1/12/2017 SkillsoftCourseTranscript

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CourseTranscript
KanbanFundamentals:UsingKanbaninITand
SoftwareDevelopment
IntroductiontoLeanandKanban
|1.CourseIntroduction|

|2.SoftwareDevelopmentLifecycle|

|3.EvolutionofMethodologies|

|4.LeanandKanban|

|5.Agile,Scrum,andKanban|

LeanConceptsandToolsUsedinKanban
|1.FoundationalLeanConcepts|

|2.IdentifyingandReducingWastes|

|3.TheTheoryofConstraints|

|4.TheVisualWorkplace|

LeanStrategiesforKanbanProjects
|1.KanbanandPull|

|2.KanbanandVisualSignsintheRealWorld|

|3.LeadTimeandCycleTime|

|4.WIPandFlow|

|5.KanbanDriversandApplication|

Kanban:ITandSoftwareApplications
|1.KanbaninITandSoftwareDevelopment|

|2.IntroductiontoKanbanBoards|

|3.KeyConceptsinKanbanApplication|

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UsingKanban
|1.TheKanbanProcess|

|2.KanbanProcess:CreatingaKanbanBoard|

|3.LimitingWIP|

|4.WaystoLimitWIP|

|5.ManagingFlow|

|6.MakingPoliciesExplicit|

|7.WorkingforContinuousImprovement|

ConsiderationsinKanbanAdoption
|1.BehavioralAspectsinApplyingKanban|

|2.MindsetandCulturalChange|

Practice:CreateanOnlineKanbanBoard
|1.Exercise:CreatinganOnlineKanbanBoard|

CourseIntroduction
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

startthecourse

1.
ITandsoftwaredevelopmentteamsoftendealwithlongcycletimes,delays,andotherinefficiencies,ratherthan
focusingonmeetingcustomerrequirements.Kanban,apopulartoolintheLeantoolset,isaneffectivevisual
managementsystemthatcanhelpsolveavarietyofefficiency,cost,productivity,throughput,andqualityrelated
problems.I'mHalaSaleh,aconsultantandtrainerwithover14yearsexperienceworkingonandwithsoftware
developmentprojectsinrolesrangingfromdevelopertoQAengineer,toprojectmanagerandAgilecoach.In
thiscourse,I'llintroduceyoutothebasicconceptsofLeandevelopmentandtoolsusedinKanban.I'llalso
provideanoverviewoftheKanbanprocessandcoverthestepsrequiredtocreateaKanbanboard.Let'sget
started.

Backtotop

SoftwareDevelopmentLifecycle
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LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

matchSDLCphasestoactivitiescarriedoutinthem

1.
Inthisvideo,we'regoingtobetalkingaboutthesoftwaredevelopmentlifecyclephasesorthephasesinvolved
indevelopingsoftware.Althoughtherearevarioussoftwaredevelopmentapproaches,mostofthemaresome
variationofthephasesshownonthisslide.Andthosephasesarerequirementsgatheringandanalysis,design,
developmentorcoding,testing,deployment,andmaintenance.Thesoftwaredevelopmentlifecyclemight
sometimesbereferredtoasthesoftwaredevelopmentprocessmodels:thewaterfallmodelorincremental
model.Basically,allofthesearesomevariationofhavingasequential,phasedapproachofgoingthrougheach
ofthesedifferentphasesthatarelistedonthisslide.Inthiscourse,we'regoingtouseaslightlyabridgedversion
ofthiscycleatdifferentpointsandwiththedifferentlearningtopicsandwemightfocusonsomeoftheseover
otherones.
Heading:SoftwareDevelopmentLifecycle(SDLC)Phases.

Abasicwaterfallchartwithsixphasesdisplays.Startingfromthetop,theseareRequirementsgatheringand
analysis,Design,Developmentorcoding,Testing,Deployment,andMaintenance.

Sointhefirstslidehere,we'regoingtobetalkingabouttwoofthephaseswhicharerequirementsgatheringand
analysisanddesignandwe'regoingtobetalkingaboutsomeoftheactivitiesthatyoucanexpecttobe
involvedinbothofthesephases.Sointherequirementsgatheringandanalysisphase,thisiswherewe'regoing
tobehavingmeetingswithstakeholders,withcustomers,withthecustomerrepresentative,withtheproduct
manager,productowner,andwhoeverreallyhasastakeintheproject.We'regoingtobegatheringthebusiness
requirements,analyzingthemforvalidity,forwhetherthey'rehelpingusreachourgoals,forusability,andfor
reallythebenefittousandtoourenduser.Oncethoserequirementshavebeenagreedupon,typicallythere'sa
documentthatgetsgenerated.That'stherequirementspecificationdocument.Oncewehavethatdocument,we
thenmoveontothedesignphase.Sointhedesignphase,we'llstarttoseethedesignofthesystemandthe
softwareemergeasitcomesfromthesystemarchitecturedesignersandthesoftwaredesigners.
Heading:RequirementsGathering,Analysis,andDesign.

ThefirsttwoSDLCphasesareRequirementsgatheringandanalysisandDesign.

