The Board View displays projects in Kanban-style columns. It's great for focusing on value when collecting and prioritizing initiatives and for moving projects through workflow stages.
- How the Board View Can Help You
- Where to Find
- How to Configure
- Filtering Projects
- Customizing Columns
- Customizing Project Cards
- Save Your Configuration as a Custom View
- How to Use the Board View
How the Board View Can Help You
You can configure the Board view to get the right perspective on your project portfolio. Here are a few examples on how to make the most out of it.
Making Decisions Based on Strategy
If your company uses a multi-level workflow for projects such as a set of Stage Gates, use the Board View to see the state of all work across the organization - from early initiatives to completed projects.
In each stage, the Kanban-style view and Drag & Drop functionality help you set clear priorities. To help with that, use a strategic project score and display it on each project card.
Find more information on how to use a strategic project score in Meisterplan in our Project Rank and Project Score article.
Managing Project Intake
Use the Board View to quickly and easily collect new project ideas. Configure the columns to show different project idea phases and add project details directly in Meisterplan as you collaborate with colleagues to build the idea.
The following video walks you through the project intake process and shows you how your company’s decision-making board can decide on which initiatives to fund.
For your Board View, use the following project idea phases:
- New Idea
- Brainstorming
- Expert Input
- In Definition
- Ready for Review
- Rejected
To accomplish this, set up a custom project field using these phases as field values, and then select that project field in the Board View. Learn more about project fields in our Manage Custom Project Fields article.
Where to Find
In the left Sidebar, click Board to open the view:
The Board View displays all projects as cards arranged in columns. Each column represents a value of the project field (e.g., Stage Gates) selected under Display by.
To choose which projects are displayed, select Date Range, Portfolio or Scenario in the header at the top of your screen. The Board displays all projects and their details that correspond to the selected custom view.
To open the project details view, move your cursor over the respective card and click on the square icon that appears in the top right of the card.
Toolbar
In the toolbar, you can add projects, search for project names or project keys, create filters, select the column display, configure the columns and save the view as PNG file.
Information Panel
Click one of the icons in the right sidebar to open the Information Panel. When you select a project, you can find its Overview, Change Log and Comments there.
If you've configured a color scheme, a guide to these colors is displayed n the Information Panel.
How to Configure
Filtering Projects
To filter the Board view for projects with certain values, click Filter:
You can select from the following fields:
- All custom fields of the single-select type, e.g., Status
- All custom fields of the multi-select type
- All custom fields of the checkbox type, e.g., Need for Decision
- Top level OBS units, e.g., department
- Project Manager
- Business Goal
- Rank Category
You can use several filters at the same time to further limit the results. Learn more in the Ad-Hoc Project Filter article.
Customizing Columns
The data displayed in the Board View is configured based on the columns chosen. Click Display by to select which project field values (e.g., Stage Gates) the columns represent:
You can choose from the following project fields:
- All custom project fields of the single-select type
- The Status system field
You can only select those project fields for which you have at least read-only rights.
If your current portfolio contains only some values of the selected project field (e.g., only the stage gates Active and Approved), the Board View will still display the columns for all values. Projects which are assigned to values not in the current portfolio will not be displayed.
When you move a project to a column whose value is not part of the portfolio, that project will be hidden once the view is refreshed.
Reordering Columns
Board View columns can only be displayed in a different order if you go to Manage > Project fields and reorder the field values of the chosen project field. Be aware that field value order affects every view and every user.
Configuring Project Cards
You can define which data is displayed on the cards and how the cards are colored. Choose the project details for the card from the following fields:
- All project fields for which you have at least read-only rights (system fields and custom project fields, except fields of the checkbox and text (multi-line) type)
- Financial Key Indicators (e.g., Planned Benefit, Total Planned Costs), displayed in the currency set under Manage > AdvancedProPremium
- All Actuals key figures from this listProPremium
- Financial key figures from this listProPremium
- Top level OBS
- The program name
- Last Changed
Choose the color scheme from the following fields:
- All project fields of the single-select type for which you have at least read-only rights
- Business Goal
You can also define if the project manager's picture should be displayed on the card.
Click Configure Cards to which details will be displayed on the card in addition to the project name:
Save Your Configuration as a Custom View
You can save every configuration of the Board view as a Custom View. Click the custom view name next to the title Board to select a different view or add a new view. To edit the view name or delete the view, click the three dots next to the view name. Depending on your user rights, you can also define access rights to the view for users and user groups.
Learn more in the Custom Views article.
How to Use the Board View
Moving Project Cards
To change the current project field value (e.g., Stage Gate) of a project, for example because it has been approved, simply drag and drop the card to another column. The card will be positioned in the column according to the rank of the project.
To change the priority rank of a project, move it up or down within its current column. The column will display the Must-Have and Cut-Off Lines to help you prioritize it correctly:
To move a card within its current column, you need to have the following rights:
- edit rights for the current scenario or the Plan of Record
- the Change Project Rank right
To move a card to another column, you need to have the following rights:
- edit rights for the current scenario or the Plan of Record
- either the Projects with Logged-In User as Project Manager or the All Projects and Programs right under Edit Projects and Programs
- edit rights for the currently selected project field
All changes made in the Board View (changing the project field value, changing the prioritization) are also carried out in all other views.
Editing Projects in Programs
In the Board View, you can easily see if a project is part of a program:
Projects that are part of a program can also be dragged to another column or moved within the same column to change its prioritization. The projects remain part of the program.
To move the entire program to another position, you need to move each project individually.
You can remove projects from a program by dragging the card outside the gray frame that represents the program and dropping it in another position within the same column.
To add a project to a program, drag the project card into the gray program frame. The card will be sorted into the program according to the project's rank.
Programs without projects will not be displayed in the Board View.
Adding New Projects
When you click Add Project, you can enter the name, start date, finish date and also the value of the project field currently selected in the Board View:
The field is automatically prefilled with the first value of the selected project field (e.g., Idea when the view is sorted by Stage Gates). You can easily change the value by opening the dropdown list and selecting another value so that the new project is listed under the correct column.
If you have the Change Project Rank right, the new project is placed right above the red Cut-Off line. Otherwise, it is placed right below the Cut-Off line.
To add projects, you need to have the following rights:
- edit rights for the current scenario or the Plan of Record
- Add Projects and Programs
All projects added in the Board View are also visible in all other views.
To use your current Board View outside of Meisterplan, click Save as Image (png) to download the view as an image file.