What is Kanban? A complete overview

What exactly is Kanban?

Kanban, a widely adopted project management approach, applies agile principles to visualize workflows and boost productivity in agile teams. Rooted in real-time communication and transparent progress tracking, it's renowned in DevOps but applicable to diverse business teams.

Understanding the concept of a Kanban board

A Kanban board is often described as a modernized version of sticky notes and markers, serving as an organizational tool to inform team members about task details, deadlines, and other pertinent information through a visually intuitive platform.

Comprising cards and columns, a Kanban board represents tasks and their progress stages. These stages, such as "pending," "to-do," "in progress," and "completed," delineate the status of each task. Assigned to team members, cards are shifted across columns as tasks advance until project completion.

Origins of Kanban

The inception of Kanban dates back to the 1940s in Japan, pioneered by Taiichi Ohno, an engineer and businessman at Toyota Automotive. Originating as a simple system, it evolved into a lean manufacturing approach aimed at efficient process control, inventory monitoring, and workflow management across production stages.

The term "Kanban" originates from the Japanese word for "signboard," emphasizing its role as a visual signal. Typically, it is represented through a Kanban board, featuring cards denoting tasks grouped by status.

Key components of a Kanban board

Regardless of whether it's physical using Post-it notes or digital within project management software, every Kanban board shares the following elements:

Work-in-progress (WIP) limits

These define the maximum number of work items permitted in each workflow stage at any given time.

Columns

Representing different stages of the team's workflow, such as "To Do," "In Progress," and "Done," these are visualized as columns on the board.

Cards

These are individual work units, like tasks or projects, progressing through the workflow stages on the board.

Work-in-progress (WIP) limits

These define the maximum number of work items permitted in each workflow stage at any given time.

Tags

Also known as labels, these offer a practical method for categorizing, organizing, and filtering cards, providing context and highlighting critical tasks. They aid in identifying tasks requiring attention to achieve specific objectives.

Swimlanes

Horizontal divisions used to segregate and categorize activities, often by team or department.

The six core practices of Kanban methodology

Manage workflow

A crucial aspect of Kanban is monitoring and improving your workflow continuously. This involves identifying bottlenecks and monitoring how long tasks remain in various stages. Adjustments may be necessary if work accumulates or stalls in certain stages, leading to smoother and more predictable delivery over time.

Visualize your workflow

Kanban works best when your workflow is visually represented, whether it's on a physical board with sticky notes or digitally through specialized software like monday.com. This visualization fosters transparency and provides a clear method for your team to manage tasks.

Limit Work in Progress (WIP)

Kanban operates as a pull system, encouraging teams to complete existing tasks before taking on new ones. This helps maintain focus and communicates to stakeholders the team's capacity, ideally keeping "in-progress" tasks limited to 1 or 2 per person at any given time.

Foster feedback loops

Incorporating feedback loops is fundamental to enhancing the effectiveness of Kanban. These loops enable rapid iteration and refinement by allowing teams to quickly identify and address issues. Regular process reviews and tracking metrics provide valuable insights into workflow dynamics, empowering teams to adapt and improve continuously.

Embrace iterative improvement

Kanban promotes iterative improvement through the application of the scientific method. By formulating hypotheses, conducting experiments, and analyzing results, teams can incrementally refine their processes. This gradual approach enables sustainable growth and cultivates a culture of continuous learning and adaptation within the organization.

Establish clear process policies

It's essential to provide structure to your process policies to streamline operations. By defining precise guidelines for each work type, outlining criteria for task completion, and detailing the workflow stages through columns or swimlanes, you create a cohesive framework for how work is managed. Additionally, determining when to pull cards and setting limits on work in progress (WIP) ensures clarity and efficiency within the Kanban system.

The benefits of implementing Kanban project management include

Effective prioritization

Kanban helps teams prioritize tasks effectively, ensuring that resources are allocated to activities that have the most significant impact on project goals. By visualizing work in progress and setting limits on tasks, teams can focus on completing high-priority items first.

Improved communication

Kanban facilitates better communication among team members by providing a visual representation of project needs and progress. Online Kanban boards allow for real-time updates and comments on tasks, enhancing collaboration and clarity.

Efficient resource allocation

Kanban enables teams to allocate resources efficiently by providing visibility into each team member's task load. Managers can balance workloads and redistribute tasks as needed to optimize productivity and meet project deadlines.

Continuous improvement

Kanban encourages a culture of continuous improvement by identifying and addressing roadblocks and bottlenecks in processes. As teams use Kanban regularly, they can refine workflows, eliminate inefficiencies, and enhance overall productivity over time. This iterative approach drives ongoing optimization and innovation within the organization.

Transparency

Kanban promotes transparency by making processes and bottlenecks visible to all team members. The visual nature of Kanban boards allows stakeholders to understand the status of tasks and identify areas for improvement easily. This transparency fosters trust and alignment within the team.

The four fundamental principles of Kanban

The four fundamental aspects of Kanban project management are:

Gradual progression

Instead of abrupt changes, focus on maintaining current production levels and gradually introducing adjustments at a comfortable pace. This approach minimizes internal resistance to change.

Seamless implementation

Kanban's adaptability enables integration into existing workflows without disruption. Its implementation should be straightforward and can be overlaid onto current processes for evaluation over time.

Cultivating leadership at all levels

An effective Kanban system fosters a culture of continuous improvement across the organization. Leadership can emerge from any team member, encouraging innovation and improvement in work processes and product delivery.

Respect for existing processes and roles

Kanban methodology respects established processes and roles within the project team. It empowers teams to identify and implement necessary changes over time, without upheaval.

Variations of Kanban board designs

Understanding and implementing the Kanban methodology becomes simpler when you observe real-world applications. Below are examples demonstrating how various businesses across different industries utilize Kanban tools to effectively manage projects in diverse areas of their operations.

Example Kanban board 1

Ellie's interiors - Interior design projects

In this Kanban board example, Ellie's Interiors, an interior design company, organizes their projects based on completeness and clients. Each card represents a different client and the room to be designed, while the columns categorize the projects based on their completion status.

Example Kanban board 2