SointhenexttwophasesoftheSDLC,westartwhatwecallthedevelopmentorcodingphaseandthenwe
moveontothetestingphase.Soindevelopmentorcoding,thisiswhereoursoftwaredevelopersareactually
developingandimplementingthesoftwareorthecodethat'srequiredtofulfillthebusinessrequirementsthat
werespecifiedintheprevioustwophases,andinordertoachievethedesignthatwasspecifiedintheprevious
phase.Typically,thisisthelongestpartofthesoftwaredevelopmentlifecyclesincethedevelopersaregoing
throughaniterativeapproachofcompletingandfinishingupalloftherequirementsthatwerespecifiedinthe
documentation.Oncethedevelopershavecompletedthedevelopmentofthesoftware,wethenmoveontothe
testingphase.Testinginvolvesalotofdifferenttypesoftesting,andsomecompaniesorteamsmightfocuson
onetypeoftestingoveranother.Itreallydependsontheproduct,andontheendcustomer,andwhereit'sbeing
deployed,etc.Sotestinginvolvesavariation,orsomevariation,offunctionalitytesting,ofperformancetesting,
ofusabilitytesting,etc.
Heading:DevelopmentandTesting.

ThethirdandfourthSDLCphasesareDevelopmentorcodingandTesting.

Oncethetestingisdone,wethenmoveontothenexttwophases,whichinvolvedeploymentandmaintenance.
Soindeployment,thisisthephasewhereallofthesoftwareisfinallypackagedupandthenreleasedintowhat
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wecallproduction.Andthatjustmeansthatnowoursoftwareisliveandit'savailableforusebyourend
customer.Oncewe'vedeployedthesoftwareandwe'vemadeitavailableforourcustomer,wethenmoveinto
whatwecallthemaintenancephase.Inthemaintenancephase,we'relookingatensuringthatanyissuesthat
comeupwiththesoftwarewhileit'sinproductionareresolvedquicklybytheteam.Sowesometimesdon't
knowhowthesoftwareisgoingtobehaveintherealworlduntilweactuallydeploythatsoftwareinto
productionandmakeitavailableforusers.Andthen,whenusersstartusingit,westarttosometimesseeissues
thatmaynothaveemergedorshownupinourtestingandinourdevelopmentenvironments.Andthat'swhere
themaintenancephasebecomesimportant,toensureacertainlevelofstandardswithoursoftwareandwithour
deploymenttoourcustomers.

Heading:DeploymentandMaintenance.

ThefifthandsixthSDLCphasesareDeploymentandMaintenance.

Backtotop

EvolutionofMethodologies
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

recognizelimitationsofthewaterfallapproach

1.
Inthepreviousvideo,wetalkedaboutthetraditionalsoftwaredevelopmentlifecycle,orwhatwecalledthe
waterfallapproachtodevelopingsoftware.Inthatvideo,wetalkedabouthavingasequentialsetofphasesfor
developingsoftwarewherewestartwithrequirementsgatheringandanalysisandthen,oncethatiscompleted,
wemoveontodesign,andthenmoveontodevelopment,andthentesting,deploymentand,finally,
maintenance.Thewaterfallortraditionalsoftwaredevelopmentlifecycleapproachhasanumberoflimitations
and,inthisvideo,we'regoingtobetalkingaboutsomeofthoselimitations.Sotostartoutwith,customers
typicallydon'tknowwhattheywantupfrontbeforeweactuallystartdevelopingtheproduct.Theymayhave
seensomethingthattriggeredanideaortheymayhavehadanidea,buttheydon'treallyknowhowtoexpectit
tobeimplemented,orperhapstheydon'tknowwhatthesoftwarecanandcan'tsupport.Sountilweactually
givethemsomethinginhandandsomethingtouseandtryandtest,it'shardtonaildownrequirementsupfront
beforeweevengetthroughanyofthedevelopment.
Heading:LimitationsofWaterfall/SDLCApproach.

TheSDLCwaterfallchartwithsixphasesdisplays.Startingfromthetop,thesearerequirementsgatheringand
analysis,design,developmentorcoding,testing,deployment,andmaintenance.

Inaddition,softwaredevelopmentlifecycleapproachintermsofwaterfallhaslimitedapplicationtoprojects
wheretherequirementsarereallywellknownupfrontandthereisn'tmuchchange.Asweallknow,inthis
environmenttodayinthe21stcentury,wehavealotofchangeandcomplexityrelatedtosoftwaredevelopment
ortechnologyprojects.Thewaterfallprocessmaybetoorigid,whichmayendupbeingunrealisticandnot
suitablefortheuncertaintiesoftheworldthatwelivein.Soforexample,technologieschangeallthetime.We
maythinkthatoneofthetechnologiesisthebestwayforwardforusandthenfindoutpartwaythroughthe
projectthatthere'sabettertechnologythatcanhelpusorcanchangetheuserexperience.Withthingschanging
sorapidlyinthisenvironment,it'sbesttohaveanapproachthatallowsforaresponsetochange.Thewaterfall
approachalsoassumesthatcustomerrequirementsandthatourdesignsthataredoneupfrontcanbetranslated
intorealproducts.There'sanassumptionthatoncewegetthroughrequirementsgatheringanddesignthatthen

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developmentjustnaturallyfollows,whereasbyhavingdevelopmentinvolvedintheearlystagesofaproject,we
cangetasenseoftechnicalfeasibilityandwhetherweactuallyhavethetechnologyandthetoolstobuildthe
productsthatourcustomersorourbusinesssideofourcompanyislookingfor.

