How to Use Trello to Boost Productivity

Listen on Spotify.

In our busy lives, it’s natural that we tend to lose track of time and end up wondering where our time went and stressing out about how little we managed to do.

Luckily, Trello can help us get back on track and get more done.

In the rest of this post, we’ll show you how to use Trello to boost productivity.

What is Trello?

Trello is a project management tool designed to simplify task organisation and facilitate collaboration. It is a free, flexible, visual, and straightforward way to deal with projects.

We can do much more with it than just manage tasks and projects, though.

After all, spreadsheets are useful for more than just collecting, displaying, and analysing data. No more than PowerPoint is only good for creating presentations for work, or Word exists solely to write books.

Likewise, Tello is not a single-purpose tool. You can use it to improve your personal productivity, while managers can use it to see each of the steps in several projects that are running simultaneously and assess what work needs to be done, what has been completed, and who is assigned to each task. It will make facilitating remote work — and work in the office, for that matter — a piece of cake.

How to Use Trello for Project Management

You can customise Trello to help you handle the demands of different-sized projects so that nothing is forgotten. View your workflow and use movable sticky notes full of information to better organise yourself and your team. It is also possible to alter the view so you can see your workflow on a timeline, map, or calendar.

Trello also allows you to:

• Organise and sort stages of tasks using coded labels to prioritise them. You can add functionality to your board using Power-Up apps.
• Kickstart team projects using Trello board templates.
• Sync with and track meetings. This way, you can put a stop to endless email loops and make sure everyone knows what they must do. You can make meetings interactive using pre-built checklists and agendas so that you can easily assign tasks to team members.
• Make managing requests a cinch. If you work in customer support, sales, design, or another field in which you receive a flow of requests, Trello can help you cope with the chaos. Use it to provide clear guidance on how to deal with any incoming requests. Add Custom Fields to provide more structured information, for example, time estimates costs, and more. You can even add due dates to keep everyone on track. Trello’s automation will automatically keep things moving by marking tasks as complete, moving on to the next stage, and notifying team members and managers. This will help save time. Read our post on automation and Zapier to see how you can use automation to your advantage.
• Master your to-do list. You can keep tabs on every aim with a to-do list. Create a simple ‘To Do,’ In Progress’ and ‘Done’ workflow. This is guaranteed to make a real difference to how much work you can get through every week.
• Use the Mise-En-Place board that one of the creators of Trello, Justin Gallagher, employs to boost efficiency. This productivity system involves dividing work into specific lists, so you don’t forget anything, then using a reference list to keep vital information handy. Check out our post on the Ivy Lee productivity system.   
• Use the Deep Icebox to record random ideas you may have and get them off your mind, thus helping to minimise distractions when working.
• Record tasks you want to complete soon in the Backlog.

Soon enough, you’ll learn to use Trello like a pro, skyrocket productivity, and help teams and businesses run like well-oiled machines. Now, let’s explore the benefits and drawbacks of the software.

Top 3 Advantages of Trello

Trello can be a handy bit of software for the right team and manager. The way you use it will depend on the aims you want to achieve and how you go about setting up boards.

Here are the top 3 things to love about Trello.

Super user-friendly interface

Trello is easy for everyone to understand. Its interface is intuitive, and therefore it takes little practice to get the hang of it. There are few moving parts compared to what some of its competitors offer, so training your team to use it will take no time at all.

Automation is available even on free accounts

Trello’s automation system lets you automate repetitive tasks and is simpler than using external tools like Zapier.

Multiple upgrades and third-party integrations on offer

There are several ways you can customise and configure Trello with a paid subscription, but there are also many third-party integrations you can use to customise it if you are willing to put a little extra time into setting it up. Using these integrations might be just the thing for you if you plan to use this software to complete a personal project.

Top 3 Disadvantages of Trello

It can get a bit more difficult to use Trello if you are attempting to manage numerous tasks on the same couple of cards.

Here are our top 3 reasons why you may want to consider shopping around before settling for Trello.

You must upgrade if you want to use powerful features

When you upgrade, Trello’s internal automation tool gets added depth, and some of Trello’s best and most useful features like the Gantt chart view and the Jira integration are off limits unless you’re prepared to pay.

It can be cumbersome to use for large projects

When you have just a few users managing a couple of cards every day, Trello is superb. However, the more lists you have on a single board, the harder it gets to use. The same is true when you add too many users.

Therefore, if you’re managing a process consisting of several steps, the more layers you’ll need to use if you want to make Trello work.

Must trust other users

You must be able to trust people to be competent, conscientious, and honourable when they use the software because Trello offers no way to give people permission to work on the cards you’ve created without also giving them the power to destroy them, falsify data or completely change them. This is particularly true when using a free account.

Wrapping Up

We hope that reading this has helped you decide whether you want to use Trello to help manage projects and facilitate collaboration. You may also have a better idea of how you can use Trello to boost productivity. We love using it for simple projects, and it’s good for keeping track of progress.

Don’t worry if Trello doesn’t sound like the project management for you though. Read our piece talking about 3 giants of project management software for more info on viable alternatives.

Thanks for reading!