Making work visible with our family Kanban
Our family just started using Kanban in the house. Kanban is a project management tool useful for prioritizing tasks as they come up. It’s typically used in work situations like maintenance, where emerging issues might pop up. I’ve been wanting to try Kanban for our household, and finally got it done. My wife and I share the house with our two adult daughters.
Why? The goal is to make work visible.
Housework is typically invisible. Putting things on the board is a first step in acknowledging essential work. We put yardwork, housework, and personal tasks on the board.
It’s good to know when things are in process (doing). For example, when I wash and dry towels, it can take a few days for me to fold them and put them away. My wife and I share Google Calendars, but if one of us goes out for something, it’s great to see it in the doing column.
Having a shared to do list empowers everyone to add or pick up (most) any task. One of our daughters recently picked up a task I had put there for myself. Since the outset of our marriage, I have always preferred to do laundry and dishes while my wife prefers power tools and yard work. Each person can contribute by doing what they are confident in doing (great for a neurodivergent family). If someone isn’t up to cooking dinner, someone else can do it— which has already happened.
The principle of autonomy is key. I don’t put up joke tasks or nag about the to do list. Everyone on the team should feel like it’s a tool to help us live together in a shared space. The goal is not to get people to do things, but to make visible the work that is happening. It’s a shared accountability tool.
Challenges
It can be a challenge to remember to put tasks on the board if we’ve been doing them for a long time. These can be hidden tasks, which we want to bring to the light.
To do can become overwhelming, and hard to see what needs to be done. For recurring tasks, I’ve started putting them on when I’m doing them or when they’re done (if I randomly decide to do something).
On the other hand, my younger daughter pointed out that the limited space makes us prioritize tasks.
To do does not replace the backlog, which is something my wife and I keep in our heads or on our PCs.
Quick wins
Both daughters are using the board to track personal projects, and to make us aware of what they’re doing.
My wife and I are better able to see the work that the other is doing.
How I set up the board
I wanted to propose things in the simplest way possible. For new processes, it’s best to keep risk low.
I began by sketching the board on a sheet of paper, with measurements based on size of freezer panel on fridge, with enough room for a WIP (work in progress) limit of about 4 tasks at most. This prototype drove my buying choices.
Whiteboard: 25x17 inch - Yuc Magnetic whiteboard for The Fridge. Not sponsored, no affiliate link.
GAUDER Magnetic Dry Erase Labels | 90x Magnetic Labels (3 Inches x 1 Inch). Not sponsored, no affiliate link. While I like the 3”x3” for looking like Post It notes, the 3” by 1” looked like a better idea. 90 may be too many but I didn’t want to buy more.
For swimlanes and titles, I just used white magnetic labels. There is line tape that looks pretty good, so if this experiment lasts a while, I may get that. On the other hand, our older daughter likes it how it is.