Structure for Real Estate Group

Question

I'm not sure if my desired use is reasonable or how it would be billed. I am a broker for a small real estate office. Right now I track upcoming deadlines, etc on a card inside of a board and reach out to each agent individually with reminders, status updates, questions, etc on our end to keep on top of the details.

Is there a way where I could add each of my agents to a board of their own where I could copy the cards for only their transactions? (It is important that they cannot see other agents deals.) The idea would be for them to be able to see their deadlines at a glance and update the cards as desired. We would want to make sure the card stays fully updated on both ends so we can see each others messages/changes.

Any tips are appreciated. Thanks!

Josh · Answer

Hi Amy, what you describe is doable in Trello, and it's a good use for Mirror cards. The one thing to get right is which side the original card lives on.

A mirror card is the same card shown on a second board. Edits, comments, checklists and due dates stay in sync because there's really only one card. Atlassian's card mirroring page also says that to view a mirror card, a person needs access to the board that contains the original card. So if the originals sat on your master board, your agents would need access to that board and would see everyone's deals. Flip it around instead:

* One private board per agent (e.g. "Deals – Sarah"), with only you and that agent as members. Set visibility to Private, not Workspace.
* Create each transaction's card on the agent's board. That's the original.
* Mirror it to your own "All deals" board (open the card > Mirror > pick your board and list). You get the overview of everything, the agent only ever sees their own board, and messages and changes show up on both sides.
* Optional: a rule on each agent board can mirror new cards to your board automatically. In Automation, use the create a card action and choose Mirror as the card type.

On billing: mirror cards need a paid workspace (Standard or above). On a free workspace you get link cards instead, which only show the title. On Standard and Premium, a person who is on just one board in the workspace and isn't a workspace member is a single-board guest, and those are free (how Trello billing works). So if each agent is invited only to their own board, you'd typically pay just for yourself (plus anyone you add as a full workspace member). If you add an agent to a second board in that workspace, they become billable.

Matthew Sinclair · Answer

First thought that comes to mind is to construct a Dashboard with a filter key'd to your individual Agent. (Or Kanban board if you prefer) - Locking permissions down on each board to just the agent and you.

And you have a centralized Kanban Board to see everything. This presumes you're using Jira.

I gotta admit - its a bit messy - but they get a focus on what's what.

You can copy them and edit details to save time. (Pretty sure - been a bit since I toyed with them).

But permissions wise they may still be able to "look over the wall" and see other agent's tickets by just simply going to the space in question.

If this is JSM/CSM - may need to use Queues - but not sure those can be locked down. Dashboards however are essentially universal.

(subject to better ideas/suggestions - little low on brain fuel)