ThereareseverallimitationsassociatedwiththeSDLCapproach.Thefirstisthatcustomersthemselvesoften
don'tknowwhattheywantupfront.Theneedforrequirementstobedefinedupfrontresultsinthisapproach
havingalimitedapplication.Itcanalsomakeittoorigid,andthereforeunrealisticandunsuitableforthe
uncertaintiesoftherealworld.Anotherlimitationisthatitassumesthatthecustomerrequirementsanddesign
canbetranslatedintorealproducts.

Andthen,finally,it'shighlyimprobableinmanycasestoestimatetimeandcostswithanydegreeofaccuracy,
whenallofourdesignandrequirementsaredoneupfrontbeforewe'veactuallystartedimplementing.
Implementingaprojectisnotacopypastefromoneenvironmenttoanother.Soevenifwefeellike,okay,we
arebuildingabillingsoftwaretool,forexample,andweknowofanothercompanythat'sbuiltabillingsoftware
tool,wecan'tjustsimplytakethetimeandcoststhatittookthatcompanytobuildthetoolandtransferthem
ontoourselves.Everycompanyisdifferent,everyteamisdifferent,andtheinteractionsaredifferent.The
technologieswe'reusingmightbedifferentthanthetechnologiesthey'reusing.Ourendcustomermaybe
differentandsosomeofthefeaturesmaynotberequiredorwemayrequiredifferentfeaturesornewfeatures.
Andso,withoutgettingintothedevelopmentofthesoftwareandactuallytryingtoimplementandunderstand
whatourspecificteam'scapacityis,it'shardtosticktoestimatesontimeandcostsupfrontforanentireproject.
Thewaterfallapproachmakesithighlyimprobabletoestimatetimeandcostswithanydegreeofaccuracy.

Sointhisslide,we'regoingtotalkalittlebitaboutthetraditionalcommandandcontrolmanagementstylein
waterfallprojectsandthewaythatwewouldliketomanageprojectsinthisdayandage.Sotraditionally,with
waterfallprocessesandawaterfallprocessforprojectmanagement,itendsupbeingalotofcommandand
control.Andwhatthatmeansis,ifwe'vedefinedupfrontwhatwethinkourrequirementsneedtobeandthe
design,andthenwetrytocreateplansinahighlevelofdetailwithalotoflowerleveldetailandtasksalso
includedintheplans,thenweactuallyenduptryingtomanagespecificallytothoseplansthroughoutthe
project.Soourfocusshiftsfromdevelopingthebestproductpossibleanddevelopingthehighestqualityand
fulfillingbusinessneedsandbusinessvalue,towhetherornotwe'recheckingofftasksoffofalist.Sointoday's
environmentwherecompaniesareexpectedtoinnovateandcomeupwithnewideasandimplementnewways
ofdoingthings,thatwaterfallapproachreallyisn'tthebestwayforward.Weneedanapproachthatallowsusto
collaborateandcommunicateandmoveforwardwithinnovativedesignsandinnovativeimplementations.
Heading:WaterfallLifecycleApproachDoesNotWork!

Asimplediagramcomprisedoftwoapproachesdisplays.Thesearethetraditionalcommandandcontrol
managementstyleandthewaterfallapproach.Thetwoapproachesruninoppositedirections.Thetraditional
commandandcontrolmanagementstylepointsfrombottomtotopandthewaterfallapproachpointstopto
bottom.

Soatthispoint,we'regoingtobethinkingabout,okay,sowhatcanwedo?Whatcanbedonewiththis
environmentandwiththissituationthatwe'rein?Soanumberofthingshavehappenedoverthepastfewyears
thathavehelpeduscomeupwithsometoolsandprocessesthatcanhelpmanageprojectsanddevelopproducts
inamoresuitablewayforthe21stcentury.In2001,agroupofpeoplecametogetheranddocumentedwhatis
calledtheAgilemanifesto.Thismanifestoisasetofvaluesandprinciplesthatcreatesthefoundationforall
Agileprocessesandmethods,includingScrum,whichisoneofthemethodsthatwewentthroughinaprevious
series.SotheAgilemanifestogivesusasetofaswementionedvaluesandprinciplesthatreallygovernthe
waythatwedoprojects.Andit'sinterestingtothinkofasetofvaluesandprinciplesasbeingtheguidinglight
foraprojectmanagementoraproductdevelopment.Butreally,byprovidingpeoplewithasenseofautonomy
andmasteryandskillandgivingthemthespacetoimplementourideas,andnottryingtospecifyhowtheyneed
tobeimplementingtheideas,wecreateanenvironmentwherethere'screativity,there'simplementationthat's
basedoninnovationversuscheckingthingsoffalist.
Heading:WhatCanBeDone.

Thereareseveraltoolsandprocessesthathelpsolvetheproblemswiththewaterfalllifecycleapproach.Firstis
theAgilemanifestowhichprovidesthefoundationofalltheAgileprocesses,includingScrum.These
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theAgilemanifestowhichprovidesthefoundationofalltheAgileprocesses,includingScrum.These
foundationalvaluesandprincipleshelpfacilitateinnovation.Inaddition,thereareanumberofLeantools,
specificallyKanban,whichareextensivelyused.LeantoolsandKanbanareverysuccessfulinsoftware
development,support,andmaintenanceprojects.Today,KanbanoftencomplementsorevenreplacesAgileon
theseprojects.

