Start Every Project with a Detailed Description of the Project
By Richard Morreale
Too many times I have seen Projects go bad because there wasn’t a common understanding at the beginning of what the Project was supposed to deliver – poor communication. People assume, even on small Projects, that everyone has a common understanding of the deliverable […]

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The Dangers of Poor Leadership
By Sam Obitz
Poor leadership can kill an individual’s drive and turn otherwise thriving productive people into malcontents.
I have been associated with people who lost the love of their sport or job simply because of a change in coach or management. Some coaches and managers fail to feed the culture of the […]

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Kanban is a Japanese word that describes a visual signal such as a card. Car manufacturer Toyota pioneered a kanban system where workers used actual cards to signal or trigger steps in their manufacturing process. Because of its highly visual system, work teams were able to communicate better regarding which work needs to be done and by when. It also resulted in the standardization of cues and refinement of processes, thereby reducing waste, increasing efficiency and maximizing value.

The Kanban system developed through the years, and together with other knowledge and influences, it became a modern visual management system. It helps people view a picture of work. By seeing how work flows with a company or team, they are able to communicate its status as well as give and receive context for the work. Its 4 core principles are 1) visualize work, 2) limit work in process, 3) focus on flow, and 4) continuous improvement.

LeanKit

LeanKit is a Kanban software that provides better visualization of work and greater flexibility for continuous process improvement. It is an online software and service designed to improve team communication and collaboration. LeanKit also has features for generating metrics and reports to provide users insight of their progress, pace and predictability of their work process. Read our Leankit Software Review.

Ten Kanban Boards Examples

Below are 10 Kanban board examples from LeanKit that other users may draw inspiration from to build or improve their own Kanban boards. LeanKit advises, however, that these examples were built to meet the needs of existing teams and specific types of work. When users create their own board, it is essential to go back to the basics and map their own process to reflect reality as closely as possible. It is important also to respect the team’s own way of working.

Wait Queues

Kanban boards use the pull system or “just in time” delivery of work, rather than the push system where work is given to a person. Creating wait queues in the board by placing Ready stages or lanes can display work items that are ready to be pulled in the following step or process.

Parallel Processes

A team further divided into smaller teams can use the same process in parallel development so they can still see the work of the team as a whole. In this board example, a smaller HelpDesk customization team shares the same “To Do” and “Done” lanes with the core development team while keeping their steps in their own horizontal swimlane at the “Doing” lane.

WIP Limits

Work-in-process limits is one of the core principles of Kanban. Flow of work is improved if capacity is greater than work request. By limiting WIP, the teams’ attention remain focused on shared goals. It also encourages collaboration and increase productivity because focus remains only on the work that matters the most.

Segmenting By Demand Type

Kanban boards can use several horizontal swimlanes to show different types of work that is being managed by an organization or team. By segmenting work by demand type such as production, business need, routine or unplanned, the team can see which work flow is experiencing more problems, so that preparation and improvement can be applied in the right place.

Shifting Work Priorities

Operations teams can also use Kanban boards to manage shifting work priorities. The board can display several horizontal swimlanes to show work that is of high priority and must be worked on first, work that is of lesser priority and can be displaced or put on hold, or work that is of least priority or may altogether be abandoned.

Segmenting By Team Specialty

Aside from moving work by demand type, another way is to move it by team specialty. Several teams can be created to handle incoming work, and combining skills specialty, availability and WIP limits, organization can easily visualize the type and amount of work coming and resources needed.

Scrum Sprints

Kanban boards can be used by development teams even if they are using different methods such as Scrum or others, not necessarily practicing Kanban. This board example is used by a Scrum team in visualizing work items in features as prioritized in their current sprint.

SAFe Board

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) is a framework for applying Lean-Agile practices at enterprise scale. The Kanban board can be used to manage SAFe adoption at different levels such as at the portfolio, program, or project levels. This example distinguishes between epics at the architectural or business level, and easily displays flow from initiatives through to completion.

Single Program Backlog

A Kanban board can be used to coordinate the effort of multiple teams with a single program backlog. Epics can be broken down into features, which can be prioritized to be worked on and be included in the next release.

Multiple Methodology Workflows

The flexibility of Kanban boards is that it can represent many things, including different workflows or teams practicing different methods. This board shows how different teams and workflows can be displayed in one board and have a common integration point.

