Discover an example of kanban with 10 powerful board ideas for sales, marketing, and development, plus tips to set up and optimize your workflow.

Kanban is more than a buzzword for moving tasks across a board; it's a powerful methodology for visualizing work, eliminating bottlenecks, and delivering value faster. While the concept is simple-visualize your workflow, limit work in progress, and optimize flow-its application is incredibly diverse. The true power lies in adapting its core principles to your specific needs, whether you're a project manager, a sales lead, or a freelancer managing tasks in Gmail.
This guide moves beyond theory to provide a deep dive into 10 distinct and practical examples of Kanban boards in action. We'll explore everything from managing complex agile software sprints and HR recruitment pipelines to transforming a chaotic inbox into a productivity powerhouse. Each example of a kanban board is a case study designed to give you a strategic blueprint for your own processes.
You won't find generic descriptions here. Instead, each example includes:
Our goal is to equip you with replicable strategies and behind-the-scenes details, helping you build a Kanban board that not only tracks work but actively improves how you get it done. Let's explore how different teams and industries have mastered their workflows with this versatile framework.
The most classic and powerful example of kanban in action is within Agile software development sprints. This approach transforms a complex development cycle into a transparent, manageable workflow, helping teams deliver high-quality software predictably. It serves as a visual single source of truth for the entire team, from developers to product managers.
This method visualizes the entire sprint on a board with columns representing each stage of the development process. A typical setup includes columns such as To Do (Backlog), In Progress, Code Review, Testing, and Done. Tasks, often represented as user stories or bugs, move from left to right as they are completed. This visual progression makes it immediately clear where every piece of work stands.
The core strength of using Kanban for sprints lies in its ability to enforce focus and expose systemic issues.
To implement this effectively:
For a deeper dive into setting up your first board, you can explore this beginner's guide to Kanban tasks.
Another powerful example of kanban is managing tasks directly within your Gmail inbox. This approach converts a reactive email environment into a proactive, visual workflow, eliminating the constant context-switching between your communication hub and a separate task manager. It is particularly effective for teams that live in Google Workspace and need to turn incoming requests into actionable items.
This method transforms your inbox into a Kanban board, often using browser extensions or integrated tools. Emails become cards that move through custom columns like To Do (New Email), In Progress (Awaiting Reply), Follow-Up, and Done. Customer service teams can turn support tickets into trackable tasks, and sales teams can manage leads from initial inquiry to final close, all without leaving their email interface.
The primary strength of this system is its ability to centralize work where it originates, creating a seamless flow from communication to action.
To implement this effectively:
To see how you can set up your own inbox board, you can read more about how to turn your Gmail into a Kanban board.
Another highly effective example of kanban is its application to sales pipeline and lead management. This approach transforms the often chaotic sales process into a clear, visual funnel, empowering sales teams to track deals, manage relationships, and forecast revenue with greater accuracy. It acts as a dynamic CRM, providing a single view of every opportunity in the pipeline.
This method visualizes the entire sales cycle on a board, with columns representing key stages such as Prospecting, Qualified, Proposal Sent, Negotiation, and Closed (Won/Lost). Each card represents a specific lead or deal, moving from left to right as it progresses through the funnel. This visual journey makes it instantly clear where every deal stands and what next steps are required.

The primary advantage of a Kanban sales pipeline is its ability to improve deal velocity and expose pipeline weaknesses.
To implement this sales system effectively:
For more powerful strategies, explore these sales pipeline management tips.
A prime example of kanban for creative teams is managing a content production and editorial workflow. This system transforms the abstract process of content creation into a structured, visible pipeline, ensuring a steady flow of high-quality material from ideation to publication. It is particularly effective for marketing teams, news organizations, and agencies managing multi-channel content calendars.
This approach maps the entire content lifecycle onto a board with columns like Ideation, Writing, Editorial Review, SEO Optimization, Scheduled, and Published. Each content piece, whether a blog post, video script, or social media update, becomes a card that moves sequentially through these stages. This provides a real-time snapshot of the entire production pipeline, making it easy to track progress and manage deadlines.

The strategic value of a Kanban board in content production lies in its ability to balance creative output with operational efficiency and expose hidden constraints.
To implement this workflow effectively:
Another powerful example of kanban is in managing customer support tickets. For SaaS companies or e-commerce businesses, a support queue can quickly become chaotic. A Kanban board transforms this high-volume, reactive environment into a clear, systematic workflow, ensuring no customer issue falls through the cracks and providing instant visibility into team performance.
This method visualizes the entire ticket lifecycle on a board with columns representing each stage. A typical setup includes columns like New, Acknowledged, In Progress, Waiting on Customer, Resolved, and Closed. Support tickets move from left to right as they are addressed, giving the entire team a shared, real-time view of the support workload and individual ticket status.

