Kanban board: definition, columns and an example

What is a Kanban board?

A Kanban board is a visual board of work, with a column for each step of a process and a card for each task that moves from left to right as the work progresses.

Kanban board columns

The simplest board has three columns: To do, In progress and Done. Teams usually add the steps that matter to them, such as Review or Waiting, and put a work-in-progress limit on the busiest columns.

A Kanban board example

  • To do: write the onboarding email; fix the export bug.
  • In progress (limit 3): pricing page copy; payment retries.
  • Review: new dashboard chart.
  • Done: invoice PDF layout.

Kanban vs Scrum

Scrum plans work in fixed sprints, usually two weeks long, with set roles and meetings. Kanban has no sprints: work is pulled in continuously and flow is managed by limiting work in progress. Many teams mix the two, planning in sprints but using a board with WIP limits to see where work is stuck.

How to use a Kanban board

Keep one card per piece of work someone can finish, move cards as soon as the work moves rather than at the end of the week, and review the board together for cards that have not moved. Remote Team Collaboration Hub puts task boards next to the conversation, so a message can become a tracked task without leaving the thread.

Last reviewed 2026-11-01.

Related terms

  • Work-in-progress (WIP) limit — A work-in-progress limit (WIP limit) caps how many tasks a person, team or board column can have in progress at once.
  • Blocker — A blocker is anything that stops a piece of work from moving forward that the person doing it cannot resolve alone, such as a missing decision, an access request or a dependency on another team.
  • Capacity — Team capacity is the number of hours people realistically have for committed project work in a period, once meetings, support duty, holidays and other obligations are taken out.

All glossary terms →