Managing projects can sometimes feel like juggling a hundred things at once. From deadlines to various tasks to meetings, the last thing you want to do is be the one to drop the ball. But if you have the right tools in your toolbox, keeping all those balls in the air suddenly becomes much easier.
The project management board is one such tool. In fact, it has literally changed the way hundreds of teams work. Not only do these intuitive boards for projects help you organize tasks and visualize workflows, but they also make project management more innovative and more accessible.
Whether you’re managing a small team or an entire company, the project boards in Planfix can completely change how you work. In this guide, we’ll show you what boards are available in Planfix and how to customize them to suit your team’s unique needs.
What Are Project Management Boards?
Think of project boards as “digital whiteboards.” Like the real thing, they help teams visualize workflows and manage tasks more efficiently. However, these interactive tools are much more useful, as they help you get a bird’s eye view of an entire project from start to finish. Imagine being able to track tasks, meet deadlines, and assign responsibilities — all at a glance. From simple to-do lists to complex Gantt charts, project boards provide you with a complete overview of your project’s progress at any time.
Why Are Project Boards Essential for Businesses?
Whether your business is large or small, staying organized is always key to success. However, project management is not a one-size-fits-all solution. That’s where project boards come in. Among other benefits, they give you the flexibility to structure tasks and processes in a way that best suits the dynamics of your team. So, what makes these boards so invaluable?
Project Data Visualization
Have you ever tried sifting through pages and pages of spreadsheets only to realize your brain is turning to mush? Good news! Project boards can turn that raw data into easy-to-read visuals. Whether it’s a Kanban board that shows how tasks move through stages or a Gantt chart that illustrates your timeline, these visual tools are ideal for helping your team stay on track. The best part? You can spot potential bottlenecks before they turn into real crises.
Task Breakdown
Big projects can feel overwhelming. But when you break them down into smaller, manageable tasks, they’re much easier to tackle. That’s why project boards allow you to divide projects into sections, maximizing your ability to track progress and reducing the chances you’ll miss any details. This is especially convenient when managing multiple team members or juggling tight deadlines.
Efficient Task Management
Keeping track of a million moving parts can feel like herding cats. But with a reliable project management board, you can easily assign tasks, set deadlines, and track progress – all in one place. That way, nothing gets lost, and every member of the team knows just what to focus on.
Task Prioritization
No two tasks have the same level of urgency. Some you need to tackle immediately, while you can easily postpone others.Project boards make it easy to prioritize those “must do” tasks and put less urgent tasks on the back burner until they’re needed.
Team Load Balancing
Burnout is real, and one way of the best ways to avoid it is to distribute tasks evenly. With project boards, you can instantly see who is working on what, helping you balance the workload and ensure that teamwork runs as smoothly as possible.
Deadline Management
Everyone knows that deadlines can make all the difference when it comes to the instantly success (or failure) of a project. With project management boards, you can easily set deadlines, track progress, and make real-time adjustments to the plan. This makes it far more likely you’ll achieve your goals (even the last-minute ones).
Now that you understand why project management boards can help you and your team, let’s take a closer look at the most popular types of boards and answer the question: Which board for project management should you choose for your team to maximize efficiency while minimizing resource usage?
Most Popular Types of Project Boards
Different teams have different needs. Fortunately, there are all sorts of different project board types to choose from. Here are some of the most popular types as well as which sort of workflow they are best suited to.
- Kanban Board – Ideal for managing tasks in a simple, visual way. Kanban Boards are often used by software development, marketing, and operations teams.
- Scrum Board – Perfect for agile teams, especially in software development. Scrum Boards focus on short sprints and continuous improvement.
- Mind Map (Whiteboard) – Ideal for brainstorming sessions and visualizing ideas. Mind Maps are used by creative teams and strategists.
- Gantt Chart – This chart style is best suited to projects with strict timelines and dependencies. Project managers and construction teams tend to use Gantt Charts often. .
- Task Board – An easy way to organize and manage daily “to dos,” task boards are suitable for any team looking for a simple task management tool.
- Workflow Board – Helps to visualize the individual steps of a process. Workflow Boards are ideal for teams that follow fixed workflows, such those working in product development or manufacturing.
