Kanban Zone provides the ability to create online boards and connect work across these boards using linked cards… But what if you want to see multiple boards in a single view?
You can, with the Summary Zone!
In order to view cards from multiple boards in a single board, the Summary Zone only displays our standard column states (To Do, Buffer, In Progress, Done, None). When you create a board in Kanban Zone, you will notice in the board designer that each column must be associated with a state.
These states play a key role to calculate Kanban metrics like the Cycle Time and Throughput, and also produce the Cumulative Flow Diagram. They also serve as an abstraction layer in the Summary Zone. Unlike our boards that can have lanes and nested columns, the Summary Zone is a simple board that can’t be edited. The goal is the ability to select multiple boards and set filters to target specific work across your organization.
Selecting Boards (scoping work)
For example, your organization has 3 areas (Operations, Product Development, and Digital). You have created corresponding groups in Kanban Zone to organize each board within these areas. Under the Digital area you have 2 teams (Marketing and Web) and each has its own Kanban board.
As shown above, by selecting the Digital group under the Boards menu, both boards under that group are now selected. You can now get a view across the entire Digital area. You can also click the Select All button to see your entire organization. So the first step in the Summary zone your scope of work, by selecting the boards that flow this work.
Filtering Cards (targeting work)
Now that all your cards are combined in a single view, it’s time to get laser-focused on the exact work you are seeking to target. The Due menu show below will let you focus on due dates assigned n your cards. This will help you see cards associated with milestones, or due within a certain date range.
The next menu is Card Filters and this is where you can leverage all our existing filters in Kanban Zone that you can use on boards, except labels because these are specific to each board. Please note that if you have custom fields enabled in your organization, then they would be available to filter on this menu.
Sorting Cards (organizing work)
The next menu defaults on the Last Edited cards shown in descending order by showing the most recent edited card at the top of each column. We believe that this sorting order will provide you the best initial view to see at the top what is currently actively being worked on.
As shown above, you can choose from various ways to sort your cards and specify the order.
Searching Cards (finding work)
The last functionality displayed next to the menus described above is a search within the cards currently displayed on the board. There is nothing magical here, except the ability to quickly find a card.
What is that colorful line above the menu area?
Every time the cards displayed in the Summary Zone are updated, this bar will adjust to show you the allocation of cards within each of the colored column states. It’s not very scientific, but it serves as a quick visual way to assess where the work is.
Are you ready to get into the Summary Zone?
We created this feature in collaboration with our Enterprise customers who manage large organizations with multiple boards. The problem to solve was to provide a way to see the big picture across the entire organization or within certain areas. We believe that this ability to summarize all your boards in a single view will help you fine-tune your flow of work and identify more ways to streamline your processes. Enjoy!
