News Analysis
Trello last week unveiled a major update that aims to transform the Atlassian-owned project management tool into a comprehensive task management solution.
The update acknowledges the complexities of task management in the modern workplace. With to-dos spread out across multiple apps — email, chat messages, meetings — individual productivity can take a nose-dive as employees lose track of deadlines and assignments, which in turn pushes projects off course.
“With this update, we aim to return Trello to its roots in personal productivity. Rather than attempting to accommodate complex project management scenarios — areas that are not Trello's forte — we are focusing on simplifying the process of tracking and organizing the tasks that individuals need to complete,” Gaurav Kataria, head of product for Trello, told Reworked in an email interview.
What's Inside Trello's Update
Ultimately, the basic idea driving the new updates is that when one team member has difficulty managing their to-do list, it creates a ripple effect throughout the organization. When this issue is scaled across an entire organization, it becomes a significant concern. "The new Trello features promote better organization at the individual level. By improving the organization and productivity of team members, Trello improves the organization and productivity of the team,” he said.
Trello accomplishes this through a combination of new features, integrations, and of course, AI.
1. Inbox
Every Trello board will now include an "Inbox" column, allowing users to quickly capture tasks and ideas from multiple sources through a series of shortcuts. Once tasks land in the Inbox, users can organize by to-do, doing or done.
2. New Integrations
The new integrations anticipate some of the highest trafficked areas for collaboration and communication, including:
- Slack Integration: Users can save Slack messages directly to their Trello Inbox and receive notifications about Trello cards in Slack channels.
- Email Integration: Forward emails to Trello to create new cards without leaving your inbox.
- Voice Assistant Support: Dictate tasks to Siri, which will then populate your Trello inbox.
- Microsoft Teams: Integration coming soon.
3. Organize With the Help of AI
Trello's AI capabilities summarizes meeting notes, pulls due dates and create sub-tasks from the raw text.
4. Block Time With Trello Planner
Trello Planner allows users to allocate time for various tasks directly in their Google Calendar (Microsoft Outlook Calendar expected soon) by dragging and dropping directly from the Inbox. The unified view helps with effective time blocking, allowing users to allocate specific time slots for tasks. Kataria notes this feature helps not only keep individuals on track, but also teams.
5. Share Tasks Across Boards With Card Mirroring
Card mirroring has been one of the most requested features from users over the years, Kataria said. It allows a single task card to appear on multiple boards simultaneously, ensuring real-time updates across teams. It enhances coordination, reduces duplication and maintains consistency in shared tasks. Individuals can also mirror tasks across personal and team boards, streamlining workflow and communication.
6. 'Mark as Done'
The new "Mark as Done" functionality is a response to a survey insight, which found many workers find more satisfaction in crossing off tasks than receiving kudos. Mark as done allows users to check off completed tasks to gain that sense of accomplishment. Users can also automate the process, to archive marked tasks or move them to a 'done list' automatically.
“This insight was quite intriguing,” Kataria said. “It’s easy to see why there’s a unique satisfaction in crossing off a task and watching your to-do list shrink.”
Kataria added that the updates are a work in progress, noting the critical role beta user feedback played in refining the final product. "We have been closely monitoring their insights regarding the AI's performance. Is it effectively summarizing the messages you forwarded to your Inbox and accurately identifying useful tasks? The response to this question must always be 'yes.'” He added that a negative experience with AI can deter users from trying it again, so it is essential to get it right before the open beta launch in April.
"We are pleased with the current performance and will continue to make adjustments until it reaches perfection," he said.
Trello as Central Hub, Not an App Replacement
Trello's new features aim to streamline workflows and boost efficiency. According to research, teams using Slack and Trello together report a 32% increase in project completion rates. The integration of these tools can also reduce email usage by up to 48%. And although the focus here is clearly on improving individual productivity, the fundamental drive to enhance productivity across teams remains the same.
Globally, the updates come at a time when workers are overwhelmed by the number of apps and tools they juggle every day. Trello is looking to consolidate the tasks across these disparate solutions into a unified system.
However, do not mistake this move as an attempt to the tools people rely on to accomplish work, said Kataria. "This is not a 'one app to rule them all' scenario,” he said. "Instead, we envision Trello as the central hub where all to-dos are collected from the various sources they originate from."
Every application, be it Workday, Salesforce or a highly specialized tool for a specific industry, generates email notifications when user action is required, Kataria continued. Users can now forward these emails to their Trello Inbox and address them at their convenience, reducing the risk of any task slipping through the cracks. Additionally, they can save Slack messages for later reference or use voice commands with Siri to add tasks directly to their Inbox. This centralized approach guarantees that all tasks are consolidated in one location, simplifying prioritization and management.
At the heart of this is AI, he said. AI enhances Trello by summarizing messages, assigning due dates and creating sub-tasks automatically. It analyzes tasks to provide summaries and suggest deadlines, reducing manual work and improving organization. Kataria goes out of his way to note that AI does not prioritize tasks — that is left to the individual to decide what is most important.
Consistency, Automation and Personal Productivity
SocialPlug CEO and co-founder Mark Voronov called Trello's latest AI-driven update "enormous." He said the integrations with Slack, Gmail and Jira makes what was already an easy to use tool even easier. Features such as Inbox, the new Planner and the ability to cross off tasks takes it to a whole new level.
“In a field filled with competitors such as Asana and Notion, the competitive advantage that Trello has is through an intuitive user interface plus strong AI capabilities,” Voronov said. "The smooth integration with other commonly used platforms, along with its emphasis on individual and team productivity, stands out."
Project management tools rely heavily on manual inputs and management to keep resources up to date, show the latest status and to track timelines and blockers, Tom Firth, co-founder at Cotera said.
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Trello's move to an AI-assisted model reduces the amount of time a project manager or project team spends keeping the tracker up to date to nearly zero. Tagging systems will be more consistent and will not require oversight or training to get them right. Understanding priorities will require less cross-team debate and trade-offs because the AI can help deconflict priorities with its insights into the whole project.
“The critical piece for this, though, is consistency," he added. "Consistency and frequency of updates is the first part. But the second is the consistency of categorization and prioritization. By using a global system for the whole team, you reduce the chance for there to be inconsistencies that come from the subjective nature of projects and the way that humans describe them.”
Although the Trello update focuses on personal productivity, teams can still use Trello for project management if it meets their needs, Kataria said. But the focus moving forward will center on enhancing individual productivity, all powered by AI.
The new features are currently in beta and will be available to all Trello users starting in April 2025.
Editor's Note: Read up on other project management topics below:
- GenAI Comes for Project Management: How Asana, ClickUp, Monday and Wrike Are Evolving — A look at how four project management platform leaders have incorporated generative AI features to improve project management.
- Sharpen Your Skills With One of These Project Management Certifications — The world of project management is fast evolving. To keep up, try honing your skills with these expert-recommended project management certifications.
- Slack Lists Isn't a Full Project Management Tool, But It Has Its Audience — Slack is slowly rolling out its lightweight project management tool, Lists. While not a robust pm tool, it can help dedicated Slack users.