A to-do list works for one person. As soon as a few people share work across several clients, you need to see who is doing what, for which project, and what’s stuck. A kanban board does exactly that — and when it’s connected to time tracking, every task also tells you how long it really took.
Keep the board simple: To do, In progress, Done
Many teams over-engineer their boards with a column for every possible state. For a small team, three columns are enough:
- To do — agreed, not started;
- In progress — someone is working on it right now;
- Done — finished.
In Clocknico you move a task between columns by drag and drop, or change its status from a single dropdown on the task row. Each task takes one compact line, so even a busy project fits on one screen.
Organise tasks by client and project
Tasks belong to projects, and projects belong to clients. Bigger projects can be split into sub-projects — for example a website project with “Design”, “Development” and “Content” phases. Totals for the parent project automatically include its sub-projects, and project names are shown as “Website › Design” everywhere, so there’s never confusion about where a task lives.
More than one assignee
Real work is often shared: a developer and a designer, or two consultants on the same deliverable. Clocknico tasks can have multiple assignees. Everyone assigned gets a notification on their phone, and the task appears on each person’s list.
Due dates and reminders
Add a due date to anything that has one. Assignees receive a morning reminder for tasks that are due, so deadlines don’t depend on someone remembering to check the board.
Track time on the task itself
This is where a kanban board connected to a time tracker beats a standalone one. When someone starts the timer, they pick the project and the task. Over time you learn:
- how long typical tasks really take — which makes the next estimate better;
- which tasks keep growing beyond the plan;
- how much of a project’s time went into each piece of work — useful on invoices grouped by task.
Who can do what
Assignees, the person who created the task and managers can edit a task. Managers see all projects and everyone’s reports; members focus on their own work. It keeps the board open and collaborative without letting it turn into chaos.
A weekly routine that works
- Monday: review the board per project, agree on priorities and assign tasks.
- During the week: move tasks across the board and track time against them.
- Friday: check the timesheet, close finished tasks, and look at the hours per project.
Projects, sub-projects, tasks and the kanban board are part of every Clocknico plan — and Clocknico is free for teams of up to 5 users.