In a move to simplify process automation, Quick Base has just announced it is bringing Kanban Reports to its no-code development platform.
By integrating the Kanban system into the Quick Base platform, the company looks to give business professionals the ability to manage processes and projects more effectively across teams and the entire organization.
For small businesses, process automation has become an essential tool for being competitive in today’s evolving digital ecosystem. In an email interview, Mark Field, Director of Product at Quick Base, told Small Business Trends the company wants to, “Help small and mid-market businesses become more productive in smart ways.”
Field goes on to say, there are options in the marketplace for increasing productivity but they lack depth and power. He adds, “With Kanban Reports, we aimed to create a capability that was intuitive and instantly organizes, visualizes and automatically updates workloads to help teams manage their projects efficiently.”
As to why automation is important for small businesses, Field said, “By automating workflows, teams can manage larger projects, put more structure around their work, and create agile processes, while incorporating the power of the Quick Base platform. Kanban promotes better communication among team members, and helps users understand shifting priorities.”
What is Kanban?
Named for the Japanese word meaning “signboard” or “billboard,” Kanban was first developed in the 1940s by Toyota to identify or signal steps in the manufacturing process.
The visual system made it much easier for workers to communicate and see what tasks were completed or needed to be accomplished. Today Kanban provides tools for organizing, visualizing and updating so teams can act on work in progress to better manage processes and projects.
The Quick Base Kanban Reports Integration
As part of the Quick Base platform, Kanban will allow users to quickly see what is taking place and take action. Using the drag and drop functionality of a Kanban system, Quick Base now makes it possible for businesses and their workforce to see where a project is heading.
Work items can be displayed in customizable columns with cards representing different steps of a project. This includes the status, phase, team members as well as any attribute specific to a project.
The cards can be organized and modified by moving them to different columns, add or remove more detail to each card, and ensure the right team members get the latest info. And since the data can be accessed on PCs, laptops or mobile devices from anywhere, everyone can be on the same page at all times.
Kanban Reports does this by tracking project tasks through stages or by priority. The system can also track opportunities through sales stages and application features through development stages. It can also track team members, their task assignments and more.
Image: Quick Base