Whenever you start to work on a project, you want to make sure the project is sustainable from the start to the end. In addition, the main task of every project manager is to provide efficiency and effectiveness in the best interest of the company. Here, the Kanban board excel template can help you track your entire process by simply preparing a scrum board.
It is not a tiring process to follow each step of the project with the Kanban board. In addition, you can do this without using other tools or software programs. You only have to insert the data required into the database system and refresh the workbook page to display all featured results.


What is a Kanban Board in Excel?
A Kanban board is collective task management or workflow tool used in agile project management. It is easy for project managers and team members to add sticky notes and cards to the board. These notes represent the tasks and features they are working on and will work on next.
So, team members can arrange and organize all the stand-up meetings and priorities on the Kanban board. Thus, the status of the task is easy to update by moving it from the in-progress to inspection and testing to complete.
Kanban Board Excel Template Features
Generally, Kanban Excel Template has four main features, such as:


Kanban
In this section of the template, you can display the cards according to the filter and the board you choose. In addition, in this section, you can display and check the projects under various filters such as responsible person, priority, task due date, time until the due date, and overdue.
Furthermore, if you have more than one board in Kanban, you can insert the data into the database system and display your results separately on each board. You can also choose the section of “All” from the board section. You can also change the order of the status in the board by selecting your desired status from the available drop-down list. In addition, you can also delete the unnecessary features from the Kanban board.
Dashboard
In this section of the Kanban board, you can check and evaluate your project’s general view and performance. Whenever you change the data on the board, press the refresh section of the template. There is also a section of “notes” on the upper right corner of the template if you want to take notes of any project or task.
Database
The database is a section in the Kanban excel template to add any task, project, and property. You only have to select the desired sections from the drop-down menu, such as board, responsible person, significance, and stats. (Here, keep in mind that you have to first add these options in the setting section to choose them).
The due date is the date that you have set for the completion of the task, and the finish date shows the date on which you have completed the task. Finally, in the remark section of the database, you can insert your notes.
Settings
In the setting section, you add the data that you can use later while using other sections of the Kanban board. For example, in the status option of the settings, you can write down your statuses. Similarly, if you want to write the names of responsible people, you can add their names in the “Team members” section, and if you have more than one board, you can input your boards in the “Board section.”
So, by following this pattern, you can set five priority levels in the Kanban board template and define their color representations. Similarly, you can set the overdue percentage by doing the overdue % setting on the dashboard. You can also select the date format and connector styles for your desired dates. There is an overdue definition setting in the Kanban board from where you can do the overdue principal setting.
If you want to use both these options, you can get information about these options from the yellow instruction notes. The best thing about the Kanban board excel template is that it offers you the next level of customization. So, you can select the desired date that you want to be shown from the section of card data selection.
How Can You Create a Kanban Board Template in Excel?
Kanban board is an effective tool to manage high workloads effectively and efficiently. This tool becomes prominent in manufacturing organizations as a visual management tool. However, you can also use this tool for personal purposes to manage your tasks and to-do list.
So, do you want to know how to create a Kanban board template in Excel? Here, we will tell you simple steps to create a Kanban board template in Excel by following general and easy steps.


Design Your Flow
The first step to creating a Kanban template is to design your flow. In all Kanban boards’ templates, some columns are used to describe the task’s process stages or flow stages. The simplest three columns in a general Kanban board are:
- To-do column: List for tasks to be performed
- In the work column – tasks that have been started
- Done Column– tasks that have been completed
The first task that needs to be performed is to create a worksheet that will match the flow. In the worksheet, assign a column for those tasks you want to perform. Next, make a list of those tasks. Finally, only add those tasks you have already started in the second column. For instance, add 5. It means that currently, you are working on five tasks.
In the next step, you need to create a task card. Here you can add the following information:
- The task name
- Short description of the task
- Task Priority, you can use either High or Low. (High for most important and low for least important).
- Due date (when you have to complete the task)
- % complete- how much task has been completed
After designing the task card, you can use various colors for card formatting. You can also format cards according to the priority of the tasks, such as standard tasks, super urgent/priority tasks, and unplanned tasks. So, for the standards tasks, you can use blue color, for the super urgent/priority tasks, you can use red color, and for the unplanned tasks, you can use orange color.
After completing the formatting, you can easily paste these cards on your Kanban excel board and fill them as you want. So, this method of creating Kanban board templates on excel is simple, and you can easily use it for your medium-sized tasks and to-do lists.
Kanban Excel Template VS Google Sheet
If we talk about google sheets, it provides the best place for designing the Kanban board template. It is because the reason that google sheet provide ease and real-time collaboration to move the tasks between various lines by drag and drop option.
However, it is best to use Microsoft One-Drive when it comes to Excel. It is due to the reason that you can upload and share the file with numerous users. In addition, it also offers online access to everyone, even with mobile apps of Excel.
Top 4 Frequently Asked Questions
How does a Kanban board work?
These boards work by mapping independent work items and tasks to sticky notes available in the columns of a large board. The columns of the boards show the value stream. It is a sequence of certain steps that products and tasks must follow from the start of the project to the end.
Can I create a Kanban board in Excel?
You can make a Kanban board in Excel by following a few steps. First, go to the ‘Kanban Cards’ tab in your Excel sheet. Now make three task cards and make sure that all three columns have the same width according to the workflow status section of the Kanban Board Tab. The column’s same width helps you easily copy the task cards and paste them onto your Kanban board.
Is Kanban is better than scrum?
With the help of Kanban, you can visualize your work, organize your work that is in progress, and quickly transfer the work status from “doing” to “done.” This tool is best for team members with multiple incoming requests of different sizes and priorities. On the other hand, in the case of the scrum, you need to have high control over things in scope. So, we can say that Kanban is better than scum as it helps you move with the flow.
What are the limitations of the Kanban system?
There are a few limitations of the Kanban excel template, such as if it is outdated, it can cause issues in development. In addition, it can make the Kanban board more complicated. Time management is also a limitation linked with the Kanban board because no timeframes are set for each phase.