Monday.com Basics
What Monday.com Is
Monday.com is an online work platform that helps teams organize and track their work in one place. It’s a flexible tool you can adapt to manage projects, tasks, and workflows. In simple terms, Monday.com lets you create custom boards to plan work, collaborate with your team, and stay organized.
People use Monday.com for things like:
- Project management
- Team task tracking
- Sales pipelines
- Marketing calendars
- Operations and HR workflows
It’s visual, friendly, and easy for beginners to learn.
Workspaces, Folders, and Boards
Monday.com uses a clean hierarchy to keep everything organized.
Workspaces
A workspace is the top-level container. It holds your folders and boards. Many teams set up a workspace per department or major function. It keeps everything tidy and easier to find.
Folders
Folders live inside a workspace and help group related boards. For example:
- Workspace: Marketing
- Folder: Social Media
- Folder: Campaigns
Boards
A board is where your work happens. It’s a table of items, organized in groups and columns. Each board represents a project, process, or workflow.
Example hierarchy:
Company Workspace
→ Marketing Folder
→ Social Media Calendar Board
Boards
A board is a customizable table where you track a specific set of work. Boards contain groups, items, and columns.
Types of Boards
- Main boards: Visible to your whole account. Great for team-wide content.
- Shareable boards: Used to collaborate with people outside your team, like clients or contractors.
- Private boards: Visible only to the creator and invited team members. Ideal for sensitive or internal planning.
Boards are where you and your team update statuses, assign owners, set dates, and track progress.
Groups
A group is a color-coded section on a board that contains items. Groups help organize your information into categories such as:
- Project phases
- Time periods
- Departments
- Status stages
Examples:
- “To Do”, “In Progress”, “Done”
- “January”, “February”, “March”
- “New Leads”, “Qualified”, “Closed Won”
Use clear names and limit the number of groups so the board stays easy to read.
Items and Subitems
Items
Items are the rows on your board. An item can be:
- A task
- A client
- A project deliverable
- A sales lead
- Anything you’re tracking
Subitems
Subitems are smaller tasks or details inside a parent item.
Use subitems when:
- A task has multiple steps
- You want to track details separately without cluttering the main board
Avoid overusing subitems, because too many can make the board harder to manage.
Columns in Monday.com
Columns define the information you track for each item. Some of the most common column types are:
- Status: Shows progress with clear color labels.
- Text: Freeform notes or descriptions.
- People: Assigns owners.
- Date: Due dates or event dates.
- Numbers: Values like budget, quantity, hours, or cost.
- Dropdown: Tags or categories with one or many selections.
- Files: Attach documents and images.
- Formula: Calculates data using other columns.
- Mirror: Pulls information from another board.
Columns are how you customize each board to match your workflow.
Views
Views let you see your board in different ways without changing the data.
Popular views include:
Table
The standard grid view with rows and columns.
Kanban
Card-style view where items move through stages.
Calendar
Shows items with dates on a calendar layout.
Chart
Visualizes your data in bar charts, pie charts, and more.
Gantt
Displays a timeline for project planning and dependencies.
Views help you visualize your work from the angle that makes the most sense.
Automations
Automations let Monday.com do work for you. They follow a simple pattern:
When something happens (trigger), do something automatically (action).
Examples of triggers
- Status changes
- Date arrives
- New item is created
- Every Monday at 9am
Examples of actions
- Send a notification
- Move an item
- Assign a person
- Create a new item or subitem
Three simple automation examples
- When status changes to Done, notify the team.
- When a new item is created, assign it to the team lead.
- When due date arrives and status is not Done, send a reminder.
Automations eliminate busywork and help make your workflows reliable.
Dashboards
Dashboards give you a high-level overview of your work by pulling data from multiple boards. They’re perfect for managers, reporting, or checking progress across projects.
Example widgets
- Numbers: Totals and counts
- Charts: Visual performance metrics
- Calendar: Combined events or deadlines
- Timeline: Project timelines
- Workload: Team capacity
Dashboard tips for beginners
- Start with a clear goal
- Include only useful metrics
- Keep it simple
- Update dashboards as your needs change
Dashboards help your team see progress and make better decisions.
Basic Best Practices for New Users
- Start simple. Only add columns you need.
- Use clear naming for boards, groups, and items.
- Organize boards into workspaces and folders.
- Keep communication inside items using @mentions.
- Update statuses regularly.
- Use templates as a starting point.
- Try a few small automations early on.
- Review and clean up old boards.
- Encourage your team to explore and test features.
- And remember, FlowFam can help you set up or fix your entire Monday.com structure.
FAQ
1. What is Monday.com in simple terms?
Monday.com is a visual platform where teams organize and manage tasks, projects, or any kind of work. You build boards to track whatever you need and collaborate in one place.
2. What is a workspace?
A workspace is the top-level container for your folders and boards. It helps organize your account into clear sections like departments or big projects.
3. What is a board?
A board is a customizable table where you track items and details. Boards are used for workflows like sales pipelines, project plans, or task lists.
4. What’s the difference between Main, Shareable, and Private boards?
- Main: Visible to all team members.
- Shareable: For collaborating with clients or contractors.
- Private: Only visible to you and invited teammates.
5. What is a group on a board?
Groups organize items into categories or stages. They’re color-coded and help break the board into clear sections.
6. What’s the difference between an item and a subitem?
An item is a main task or record. A subitem is a smaller task inside that item, used when you need a second layer of detail.
7. What are columns used for?
Columns store specific information for each item like status, dates, assignees, notes, numbers, or files.
8. Can I view my board in different layouts?
Yes. You can switch to views like Calendar, Kanban, Chart, Timeline, or Gantt depending on how you want to visualize your data.
9. How do automations work?
Automations let Monday.com perform actions automatically when something happens. They reduce manual work and help keep your process consistent.
10. What is a dashboard?
A dashboard combines data from multiple boards into one screen using visual widgets. It’s ideal for high-level tracking and reporting.
FlowFam Can Help You Build Better Systems
If you want a Monday.com setup that feels clear, organized, and easy for your team to follow, FlowFam can help. We design systems that fit the way you already work and remove the busywork that slows teams down.
Whether you need a quick fix, a full workspace buildout, or someone to guide your team step by step, you can count on us.
Visit flowfam.co to explore services, book a session, or get support for your system.
Let your work flow with confidence.