The primary strength of using Kanban for customer support lies in its ability to improve response times and prevent agent burnout by visualizing workloads.
To implement this effectively:
A powerful example of kanban is its application in managing the entire product development lifecycle, from initial idea to public release. This system provides a high-level, strategic view that aligns product managers, designers, developers, and stakeholders. It turns abstract roadmaps into a tangible, trackable workflow that visualizes progress and clarifies priorities.
This method uses a Kanban board with columns representing key stages in the product pipeline. A common setup includes columns like Ideation/Backlog, UX/UI Design, In Development, QA & Testing, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), and Released. Feature cards move sequentially across the board, giving everyone a real-time status update on where each initiative stands, which is particularly effective for SaaS companies managing quarterly releases.
The primary advantage of Kanban in product planning is its ability to foster strategic alignment and manage complex dependencies.
To implement this effectively:
An outstanding example of kanban in a non-technical field is for event planning and execution. This visual method helps teams, from corporate marketing to professional conference organizers, manage the immense complexity and numerous concurrent activities involved in bringing an event to life. It creates a centralized command center that tracks everything from initial concept to post-event analysis.
This approach visualizes the entire event lifecycle on a board, typically with columns like Initial Planning, Vendor Booking & Logistics, Pre-Event Marketing, Day-Of Execution, and Post-Event Wrap-Up. Individual tasks, such as "Secure Keynote Speaker" or "Finalize Catering Menu," are placed on cards and move across the board. This provides instant clarity on progress and ensures critical details are not forgotten in the chaos.
Using Kanban for event planning excels at managing dependencies and maintaining momentum over a long timeline.
To implement this effectively:
Managing the flow of talent is a perfect example of kanban being applied outside of technology. An HR recruitment and onboarding pipeline provides a powerful visual tool for tracking candidates and new hires, transforming a complex, multi-stage process into a clear and manageable workflow. It ensures transparency for hiring managers and the HR team, preventing qualified candidates from falling through the cracks.
This method visualizes the entire hiring and integration journey on a board. For recruitment, columns might include Application Received, Phone Screen, Interview Scheduled, Offer Extended, and Hired. Once a candidate is hired, they can be moved to a separate onboarding board with stages like Pre-Start, First Day, First Week, First Month, and Fully Onboarded. This provides a seamless, end-to-end view of the employee lifecycle.
The primary advantage of using Kanban in HR is its ability to improve velocity, create a positive candidate experience, and standardize processes.
To implement this effectively:
Another powerful example of kanban is applying its visual principles to track financial workflows like project budgets and expenses. This method provides finance teams, project managers, and distributed teams with unparalleled real-time visibility into the entire financial lifecycle, from initial budget requests to final payments. It transforms a typically opaque process into a transparent and predictable system.
The Kanban board visualizes the financial pipeline with columns representing key stages. A common setup includes Submitted, Pending Approval, Approved, Invoiced, and Paid. Individual expense claims, budget requests, or vendor invoices move across the board as cards. This visual flow makes it instantly clear where every dollar is in the approval and payment process, preventing delays and improving accountability.
Using Kanban for financial management excels at creating clarity and control over spending, especially in project-based or distributed organizations.
To effectively implement this financial Kanban system:
A crucial example of kanban is its application in managing IT infrastructure projects and daily operational tasks. For IT teams, from Google Workspace administrators to data center operators, Kanban provides a centralized command center to visualize complex workflows, track system upgrades, and manage incident response efficiently. This visual system brings order to the often-chaotic world of IT operations.
This method visualizes the entire lifecycle of IT tasks on a board with columns tailored to infrastructure work. A typical layout includes stages like Backlog, Design/Planning, Implementation, Testing/QA, Deployment, and Resolved/Monitoring. Tickets, representing everything from a server upgrade to a security patch, flow across the board, providing clear visibility into project status and potential conflicts.
The primary advantage of using Kanban for IT infrastructure is gaining control over a high-stakes, multi-threaded environment.
