Kanban in Smartsheet: Visual Management Guide

Manage your tasks online quickly and easily with Smartsheet cards

If you work with project or activity management, both professionally and personally, I’m sure you’ve heard about Kanban! Kanban can be useful for individuals and teams who need a more visual way to manage their many tasks while also keeping their processes streamlined.

Kanban is one of the best-known agile project management methods, created by Taiichi Ohno in the Japanese manufacturing industry in 1940, more specifically within the Toyota Production System. The word Kanban has Japanese origins and can be translated as “card” or “signaling”.

Thus, Kanban is made up of three main elements: the card, the column and the board. Let’s see below what each of these elements means.

• Card: is the task or action that needs to be carried out for the final delivery. Typically, they are standardized by color and inform the type of task, person responsible and/or priority.
• Column: consists of the status of tasks/activities. Typically, it has three columns: “to do”, “in progress” and “done”. However, these columns can be named according to the organization’s needs.
• Board: is the place where the cards and columns join, representing the Kanban system

Smartsheet cards

To use card view, simply create a spreadsheet in Smartsheet, click the views menu, and select card view. This way, your spreadsheet, which was previously in a traditional grid format, can now be displayed as cards!

When we switch to card view, columns appear showing activity statuses. These columns are called swimlanes. The lanes will always use a column in your spreadsheet that is of the type Selection List as a base. To modify your lanes, click on “Display by”, and there, all columns that are of the “Selection list” type will be displayed.

Did you like it? We have a video on YouTube that explains in detail how Kanban works in Smartsheet. Click on the image below to check it out!

Hugs and see you next time! 

Mastering the Kanban View in Smartsheet

The Kanban methodology has revolutionized visual work management, and Smartsheet offers a robust implementation of this functionality. This comprehensive guide shows you how to make the most of Kanban in your everyday life.

What is Kanban?

Kanban is a visual work management system that originated in the Toyota production system. Its fundamental principles include:

• Job preview: All work is represented on cards
• WIP Limitation: Work in progress restriction
• Continuous flow: Constant movement of tasks through columns
• Continuous improvement: Identification and elimination of bottlenecks

Configuring Kanban in Smartsheet

Prerequisites

1. Spreadsheet with status/phase column
2. Defined status values (dropdown)
3. Editor Permission or higher

Enabling Preview

1. Open your spreadsheet
2. In the views menu, select “Card View”
3. Choose the column that will define the lanes (Kanban columns)
4. Configure which fields appear on cards

Customizing your Kanban Board

Card Configuration

Define what information appears on each card:

• Task title
• Responsible (with photo)
• Expiration date
• Priority (with colors)
• Tags or categories

Ordering and Grouping

Configure the order of cards within each column:

• By priority (most urgent)
• By due date
• By responsible
• Manual (drag and drop)

Workflow with Kanban

Typical column structure:

1. Backlog: Tasks waiting to start
2. To Do: Next prioritized tasks
3. In Progress: Work in progress
4. Under Review: Awaiting approval
5. Completed: Completed tasks

WIP (Work in Progress) Limits

Set limits to avoid overload:

• Use conditional formatting to highlight crowded columns
• Create alerts when limit is exceeded
• Establish team agreements on boundaries

Integrations and Automations

Power your Kanban with:

• Automations to move cards based on rules
• Notifications when tasks change columns
• Time reports in each phase
• Dashboards with flow metrics

Kanban metrics

Monitor important indicators:

• Lead Time: Total time from start to finish
• Cycle Time: Time in each phase
• Throughput: Number of items completed per period
• WIP: Work in progress by column

Kanban in Smartsheet offers flexibility to adapt the methodology to your team’s specific needs, combining visual management with the robustness of a complete work management platform.

Advanced Kanban in Smartsheet

Elevate your visual management with advanced features of Kanban in Smartsheet:

Column Customization

• Custom Columns – Set specific statuses for your flow
• WIP Limits – Control maximum number of tasks per column
• Colors by priority – Differentiated look for emergencies
• Swimlanes – Organize by project, team or category

Automations for Kanban

Configure workflows that power your board:

1. Move automatically – When the deadline expires, move to the attention column
2. Notify responsible parties – Alerts when task enters a new column
3. Update dates – Record when task changes status
4. Scale – Notify managers if tasks remain idle for too long

Metrics and Analysis

Monitor performance of your Kanban flow:

• Lead time – Total time from start to finish
• Cycle time – Time in each stage
• Throughput – Tasks completed per period
• Bottlenecks – Identify where tasks get stuck

A TaskIT implements Kanban boards optimized for agile methodologies.