By: MJ Gonzales | Executive Chronicles
It’s advisable to write and post about the things you have to do or create “to do” list. Obviously, it’s to remind you and hopefully, push you to finish your tasks one by one. The problem with it is sometimes your sticky notes bore and spoil your enthusiasm until you just ignore them in the process. If you like to try some technique to make you or your whole team become productive what you may need to follow is the 60-year old technique called Kanban.
According to Leankit, the Kanban system was developed by giant car company Toyota in the latter part of 1940s. It was rooted from observing a clerk who kept their company’s inventory well by ordering new items only when they stocks needed replenishment.
“Kanban is Japanese for “visual signal” or “card.” Toyota line-workers used a kanban (i.e., an actual card) to signal steps in their manufacturing process. The system’s highly visual nature allowed teams to communicate more easily on what work needed to be done and when. It also standardized cues and refined processes, which helped to reduce waste and maximize value,” Leankit explained.
Going back to sticky notes or note pad, they’re still the materials you need to become productive. You can create your own personal Kanban by just following the gist of this system. Arrange your cards err notes by columns, which you can name “to do,” “urgent,” “doing,” and “done.” Remember that in productivity, time is a vital part so perhaps you can add columns which you can label like “hanging” or “this week.” The exciting parts of it are the arrangement and movement of your notes. The aim is to move one by one to “done” column and rearrange them when you pull out something.
There are also apps that similar to Kanban like Trello. Trello is a free app; wherein you can create board (project), create list (column), and add cards (sticky notes). You can move the cards from list to list, put label or stickers, and add members (co-workers or employees) so you can collaborate.
Kanban maybe not so grand technique, however with it’s simple and visual approach make it revolutionary. It easy to point which specific task that you need work out urgently or doable within a week in the office.
