How can I keep my kids occupied and productive so I can get my own work done, and stay sane? I’ve created a visual kanban board for my kids (ages 16 and 14), with a few goals in mind.

1. To make expectations clear

2. To create an accountability mechanism, so we as parents don’t have to nag them every day

3. To give the kids autonomy to decide which specific things they will do

The board represents all the weekly work we expect them to do, in addition to assigned school work.

Yes, I realize it differs from a standard kanban board in some ways and doesn’t include WIP limits. So call it a kanban-ish board, if you like.

Our weekly expectations for each kid:

1. Family & household tasks 3 times per week: aka ‘chores’, but ‘chores’ is such an un-fun word

2. Active, sports or exercise activities 4 times per week

3. Non-screen activities daily (7x per week); exercise counts in this category

4. Optional educational online activities, such as computer programming

5. Music practice 4 times per week (this is expected by their Band teacher)

I created this kanban-ish board layout only recently, after learning from an earlier layout that wasn’t as well organized. I expected to get the ‘rolling eye’ treatment from my teenagers, but was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t receive it.

Update at the end of our first week:

At the end of week 1 with the kids upgraded task boards (aka #kanban boards), both of my kids finished all of their expected tasks. (My daughter finished the last household item immediately after I snapped this photo.) The extra effort of making a well-organized and much more visually appealing board seems to have paid dividends. Liz did say that she doesn’t want to be ‘harassed’ each day, so we’ll see if she can still get things done without a daily reminder. 😉 #agile #ScrumAtHome #KanbanForKids