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Lesson 32

Building a Kanban Board for Task Management

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Welcome back! In our last lesson, you built a powerful project-specific dashboard using linked databases and self-referential filtering. Now, each project page elegantly displays only its own open and completed tasks. This is a fantastic "zoomed-in" view.

Today, we're going to "zoom out." We will create the centerpiece of any good project management system: a master Kanban board. This board will give you a high-level, visual overview of all your tasks and allow you to track their progression through the different stages of your workflow, from "To Do" to "Done."

Given your background in project management, you're likely very familiar with the Kanban methodology. In this lesson, you'll learn how to implement that powerful visual system directly within Notion. This is a core skill for building the intuitive, professional-grade templates you aim to sell.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to create and customize a fully functional Kanban board to manage your task workflow.

Notion Kanban Board Example
Our goal is to create a visual task board like this, where you can easily see the status of every task and drag them between stages.

1. The Foundation: From Table to Board

A Kanban board in Notion isn't a separate, special object. It's simply a view of an existing database. You already have your Tasks database with a Status property. All we need to do is tell Notion to display that data as a board instead of a table.

The key is the Group feature. When you create a board view, you "group" it by a specific property—in our case, the Status property. Notion then automatically creates a column for each option in that property (To Do, In Progress, Done).

Notion Database Grouping Menu
The 'Group' setting is what transforms a simple list of tasks into a structured Kanban board by organizing entries into columns based on a property like 'Status'.

The best way to understand this is to see the official instructions.

The status property gives you clarity on task progress

Notion's own help guide provides the most direct explanation for this. This short article explains how the Status property works and how to use it to create a board view.

Please read the section titled 'A more intuitive way to filter and group your database by status'. Focus on the steps for creating a new database view, selecting 'Board', and then using the 'Group' option.

2. Creating and Customizing Your Kanban Board

Creating the board is just the first step. The real power comes from customizing it to show exactly what you need, in the way that makes the most sense for your workflow. This includes:

  • Customizing the Statuses: Adding, removing, or reordering the columns on your board.
  • Configuring the Cards: Deciding which properties (like Priority, Due Date, or the related Project) are visible on each task card.
  • Visual Styling: Coloring columns to make statuses instantly recognizable.
  • Filtering and Sorting: Tidying up your board by hiding completed tasks or sorting the tasks within a column by priority.

The following video provides a comprehensive walkthrough of all these customization options.

EASY Kanban Board for your tasks in Notion | Step-by-Step Guide

This video from The Organized Notebook is an excellent step-by-step guide to building and refining a Kanban board. It covers all the essential settings you'll need.

Watch the following segments to see how to customize your board: Layout Settings (1:22 - 3:00): Focus on 'Card Size' and 'Color columns'. Customizing Statuses & Properties (3:00 - 5:22): Pay close attention to how to edit the 'Status' property to add new stages and how to make properties like 'Date' visible on the cards. Grouping (5:39 - 6:40): This reinforces the core concept of grouping by status. Filtering & Sorting (7:30 - 8:18): Learn how to apply filters (e.g., to hide 'Done' tasks) and sorts (e.g., to order by date).

Test your understanding!

After a few weeks, your "Done" column is getting very cluttered. You want your Kanban board to only show active tasks (those that are not 'Done'). Which Notion feature would you use to achieve this?

Show answer

You would use the Filter feature. You can add a filter where the Status property Is not Done. This will dynamically hide any task that is moved into the 'Done' column, keeping your board focused on active work.

✍️ Exercise: Build Your Master Task Board

Now it's time to build this view for your own project manager. We will add this Kanban board to the main dashboard page where you have your 'Projects' and 'Tasks' databases.

Your Tasks:

  • 1. Go to Your Main Dashboard.

    • Navigate to the page that houses your master Projects and Tasks databases.

  • 2. Create a New View for Tasks.

    • Find your Tasks database.
    • Click the + sign next to your existing views (e.g., "Table") to add a new one.

  • 3. Select the Board Layout.

    • In the "New view" pop-up, select Board as the layout type.
    • Give your new view a name, like Task Board.
    • Ensure "Show database title" is toggled off for a cleaner look.
    • Click Done.

  • 4. Group by Status.

    • Your board may have defaulted to grouping by status. If not, click the ... menu in the top-right of the database.
    • Go to Group and select Status as the property to group by.

  • 5. Customize the Cards.

    • In the same ... menu, go to Properties.
    • Toggle the visibility (click the eye icon) for the properties you want to see on each card. I recommend showing:
      • Project (the relation)
      • Due Date
      • Priority
    • Hide properties that are less important for a high-level view.

  • 6. Add Visual Polish.

    • In the ... menu, go to Layout.
    • Toggle on Color columns. This will color the background of each column to match the status color.

  • 7. Filter Out Completed Tasks.

    • Click Filter in the top-right of the database.
    • Add a filter where Status Is not Done.

  • 8. Sort Your Tasks.

    • Click Sort right next to the filter button.
    • Add a sort rule to order tasks by Priority Ascending. This will place 'High' priority tasks at the top of each column.

  • 9. Test Your Board.

    • Find a task in the To Do column and drag-and-drop it into the In Progress column. The task's Status property will update automatically.
    • Now, drag that same task to the Done column. It should disappear from the board because of the filter you set. (You can always see it again by removing the filter or looking in your main table view).

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully completed the "Task & Project Manager" project. You now have a robust, two-part system:

  1. Project Dashboards: A "zoomed-in" view to manage tasks for individual projects.
  2. A Master Kanban Board: A "zoomed-out" view to track the progress of all tasks across all projects.

Key Takeaways:

  • A Kanban board is a visual view of a database, not a separate item.
  • The Group feature is what creates the columns, typically based on a Status or Select property.
  • Properties, Filters, and Sorts allow you to customize the board to create a clean and focused workflow management tool.
  • The drag-and-drop interface is an intuitive way to update an item's status.

This combination of a global task board and specific project dashboards is a hallmark of a professional-grade template, bringing you one step closer to your goal of creating sellable Notion products.

Preview of the Next Lesson:
With the project manager complete, we will move on to our next project. In Module 6, we will begin building a Content Creation Hub. You'll apply the database and view-creation skills you've just mastered to a new challenge: designing a single, efficient database to manage your entire content workflow from idea to publication.