This article provides an introduction to Visual Task Boards (VTBs) and explains how to create one in ServiceNow.

Overview of Visual Task Boards (VTBs)

A Visual Task Board (VTB) is a task management tool that allows you to organise and manage tickets and tasks using a Kanban-style board.

A VTB is an interactive graphical experience, structured in vertical lanes (columns). VTB lanes are visually similar to columns in an Excel spreadsheet. The lanes contain cards for your tickets/tasks. You also have the option to add swimlanes (rows).

In the example below, there are 4 lanes titled New, ServiceNow, Business World and HR systems, with 131, 11, 4 and 3 cards respectively.

Elements of a Visual Task Board

The following ServiceNow Documentation page provides an overview of the different elements of a Visual Task Board:
Elements of Visual Task Boards

Task board tools

At the top right of the board are task board tools. 

The following ServiceNow Documentation page details the different tools available: Visual Task Board tools.

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3 types of Visual Task Board

There are 3 types of Visual Task Board:

1. Freeform
2. Flexible
3. Guided (or Data Driven)

The following video from ServiceNow provides an overview of the different types of Visual Task Board.

Freeform board

A Freeform VTB works much like a planner board where you can create and group post-it notes into lanes. A Freeform board has no links to incident, request or project tickets.

A Freeform VTB allows you to create and name your lanes and swimlanes as you wish.

You can create Private tasks within this VTB (which can be assigned to another person if required) but you cannot work with incident, request or project ticket data in this board.

Flexible board

A Flexible VTB displays tickets/tasks that match a filter against a particular table, for example the Task table which holds Incident and Request records. A filter can be set up when creating the board, for example to display all active tickets that are assigned to a specified Assignment Group. A card will be removed from the board when it no longer matches the filter criteria. For example if the filter is set to display active tickets, when a ticket is closed it will no longer display on the VTB.

A Flexible VTB allows you to create and rename your lanes and swimlanes as you wish, as with a Freeform Board. Moving a card from one lane to another does not update the ticket in any way or impact its state. For example moving a card from a lane named 'In progress' to a lane named 'Closed', will not close the ticket.

A Flexible VTB is a combination of a Freeform Board and a Data Driven Board.

Guided board (or Data driven board)

A Guided VTB is similar to a Flexible VTB except Guided VTB lanes correspond to field values and cannot be edited in most cases.

In a Guided VTB the lanes correspond to real (or real attributes of) tickets and tasks in ServiceNow. For example, if the lanes are ticket states, the headings would be In Progress, Closed Complete, Awaiting User Info and so on. If the lanes are Assigned to, the lanes would correspond to the members of the Assignment Group.

In a Guided VTB, moving a card from one lane to another will make those changes to the ticket/task in ServiceNow. For example, moving an incident card from the In Progress lane to the Resolved lane will close the incident and change its state to Resolved.

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Create a Visual Task Board

Freeform board

Step-by-step instructions to create a Freeform board:

1. Select the All menu

2. Enter visual task board in the Filter navigator

3. Select My Task Boards

4. Select New (or select Create New Visual Task Board - this option will display if you have not created any boards previously)

5. Select Freeform board

6. An empty, fully customisable board will display. From here you can:

1. Change the name of each lane (by selecting the name of the lane)
2. Drag and drop lanes to re-order them
3. Add new lanes
4. Add swimlanes:
   • Select the Info button from the options at the top right of the screen
     
   • Select the toggle for Swimlanes

Private Tasks

You can create private tasks in your Freeform board that are essentially working notes or 'stickies'. These can be useful for managing a workload and tracking progress for yourself and other member(s) you add to the board.

Step-by-step instructions to create a Private Task:

1. Select Add Card

2. Enter a title for the task (then press enter or click away from the task to save it)

The task will be given a number. In the example below the number is PTSK001259:

3. Select the task to add a Description, Public notes/Work notes, enter a due date and so on. If you select the task number link you can also assign the task to a Group

4. Select Save

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Flexible board

The example below creates a Flexible board that displays all active incidents and requests for the Business Applications Support group. The names of the lanes can be entered/amended as required.

Step-by-step instructions to create a Flexible board:

1. Select the All menu

2. Enter visual task board in the Filter navigator

3. Select My Task Boards

4. Select New (or select Create New Visual Task Board - this option will display if you have not created any Boards previously)

5. Select Data driven board

6. From the Task Table drop-down list, select Task

7. From the Vertical Lane Field drop-down list, select --None--

(Selecting --None-- for the Vertical Lane Field means a Flexible Board will be created rather than a Data Driven Board. Data Driven Boards are detailed in the next section).

8. Select Next

9. Set up the Filter/condition(s):

1. Select Assignment group from the drop-down list on the left
2. Select Is from the central drop-down list
3. Enter the name of the Assignment Group in the field on the right (the example below is 'Business Applications Support')
4. Select And (to add another condition)
5. For this condition, set up Active is true

10. Select Next

You will now have a Flexible VTB with all your tickets grouped in the To Do lane to the left.

11. The VTB will be given a default title. Select the title field to update as required

 

In this style of board, you can also:

12. Rename lanes by selecting the name and updating as required

13. Reorder the lanes by dragging and dropping

14. Add additional lanes by selecting Add Lane

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Guided board (or Data driven board)

The example below creates a Guided board that displays all active incidents and requests for the Business Applications Support group, with lanes for each member of the group.