To implement this effectively:
| Use Case | 🔄 Implementation Complexity | ⚡ Resource Requirements | 📊 Expected Outcomes | 💡 Ideal Use Cases | ⭐ Key Advantages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agile Software Development Sprints | Moderate–High — requires disciplined WIP, ceremonies | Cross-functional dev team, sprint tooling (Jira), analytics | Faster cycle time, quicker feedback loops, fewer bottlenecks | Feature teams running time-boxed iterations | Improves visibility and velocity ⭐ |
| Email-Centric Task Management in Gmail | Low–Moderate — simple setup but habit change needed | Google Workspace, Gmail integration, lightweight training | Reduced context-switching, preserved email context, faster response | Teams handling email-driven tasks (support, sales) | Keeps tasks native to email; low learning curve ⭐ |
| Sales Pipeline and Lead Management | Low–Moderate — map stages and deal metadata | CRM/contacts integration, sales reps, forecasting inputs | Clear pipeline visibility, improved forecasting, stall detection | SMB sales teams, lead tracking, deal management | Visualized funnel and accountability ⭐ |
| Content Production and Editorial Workflow | Moderate — many stages and review checkpoints | Writers, editors, scheduling tools, review checklists | Consistent publishing cadence, fewer review bottlenecks | Marketing, content agencies, editorial teams | Editorial calendar visibility; workload balance ⭐ |
| Customer Support Ticket Triage and Resolution | Moderate — SLA tracking and priority routing | Support agents, ticketing/email integration, SLAs | Faster acknowledgements, lower resolution time, transparent status | Small–mid support teams, help desks | Ensures coverage and SLA adherence ⭐ |
| Product Development and Feature Planning | High — complex dependencies and stakeholder alignment | Cross-functional teams, dependency tools, roadmap inputs | Aligned priorities, clearer release flow, fewer surprises | Product teams managing multiple features | Stakeholder transparency; roadmap execution ⭐ |
| Event Planning and Execution | Moderate — many concurrent logistics and timelines | Vendors, budget tracking, timeline tools, owners | Reduced last-minute issues, on-time delivery, coordinated vendors | Marketing/events, HR retreats, conferences | Timeline visibility and coordination ⭐ |
| HR Recruitment and Onboarding Pipeline | Moderate — privacy controls and integrations needed | Recruiters, interviewers, ATS integrations, onboarding checklists | Shorter time-to-hire, standardized onboarding, fewer lost candidates | Scaling startups, HR teams managing hires | Transparent pipeline and consistent onboarding ⭐ |
| Project Budget and Expense Management | Moderate–High — approval chains and controls | Finance approvers, accounting integrations, documentation | Faster approvals, budget visibility, audit trail | Consulting, agencies, project-based orgs | Prevents overruns and provides compliance trail ⭐ |
| IT Infrastructure and Project Task Management | High — complex dependencies and change management | Ops/DevOps, monitoring, deployment tooling, rollback plans | Fewer conflicts, lower MTTR, safer deployments | IT operations, cloud teams, security remediation | Change transparency and resilient deployments ⭐ |
We have journeyed through a diverse landscape of workflows, from agile software sprints to HR recruitment pipelines and even project budget management. The ten case studies presented serve as a powerful testament to one central idea: Kanban is not a rigid doctrine but a highly adaptable framework for visualizing work, limiting work-in-progress, and maximizing flow. The power of a great Kanban board lies not in a specific template but in its ability to mirror and then optimize your team's unique operational reality. Each example of kanban we've explored underscores the universal principles of transparency and continuous improvement.
Across these varied applications, from sales lead management to IT project deployment, a few core strategic takeaways emerge. The most successful implementations are those that accurately map the actual steps in a process, not the idealized version. They use Work-In-Progress (WIP) limits not as restrictive rules but as strategic tools to identify bottlenecks and foster a culture of focused completion. The goal is to move from a "start-centric" mindset to a "finish-centric" one.
The true value of these examples is seeing the patterns. Whether it's a content team using a "Ready for Review" column or a customer support team implementing a "Triage" stage, the underlying principle is the same: breaking down complex processes into discrete, visible, and manageable stages. This clarity is what reduces cognitive overhead and empowers team members to make smarter decisions about what to work on next.
Think of the email-centric task management board. Its genius is in transforming a reactive environment (an overflowing inbox) into a proactive workflow. Similarly, the event planning board takes a chaotic, deadline-driven process and imposes a linear, predictable structure.
Key Insight: The most impactful Kanban boards are living systems. They are not set in stone but are constantly refined based on team feedback, performance metrics (like cycle time), and changing project requirements.
Viewing an example of kanban is just the first step. The real transformation begins when you apply these principles to your own environment. Here is a clear, step-by-step plan to move from inspiration to execution:
By following this structured approach, you ensure your Kanban implementation is a tailored solution built by your team, for your team. This creates a powerful sense of ownership and drives sustained improvement, turning a visual board into a high-performance engine for your entire workflow. The journey from a static example of kanban to a dynamic, value-generating system is an iterative one, and starting today is the most important step.
Ready to transform your own workflow from a cluttered inbox into a streamlined Kanban board? The examples in this article show what's possible, and Tooling Studio provides the tools to make it a reality directly within your Google Workspace. Build your first Kanban board right inside Gmail and start managing tasks with visual clarity by visiting Tooling Studio today.