For more Kanban board ideas, examples and tips, visit also LeanKit pages in Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.

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Is Resource Planning Only Useful For Big Companies?
By Patricia Goh
Tying in to the project success rates in small and large projects, we will answer the following questions in this post: What is resource planning? Why is resource planning useful? Why do big companies plan their resources? Do small companies need to resource management too? What’s […]

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What is an API?

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a powerful tool that is provided by most online PM web applications.  It allows you to connect to your account database and features through published functions and interact with it in unique and different ways. In the most basic of uses, it “gets” and “posts” data through function calls. Developers are able to use this mechanism to connect business systems together and to automate and/or streamline operations. It also makes them able to create features and connect external 3rd party applications drawing from the data within the app directly.

Examples of Add-Ons

Create a light mobile application interface, add an invoicing system onto an application that only tracks tasks/time, provide a client web portal to submit project requests, extract data automatically each week to generate a specialized report, etc.

The Top 20 APIs

For each product, you’ll find a link to a Software Review we completed, a link to the API documentation, and a link to an integration page.

1. Trello – Software Review – API Documentation – Integrations
2. Asana – Software Review – API Documentation – Integrations
3. Basecamp – Software Review – API Documentation – Extras
4. Wunderlist – Software Review – API Documentation
5. Todoist – Software Review – API Documentation
6. Jira – Software Review – API Documentation – Marketplace
7. Podio – Software Review – API Documention – Extensions
8. Smartsheet – Software Review – API Documentation – Extensions
9. Wrike – Software Review – API Documentation – Integrations
10. Teamwork – Software Review – API Documentation – 3rd Party Apps
11. Britrix24 – Software Review – API Documentation – Applications
12. Producteev – Software Review – API Documentation – Integrations
13. Rally – Software Review – API Documentation – Integrations
14. Assembla – Software Review – API Documentation – Extensions
15. Redbooth – Software Review – API Documentation – Integrations
16. Insightly – Software Review – API Documentation – Integrations
17. Redmine – Software Review – API Documentation – Third Party Tools
18. Mavenlink – Software Review – API Documentation
19. LiquidPlanner – Software Review – API Documentation – Integrations
20. AceProject – Software Review – API Documentation

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I Can’t Make Another Decision
By Karen J Goold
We probably all know what it’s like to get to the stage where we feel we can’t make any more decisions in a day. If you’ve had a very busy day at work, you often have to make lots of decisions on strategy, resources, management issues, budgets etc. […]

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Do You Understand Project Scope Management?
By Harry Hall
Project managers have difficulty managing project scope. Many project managers encounter scope creep, but don’t know what’s happening or what to do about it. Why? Frankly, some individuals don’t grasp the core principles.
Do you understand project scope management? Test your understanding. Try this quick quiz before reading the […]

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What Do CIOs Need To Know About Hadoop?
By Jim Anderson
If there is one IT buzzword that gets everyone excited right now, then it’s “Big Data”. The idea behind Big Data is that with the right set of tools, companies can finally take a look at all of the data that they collect from multiple streams […]

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How Lean Is Your Project Management Style?
By Kiron D. Bondale
There is no single recipe for how to best manage a project.
Culture (organization & team) and enterprise environmental factors all influence how a project gets managed but personal style and approach also plays a critical role. Within the constraints of the previous factors a project might […]

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If you spend all your time in planning, organizing, and controlling your resources/ time, when the heck are you going to do some actual work?

This is why productive individuals/ enterprises rave about project management tools. They save you the time spent thinking about the best way of doing work so you can, you know, do some work.

Now for all of us who work with WordPress, there are a few plugins that help us manage our projects (and therefore, time) more effectively. There are front-end solutions and then those intended for only the back-end use. Still others will play mix-and-match with features from the two types.

So before you get overwhelmed by the very idea (or waste any more damn time), take a look at 7 of the best project management plugins you can get for WordPress.

1. TaskFreak!

It’s one of the few no-nonsense, no bells-and-whistles kind of plugins for project management. Since there aren’t many plugins in that category in the first place, that’s actually saying a lot.

The WordPress extension of popular project management service is free. Take a look at the feature list:

• Easy to setup
• Integrated for WordPress users
• Mobile- friendly
• Compatible with most WP themes
• Privacy settings on tasks
• Task interaction settings for WP users and visitors
• Task status
• Attachments and comments

It’s neat and efficient. For a free plugin, that’s a pretty sweet deal.

