Kanban is a process management framework that helps teams visualize their work, manage their workflow, and deliver value to their customers more quickly and efficiently. It is a lightweight framework that can be used by teams of any size or in any industry.

Kanban originated from the manufacturing industry and was developed by Toyota engineer Taiichi Ohno in the late 1940s. He was inspired by the way supermarkets stocked their shelves according to customer demand and applied the same principle to optimize the flow of materials on the factory floor. He used cards, or “kanban”, to signal when a bin of materials was empty and needed to be replenished. This way, inventory levels were aligned with consumption patterns, and waste was reduced.

The fundamental principle of Kanban is to visualize the workflow using a Kanban board, which typically consists of columns representing different stages of the workflow. Each column represents a specific status or step in the process, such as “To Do,” “In Progress,” and “Done.”

How does Kanban work?

Kanban is based on 4 core principles:

• Visualize the work: By using a Kanban board, you can see the status of all the work items in your process, from backlog to done. You can also see the bottlenecks, blockers, dependencies, and priorities.

• Apply Work-in-Process (WIP) limits: By setting a maximum number of work items allowed in each stage of the process, you can prevent overloading the system and improve the flow of work.

• Manage flow: By measuring the lead time and cycle time of your work items, you can monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of your process. You can also identify opportunities for improvement and implement changes incrementally.

• Improve continuously: By collecting feedback from customers and stakeholders, you can evaluate the outcomes and impacts of your work. You can also use metrics and data to track your progress and performance over time.

What are the benefits of kanban?

Implementing Kanban can lead to numerous benefits, including:

• Increased visibility: You can see the big picture of your work and how it aligns with your goals and values. You can also communicate better with your team and stakeholders about the status and expectations of your work.
• Reduced waste: You can eliminate unnecessary or low-value work and focus on what matters most to your customers. You can also avoid overproduction and overstocking, which can lead to higher costs and lower quality.
• Faster delivery: You can deliver value to your customers more frequently and reliably by reducing the cycle time of your work items. You can also respond faster to changing customer needs and market conditions by minimizing the batch size and feedback loops of your work.
• Higher quality: You can improve the quality of your work by preventing defects and errors from accumulating in your system. You can also implement quality checks and standards at every stage of your process to ensure that your work meets or exceeds customer expectations.
• Continuous improvement: You can foster a culture of learning and experimentation by encouraging your team to try new ideas and methods. You can also use data and feedback to measure the results and impacts of your changes and make informed decisions.

How to get started with Kanban?

If you’re considering adopting Kanban, here are a few steps you can take to get started:

⦿ Define your workflow: Identify the stages that your work items go through from start to finish, such as backlog, analysis, development, testing, deployment, etc. You can also define the entry and exit criteria for each stage to ensure that your work meets the quality standards.

⦿ Create your kanban board: Use a physical or digital tool to create a visual representation of your workflow. You can use columns to represent each stage of your workflow and cards to represent each work item. You can also use colors, icons, labels, or other indicators to add more information or context to your cards.

⦿ Break down tasks: Identify the individual tasks or work items required to complete a project or process. Each task is represented by a card or sticky note on the Kanban board.

⦿ Set WIP (Work-in-Process) limits: Decide how many work items you can handle at each stage of your workflow without compromising the quality or speed of your work. You can use a simple rule of thumb, such as one card per person per stage, or use data from previous projects or experiments to determine the optimal WIP limit for each stage.

⦿ Make policies explicit: In addition to WIP limits, you can also make other policies explicit, such as who is responsible for each work item, how long each work item should take, and how work items are prioritized. Explicit policies help to ensure that everyone on the team is on the same page and that work is being done in a consistent and efficient manner.

⦿ Move tasks across the board: Start working on the highest-priority work items in your backlog by pulling them into the first stage of your workflow. As you complete each stage, pull the next available work item from the previous stage until you reach the done column. Avoid pushing work items to the next stage unless there is capacity available.

