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Keel For Project Managers

Project managers use Keel to keep direction and delivery connected. The board becomes the place where priorities are made visible, planning gets constrained, and acceptance happens with evidence in view.

Direction

Use missions and epics to state the problem clearly

Create the strategic frame before asking the delivery lane to execute. Keel rewards clear problem statements.

Planning

Demand planned voyages before execution starts

A voyage should capture requirements and design decisions before stories begin consuming team capacity.

Review

Accept slices with explicit authority

Acceptance is a role-bearing move. Use it to keep closure decisions visible and deliberate.

Your default surfaces​

keel mission next --status
keel next --role manager
keel flow
keel workshop

These commands tell you whether the board needs:

  • a new objective or active mission
  • a new epic or voyage decision
  • acceptance and review work
  • human intervention because the flow is blocked

What good management looks like in Keel​

  • Create missions only when the outcome is real enough to govern later work.
  • Write epic problems in plain language before the team disappears into solution mode.
  • Require voyage planning before you open the delivery lane.
  • Use acceptance as a public act, not a private DM.

Typical planning pattern​

keel mission new "Launch onboarding"
keel mission activate MISSION-ID
keel epic new --problem "Users cannot orient in the first five minutes." "Teach the first-use path"
keel voyage new --epic EPIC-ID --goal "Ship a guided onboarding loop." "First-turn docs"
keel voyage plan VOYAGE-ID

The important shift is cultural: Keel wants management work to be specific enough that someone else can execute without reconstructing intent from memory.

When a story comes back for acceptance​

Use the story bundle as the review surface:

  • read the acceptance criteria
  • inspect the recorded evidence
  • decide with an explicit role whether the slice should close
keel story accept --role manager STORY-ID

If the slice is not ready, reject it or redirect it through planning instead of accepting ambiguity.