How to Use
Once your Kanban Swimlane Board is set up, you can start using it to manage your workflow effectively. This guide covers the key features and customization options for swimlanes and Kanban cards.
Editing swimlanes and Kanban columns
Customizing swimlanes and columns helps align the board with how your teams actually work. Once the app is set up, you can fine-tune the Kanban view so it matches your real workflow.
- Reorder swimlanes (boards) to reflect your priorities or team structure.
- Configure each column by setting WIP limits, adjusting column widths, and adding new items directly into any column.
The video below shows how to use these customization options step by step.
How to define column WIP limits
WIP limits define how many items can be in a column at the same time. A good starting point is to set limits close to the number of people who actively work there (around 1–2 items per person) and then adjust based on how the team flows. Although the app only enforces limits per column, you can still think in terms of swimlane-level WIP by keeping the total number of items per team or project near what they can reasonably handle (typically no more than 2–3 items per person across the swimlane).
For more background on why WIP limits are critical to building a stable system, see the Stable System page in the Flow Metrics resources.
How to reorder columns
To reorder the columns, go to the underlying monday.com board and change the order of the labels in the Status column that defines your workflow, as shown in the image below.
The Kanban Swimlanes App will automatically use this order for the columns. At the moment, columns cannot be hidden directly from the app.
Editing Kanban cards
Kanban cards can be customized to show more context and let you update work without opening each item in the board. This makes it easier to see the right information and keep the board up to date. The following options can be configured on each card:
| What you can configure | Details |
|---|---|
| Extra board fields on the card | Add additional board columns to each card. You can add up to 5 fields. Supported column types are: Status, Text, Long text, Numbers, Formula (when all referenced values are on the same board), People, Location, Date, and Timeline. |
| Group-based color stripe | Show a colored stripe on the card based on the group where the item is located. This makes it easy to visually separate areas of the board, for example by using each group as a different class of service (such as Expedite, Fixed date, Standard, or Improvement work). For more ideas on how to use groups and colors, see the Statik for defining the Kanban board page. |
| Inline field editing | Edit board field values directly from the card. Most fields are updated immediately; item name and People columns may take a moment to refresh. If you don't see the change straight away, simply reload the app. |
| Item updates | Write and read item updates without leaving the Kanban view. After you post an update, a small notification icon appears the next time you open the updates modal, and the update counter on the card is increased. The notification icon is shown for up to 24 hours after the update is created. |
| Subitem status summary | Show a small summary bar with the status distribution of each item's subitems. The summary uses the first Status-type column on the subitems; to change it, move the desired Status column to the first position. |
Tip:
You can also use monday.com's native filters to reduce the number of items shown in the view.
The video below shows how to configure and use these options on Kanban cards.
Using the app
In a typical Kanban board, items move from left to right towards Done. When an item is finished in a column, it frees capacity so the team can pull a new item from the column immediately to the left, keeping each column within its WIP limit. Use the Kanban Swimlanes App in the same way: focus on finishing items already in progress before pulling new work.
To move work forward, simply drag and drop cards between columns. Cards can be placed in any vertical position within a column so you can keep the most important items near the top. At the moment, cards cannot be dragged between different swimlanes or boards.
You can also reorder cards within the same column to make priorities clear: items at the top are worked on first, while items lower down can wait.
Important:
When you reorder cards, the item order is also updated in the board, but their groups are preserved. Reordering items does not move them to a different group.