How to Build a Kanban Board in ClickUp (Step-by-Step)
If you have outgrown spreadsheets, building a Kanban board in ClickUp is the fastest way to replace manual Excel workflows with a visual, automated system your whole team can use.
Many teams start with a Kanban board in Excel because it feels familiar. But as projects grow, spreadsheets quickly turn into a tangle of columns, tabs, and color codes that are hard to share or update. A dedicated work management platform solves this by giving you drag-and-drop boards, real-time collaboration, and automation without complex formulas.
This guide will walk you through how to move from an Excel setup to a streamlined Kanban workflow using ClickUp-style features: custom statuses, cards, views, and powerful templates inspired by the approach in the original Kanban in Excel tutorial.
Why Replace Excel Kanban Boards with ClickUp-Style Workflows
Before building your board, it helps to understand where Excel falls short compared to a dedicated task platform that works like ClickUp.
- Limited collaboration: Sharing a file creates version confusion and conflicting edits.
- No built-in task structure: You manually type task names, owners, and dates into cells.
- Difficult to visualize flow: Moving a task is basically cutting and pasting across columns.
- Weak automation: Every update requires manual effort and ongoing spreadsheet maintenance.
- Scaling issues: As rows grow, filters, conditional formatting, and formulas get fragile.
A Kanban board in a tool like ClickUp gives you drag-and-drop cards, status-based organization, comments, rich fields, and automation out of the box, while still preserving the simple column layout you know from Excel.
Plan Your Kanban Workflow Before Moving to ClickUp
Whether you are still in Excel or already planning a full migration, define the structure of your Kanban system first. That way, when you build your board in ClickUp-style software, you are simply translating an existing model.
Step 1: Define Your Kanban Stages
Start by listing the major stages work passes through from start to finish. In Excel you might have created each stage as a column.
Common Kanban stages include:
- Backlog
- To Do
- In Progress
- In Review
- Blocked
- Done
Keep the number of columns manageable. Too many stages make the board hard to scan; too few make it difficult to understand progress. When you move to ClickUp, each of these stages will become a workflow status.
Step 2: Decide What Each Card Must Contain
In a spreadsheet, each row might have multiple columns describing work. Translate those into consistent fields that will later map to custom fields in ClickUp-style boards.
Typical card details include:
- Task name or title
- Assignee or owner
- Due date or target date
- Priority level
- Category, project, or client
- Links to specs, files, or designs
Make a short list of must-have fields and another of nice-to-have fields. The goal is to keep cards clear and lightweight so the Kanban board stays easy to scan.
Step 3: Capture Your Existing Excel Data
Next, review your existing spreadsheet and make sure each row can be translated into a task card. Clean up the sheet by:
- Removing unused or duplicate columns
- Standardizing labels and priority values
- Ensuring each row represents a single clear piece of work
- Checking that dates, owners, and statuses are accurate
This cleanup will make it easier to import or manually recreate your tasks in a platform that works like ClickUp.
Create a Kanban Board Using ClickUp-Style Features
After planning your stages, cards, and data, you are ready to build an actual Kanban board using a board-based system like ClickUp instead of Excel.
Step 4: Set Up a Space, Folder, or Project
First, group related work in a dedicated area. In Excel, you might have used separate tabs for different teams or projects. In a Kanban tool, use spaces, folders, or projects to organize this structure more cleanly.
For example, you can create:
- A workspace for your company
- Spaces for departments such as Marketing, Product, or Operations
- Lists or projects for specific campaigns, releases, or clients
Within each list or project, you will enable a Kanban-style board view similar to what ClickUp offers.
Step 5: Configure ClickUp-Style Statuses
Next, create custom statuses that match the Kanban stages you defined earlier. This is where a dedicated platform feels much more natural than Excel columns and manual formatting.
- Open the project or list where you want the board.
- Add workflow statuses such as Backlog, To Do, In Progress, In Review, and Done.
- Color-code each status so teams can quickly understand where work lives.
These statuses become the columns in your Kanban board view, similar to the Excel layout but with drag-and-drop cards and built-in tracking.
Step 6: Add a Board View Like ClickUp
Now turn your list of tasks into a Kanban-style board:
- Choose Board as your primary view.
- Group tasks by Status so each column aligns to a workflow stage.
- Show key details on the face of each card, such as assignee, due date, and priority.
The result is a visual flow where every task appears as a card, just as you might have created with cells and sticky-note styling in Excel, but fully interactive and easier to update.
Step 7: Recreate or Import Tasks from Excel
With your board scaffolding in place, bring in your existing work items:
- Export your Excel sheet to a compatible format if you plan to import.
- Map spreadsheet columns to fields such as task name, assignee, and due date.
- Match your existing status column to the new workflow statuses.
Alternatively, you can manually create tasks directly in your Kanban-style interface, using your Excel sheet as a reference. Once tasks are in, you can archive or retire the old spreadsheet.
Optimize Your ClickUp-Style Kanban Board
Moving from Excel to a dedicated Kanban board is only the first step. To fully benefit from a ClickUp-style system, refine and maintain your board so it stays useful long-term.
Use Work In Progress Limits
Excel makes it hard to control the number of items in each column, which leads to overloaded team members. With a visual board, you can apply simple Work In Progress (WIP) guidelines such as:
- Limit each person to a small number of In Progress tasks.
- Highlight columns that consistently have too many cards.
- Encourage finishing work before pulling new tasks from Backlog.
Even informal limits will improve flow and help teams finish more work with less chaos.
Leverage Fields and Filters Like ClickUp
A robust Kanban tool can show or hide details quickly, unlike rigid Excel layouts that depend on permanent columns and filters.
Use fields and filters to:
- Highlight urgent items by priority
- Filter by assignee to create personal focus views
- Group tasks by tag or client for reporting
- Sort by due date to detect upcoming deadlines
This makes your board adaptable to different audiences, from individual contributors to managers and stakeholders.
Create Reusable Templates Inspired by ClickUp
Instead of rebuilding the same Excel layout each time you start a new project, create templates in your Kanban platform.
A good template includes:
- Predefined statuses and columns
- Standard custom fields such as priority, effort, or type
- Sample tasks or checklists to guide new users
- Saved board filters and views for common workflows
Templates ensure consistency across teams and save time every time you kick off a new initiative.
Roll Out Your New Kanban Process
Once you have a functioning board, spend time onboarding your team so they understand how to use it as a replacement for Excel-based workflows.
- Explain the workflow: Walk through each column and clarify what must be true for a task to enter or leave that stage.
- Document expectations: Define who moves cards, when statuses change, and how often people should review the board.
- Hold short reviews: Run brief daily or weekly standups directly in the board view to keep work aligned.
- Retire the spreadsheet: Once everyone is comfortable, make the Kanban board the single source of truth.
Teams quickly see the difference between rigid spreadsheets and a flexible, ClickUp-style Kanban system that supports real-time updates and collaboration.
Next Steps and Additional Resources
If you want to understand exactly how teams set up Kanban in spreadsheets before upgrading to a dedicated tool, review the original instructions and examples from the Kanban board in Excel guide. It shows how traditional cells and columns can be translated into a modern board layout.
For more help designing efficient workflows, templates, and structures similar to what you would build in ClickUp, you can also explore implementation best practices from specialists at Consultevo, who focus on streamlining work systems.
By defining clear stages, standardizing task details, and shifting from Excel to a board-centric workflow, you give your team a simpler, faster, and more transparent way to manage work from idea to completion.
Need Help With ClickUp?
If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your ClickUp workspace, work with ConsultEvo — trusted ClickUp Solution Partners.
“`