Step-by-step instructions to create a Guided Board:

1. Select the All menu

2. Enter visual task board in the Filter navigator

3. Select My Task Boards

4. Select New (or select Create New Visual Task Board - this option will display if you have not created any Boards previously)

5. Select Data driven board

6. From the Task Table drop-down list, select Task

7. From the Vertical Lane Field drop-down list, select Assigned to

(Selecting an option that is not --none-- for the Vertical Lane Field, means a Data Driven Board will be created rather than a Flexible Board).

The Swimlane Field would add in horizontal rows that can be collapsed, expanded or removed/hidden from the board. In this example we do not add Swimlanes.

8. Select Next

9. Set up the Filter/condition(s):

1. Select Assignment group from the drop-down list on the left
2. Select Is from the central drop-down list
3. Enter the name of the Assignment Group in the field on the right (the example below is 'Business Applications Support')
4. Select And (to add another condition)
5. For this condition, set up Active is true

In the example above, all tickets that are both active and assigned to Business Applications Support will be shown on the VTB.

As you apply conditions, the number of tickets that will be displayed on the board is shown.

10. Select Create

After a slight pause ServiceNow will generate the VTB. The length of time to generate it will depend on the size and complexity of the VTB.

11. The VTB will be given a default title. Select the title field to update as required

Note that for a Guided board, if you move a ticket from one lane to another the underlying data for that ticket will be updated. For example, if a board has lanes for the Assignees of tickets, moving a card from one Assignee lane to another will reassign the ticket to that person.

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Manage your tasks

Open a task/card

To view the content of a card:

1. Select the card

2. A window will open showing a condensed view of the ticket (primarily the notes on the ticket). You can make updates to the ticket/task from here if you wish

3. Selecting the ticket/task number in the top-left corner of the window will open the full view of the ticket/task

Change the settings of your VTB

To change the settings and filters of your VTB:

1. Select the Info icon within the task board tools at the top right of the screen

The options will vary according to the type of board you have created. For example, the Swimlane field will only show if you have specified a Vertical Lane Field.

2. You can edit the Filter & Sort options and other parameters to reconfigure the board. For example to change the Vertical Lane Field from Assigned to to State, or to add/remove swimlanes.

If your lanes are displaying ticket States you may find you have more than 1 lane with the same heading type. For example a VTB pulling data from the Task table can have 2 lanes with the heading Closed complete, one for projects and one for requested items.

Hide/unhide lanes or swimlanes

To hide a lane:

1. Select the 3 dots menu alongside the lane or swimlane heading

2. Select Hide lane

To unhide a lane:

1. Select the Configuration icon from the task board options at the top right of the screen

2. Select Advanced Settings

A list of all vertical lanes/swimlanes will display in the Lane Configuration section.

3. Tick the box for an option to display on the VTB and untick the box for it to be hidden

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Video tutorial from ServiceNow

The following video from ServiceNow provides an overview of setting up the different Visual Task Boards.

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Checklists and Checklist templates

Within a Visual Task Board you can create a Checklist for a ticket. Checklists are useful as they break down tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. They make it easier to track progress and ensure no steps are missed.

A Checklist can be created for an individual ticket. A Checklist template can be created and made available to staff within a particular Assignment Group, and used across multiple tickets. Templates are useful for handling tickets with recurring tasks.

Checklists and Checklist templates are only available within VTBs.

When a ticket is opened from a VTB card, the Checklist options are available from the dialogue box that opens with the ticket details. 

Steps to create a Checklist

A Checklist is only visible within the ticket is has been created. To make a Checklist available across multiple tickets and for multiple staff, a Checklist template must be created (see the section below Steps to create a Checklist template).

1. Select a card within your Visual Task Board

A dialogue box will open with the ticket details. 

2. On the right hand side of the dialogue box, within the Checklist section, select Add item

3. Enter all the checklist items as required (you can add, remove and rearrange the items)

As the checklist items are ticked off they will display as greyed out and with a strike-through. You can untick an item if it is has been ticked in error.

Steps to create a Checklist template

1. Select a card within your Visual Task Board

A dialogue box will open with the ticket details. 

2. On the right hand side of the dialogue box, within the Checklist section, select Add item

3. Enter all the checklist items as required (you can add, remove and rearrange the items)

4. Select the 3 dots menu and select Save as Template

5. Enter a Template Name

6. Select an Assignment Group

Leaving this field blank prevents anyone but the template creator from using the checklist template.

7. Select Save

Add an Assignment Group to a Checklist template

If a Checklist template has been created and saved without adding an Assignment Group, follow the steps below to add one. A Checklist template can only be used by other staff if an Assignment Group has been added. Otherwise it will only be visible to the template creator. 

1. Enter checklist_template.list in the Filter navigator

A list of the checklists you have created will display.

2. Select the required checklist 

A dialogue box will appear with the details of the checklist.

3. Select the magnifying glass alongside the Group field

4. Search for and select the required Assignment Group 

5. Select Save

The checklist template will now be available to all staff within the chosen Assignment Group.

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Related content

Introduction to ServiceNow

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