How It Works

BoardBell is super-easy to use. Signing up and trying the platform for free is a great way to see how it works. In the alternative, consider the following whiteboard analogy.

1. Imagine A Blank Whiteboard

Imagine a large, clean whiteboard in your office. A board that is accessible to you and your team. We'll be using this board to track and manage work.

2. Divide It Into Columns

To organize tasks, let's divide the board into columns. To keep things simple, let's divide the board into just three columns: To Do, Doing, and Done. We can always add/change columns later.

3. Add Tasks Using Sticky Notes

Now, grab some yellow sticky notes from your drawer. We'll be using these stickies for tracking tasks. Write one task per sticky note and add the notes to the board's To Do column.

At this point, just by looking at the board, you and your team know exactly what tasks need to be performed.

4. Get Your Stickies Moving!

As you start working on a task, move the corresponding sticky from the To Do column to the Doing column. In BoardBell, stickies are called cards (or task cards). So let's call them cards from now.

At this point, just by looking at the board, your team members will be able to tell Task 1 is currently being performed and that work hasn't yet begun on the remaining tasks.

5. Keep Moving Cards To Indicate Progress

Once you've completed Task 1, move it from Doing to Done. And as you start working on Task 2, move it from To Do to Doing.

More generally, keep moving cards to reflect the progress of work. As you start working on something, move it to the Doing column. As you finish working on a task, move it to the Done column.

At this point, just by looking at the board, your team can tell that Task 1 has been completed and Task 2 is currently in progress.

6. Add New Tasks As & When Required

New and unforeseen tasks always have a way of creeping into projects. No problem, write any new task on a fresh sticky note and add it to the To Do column.

In our example, we've added Task 5 using a blue sticky. Just by looking at the board, your team can now tell that there's an additional task that needs to be done. Don't attach any special significance to the sticky being blue. But do keep in mind that you could develop your own color-coding system.

7. Work With Your Entire Team

So far, you've been the only one moving cards on this board. Let's get your team involved. Assign tasks to team members, and write these assignments directly on the cards.

At this point, just by looking at the board, your team members can tell that Task 2 is currently in progress and that it is assigned to you. Plus, they can see also see the different tasks that have been assigned to them.

8. Track Your Team's Progress

As each team member starts working on tasks, they'll move the corresponding card from To Do to Doing.

On the board, we can see that Alice has started working on Task 3 and that Bob has started working on Task 4. We can also see that you've completed Task 2.

9. Avoid Repetitive Status Meetings

When using emails, spreadsheets, WhatsApp, or Slack, etc. for assigning tasks, you need to constantly keep following up with your team for status updates. Inevitably, this results in multiple status-update meetings throughout the week.

By using a board to track tasks, you can tell the status of each task just by looking at the board. This dramatically reduces the need for status meetings, allowing your team to focus on getting the work done.

10. Transcend The Physical Barrier

While a physical whiteboard in the above example is good, it has many limitations.

1. Team Members Can't Work Remotely:
   If your board is in the office, employees won't be able to see or update it from their home. They won't be able to work outside office hours or while traveling.
2. Can't attach PDFs, presentations or other files:
   On a physical board, you can't attach electronic files and documents. For example, the board may indicate your company's latest marketing brochure has been created, but you can't download or see the brochure on the board.
3. Limited Space For Adding New Stickies/Cards:
   Each column has limited space and can only hold a certain number of cards. So on a physical board, you run the risk of running out of space for new stickies/cards.
4. Limited Space For Describing Tasks:
   You can at most fit a couple of sentences on physical sticky notes. But many times, tasks need to be described in detail. There's no space to do this on a physical board.
5. Difficult To Implement Effective Access Control:
   You may want to restrict certain persons from accessing certain boards. While you could lock the board in a room that can only be accessed by limited employees, this is easier said than done. Depending on the space and layout of your office, this may be difficult to do, especially where multiple boards are required to be used for different projects.
6. Discussions Lack Context:
   When using physical boards, you'll need to discuss tasks in person, via email or using WhatsApp/Slack or similar chat tools. But before you can discuss a task, you'll need to re-narrate the task's background. You cannot discuss or chat on a physical board.
7. Stickies Can Get Misplaced Or Damaged:
   It's possible for employees to accidentally misplace or damage stickies. Stickies can also fly off after losing their adhesive coating. While this seems like a minor issue, it's an issue nonetheless.

Going Digital:

Let's use BoardBell to rebuild the board from our example. Here's what we get:

As you can see, all the columns, tasks, and assignments are exactly the same. But the board is not stranded in your office. It's available online and employees can work from anywhere. Soon, we'll explore other advantages.

11. Moving Cards Shouldn't Create Gaps:

On a physical whiteboard, when you move a card from To Do to Done, a gap is created in the To Do column. To fill the gap, you'd have to move all the To Do cards one spot upward. In BoardBell, this happens automatically. No extra gaps are left.

12. Just Drag-&-Drop To Move Cards

In BoardBell, to move a card from one column to another, you simply drag-and-drop.

13. Real-Time Updates For All Team Members:

As soon as Alice drops Task 3 into the Done column, the board will be instantly updated for all team members:

14. In BoardBell, Cards Have Superpowers

So far, you've only seen cards in their condensed view. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Click on a card to open its expanded view. Here's the expanded view for Task 5:

15. Working With Clients

BoardBell has a powerful two-tier access control system. This allows you to set up fine-grained rules regarding who can access which board. You easily invite clients to project-specific boards or create private boards that are accessible only to upper management. For more, please see: Two-Tier Access Control System

Questions?

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact support@boardbell.com or call +1-302-480-1597. Our friendly support staff will be happy to help.