A few weeks ago we gathered up the top 5 most interesting scrum boards, unveiling the creativity and innovation in scrum. This time we decided to take another popular agile method – Kanban and see how the teams behind this approach have modified and improved their boards to make them more productive or even more fun.
The Space Saver
The issue of available space in the office is well known for most agile teams. While some dedicate their whole office or utilize the office halls, Olivier Lafontan offers a much simpler solution – turning the board into a square. Instead of moving tasks the traditional way from the left to the right column, he suggests moving them clockwise. A simply rearranged Kanban board is much more compact and will save a lot of headaches when starting to use the method.
The Arrow
This is a little more sophisticated Kanban approach that transforms the shape of the whole board into an arrow. The process of the project here is no longer controlled by the work in progress limits, but by the shape of the board itself. The backlog is prioritized based on the principles of the priority pyramid – the tasks rise on the pyramid as their importance grows and the limited number of swim lanes regulates the number of tasks in progress. Another important addition here is that the definition of done, which is added to every single process step.
The HR Web
For those still wondering how agile methods can be adapted outside of software development, this approach from Jennifer at TranspireLife will be a great example. Kanban board here is turned into a web-like shape, where each part of the web represents a different job position and each lane represents a step in the hiring process. The potential candidates are the task cards and are moved from the initial contact to a possible job offer or dropped off as they prove to be insufficient along the way.
The Notebook
For personal Kanban users, a notebook board from Patty will be a great fit. She suggests moving the whole board into your notebook, making it easily transportable and always by your side. She still uses sticky notes and draws up different boards for different activities if needed. There is really no need to get stuck with the idea of a board, when making it mobile proves to be much more effective.
The Mighty Lego
Lastly, probably no agile board listing would be complete without a Lego approach and this one comes from the team at Drew. Their board is fairly simple – divided into three simple areas of to do, doing and done. Each task card holds the number of the job, the client name and a short description. The task assignment is done via color coded blocks, whose number is limited based on each members availability.
Have you updated your Kanban board? Share your innovations with us!
