplicate it, you can become more productive!
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