In this article:
1. How to Create Multiple Workflows?
2. Common Kanban Scenarios for Multiple Flows
2.1. Visualize classes of service in a project
2.2. Set up different workflows of different team members
With the multiple workflows feature in your arsenal, you can design any board you want. The multilayer board structure supports team members in their individual and cooperative work and gives ground for process refinement and improvement.
1. How to Create Multiple Workflows?
Step 1: Open an existing board or create a new Board.
Step 2: Open the edit workflow mode of the board from the "Edit Workflow" icon on the top left side of the screen.
Step 3: Click on the "Create new workflow" button and select a new workflow. Set up the flow phases using the workflow designer. With this tool, you can design your workflow to match your specific scenario.
You can see this in action in the video below:
Note: If you have a similar workflow to the one you want to create on a different board, you can copy it using the “Copy Existing” option from the Workflow creation wizard.
Each workflow has a separate "Configure cycle time" option located on the right-hand side of the setup window. Here you can configure which columns should be taken into account to calculate the final cycle time of the cards. Users with the relevant permissions also have the option to Delete or Disable the workflow.
2. Common Kanban Scenarios for Multiple Flows
2.1. Visualize classes of service in a project
Different classes of service in a project are most likely to have different workflows. Usually, tasks in a project are classified by business impact, urgency, complexity, and priority.
Each class of work has a specific execution policy that the team agrees to follow. Examples of classes of service where Multiple workflows are particularly useful are “Expedite” and “Standard.”
The typical example of setting a multilayer structure is that the "business as usual" tasks go through the established project process flow, while expedited cards pass through a simpler process (see image below). Each workflow has its own WIP limit as well as different cycle time configuration.
2.2. Set up different workflows of different team members
This scenario covers the case when different team members follow completely different work processes. Such a setup will allow you to visualize the progress of tasks and to quickly follow dependencies across team members.
For example, you might have an RnD team with front-end, back-end, and QA experts. A common goal could be developing a new feature or functionality. The tasks distributed across team members would include UI, functionality development and deployment, and testing. In this case, each team member would follow an entirely different process to complete their respective tasks, which would therefore require separate workflows.