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The kanban methodology is a popular and widely used agile project management approach. It provides teams and individuals with the tools and techniques to:
Kanban is a Japanese word that means “billboard,” “signboard,” or “visual card.” The kanban method of project management was first introduced by Toyota in the 1940s as a way to reduce inefficiencies in its manufacturing process and align inventory levels with actual factory floor consumption. The results were revolutionary.
Now, agile boards and kanban charts are a staple among high-productivity kanban and scrum teams across many industries, including construction, engineering, software development, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, marketing, and many more.
To get started with kanban project management, you need a kanban board, which is a visual tool that shows work at various completion stages.
There are two types of kanban boards:
Whether physical or digital, any kanban board should have these elements.
These are the cards that represent project tasks or activities. Each card contains one work item. When placed in their respective kanban board columns, all together, cards provide an overview of the work that teams (or individuals) must focus on, where bottlenecks or blockers are, and the overall status of the project.
Columns signify the different stages of the work process. Taken together, they constitute the process workflow. As you perform each work item, you will need to move the relevant kanban card from left to right until the work is complete.
At a minimum, a visual kanban board has three columns: “to do,” “in progress,” and “done” (or, alternatively, “waiting,” “in progress,” and “completed”). You may name your columns as you see fit and use as many columns as you need.
WIP limits are the maximum number of work items or cards per column at any one time. So if, for instance, you already have three items in a column with a three-card limit, you’ll first have to move an item forward before adding a new one.
WIP limits are vital for spotting bottlenecks that can disrupt flow and prevent your team from completing projects according to the schedule set out in your project management plan.
This is the point when work on a project or backlog (a prioritized list of features, changes, and fixes you want to create) officially starts.
The delivery point marks the end of a workflow. Usually, this is when the product or solution is delivered to the customer.
Kanban boards can be used for a number of purposes. You might find them helpful for the following situations.
Kanban boards are a clear, visual way to represent tasks, so you know what needs to be done, what’s currently being done, and what has already been completed.
With team members accessing a shared, constantly updated board, everyone knows the big picture. This way, you can pivot as necessary to keep work and projects on track.
With kanban, you can design your own custom workflow. This, in turn, encourages teams to collaborate as they build their kanban boards and update them to reflect actual task statuses.
When work starts building up in a particular column of the kanban board, such as 10 cards in the “ready to start” phase vs. just one in “work in progress,” it could mean there aren’t enough people in your team to perform specific tasks. Maybe you have staff members on vacation or out sick.
Or perhaps you took on more work than usual. Once you see where the bottlenecks are, you can start determining the best course of action to remedy the situation.
Certain factors, called “blockers,” will prevent teams from performing tasks (or moving cards forward), thereby delaying delivery. Examples include task dependencies, unclear requirements, missing information, and pending approvals.
Discovering the blockers on your kanban board is the first step to eliminating work impediments.
Meetings are a project management basic and are instrumental to project success, but as they say, too much of anything is a bad thing. With kanban boards showing task statuses, communicating due dates, and highlighting bottlenecks, you can keep physical or virtual meetings to a minimum.
Multitasking isn’t necessarily a good thing. In fact, according to the American Psychological Association, it raises risk, cuts efficiency, and takes a toll on productivity.
Applying WIP limits ensures your team focuses on just the right number of activities at any given time. It also forces you to think about your team's priorities more carefully.
If you’re new to kanban and your team is colocated, starting with a physical kanban board has its benefits, such as face-to-face meetings and enhanced accountability. But when you’re ready to move to online boards, your choices include:
The beauty of the above tools is that they don’t offer just kanban boards.
They come with other essential project management tools, such as Gantt charts for schedule management and tracking project milestones; dashboards for data visualization and analysis; communication and collaboration apps (chat, newsfeed, announcements, @mentions, commenting, etc.); and many more.
Organizations use kanban boards for different types of projects and activities. From creating social media calendars to tracking time, and from building software to gathering project ideas, kanban boards leverage the power of visual project management to help your team stay on top of tasks and to-dos.
The kanban workflow advocates working in small batches to maximize flow, reduce bottlenecks, and deliver high-quality products. If these ideas match your business goals, kanban boards are exactly what you need to move forward.
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