Inaddition,thereareanumberofLeantoolsthathavecomefromtheLeanmanufacturingenvironment,
includingatoolcalledKanbanthathavebeenverysuccessfulinthesoftwaredevelopmentaswellassupport
andmaintenancephasesofsoftwareandothertypesofmaintenanceprojectsaswell.Kanbanisagreattoolfor
managingtheflowofworkwhenwehavealongqueueofworkthatweknowweneedtogetthrough,andwe
needaprocesstoeffectivelygetthroughthatqueueofwork.Kanbanistodayextensivelyusedinsoftware
developmentenvironmentsassometimesasupplementoracomplementtoaprocesssuchasScrum,and
sometimesitreplacesScruminenvironmentswhereaworkflowisreallythemainfocusversusplanningand
managingaprojectfromstarttoend.

Soalittlebitabouttheevolutionofeachoftheseprocesses.WaterfallreallycamefromtheageoftheIndustrial
Revolution,whenfactoriesweregettingbuiltandpeopleweretryingtofigureoutwhat'sthemostefficientway
forustobuildproducts.Andwhenyoulookatthemanufacturingfloor,wetriedtobuildproductsinaway
whereweunderstandexactlywhattheproductneededtodo,andthenwewentintothedesignphaseokay,
whatdoesthisproductneedtolooklike?Whatarewegoingtoattachtoit?Andthen,fromthere,weactually
moveintothedevelopmentphasewherewewereproducingproductsmaybeinafactory.Afterthat,wewere
QAingthemandmakingsurethattherewasaqualitycontrolaspecttothingsandthen,finally,releasingthem
intoproduction.Oncewerealizedthatwetriedtoinheritthesameprocessforsoftwaredevelopment,butthat
softwarewasmorecomplexthanbuildingveryreliableandspecifictoolsinafactoryorproductsinafactory
thatfollowedaveryspecificdesignitwasevidentthatanewprocessneededtobe...tobeimplemented.And
somanypeoplecameupwithanumberofdifferentmethodswhichareAgilemethodologies,includingone
calledScrum,andthesemethodsallowustobemorecollaborative.Theyallowforchangingrequirements,they
allowforchangingtechnologiestocomeinalongthecourseofaprojectandchangethewaythatwedothings.
Heading:Evolution.

Asimplediagramchartstheevolutionofthreeprocesses.Thewaterfallapproachoccursfirstandleadsonto
theAgileandscrummethods.Finally,theAgileandscrummethodsevolveandleadtotheLeanandKanban
processes.

Andthen,movingforward,alsocomingfromtheLeanmanufacturingera,we'vestartedtoimplementsomeof
thetoolsthatwegotfromLeantoeliminatewasteinourworkflowsandtocomeupwithawayofeffectively
managingourworkflows,andmovingthroughtheworkflowsandthequeuesthatwehaveintheenvironments
thatweworkin.

Backtotop

LeanandKanban
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

describecharacteristicsofLeanandKanban

1.

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Inthisvideo,we'regoingtogetabetterunderstandingofwhatLeanis.We'lldefinethebenefitsofapplying
Leanprinciples,somecommontoolsforapplyingLean,andwe'lldefineKanbanandunderstandhowtoapply
Kanban.SowithLean,wehavetounderstandthatit'sacontinuousimprovementinitiative,meaningeverything
centersaroundthisconceptofcontinuouslyimprovingourprocesses,thewaysofdoingthings,andtheend
productthatwedelivertoourcustomers.ThecoreideabehindLeanistomaximizecustomervaluewhile
minimizingwaste.Sowe'retryingtocreatemorevalueforcustomerswithfewerresourcesorwithlesswaste.
Leanorganizationsreallystrivetounderstandwhatdefinesvaluefortheircustomer.Oncetheyunderstandwhat
definesthatvalue,theythenfocustheirkeyprocessestocontinuouslyincreasetheamountofvaluethey're
deliveringtotheircustomers.Toaccomplishthisgoal,Leanthinkingreallychangesthefocusofmanagement
fromoptimizingseparatetechnologies,assets,anddepartmentstooptimizingtheflowofproductsandservices
throughtheholisticentirevaluestreamthatcrossesallofthosedifferenttechnologies,assets,anddepartments.
Heading:WhatisLean?WhatDoesitDo?

Leanisacontinuousimprovementinitiative.Itstreamlinesandimprovesprocesses,maximizescustomervalue,
andreduceswastealongtheentirevaluestream.Indoingso,Leanimprovesoverallefficiency,quality,and
customersatisfaction.

WhileLeanwasintroducedinJapan,atToyota,it'sbeenwidelyadaptedthroughmanyorganizationsandmany
typesoforganizations.Whethermilitaryorconstruction,it'salsobeenusedinserviceandtransactional
industriessuchashealthcareinsurance,financialservices,andtransportation.We'realsoimplementingLean
methodologiestodayinalotofsoftwaredevelopmentorganizations.Andourfocusistryingtomaximize
customervalue,sincewe'reonlylookingatwhatpartsofourprocessaredeliveringvalue.Andthen,whenwe
identifypartsofourprocessthataren'tdeliveringvalue,we'retryingtocutthoseout.Sothen,whatarethe
benefitsofapplyingLean?FirstleadandcycletimesarereducedwhenweapplyLeanprinciples.Leadtimeis
basicallytheamountoftimebetweenwhenacustomermakesarequestorwhensomethingentersintoour
queueandwhenit'sfinallydelivered.Cycletime,ontheotherhand,isdefinedastheamountoftimefromwhen
westartworkingonaspecifictaskorrequestuntilthetimethatit'sdelivered.WithLeanprinciples,oncewe
starttoimplementthereductionofwaste,westarttoseehowwe'reabletogetthingsthroughourcycleandget
themdeliveredandfinalizedfasterthanbefore.
Heading:BenefitsofApplyingLean.

