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Trello Tips and Tricks

Trello has become one of my favorite productivity tools. Here is a roundup of ways I’m using it.

Boards, Lists, and Cards are the building blocks. Boards hold Lists and Lists hold Cards.

I have Boards for my own weekly workflow and several for collaborating with clients. Boards are topical - for example, Client Workflow, or Business Development Pipeline, or a specific Project Name, or Weekly Schedule.

Lists are the subtopics inside your bigger topic. For a Business Development Pipeline, the lists may look something like Leads, Opportunities to Pursue, Contacts, Proposals, etc. For a specific project like an event or a website launch, the lists could be the smaller pieces like Venue, Vendors, Catering, Invitations, and Marketing.


The cards hold all the details. This piece is where Trello gets really fun. While you can just throw cards up on a list just like a to do list, you can also use color-coded labels, due dates, checklists, and add every kind of attachment you can think of. The cards can also be easily dragged around the board to move from list to list as needed. This is super useful in my Weekly Schedule Board as I can simply brain dump all the things I need to get done and then go back and prioritize later without retyping anything.

Next up - A Specific Use Case: the Weekly Schedule

Using Trello: Organizing a Weekly Schedule

Using Trello: Organizing a Weekly Schedule

I use Trello in all kinds of ways. One of the best things is that all of the ways I'm using it are available with the FREE version! There have been 1 or 2 times where I wanted to use a feature that would require the premium version, but I was able to find work arounds. As a small business owner, finding tools that are effective and budget-friendly is a win all around.


One of my boards is set up to manage my weekly schedule. My lists are set up with each day of the week, plus one called "Next Week" and "Next Month". On each day of the week, I have a couple of cards that always stay there - these cards contain checklists of items that I need to do weekly. For example, each Monday, I need to check on certain things for certain clients, and do several business building tasks for my own business. Instead of having to hold all those tasks in my memory or in miscellaneous notebooks, it's all there in my Trello board. I use the other cards to throw to do items on my list, moving them from day to day, based on the schedule and priority.

One of my other most used boards is my Team Board.

Trello weekly schedule (2).png

Trello is a great collaboration tool as well. I have a board I'm using to manage my new team. On my team board, one list is for projects and assignments and then each team member has their own list. I can put cards on each person's list to assign them that task.


Each team member watches their list to get notifications of anything new that is added. (Watch a list by clicking the three dots at the top left corner - this will allow you to receive notifications when anything happens on this list).


I also have a list that holds templates and instructions for recurring tasks. I can add attachments from my computer, Google Drive, or Dropbox.


My team members can comment on the cards when they have questions and tag me if they need a quick response. While I do get an email notification, all the relevant information is right there on the card and not buried in an email string.


When I open up this board, I can easily see who's working on what and what tasks still need to be assigned. I have clients who use this method as well. Sometimes I'm helping them manage the assignments for their team and other times, I'm one of their lists receiving assignments through Trello. Either way, it's been a great way of keeping the team on the same page.

Trello weekly schedule (3).png


The way Trello is organized makes it a great tool for holding all the pieces of your client workflow process. Here’s one way to set it up:

Create lists for each step of your process. These lists should mirror what you're actually doing. Creating this board can be a great exercise even if you don't end up using it for your client workflow, because it forces you to lay it all out!

Once you have your lists set up, place your clients in the appropriate lists. Then move them through your process as it progresses.


My Lists could be: Potential Clients, Proposals, Onboarding, Follow-Up. I would move people from Potential Clients to either Proposals or Follow-up once we've had a strategy session depending on the outcome of the call.


I use checklists in the first card of all these lists to detail what needs to be done for each client at each stage. (Just creating these checklists is amazingly helpful to clarify your processes and feel organized about your next steps. Do it even if you're not going to use Trello!!)

Trello weekly schedule (4).png

Trello works very well with other software services so you can leverage all their features for very helpful automated tools. My favorite so far is Zapier. This tool probably requires its own full post - go check it out, it's very powerful! www.zapier.com. Zapier connects standalone software systems, such as Trello with others, such as Mailchimp or Gmail to automate certain functions.


Here is one of the ways we're using it:

  • Potential Customer fills out contact form online.

  • Form sends email to my client.

  • Zapier shoots all that information over to the Trello List called "Potential Clients" AND puts a checklist of to do items on that card so that the team doesn't lose track of leads that find the website on their own.

That function is just one that exists. Trello has its own system of “Power-ups” that paid memberships can take full advantage of. Integration with calendars, Google Drive, and many other tools is possible.

Trello weekly schedule (5).png

Speaking of calendars - I enjoy using Trello's deadline tools! They’re very useful, but somewhat limited. How to use:

You can select a "Due Date" on every card. That Due date follows the card wherever it goes!

Here's what I like:

Each card can have its own deadline. And you can hook up a board to your Google Calendar so that those deadlines will pop up in your calendar.

Now, Trello also has its own Home Page Feed where it gives you a snapshot of all your upcoming deadlines across boards.

What I don't like:

Even with the Home Page, it's hard to visually get a quick glance of all the deadlines coming up across all boards. I like the calendar view - but you can only see this one board at a time. Similarly, the Google Calendar Power-up is useful, but you have to set it up for every board. Depending on the number of boards you have and the number of deadlines you're trying to track, it gets a bit cumbersome.

Also, I don't like that there are no notifications connected to Due Dates. This would be a very useful feature

Bottom Line:

I find this feature most useful on the boards that are holding multiple projects, or that are keeping track of multiple clients. On these, it's great to have the granular due dates.


Make Trello Work For You

This post has barely scratched the surface on Trello and it’s powerful abilities. I’d love to hear how you’re using it. If you’re interested in getting started with Trello but don’t know where to start, let’s talk!




Rachel Kraft