5.2. Elements on the Board

Each individual Element is represented by a separate card placed on the Kanban board. The contents of such card can vary depending on the type of Element, but you can also use Kanban irrespective of these more formalised properties. When you put a single Task as a card on the board, the contents of a card can be quite simple. In a simple version, the contents of the cards could be:

• Title

• Due Date

• Description

• To-do lists

• Assignee

Practice Tip: Cards with Tasks

When you work with Items and Tasks, you can use a separate card for every Task within the Item or have a card for the Item including the Tasks as a checklist. In any case, you will want separate Tasks if the responsibility to execute them lies between different people. In practice, it will also depend on the software or tool you are using, if Tasks are separate cards on the board.

Story

Letting go

After a brief feeling of elation, having taken up the challenge, our team quickly gets back down to earth as they start writing down their Items on Post-it notes. They find that it’s quite difficult to get the all the required details written down. Alice has left this to Fiona and Gabriel. As Gabriel intensely scribbles away on the cards, Fiona gives an exhausted sigh and decides to get a coffee. On the way to the kitchen, she doubles back and decides to pick up the Agile guide she has recently bought. She takes it to the whiteboard and, instead of writing cards, she goes to read about Kanban and the management of Items again. That turns out to be a good move, as she finds a key tip in there. The cards only need to be fully detailed when the team decides to move them into their “To Do” column, that is the part of the board containing the cards on which the team wants to work on next. The solution is that they just think about the details of what they will address in the next week. They will place the other Elements as cards on the board, but as mere placeholders, letting go of the details. In the end, they decide to take a different colour and use that for Epics and just note the items they already know on the Epic cards that are not relevant yet. That settled, the team writes all cards for the Items they need.

Example

Our team puts a task from Item 1. Meet the client to get the big picture of the case on the Kanban board.

Title: Set up client meeting	Due Date: April 1st, 2024
Description: A client meeting needs to be set up before April 14, 2024, consisting of the law firm team (partner and associates), the client and relevant people on their side to get the full picture of the case. To-Do: • Arrange date/time with client, no later than April 14, 2024. • Book a meeting room. • Set reminder to prepare meeting room. • Get Agenda from attorney/associate. • Circulate agenda to all participants.
Assignee: Oliver, Assistant

Template

Title: ...	Due Date: ...
Description: ... To-Do: • ... • ... • ... • ... • ...
Assignee: ...