- Calendar Board – Useful for planning and tracking deadlines. Calendar Boards are particularly popular with event planners and teams working on deadline-dependent projects.
- Issue Tracking Board – IT and support teams often use Issue Tracking Boards to log and resolve bugs or issues.
Project Management Boards in Planfix: Tailored Examples
Planfix offers a variety of helpful boards to help you manage tasks, visualize processes, and track your team’s workload. Let’s take a look at some specific use cases to help you better understand how different teams can use these boards to get things done.
Kanban Board: A Visual Powerhouse for Simple Task Management
Use Case 1: Marketing Campaign Management
A digital marketing agency manages its content creation process using a Kanban board. Columns with labels like “Ideas,” “In Progress,”” “Review,” and “Published” make it easy for team members to track the status of blog posts, social media updates, and newsletters. With the Kanban board, the marketing manager can quickly identify bottlenecks— e.g. tasks that get stuck in the “Review” phase — and reallocate resources accordingly to keep everything on track.
Use case 2: Software Development Sprints
A software development team uses a Kanban board to manage their weekly sprints. Each feature or bug fix goes through stages like “Backlog,” “In Development,” “Testing,” and “Deployed.” This clear overview of the team’s current progress helps them stay focused on delivering various features while allowing the project manager to intervene when needed.
Use Case 3: E-commerce Product Launch
A retail company preparing to launch a new product line uses a Kanban board to coordinate the tasks of multiple teams. From product design and manufacturing to marketing and customer support, all the tasks are divided into stages to ensure that the product is ready when the marketing campaign is ready. This means they can avoid any and all delays in the launch!
Scrum Board: Keeping Agile Teams in Sync
Use Case 1: Agile Software Development
Scrum boards are a must for agile teams. For example, assume a software company uses a Scrum board to manage sprint cycles. They divide each two-week sprint into “To Do,” “In Progress,” and “Completed” sections. The team then breaks tasks into smaller units, called user stories, which they push across the board during daily stand-ups. After each sprint, the team holds a retrospective to reflect on improvements they might include in the next cycle.
Use Case 2: Product Design Team
A product design team working on a new mobile app uses a Scrum board to organize their sprints. Each sprint focuses on an essential part of the design process, such as wireframing, prototyping, or user testing. Thanks to the clearly defined timelines and easy-to-understand task assignment, the team can track progress in real-time and move forward quickly.
Use Case 3: Game Development Studios
A game development studio working on a major upcoming release uses a Scrum board to coordinate work between teams. This includes various members of Art, Coding, and Sound Design Departments. Each branch has its section, but the entire team can still collaborate and synchronize the game’s core functions. For instance, the animation team can finish creating the characters while the coding team integrate them into the game.
Whiteboard (Mind Map): Brainstorm and Organize Ideas Creatively
Use Case 1: Product Development Brainstorming
A startup developing a new app uses a Whiteboard to gather ideas for features and user flows. By visually structuring their thoughts on key concepts like user profiles, notification systems, and payment gateways, the team can prioritize their Minimum Viable Product (MVP) features and create a clear roadmap for future development.
Use Case 2: Marketing Strategy Planning
A marketing team preparing for a product launch uses a Whiteboard to brainstorm campaign strategies. They cover a variety of concepts, like influencer partnerships, email marketing, and paid ads, all of which branch off from the core objective of raising brand awareness. As ideas expand, the team can prioritize the most effective channels, ensuring their strategy stays cohesive and perfectly aligned with company goals.
Use Case 3: Corporate Vision and Strategy Sessions
A leadership team in a large corporation uses a Whiteboard during a strategic visioning session. Each department head contributes ideas for the company’s five-year growth plan, and the board captures everything from potential acquisitions to new market opportunities. This collaborative approach helps everyone can easily see how their goals align with the company’s overall vision.
Gantt Chart: For Managing Complex Timelines and Dependencies
Use Case 1: Event Planning
An event management company uses a Gantt chart to organize a large corporate conference. Tasks like venue booking, vendor management, and marketing are clearly displayed on a timeline. Among other things, the chart shows how delays in one task, like booking the venue, can impact others. This helps ensure that the project coordinator can reassign resources and keep everything on schedule.
