How Would You Describe Kanban in a Nutshell?

• Visualize the workflow
  • Split the work into pieces, write each item on a card and put on the wall
  • Use named columns to illustrate where each item is in the workflow
• Limit WIP (work in progress)
  • Assign explicit limits to how many items may be in progress at each workflow state
• Measure the lead time
  • Lead Time (sometimes called “cycle time”) = average time to complete one item
  • Optimize the process to make lead time as small and predictable as possible

As you can see, Kanban is very lightweight and requires a lot of (self-)discipline to implement on a team. The specific practices that Kanban teams might use include:

• Kanban board shows all work of the team
• Kanban board shows flow of work of the team so we can find and work bottlenecks
• Different service levels (classes of service) for distinct types of work (e.g., expedite, fixed date, standard) are identified and supported
• WIP limits in place and enforced
• Kanban boards are processed “Right to left, top to bottom”
• Continuous improvement occurring
• Cycle time and throughput tracked, and improvements focused on improving these numbers