ApplyingLeanhasanumberofbenefits.Tostart,itreducesleadandcycletimes.

Also,byapplyingLeanprinciples,efficiencyandqualityareimprovedandthosearedirectresultsofboth
reducingwaste,butalsothecontinuousimprovementmentalitythatweapplywithLean.Andthen,third,
communicationbetweentheorganizationandcustomerisimprovedbecause,withtheLeanthinking
organization,tryingtoimprovecustomercommunicationandtryingtoensurethatweunderstandwhatdelivers
valuetocustomersupfrontandthroughouttheprocessasmuchaspossible,allowsustogettoastatewhere
we'vecommunicatedreallywellwithourcustomer,andwecontinuetodoso,sothatwecancontinuously
improvewhatwedelivertoourcustomer.Andthen,fourth,physicalworkspaceandfacilityneedsmaybe
reducedbyimplementingLeanthinking,sincewe'retryingtoreducewasteandthen,also,whatfollowsfrom
that,isthatwe'retryingtoreducewastewithourphysicalspace.Arethereareasofourcompanyorourfactory
thatwedon'tneedtobeusing?Arethereareaswherewecanusemoreeffectivelyormoreefficiently?
Leanimprovesefficiencyandquality,andimprovescommunicationbetweentheorganizationandcustomer.
Leanalsoreducesphysicalworkspaceandfacilityneeds.

Andthen,finally,processflexibilityisfacilitatedbyimplementingLeanthinking.Andthisisaresultofthinking
abouthowdoweneedtoimproveourprocessinordertoachievemaximumvalueforcustomers?Howdowe
improveourprocessinordertoreducewaste?Beingabletoimproveourprocessmeansbeingabletochange
ourprocess,andthusweneedtohavethatflexibilitybuiltin.
Leanhelpsfacilitateprocessflexibility.

Soonthisslide,we'regoingtotalkreallybrieflyaboutsomecommonLeantoolsthatareimplementedinLean
organizations.Theonesthatarerelevanttoourcoursewillbelookedatinmoredetailinfurtherclasses.Soat
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thetop,youcansee,onthisslide,thetheoryofconstraints.Thetheoryofconstraintsisamethodologyfor
identifyingthemostimportantlimitingfactor,orconstraint,orbottleneckthatstandsinthewayofachievinga
goal,andthensystematicallyimprovingthatconstraintuntilit'snolongerthelimitingfactor.Sowe'regoingto
findthebottleneck,andthenfindwaysofimprovingthatbottleneckuntilitnolongerlimitsus.Thenextbubble
youcanseeonthisslide,statesFMEA,5s,standardwork,andpokayoke.Allofthesereallyrelatetofinding
andprioritizingriskandeliminatingit,findingandfindingwaysoferrorproofingourprocess,andalsojust
findinghowwestandardizeourbaselineforproductionandourbaselineforperformance,andthencontinuously
strivetoimproveit,andthenchangeourbaseline.
Heading:CommonLeanTools.

TherearesixcommonLeantools.TheseincludetheoryofconstraintsFMEA,5S,standardwork,andpoka
yoke.

ThenextleveltalksaboutMuda/wasteeliminationandvaluestreammapping.Andtheseallrelatetofinding
howisitthatwedelivervaluetoourcustomer,andtheneliminateanywastewiththatprocess.Mudaisreally
definedaswaste,sowewanttoeliminatethatwasteandthengettoourvaluestreammappingwherewe're
deliveringvaluetoourcustomerinthemostefficientandeffectivewaypossible.Nextwetalkaboutcycletime
reductionandcontinuousflow.Sowithcycletimereductionaswe'vedefinedcycletimeinthepreviousslide
istheamountoftimebetweenwhensomeonestartsworkingonarequestandthenwhentheyfinallydeliverit.
Soachievingthatstateofcontinuousflowwhetherwiththeteamorwithanindividualallowsustoreduce
ourcycletimeandtodeliverfaster.NextisKanbanandvisualworkplace.Theideaofthevisualworkplaceis
veryimportantwithLeanprocessesandwithLeanthinking.Andwhatwemeanbyvisualworkplaceisthatwe
haveboardsandwehavewaysofcommunicatingourstatusandourprogressthatareveryvisualandthat
anybodycanseewhiletheyareworking.AlotofthisgoesbacktotheconceptofKanban,whichwe'llgointo
moredetailinthenextslides.
OtherLeantoolsare:Muda/wasteeliminationandvaluestreammappingcycletimereductionandcontinuous
flowandKanbanandvisualworkplace.