Use Case 2: Construction Project Management
A construction company building a new office complex uses a Gantt chart to manage each project phase — from laying the foundations to installing the electrical systems. In a project of this scale, dependencies between the individual tasks are crucial. The electricians, for example, cannot start their work until the framework is ready. The Gantt chart visualizes these dependencies and ensures that everything stays on schedule throughout the life of the project.
Use Case 3: New Product Launch Timeline
A tech company launching a new device uses a Gantt chart to align its production, marketing, and sales teams. The product must be manufactured and delivered to retailers by a specific date. Meanwhile, the marketing team needs to work on an advertising campaign at the same time. The Gantt chart shows the schedule for the entire project, ensuring that each team meets its deadlines and the product launches on time.
Task Board: Simple-Yet-Effective Daily Task Management
Use Case 1: Customer Support Team
A customer support team tracks incoming tickets with a Task Board. By categorizing requests into “New,” “In Progress,” and “Resolved,” the team leader can ensure that the team handles urgent requests first, improving response times and team efficiency.
Use Case 2: Personal Productivity for Freelancers
A freelancer juggling multiple clients uses a Task Board to keep track of daily tasks. Columns such as “To Write,”” “To Design,” and “To Submit” help them keep track of each board project. This simple setup ensures the freelancer never misses a deadline, even when managing multiple projects simultaneously.
Use Case 3: Administrative Office Tasks
An office admin team uses a Task Board to handle day-to-day tasks such as booking meetings, organizing travel, and arranging company events. Each task is assigned to separate team members with specific deadlines to keep the office running smoothly. Task templates help to further streamline recurring tasks, such as organizing weekly meetings, which saves time and helps ensure consistency.
Workflow Board: Streamlining Processes from Start to Finish
Use Case 1: Manufacturing Quality Control
A manufacturing company uses a Workflow Board to monitor the production stages. This means that every step, from raw material inspection to quality testing, is tracked visually. So, if a batch fails quality control, it can be promptly sent back to the assembly, ensuring that no product skips a step and that every item meets company standards.
Use Case 2: Sales Pipeline Management
A sales team tracks leads using a workflow board. As leads move from “Initial Contact” to “Negotiation” to “Closed Deal,” the team can prioritize each client and identify any potential bottlenecks. By keeping a clear overview of the sales pipeline, the team can focus on closing deals and achieving their goals.
Use Case 3: Editorial Content Workflow
A monthly magazine editorial team uses a Workflow Board to manage writing, editing, and publishing. Each article moves through stages like “Drafting,” “Editing,” “Approval,” and “Ready for Print.” This workflow ensures articles are appropriately reviewed, approved, and published on time.
Calendar Board: Managing Deadlines and Schedules with Precision
Use Case 1: Event Planning
An event management team uses a Calendar Board to schedule meetings, deadlines, and events for a corporate conference. Every event detail — from booking keynote speakers to making travel arrangements — is recorded on the calendar. This not only helps every member of the team see the big picture but ensures that everything runs smoothly.
Use Case 2: Product Release Schedules
A tech company uses a Calendar Board to track milestones for an upcoming software update. The calendar ensures that internal testing, beta releases, and the final launch are on time and everything stays on schedule.
Use Case 3: Editorial Team Deadlines
An editorial team that produces daily news uses a Calendar Board to schedule article deadlines. The board ensures that all content is delivered on time and gives the editor-in-chief an overview of upcoming deadlines so that he can plan the publication schedule accordingly.
Conclusion
Project management boards in Planfix are a versatile, robust solution for organizing your team’s work, regardless of your industry or team size. Whether you’re visualizing tasks with a Kanban board or managing complex schedules with a Gantt chart, there are boards for projects of all types and sizes. Best of all, each is designed to fit your workflow and help you succeed. With Planfix, your projects will run more smoothly, your employees will meet deadlines more efficiently, and your team will focus on what’s important. No matter how difficult your project, there’s a project board to help you get the job done right, on time, and on budget.
