Dmitry Lobasev

What is Kanban method?

The Kanban method is a method for managing and improving the flow of work in agile teams. It was developed based on the principles of the Toyota Production System and was first introduced by David J. Anderson in 2004.

The Kanban method is based on the idea of visualizing the flow of work and using that information to identify and eliminate bottlenecks and improve the overall efficiency of the team. In Kanban, work is represented by cards on a board, and the team uses the board to track the progress of their work and to identify areas for improvement.

The Kanban method emphasizes starting with the current state of the team's work and making small, incremental improvements over time. This helps to avoid the need for large-scale overhauls of the team's processes and allows the team to respond quickly to changing conditions and customer needs.

The core practices of the Kanban method are:
  1. Visualizing the work: In Kanban, the team uses a board to represent the flow of work, with each card on the board representing a piece of work. This helps the team to see the current state of their work and to identify bottlenecks and other areas for improvement.
  2. Limiting work in progress: In Kanban, the team limits the amount of work that is in progress at any given time. This helps to prevent the team from becoming overwhelmed and to ensure that work is completed in a timely manner.
  3. Managing the flow of work: In Kanban, the team uses their board to manage the flow of work and to identify and eliminate bottlenecks. This helps to improve the efficiency of the team and to deliver working software more quickly.
  4. Making process policies explicit: In Kanban, the team defines and documents their processes and policies, and makes them visible to everyone on the team. This helps to ensure that everyone understands how work is supposed to be done and to improve collaboration and communication.
  5. Measuring and monitoring the flow of work: In Kanban, the team collects and analyzes data about the flow of work, and uses this information to identify and implement improvements. This helps to ensure that the team is making progress and to identify areas for further improvement.
  6. Improving collaboratively, iteratively, and incrementally: In Kanban, the team uses a scientific approach to continuously improve their processes and policies. This helps to ensure that the team is always working on the most important tasks and to deliver the maximum value to their customers.

In Kanban, the team uses metrics to measure and monitor the flow of work and to identify areas for improvement. Some of the key metrics used in Kanban include:
  1. LeadTime: This is the average time it takes for a piece of work to move from the Commitment point to the Delivery point on the team's board. A commitment point is the point at which a piece of work is committed to be completed by a certain time. A delivery point, on the other hand, is the point at which a piece of work is actually delivered to the customer. For example, if a piece of work has a commitment point of Monday and a delivery point of Wednesday, the cycle time for that work is two days. This metric helps the team to understand how quickly they are delivering value to their customers and to identify bottlenecks and other areas for improvement.
  2. Throughput: This is the number of pieces of work that the team completes in a given time period, such as a week or a month. This metric helps the team to understand how much work they are delivering and to compare their performance to their past performance or to other teams.
  3. Work in progress (WIP) limit: This is the maximum number of pieces of work that the team allows to be in progress at any given time. This metric helps the team to prevent work overload and to ensure that work is completed in a timely manner.
  4. Cumulative flow diagram: This is a graph that shows the number of pieces of work in each column on the team's board over time. This metric helps the team to understand the flow of work and to identify bottlenecks and other areas for improvement.
By using these and other metrics, the team can gain a better understanding of their work and can identify and implement improvements that will help them to deliver working software more efficiently and effectively.

By using the Kanban method, teams can achieve a number of benefits, including:
  1. Improved efficiency: By visualizing the flow of work and limiting the amount of work in progress, teams can improve the efficiency of their work and deliver value to their customers more quickly.
  2. Better collaboration and communication: By making process policies explicit and using metrics to measure and monitor the flow of work, teams can improve collaboration and communication within the team and with other stakeholders.
  3. Greater flexibility and adaptability: By focusing on small, incremental improvements and responding quickly to changing conditions and customer needs, teams can become more flexible and adaptable, and can better meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
  4. Increased customer satisfaction: By delivering working software more quickly and efficiently, teams can increase customer satisfaction and build stronger relationships with their customers.

Overall, the Kanban method can help teams to achieve better results and to deliver value to their customers more efficiently and effectively. By adopting this approach, teams can improve their performance and become more successful in today's fast-paced and competitive environment.