Andthen,finally,KaizenandTPM.Kaizenisdefinedastheprocessofcontinuousimprovementand,inLean
thinkingandrealLeanorganizations,we'retryingtocontinuouslyimproveeverythingaboutourprocess.TPM
isdefinedastotalproductivemaintenance.TPMemphasizesproactiveaswellaspreventativemaintenanceto
maximizeoperationalefficiencyofourequipment.SowithTPM,wefocusonhavingpeoplegettrainedinhow
to...inhowtofixtheirownequipment,forexample,orhowtomaintaintheirownequipmentsothatwereduce
theamountoftimewastedbyhavingtogetpeopletocomeandmaintainourequipment,forexample,sothatwe
cankeepcontinuingonwithourproduction.
ThefinaltoolsareKaizenandTPM.

Sointhisslide,we'regoingtointroduceKanban.SoKanbanisaverypopularandwidelyusedtoolintheLean
toolset.ThewordKanbanisactuallymadeupoftwowords,"Kan"whichiscard,and"Ban"whichissignal.So
ifyoutranslatethiscontextuallyinJapanese,Kanbanreallymeansacardyoucanseeoravisualcardorsignal.
KanbanoriginatedinthemanufacturingworldspecificallyaspartoftheToyotaproductionsystem.Kanbanisa
signalingsystemusedtoindicatewhatsuppliesorpartsarerequiredjustintimesojustwhenthey'rerequired
andwhenthey'rerequired.Asyoucansee,whenyouhaveasystemsuchasKanban,wereallyfocusonthis
conceptofthevisualworkplace,likewementionedinthepreviousslide.Havingavisualworkplacemeansthat
wehaveawayofunderstandingwhat'sgoingononourmanufacturingfloororwhereveritisthatwe're
applyingKanban,withouthavingtorelyontext,writtendocuments,forexample,orsendinglongemailsthat
explainwhat'sgoingon.
Heading:WhatisKanban?

KanBanoriginatedinthemanufacturingworldaspartoftheToyotaProductionSystem.It'sasignalingsystem
usedtoindicatewhatsuppliesorpartsarerequiredandwhenthey'rerequired."Kanban"iscomprisedoftwo
wordsKanandBan.KanmeanscardandBanmeanssignal.ItscontextualtranslationinJapaneseis"acard
youcansee,"or"visualcardorsignal."

Solet'stalkaboutthecardbasedsystemofKanban.Asyoucanseeinthisdiagram,inthemanufacturing
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Solet'stalkaboutthecardbasedsystemofKanban.Asyoucanseeinthisdiagram,inthemanufacturing
context,Kanbanisthesignalthatyouusetoindicatethatanewpartisneeded.Soforexample,wemightuse
cardstosay,"Hey,Ineedmoreofthisspecifictool."Byknowingexactlywhentosendsupplies,manufacturing
floorscanreduceinventoryandtransportcosts.Soinsteadofmaintainingalargeinventory,weonlymaintain
whatweneedforthemoment.Youdon'torderapartuntilyoureceiveasignalthatthatpartisneeded.Eachpart
mighthaveaKanbancardattachedtoit.Whenthatpartisthenused,thecardisdetachedandsenttothesupply
manager.SupplymanagersthenknowtosendonanewpartsincetheonethathadtheKanbancardattachedtoit
hasbeenconsumed.Sowithgeographicallydiversecustomersandsuppliers,itmaybehardtousethese
physicalcardsforKanbanpullbasedsystems.Soforexample,incontextssuchassoftwaredevelopmentwhere
wemayhavedistributedteams,Kanbanmaybechallenging.Therearesomeorganizationsthatimplemente
Kanbansystemsthathaveelectroniccardstodealwiththesetypesofchallenges.However,it'simportanttonote
thatthephysicalKanbanboardshavebeenveryeffectiveinmanyorganizations,andmanyorganizationsget
verycreativeabouthowtoutilizethemevenwithgeographicallydistributedteams.
Heading:KanbanCards.

Twodiagramsdisplaysidebyside.Thefirstdiagramrepresentsacardbasedsystemthatusesphysicalcards.It
showsamanufacturingcompanyusingphysicalcardsonvariouslevelstoindicatetheneedfornewspecific
inventoryitems.TheseconddiagramrepresentsaneKanbansystemthatuseselectroniccards.Itshowsan
electroniccardcomprisedofvariousinputfields.ThefirstsectioncontainsTIME,MIN,andSECfields.The
secondsectioncontainsHOUROBJandDAYOBJfields.AthirdsectioncontainsHOURNO.andDAYNO.
fields.Finally,thereareRATEOFHOURandRATEOFDAYfieldslistedatthebottom.

Inthisslide,we'regoingtointroducetheideaofuppercase"K"andlowercase"k"Kanban.Sowith...whenwe
mentionuppercaseKKanban,we'rereallytalkingabouttheoverallimprovementmethodologyso,allofthe
strategiesincludedtotryandlimitworkinprogress,andotheraspectsofimplementingLeanprinciplesbesides
justthevisualizationofthespecificworkitem.WithlowercaseKanban,it'sreallytheliteralinterpretationof
thatspecificvisualcardthatweuseinourKanbansystem.
Heading:UpperandLowerKKanban.

Kanbanwithanuppercase"K"referstotheoverallimprovementmethodology.Thisincludesstrategiestolimit
workinprogressandotheraspectsofLeanbesidesthevisualizationofwork.Kanbanwithalowercase"k"
referstotheliteralinterpretation,whichis"visualcard."

