illustration of a person learning how to use Trello holding a Trello board

Trello has been shared between friends, on Twitter, and amongst co-workers since 2011. You know it can help with project management, work management, team organization, and as an organizational knowledge base. Now you’ve decided to get your own Trello board to organize yourself and/or your business, and you’re wondering how to use Trello. We’re here for you, and we’re ready to help.

What Is Trello Used For?

Trello is your software bestie to organize, sort, plan, and collaborate on anything. Use it as a project management hub for teams of hundreds, or on your own to boost personal productivity. Managers and team members can see the multiple steps of any project, and quickly assess tasks completed, work to be done, and see what’s been assigned to whom.

However you use Trello, it’s going to give you, your organization, and your workflow an accurate, up-to-date, single source of truth across the entire work management lifecycle of any project. Dip into Trello anywhere you’re working. Use it for free, or go long and invest in fabulous features with Trello Standard, Trello Premium, or Trello Enterprise.

Go from idea to action with Trello’s intuitively simple workflows. From daily hybrid or remote work to project launches with your team, you can keep track of every detail in Trello. Get started with these top tips and templates.

How To Use Trello For Project Management

Keep big team projects organized from start to finish, track progress, and ensure that no task slips through the cracks. Trello is customizable to the demands of projects of any size. 

See your workflow kanban style to see every stakeholder and every step spread out with easy-to-move sticky notes full of data. Or change your view to see your workflow on a calendar, on a map, or on a timeline

Organize or sort any step with coded labels to categorize priorities. Quickly and easily add in any Power-Up app integrations to add functionality to your board.

Quickstart any team project with a project management Trello board template.

Sync And Track Weekly Team Meetings

End the “circle back” cycle, and let everyone know at a glance who’s doing what. Yes, it’s possible to run a meeting without everyone feeling like it should’ve been an email. Make team meetings interactive with pre-built agendas and checklists, then assign tasks to team members. Make next week’s meeting better with a ready-to-use Trello board template for team meetings.

Use Trello To Manage A Flow Of Incoming Requests

If you’re in customer service and support, sales, engineering, design, or any other business function with a steady stream (or deluge) of requests, use Trello to calm the chaos. (This quickstart template can get you started.) Use it to add visibility and clarity to who’s doing what, and as a knowledge base that houses clear guidelines for incoming requests. 

  • Create card templates for any task to ensure each request includes all the information your team needs. And use Custom Fields to add more structured information like costs, time estimates, phone numbers, and more to cards as needed.
  • Use labels to prioritize tasks, show ownership by individuals or teams, or to catalog a repository of cards by subject. 
  • Add due dates to any task to keep deadlines on track. 
  • Rely on Trello’s no-code automation functions to automatically move tasks to the next step, alert stakeholders, and mark tasks complete to save teams time.

Own Any To-Do List 

Track every goal and detail with a to-do list in Trello. A simple “To Do,” “Doing,” and “Done” workflow will transform how much you and your team accomplish every day and week. 

Increase productivity with the Mise-En-Place Personal Productivity System board that Justin Gallagher, one of the creators of Trello, uses every day. Split work into very specific lists so nothing falls through the cracks. Use the reference list to keep important information on hand (yes, Trello is also available for mobile).

Congratulations! You know how to use Trello, and you’re ready to become a Trello pro. Build team engagement, skyrocket your productivity, and transform yourself, your team, and your organization.

How to use Trello: organization and productivity for beginners