2. CQPIM

Brought to you by a Code Canyon (Theme forest’s ‘plugin’ division) author by the name of TimelessInteractive (whoa), CQPIM means business. It has:

• Client dashboard and manager
• Project, Task, Invoice management
• Assign tasks and add members
• Quote request forms for clients and users
• Support tickets
• Task timers
• Great UI

You get support from plugin author, who happens to be active and creating on envato. For a payment of $36, you get all that and more. Not bad, in any sense of word.

3. Project Manager by TPC

Project Manager by TPC is very simple, very sweet, and does what it says on the tin. It also claims to function like Basecamp. We’re inclined to agree. See the features:

• Responsive design friendly
• Task/project privacy settings
• Widgets for Tasks by Date and Sort
• Email notifications
• Add/remove task contributors (team members)
• Easy UI
• Active support

The authors are active and updating, so you are get support and easy trekking over compatibility and WordPress upgrades issues. Also: You get those features for free. What’s not to like?

4. SP Project and Document Manager

SmartyPants’ Project and Document Manager plugin is packed with features:

• Responsive design friendly
• Select and upload multiple files
• Delete uploaded documents
• Zip multiple files
• Custom Forms
• Delete documents/ files
• Search by file name
• Restrict/ allow file uploads and deletes by users
• File Logging

That’s just for you and the team members. It also allows clients to create their own pages where they can upload documents and contribute to/ create projects. The admin themselves can control/ restrict or enable/ disable all these features and more.

The premium version of the plugin is available for $75. There are also a whole load of add-ons for more features you can purchase.

It’s extensive and extendable. That’s the sort of flexibility that makes a plugin good.

5. Project Panorama

This plugin works great and looks amazing while doing it. A premium version available at $75 (called Professional) will give you some pretty solid features:

• Responsive design friendly
• White label
• Customization friendly
• Project Descriptions
• Start/ Completion dates
• Output leader boards
• Embeddable projects (right into your theme)
• Progress tracking and automatic adjustments
• Milestones and discussions
• Password protected projects
• File uploads
• Allow/ Restrict contribution to projects to specific users
• Email notifications
• Support and upgrades for 1 year
• Unlimited usage

Exhaustive, isn’t it? There are plenty of add-ons for more functionality that you can get out of it. For use on single site, the same features are available for $55. Free (Lite) version will give you description, start/ complete dates, embeddable projects, progress tracking, milestones, and discussions.

Not a bad choice, in any case.

6. Orbis

A nice, clean UI and a foundation for more features: that’s what Orbis has to offer. Look at the features of the plugin:

• Complete project management (connect projects to companies)
• User management (Add people with said companies)
• Manage the aforementioned companies
• Standard WordPress pages (just for your team)
• Standard posts (again, only for team members)
• Comments and discussions on pages, posts, people, and companies.

And now the add-ons:

• Orbis Tasks: Allows you to create tasks and assign them to people and projects
• Orbis Timesheets: Time logging on projects
• Orbis Keychains: Saves your passwords
• Orbis Deals: Sales management
• Orbis Subscriptions: Allows you to create subscriptions to companies

It’s worth noting that the core plugin itself doesn’t have task management. All the add-ons will need a license to work, and Regular and Premium versions (without the add-ons) are available for €300 and €750 per year respectively. There’s also the option to host it on Pronamic server along with 20% discount on all their paid plugins with Premium plan.

They add auto-updates and support to subscription plans.

It’s pretty hefty on price, but not bad on functionality.

7. Project Tasks

Don’t let the lack of downloads fool you. This little plugin has an ace up its sleeve. Know that all teams of WordPress theme developers and designers trying to work productively and in collaboration: This plugin is for you.

Project Tasks is specifically for WordPress developers/designers. You get all the features of project management plugins (add users, create tasks, assign them to people, set status, progress, and priority, etc.).

The unique feature of this plugin is the ability to set ‘targets’, which in this context means the area of the theme/ plugin/ whatever else needs to be worked upon.

It’s easy to install and accessible from WordPress Admin menu. For those working on WordPress, especially in collaborative efforts, this plugin can be very essential.

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