Arranging Meetings

10 Ways to Use Trello for Project Management

Use Trello boards Using Trello Cards Calendar Planning Email Replacement Productivity Metrics Automate Repetitive Email Tasks CRM Tool Arranging Meetings  Project Chat Channels Time Tracking...

1. Use Trello boards

Trello boards are the advanced version of bulletin boards that are used to organize thoughts. The specialty of Trello is that you are not restricted to using a single board and can use multiple boards as complex projects will require multiple boards. It also provides different privacy options: personal, private, team, organization, and public visibility. Your board will show you what is planned to be done, and task statuses, and help you indicate capacity limitations....

2. Using Trello Cards

Once the lists on the board are completed, cards need to be added. These Cards are the building block of Trello which provides details of the tasks within the project. Clicking a card expands to show detailed information like the example shown below....

3. Calendar Planning

Trello’s built-in view makes it a calendar planner. See your deadlines visually, organized by the due date. Lists act as timeframes (“This Week”), while color-coded labels highlight priorities. Optional Power-Ups further boost functionality, letting you sync with external calendars for a powerful, yet flexible, way to manage your schedule. It’s a powerful yet flexible way to manage your time – no matter how complex your schedule gets....

4. Email Replacement

You can add cards straight from your email into Trello. Each Trello board gets its very own special email address. When forwarding important emails to this email address, Trello should automatically be able to create a card on the board. You can find the email address for a board by going to the board menu and clicking “Email-to-Board”. You can even add details in the email for further customization. This keeps your information organized in your Trello project board to avoid information loss....

5. Productivity Metrics

You can manually track the key metrics by creating a list on your board for metrics. Trello also includes “power-ups,” which are specifically for more advanced tracking, usually paid, offering analytics and reporting from metrics such as how long tasks take (cycle time) and the total time taken from creation to completion (lead time). They provide this data on charts and graphs so that it is more visual and in turn, offers reports that will point out strengths and weaknesses....

6. Automate Repetitive Email Tasks

The built-in Butler in Trello is your secret weapon against the bane of manual tasks. First, identify the repetitive tasks that are bogging you down. Look for the emails sent often, with the same structure about them, or actions that you normally do on incoming emails. Status updates, default replies of information, forwarding emails to selected colleagues, moving it into certain folders – all of these are common causes. Standardize your emails with templates and clear subject lines to add to this efficiency....

7. CRM Tool

Trello can be an essential tool in managing Customer relationships. Each customer has a Trello card, similar to a digital folder holding all their info, notes, and deal value. Move the cards around, and you can instantly see where leads are within the pipeline – easy, at first glance, to understand what’s in the queue for your team. And it’s flexible for your team to work together on pushing these deals forward....

8. Arranging Meetings

Video conference tools like Google Hangouts and Zoom have been integrated into Trello. Video calling right from your Trello board is a click away with Trello. This eliminates the back-and-forth between apps or hunting down links for the meetings, centralizing everything....

9. Project Chat Channels

Additional communication is needed beyond comments on cards. Trello provides a separate chat room for each of your various boards. Real-time dedicated chat space on each project board ensures brainstorming, updates, and questions stay focused within the relevant board, not mixed with other conversations that may cause information overload. This fosters a more collaborative environment where problems are addressed quickly and projects move forward smoothly....

10. Time Tracking

Power-ups such as Clockify and Timesheets allow you to start timers directly on cards while you work. Get the time spent tracking and report it for analysis to help give you an idea about the project timeline, optimize workflow, or even ensure accurate billing for the billable service as well as add an estimation field helping you compare actual time vs your estimate....

Power-Ups for Additional Functionality

Calendar View: Visualize tasks and due dates in a calendar format. Voting: Allow team members to vote on cards to prioritize tasks. Custom Fields: Add custom fields to cards for unique data tracking. Card Aging: Highlight inactive cards to focus attention on current tasks. Card Repeater: Automatically create recurring cards for repetitive tasks. Google Drive Integration: Attach Google Drive files directly to cards. GitHub Integration: Link Trello cards to GitHub issues for seamless development tracking. Jira Integration: Connect Trello boards with Jira for enhanced project management. Time Tracking: Monitor time spent on tasks with built-in time-tracking capabilities....

Conclusion

Trello’s versatility goes beyond project management for product managers. Trello goes beyond simple project management to the level of having automation on workflow processes, time tracking, and even communication tools designed directly into Trello for powerful organization for both an individual and their teams. By using these ways, we can easily utilize how to use trello for Project Management....

10 Ways to Use Trello for Project Management- FAQs

Can Trello be used for project management?...