Sothereareafewrulesorprinciplesthat,whenimplemented,makeourimplementationofKanbanalotmore
effective.SoaneffectiveKanbansystemfollowsthesefourrules.Numberone,downstreamprocessesmayonly
withdrawitemsinthepreciseamountsspecifiedontheKanban.SotheKanbancard,forexample,maysaythatI
justconsumedtwoofthisspecifictool.Oncethatcardissentbacktothesupplymanager,thosearetheexact
numberoftoolsthattheyneedtosendbackdowntheline.Upstreamprocessesmayonlysenditems
downstreaminthepreciseamountsthathavebeenwithdrawnaswe'vejustmentionedintheexample.
Defectivepartsorincorrectamountsareneversenttothenextdownstreamprocess.Soatanypointinthe
process,ifwefinddefectivepartsorincorrectamountsthataredifferentthanwhat'sstatedonthecard,wedon't
sendthemdownstreamtothenextstepintheprocess.Andthen,finally,aKanbanmustaccompanyeachitemat
alltimes.Youcaneventranslatethisinto,forexample,asoftwaredevelopmentenvironment.Ifthere'sno
Kanbancardorrequirementspecification,orcardthatspecifieswhatitisthatI'mproducing,thenwedon't
producethatitemuntilwehaveacardattached.Thishelpsusminimizewasteandensuresthatwe'reonly
workingonthingsthathavebeenidentifiedasdeliveringvalue.
Heading:RulesforKanban.

AneffectiveKanbansystemfollowsfourrules.Firstthedownstreamprocessesmayonlywithdrawitemsinthe
preciseamountsspecifiedontheKanban.Second,upstreamprocessesmayonlysenditemsdownstreaminthe
preciseamountsthathavebeenwithdrawn.Third,defectivepartsorincorrectamountsareneversenttothenext
downstreamprocess.Fourth,aKanbanmustaccompanyeachitematalltimes.

Backtotop
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Agile,Scrum,andKanban
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

distinguishbetweenAgile,Scrum,andKanban

1.
Inthisvideo,we'regoingtointroducetheconceptofiterativemethodsofsoftwaredevelopment.We'lltalk
abouttheAgilemanifesto,andwe'lltalkaboutScrumasanAgileframeworkandcompareittoKanban.As
we'vetalkedaboutinpreviousvideos,thewaterfallmethodofdevelopingsoftwareisaseriesofdiscretephases,
whereeachonestartsonlyoncethepreviousonehasbeencompleted.Sowestartwithrequirementsanalysis.
Oncethat'sdonewemoveintodesign.Oncethat'scompleted,wedodevelopmentorcoding,andthentesting,
andthenfinallydeployment,andmaintenance.Intheiterativemethodofsoftwaredevelopment,wehavea
seriesofiterationsorcycles.Andeachoneoftheseiterationsmaycontaineach...activitiesfromeachoneofthe
developmentphases.Sowithineachiteration,wemayhavesomeplanningandanalysis,somedesign,some
coding,andthenfinallysometesting.Alsoattheendofeachiteration,wemaydeployeithertoproduction,orto
aninternalstagingenvironmentbasedonthebusinessownersandtheproductowners'decision.
Heading:TheIterativeMethods.

Therearetwomainapproachestosoftwaredevelopmentthewaterfallmethodandtheiterativemethod.Inthe
waterfallmethod,developmentisplandrivenandoccursasaseriesofdiscretephases,eachoccurringonly
oncethepreviousphasehascompleted.Intheiterativemethod,developmentisvaluedriven,adaptive,and
incremental.Itoccursasaseriesofiterationsorcycles,eachofwhichincludesallthedevelopmentphases.

Twobasicdiagramsdisplay.Thefirstisawaterfallchartrepresentingthewaterfallmethod.It'scomprisedof
fourphases.Startingfromthetop,theseareAnalysis,Design,Coding,andTesting.OncetheTestingphaseis
completed,thesoftwareisdeployed.Theseconddiagramrepresentstheiterativemethod.Inthefirsttwophases,
developmentstartsandthearchitectureischosen.Atthispointthereareanumberofcycles,eachconsistingof
fourphasesPlanning/Analysis,Design,Coding,andTesting.Afterseveraliterations,thesoftwareisdeployed.

Soin2001,agroupofdevelopersandsoftwareprofessionalscametogether,andtheycreatedwhatwecallthe
Agilemanifesto.ThisgroupiscalledtheAgileAlliance,andtheywerefocusingoncomingupwithasetof
valuesandprinciples,thathelpedusdefineeffectiveadaptivewaysofdevelopingsoftware.SotheAgile
manifestostatesthatwevalueindividualsandinteractionsoverprocessesandtools.Soit'simportanttovalue
individuals,givepeopleautonomy,andallowforcertaininteractionstohappenbetweenthem,sothatwecan
comeupwiththebestideas.Andthat'smoreimportanttousthanprocessesandtools,thatweuseinour
environmentsandinourorganizations.Alsowevalueworkingsoftwareovercomprehensivedocumentation.So
it'salwaysbettertoshipsomekindofworkingsoftwaretogetfeedback,andcollaborateonimprovingitversus
spendingtoomuchtimedoingcomprehensivedocumentation.Alsowevaluecustomercollaborationover
contractnegotiation.Socollaboratingwithyourendcustomerisalwaysabetterway,toapproachfiguringout
what'sneededthantryingtonegotiateovercertaintermsinacontract.Andthenfinallyrespondingtochange
overfollowingaplan.
Heading:AgileSoftwareDevelopment.

