Work: a Kanban board for your team's work

What goes in each column

• Backlog: work that is waiting but not yet ready to start. It can be full, as long as the team goes through it every so often.
• To do: what gets picked up next. Short, and in order.
• Doing: what someone is working on now. With a limit, so the team does not take on too much at once.
• Waiting for: work that has stalled because it is waiting on someone else. A client who still has to send information, an approval that has not yet been given. Anything that stays here too long needs attention.
• Done: finished.

An example from an accounting firm

In Waiting for are the October bank statements a bakery still has to send. In Doing are the annual accounts for a building firm and a VAT return that is overdue. In To do are the November payslips. Everyone can see who is working on what, and what the work is waiting for.

The weekly meeting at the team board

Start with what needs attention: anything stuck, overdue, showing no recent progress or unassigned. Then go through the board from right to left: first what is nearly finished, then what is in progress, and only at the end what is new. That way the focus is on finishing, not on starting.

If the team wants to stand at the board briefly every day, add a daily stand-up. Read more about the daily stand-up.