Intro to Kanban (1 Dec 2014)
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David Lowe introduces Kanban, a lean method for knowledge work. Kanban focuses on evolutionary, not revolutionary change by starting with the current process and respecting existing roles. The core Kanban principles include visualizing workflow, limiting work-in-progress, managing flow, making policies explicit, using feedback loops, and making continuous improvements. Kanban aims to optimize flow and identify bottlenecks through measuring and limiting work-in-progress.
Intro to Kanban (1 Dec 2014)
- 1. David Lowe Agile & lean consultant Scrum & Kanban Ltd @bigpinots
- 2. An introduction to Kanban
- 3. #GA_Kanban
- 4. Doing too Don’t know much where we are Can’t predict our output Can’t see our position Revolutionary change Not all playing by the same rules Not improving
- 5. Before we start The Kanban Method is … a set of ideas (not prescribed processes) for knowledge work (not manufacturing) from lean (not agile)
- 7. No “Big Bang” changes
- 8. No “Big Bang” changes Foundational principles: 1. Start with what you do now 2. Respect the current process, roles, responsibilities & titles 3. Agree to pursue evolutionary change
- 10. 1) Visualise your work
- 11. Map current processes; not roles Identify dominant activities that discover new knowledge coding & testing analysing designing releasing Visualise your work
- 12. Visualise your work Helps you understand how work flows through your system Helps spot areas needing change
- 13. Visualise your work Common to translate processes to a board Consider how best to visualise your workflow different types of work different priorities different customers blocked items of work who is working on what
- 14. 2) Limit work-in- progress
- 15. Limit WIP Use a pull system? Agree capacity of the system Use tokens (e.g. cards) to denote capacity Attach a token to each piece of work When run out of tokens, stop taking on new work Only take on new work when a token is available System can’t become overloaded
- 16. Limit WIP East Gardens, Imperial Palace, Tokyo
- 17. Limit WIP East Gardens, Imperial Palace, Tokyo
- 18. Limit WIP East Gardens, Imperial Palace, Tokyo
- 19. Limit WIP ? East Gardens, Imperial Palace, Tokyo
- 20. Limit WIP Kanban assumes stable flow (i.e. one in, one out, similar sized stories) and pull system Allowing too much work in progress at the same time can have negative effects … … but so can having too little Aim is to get WIP limits to the “sweet spot” where you have the optimum/optimal flow
- 21. Limit WIP Fast food drive-thru video to explain: WIP limits Cycle Time/Lead Time Throughput Rate (now ‘Delivery Rate’) “WIP: why limiting work in progress makes sense” on YouTube http://youtu.be/W92wG-HW8gg
- 22. Limit WIP Limiting WIP helps because it: encourages swarming encourages small work items encourages flow of work encourages finishing work items “Focus on finishing things, not working on things”
- 23. Limit WIP Start with what you have now … Can you: Limit WIP of tasks in progress per story? Limit WIP per column on the board? Limit WIP per section of the board? Limit WIP across the whole board? Limit WIP across the whole organisation?
- 24. 3) Manage flow
- 25. Manage flow Measuring the flow of work through your system helps you identify problems Every process has at least one bottleneck Your system can only work as fast as your slowest point So make changes to your process in an attempt to improve flow
- 26. Manage flow Scrum has a Burndown Chart Kanban has a variety of reports: Cumulative Flow Diagram Control Chart Histogram
- 27. Manage flow The CFD shows us: Flow of items through process Current level of WIP Lead/Cycle Time Bottleneck warnings
- 28. Manage flow The Control Chart shows us: Mean Lead Time / Cycle Time Upper & lower control limits Outliers “Investigate performance to attack sources of variability”
- 29. Manage flow The Histogram shows us: Frequency of each Lead/Cycle Time A guide for the time that future stories will take Gives us much greater understanding than a burndown chart!
- 30. 4) Make policies explicit
- 31. Make policies explicit It’s difficult to improve a situation if you don’t know the rules (responses will be emotional and subjective) Acknowledge any policies in your process by stating them explicitly
- 32. Make policies explicit Entry criteria Definition of ‘Done’ Classes of Service Standard Expedite Fixed Intangible
- 34. Feedback loops Review data and experiences regularly. Encourage feedback from inside and outside the team: Retrospectives / Operations reviews Daily stand-ups User feedback Stats & reports Feedback from stakeholders / the business …
- 36. Improve collaboratively, evolve experimentally Use scientific method Continuous evolutionary improvements (“Kaizen”), rather than revolutionary change All the other Kanban ideas lead to this and should provide data to help improve Start where you are now. Seek to “attack the sources of variability” in your processes
- 37. Sources of variability Differing sizes of work items Differing work types (eg bugs, features, debt) Differing classes of service Having to rework items Accepting unknown work Problems with platforms/environments
- 38. Although it’s from lean, it shouldn’t break the Agile Manifesto Knowledge work; not manufacturing Pull system; not push system Evolutionary change, not revolution Set of ideas; not prescribed process
- 39. That’s the basic … want more? David J. Anderson “Kanban” Mike Burrows “Kanban from the inside”
- 40. That’s the basic … want more? scrumandkanban.co.uk
- 41. General Assembly and I would love to hear your honest feedback: you will receive an email requesting feedback on today’s session shortly. We encourage you to complete this as it will allow us to improve the quality and value we provide. Thank you.