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Different ways to use Kanban in Email Inbox

By January 19th, 2023No Comments
kanban email inbox

We talk a lot about Kanban in our blog. A task management system consisting of multiple lanes in which tasks are organized and moved across, it was created initially to improve manufacturing efficiency.

Proven successful in the automotive industry, it has expanded to several other sectors such as software development – with tools such as JIRA -, project management – with tools such as Trello – and even CRM – with tools such as Pipedrive.

Why not applying such a strong and visual layout to your email inbox? After all, most emails require tasks, and most tasks require emails. We are sharing today different ways to use Kanban boards in your email inbox.

 

kanban email inboxUnderstanding Kanban

Kanban is excellent and has many valuable attributes:

  • Its visuals will bring a holistic view of tasks across different stages;
  • Simple, breaking several tasks down into smaller and manageable pieces;
  • It enhances productivity, allowing sorting and prioritization of tasks;
  • It just works. 

Don’t you think that all these attributes would be valuable to manage your inbox better?

That’s why we speak so much about Kanban in email.

USE KANBAN IN INBOX NOW

Traditional post-it note Kanban board

The original Kanban layout worked across stages, for example: To Do, Doing, and Done. However, variations of Kanban boards started to be created on the way to customize boards according to priorities or nature of your business activities and for each specific business need there usually is tailored kanban board software solution.

For example, if you are a Salesperson, you probably won’t’ t use the same Kanban flow in your email as a customer service representative, because you probably have different workflows. By the way, if you are a workflow addict like us, here’s a helpful checklist to create process maps in your company developed by process.st.

So here are some ideas we want to share with you on how you can organize your personal Kanban to do even more with your email inbox by different types of column segmentation:

Kanban ideas for everyday tasks

To kick it off, let’s see how you can organize your Kanban with the most basic ideas, applied to any nature of To-Dos. There are no right or wrong ways, people have different workflows, and you need to define what works best for you!

1. Stages

 

Let’s get as an example: the traditional To Do, Doing, and Done. This is the most basic and traditional way of organizing tasks. Dividing tasks by what you’re doing and what needs to be done gives the idea of stages and the status of each To Do.

2. Prioritization

 

Define your priorities by separating the most urgent work from everything else. You could use columns as due dates, for example, “Todayâ€, “Tomorrow†and “Somedayâ€, or as essential levels like ““Very Importantâ€â€, ““Importantâ€â€ and ““Not Importantâ€â€. 

3. Topics or Team Members

 

For CEOs or managers that lead with To-Dos across multiple topics or team members, Kanban works very well to visualize various areas at once. You could segment it by topics like ““Salesâ€â€, ““Marketingâ€â€ and ““Financeâ€â€ or assign each column to a team member in a project or department, for example.

4. Weekdays

Last but not least, you can separate your work by what day you need to do it. By doing so, it is also helpful because if there’s something you couldn’t’ t do on Tuesday, you can drag it to Wednesday, and so on!

Kanban ideas for specific tasks

As mentioned in the introduction of this post, you can customize Kanban boards according to the nature of your daily activities. Here are some examples to illustrate how Kanban boards may differ if you are working across different businesses.

1. Sales

sales crm

If you are a salesperson, you might love the idea of dividing your sales funnel into lists, to help you recognize in what stage of sales you and your team currently are. So points such as ““Leadsâ€â€, ““Call/demoâ€â€, ““Lead interestedâ€â€ and ““Deal closedâ€â€Â can help you out.

2. Helpdesk

helpdesk kanban

Another way to keep your work organized as a Helpdesk team is by adding Ticket Status as your lists, so you can spot right away what y with your clients.

3. Marketing

kanban email inbox

For marketing, as an idea, you can divide your lists into smaller areas in marketing, such as PR, Social Media, or any other Marketing channel you would be dealing with.

4. Projects

PM

Finally, in your projects, you can divide your cards into status lists, so you know what is still on the plans and what you’re executing already. It will lead you to better performance.

Kanban solves more than just email

Kanban in email

can help you through much more than just email, especially if shared! Try Drag to turn your Inbox into Kanban board in 3 seconds. Our drag-and-drop system will make everything more comfortable to be organized, and once you understand what your priorities are, you will save so much time.

And then you’ll be addicted, just like we are. ?

Drag was created to inbox your life. You spend most of your time on your mailbox, so why do you need to leave it to manage your To-Dos across different apps? We apply the proven Kanban layout into your inbox to make you more productive every day. Drag offers:

  • Customizable columns: add and customize as many columns as you want. Drag’ n’ drop emails across columns.
  • Add tasks to inbox: add and organize tasks on your boards.
  • Sort Emails and Tasks: prioritize your To-Dos by dragging important ones to the top.
  • Checklists, notes, and due dates: add extra information to your emails and tasks.
  • Unlimited boards: set different boards for different things.
  • Team Collaboration: do all the above collaboratively with your teammates!

If you have more ideas about how you can organize your inbox, please let us know. We’d be delighted to get your feedback!

How about having Kanban in your email inbox?

Drag turns Gmail into your Team’s Workspace – One single place to support customers, manage tasks and close deals, from the place teams love: Gmail. We are a Techstars-backed Company, trusted by 30,000 users around the World.

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Samantha Anacleto

Author Samantha Anacleto

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