⦿ Visualize bottlenecks and optimize flow: Track the lead time and cycle time of your work items and use them to calculate the throughput and flow efficiency of your process. You can also use other metrics, such as customer satisfaction, defect rate, or value delivered, to evaluate the outcomes and impacts of your work. Use the data and feedback to identify problems and opportunities for improvement and implement changes incrementally.

⦿ Optimize iteratively with data: The final step is to optimize your Kanban system iteratively with data. This means continuously collecting data about your workflow and using that data to make changes to your system that will improve its efficiency. By iterating on your system in this way, you can continuously improve the way you work and deliver value to your customers. Team members can have discussions on how to make the workflow more efficient, identify areas for improvement, and implement changes incrementally.

Here are some steps to create a Kanban board

In this section, we will provide you with simple steps to create a Kanban board, a powerful tool for visualizing and managing your workflow effectively. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Identify the value stream. This is the process of naming the value-adding steps that you do to complete a piece of work.

For example, if you are building a chair, the value stream could be: buy wood, cut wood, shape wood, glue wood, assemble chair, paint chair, sell the chair.

Step 2: Identify the scope of work. This is the part of the value stream that you have control over and want to focus on.

For example, if you are a carpenter, you might want to focus on the steps from cutting wood to painting chair.

Step 3: Map the workflow stages to columns on a board. This is where you create a column for each stage of your workflow.

For example, you could have columns like To Do, Cutting, Shaping, Gluing, Assembling, Painting, Done.

Step 4: Define types of work and what ‘done’ means for them. This is where you decide what kind of work items you have and what criteria they need to meet to move from one column to another.

For example, you could have types of work like small chairs, medium chairs, and large chairs. And you could have criteria like cutting wood according to measurements, shaping wood according to design, gluing wood without gaps, assembling chairs without wobbling, paint chairs evenly.

Step 5: Decide on a card template for each type of work. This is where you design how each card will look like and what information it will contain.

For example, you could have cards that show: the type of work, customer name, due date, priority, measurements, design, and color.

Step 6: Place work items on Kanban cards. This is where you write down all your work items on cards and place them on the board according to their current stage.

For example, you could have cards like a small chair for Alice due on Friday with high priority and blue color.

10 Popular Kanban Software Solutions for Project Management

There are many options for Kanban project management software, depending on your team size, budget, and needs. Some examples are:

1. SwiftKanban: A comprehensive kanban software that supports agile and DevOps workflows, with features such as analytics, automation, and integrations
2. Kanboard: A free and open source kanban software that focuses on simplicity and minimalism, with features such as subtasks, comments, and attachments
3. Kanbanize: A powerful kanban software that helps you manage multiple projects and teams, with features such as time tracking, automation, and analytics
4. Trello: A popular and easy-to-use Kanban software that helps you organize your projects into boards, lists, and cards, with features such as labels, checklists, and power-ups.
5. Asana: A versatile project management software that supports both Kanban and other views, with features such as milestones, dependencies, and portfolios.
6. ClickUp: A flexible project management software that lets you customize your kanban boards, with features such as statuses, filters, and views.
7. Monday: A visual project management software that offers a variety of templates for Kanban and other methods, with features such as automation, dashboards, and integrations.
8. Smartsheet: A cloud-based platform that combines Kanban with other views and features, such as Gantt charts, dashboards, and forms. Smartsheet offers various templates and integrations for Kanban and other project management methods.
9. Notion: A versatile workspace that allows you to create Kanban boards, notes, databases, wikis, and more. Notion lets you customize your Kanban boards with different properties, views, and filters.

Conclusion

Kanban is a powerful framework that can help teams to improve their workflow, deliver value to their customers more quickly, and become more agile. If you are looking for a way to improve the way your team works, Kanban is a great option to consider.

I hope this article was helpful and informative. If you have any further questions or would like to delve deeper into the topic of Kanban, please feel free to leave a comment. Your suggestions and feedback are also highly appreciated.

KanbanMethod #VisualProjectManagement #OptimizeWorkflow #TeamProductivity #StreamlinedProcesses #ContinuousImprovement #EfficientProjectManagement #CollaborativeWorkflows #AgileApproach #WorkInnovation #projectmanagement #kanban #scrum #agile #workflow