02.06.19 | Chris Daily |

It happens quite often: I have somebody ask me if Kanban is more suited for their organization.

When I dig in to try to understand where the question is coming from, I often get a response that Kanban will be easier for the organization to adopt because it doesn’t have the commitment to a two to four-week duration that Scrum does.

The typical follow-up comment is that Kanban also doesn’t have all the meetings that Scrum does.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

As many of you know, Kanban comes from manufacturing and is a workflow system whose strength is visual workflow management.

Originally based using cards, its focus is on ensuring that work items flow through boards with lanes that represent process stages.

Teams using Kanban continuously plan, work, review, and measure the outcomes of their work. By limiting the number of items being worked at any one time, teams are more focused, and the complexity of the work is substantially reduced by incorporation Work-In-Process (WIP) limits.

Building on its manufacturing roots, Kanban teams measure lead time, cycle time, and use those measures to optimize their process with the goal of continuously delivering a predictable flow of value to customers.

In many ways, Kanban teams are more mature in their Agile maturity than teams that have adopted Scrum. As a stepping stone towards Kanban, teams will incorporate both Scrum and Kanban at the same time, which is often referred to as Scrumban.

Scrumban: Utilizing Benefits of Two Frameworks

Scrumban is used by teams who need the structure of continuous improvement incorporated in Scrum with the flexibility that a flow-based method such as Kanban offers.

For teams already using the Scrum framework, there are minor variations to the Scrum roles, events, and artifacts. The Sprint Planning event is one example of a slight variation. Teams using the Scrum framework enter the Sprint Planning event with the objective of, based on the order, identifying the Product Backlog items that will be completed in the upcoming Sprint. The artifact that is created is the Sprint Backlog, which essentially becomes the work plan of the Development Team during the sprint.

Scrumban incorporates the pull approach of Kanban: the team starts work when it can; therefore less emphasis is placed on forecasting what work will be completed by the end of the Sprint.

For a list of all the variations, you can download our beLithe Scrum vs. Kanban vs. Scrumban cheat sheet.

Putting Our Ramblings Into Action

Scrumban is an Agile process that is a valuable tool to help a team when Scrum or Kanban alone don’t solve the problem.

Retaining the intent of Scrum while allowing for the flexibility and transparency of Kanban make Scrumban a powerful tool.

While many find it helpful in teams that provide services to other teams, I have seen that teams in areas outside of IT and software development (HR, Accounting, Marketing, Customer Support, and Sales) can benefit from using Scrumban.

The risk is low, so don’t be afraid to experiment for a Sprint or two. Given the minor differences, it’s easy to step on into Scrum or Kanban.

Are you currently adopting Scrumban? I’d love to hear how you’re implementing it. Drop me a line.

Thanks for coming in today.

Chris

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01.25.19 | Chris Daily |

Kanban = Focus

It’s no secret that, as those of you who have worked with me in the past know, I sometimes have a hard time sticking to one thing. I often find myself drifting off to look at some new shiny object/topic that leads me down a rabbit hole. I call this “squirreling.”

So what’s the antidote? Does one exist? I have found over the years that time and time again, utilizing Kanban is powerful stuff.

I learned Kanban as part of my Agile journey and use it as a tool that improves productivity and the flow of work. It formalizes the concept of Visual Management by allowing a team to see the work that is in progress, as well as the relationships and risks that affect a team’s ability to deliver its work on time.

It has been widely used by IT service groups and software development teams.

Power in Transparency

Here’s a surprise: with its foundation in lean manufacturing, Kanban works for non-IT related work as well.

By adopting Kanban, anyone can see:

• Work in progress
• Impediments to completing work
• Improved communication among the team
• Improved engagement by the team due to better collaboration
• The priority of the work, and where it is at in the process

Make it yours – KANBAN YOUR WAY!

Trust Your Eyes: Visual Management

Why does a visual approach to work matter? Because we, as humans, are visual creatures. Research shows that the brain can process visual information over 50,000 times faster than text.

Let’s look at an example.

Here is some wording to warn you of something to be cautious about:

“While you are traveling down this road, there is a chance that one or more rocks of varying size may fall from the slopes on one or both sides of you. You should be aware of this before you travel this way so that you are cautious of this particular type of hazard.”

Here’s a visual version of the same thing.

What is quicker? Reading a little more than 50 words, or looking at the sign? If you were driving down the road, which warning would you prefer?

This is the power of Kanban.

You can quickly get a sense of what is happening at a glance. This is known as visual management.

Visual management is a way to visually communicate expectations, performance, standards or warnings in a way that requires little or no prior training to interpret. By being visual, Kanban boards allow you to see the status and find information about tasks without having to sort through your email and then reading through the email thread to find out whether the work is complete or not.

As a leader, you can just say, “Check out the board!”

Now Planning: Everywhere

At its simplest, a Kanban board consists of three columns:

• To Do
• Doing
• Done

With some sticky notes and some blue painter’s tape, any setting with a flat surface (wall, whiteboard, tabletop) can become a Kanban board. It doesn’t have to get any more complicated than that. It’s entirely up to you. How involved do you want to make it? Make it yours.

Kanban has some rules and practices that are defined, yet many people customize their use to reflect better what they are trying to accomplish.

Here are a couple of sites that have excellent info on Kanban:

• Agile Alliance
• Leankit
• Trello

A Visual Plan for Results

Once you’ve created your Kanban board, the power of Kanban leaps out at you every time you take a look at the board. Things to look for include:

• Items stuck in the same state for long periods
• Amount of work in process at a given point
• Waste in the forms of handoffs and wait times

Using a Kanban board creates transparency while improving effectiveness by improving collaboration. Instead of status reporting, project managers can focus on other items that provide more value. What’s more, onsite and remote team members can see the status of a project in real time.

Kanban can be used to identify waste visually with a goal of improving efficiency.

Kanban also helps teams to visually identify log jams and identify opportunities for improving the process. Effectively managing the work improves focus and engagement, resulting in an improvement in morale.

Common sense tells us people are more efficient when they can focus on only a few tasks at once.

Kanban is one of the simplest, yet most powerful tools in the Agile Toolbox. It’s applicable across industries and is even relevant in your personal life. We’re happy to provide a dynamic, comprehensive one-day “crash course” to get you comfortable and empowered with Kanban. During The Framework Series: Kanban 101, you’ll discover how adopting this framework will help you process lightly: to be lean, adaptable, and Agile during any step of your project’s journey.

Thanks for stopping by.

Chris

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