Project Management Tools Flashcards
Eisenhower Matrix
The Eisenhower Matrix (also known as the Urgent-Important Matrix) helps prioritize tasks by dividing them into four quadrants based on their urgency and importance:
Quadrant 1 (Urgent and Important): Tasks that require immediate attention and have a direct impact on achieving key goals. These are typically high-stakes items that need to be done as soon as possible, such as meeting deadlines or handling crises.
Quadrant 2 (Not Urgent but Important): Tasks that are important but do not require immediate action. These activities, like strategic planning, professional development, and long-term project goals, contribute to growth and success if managed proactively.
Quadrant 3 (Urgent but Not Important): Tasks that demand immediate attention but are not critical to long-term objectives. Examples include some emails, calls, or interruptions that can be delegated or minimized.
Quadrant 4 (Not Urgent and Not Important): Low-priority tasks that neither impact goals nor require immediate action, such as time-wasting activities or tasks that offer little value. These should be minimized or eliminated
Kanban Boards
Kanban Boards are a visual project management tool originating from lean manufacturing and adapted for software development and various industries. The board typically includes columns for each stage of a workflow (e.g., “To Do,” “In Progress,” and “Done”) to track task progress. Key elements of Kanban include:
1) Visual Workflow: Tasks are displayed on a board as cards, allowing team members to see the status of each task at a glance, which improves transparency and communication.
2) Work-In-Progress (WIP) Limits: Limiting the number of tasks in each stage helps avoid bottlenecks and encourages the team to complete ongoing tasks before taking on new ones.
3) Continuous Improvement: Kanban supports iterative refinement by continuously optimizing the flow and process based on real-time feedback and task completion rates.
4) Kanban boards are highly flexible and can be digital (e.g., Trello, Asana, Jira) or physical, allowing teams to adapt the structure to their specific workflows. This approach is commonly used in Agile project management for its ability to adapt to changing project requirements and improve team collaboration and productivity