TheconceptofAgilesoftwaredevelopmentwasintroducedbyagroupofdeveloperscalledtheAgileAlliance.
Thisgroupdefinedasetofprinciplesforeffective,adaptivesoftwaredevelopment,inwhat'sknownastheAgile
manifesto.

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AbasicdiagramrepresentingAgilesoftwaredevelopmentdisplays.It'scomprisedofacycleoffourphases
Planning/Analysis,Design,Coding,andTesting.Softwaredeploymentoccursafterseveralcyclesarecomplete.

ScrumisoneofthemethodologiesthatcomesoutoftheAgileframework.ScrumisusuallyusedeitherwithXP
orextremeprogramming,inordertoprovidesomeengineeringpracticesoritcanbecombinedwithother
methodologies.Itcanalsoberunonitsownandisveryeffective.Scrumtakesitsnamefromthescrumin
rugby,inwhichtheplayerscometogetherandtheyformaknotorahuddle,andtheirgoalistogethertomove
theballdownthefield.TheScrumframeworkisbasedonshortdailymeetingsknownasscrums,whereallteam
memberscollaborateonmanagingaprojectandreallyonmovingtheprojectforward,verysimilartohowthe
playersinarugbyteamwouldmovethatballforward.UsingScrum,wearedevelopingsoftwareinwhatwecall
sprintsoriterations.Soinitially,there'saninitialplanningandrequirementsgathering,orkindofconcept
gatheringphasewherewe'refiguringoutwhatisitthatwe'retryingtobuild.Maybewe'redoingsomelevelof
userresearch,inordertomakesurethatwe'rebuildingtherightthing.Andthenwe'resplittingouttheworkinto
separatesprints.Soineachsprintwe'regoingtohavesomelevelofeachoftheseactivities,planning/analysis,
design,development,testing,andthenfinallygettingsomelevelofapprovalfromourproductowner.Werepeat
thesecyclesinordertoaddmorefunctionalitytoourendproduct,andtoaddinitsrobustness.
Heading:Scrum.

TheScrummethodologyfocusesonAgileprojectmanagement.It'softenusedtogetherwithXPorwithother
Agilemethodologies.Scrumtakesitsnamefromthescruminrugby,inwhichplayersformatightknotand
togetherexecuteaplanforpassingtheballinadesireddirection.TheScrummethodologyisbasedonshort
dailymeetings,knownasscrums,inwhichallteammemberscollaborateonmanagingadevelopmentproject.
Eachscrummeetingshouldlastbetween10and15minutes.

Abasicdiagramdisplays.It'scomprisedofthreecycleswithfourphasesPlanning/Analysis,Design,Coding,
andTesting.Thefirstandsecondcyclesareeachreleasableoncecomplete.Afterthethirdcycleiscomplete,the
softwareisdeployed.

Heading:SprintbasedSoftwareDevelopmentUsingScrum.

Abasicflowchartcomprisedoffivephasesdisplays.Thefirstphaseinvolvesinitialplanningandrequirements
gathering.Followingthisaresprintphasesnumberedonetofour.Eachofthesprintsarecomprisedofthesame
activitiesplanning/analysis,design,development,testing,andapproval.

Solet'scompareandcontrastScrumandKanban.We'lllookatanumberofdifferentattributes,andthenwe'll
explainhowScrumcomparestoKanbanineachoftheseattributes.Sofirstofallflexibility.InScrum,weprefer
tohavenochangesinthesprintoncethesprinthasstarted.Sowhetherthesprintisoneortwoweeks,weprefer
thatnochangesinscopehappenduringthecourseofasprint,sothatweallowtheteamtotakesometimeand
finishwhattheystarted.InKanban,changescanhappenanytime,astheworkismoreofaflowofworkversusa
specificiteration.SoinScrum,whenitcomestoflowthere'saregularfixedlengthsprint,whichisanywhere
reallybetweenoneandfourweeks.Althoughmostteamsthesedaysaredoingoneortwoweeksprints.In
Kanban,there'sacontinuousflowofworkwherethere'sacontinuousfloworqueueoftasksthatgetfedintothe
team,andthengetoutputbytheteam.ValuedeliveryinScrumhappensattheendofeachsprint,wherewe
deliversomeworkingsoftwarethattheteamhasworkedonforthatsprint.InKanban,there'scontinuous
delivery.Thishappensattheteam'sdiscretionandatthediscretionoftheirmanagement,butbasicallypeople
arecontinuouslyworkingonitemsandcompletingthemcompletelytodone,andthenthoseitemscan
potentiallybeshipped.
Heading:Scrumvs.Kanban.

AtablecomparingtheScrumandKanbanmethodsintermsoffiveattributesdisplays.Therearethreecolumns
Attribute,Scrum,andKanban.Therearefiverows.Eachrowcontainsaspecificattributeandashort
descriptionofhowitappliesintheScrumandKanbanmethods.

Flexibility:Nochangepreferredduringthesprint:Changecanhappenatanytime.

Flow:Regularfixedlengthsprints(12weeks):Continuousflow.
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Flow:Regularfixedlengthsprints(12weeks):Continuousflow.

ValueDelivery:Attheendofeachsprint:Continuousdelivery(atteam'sdiscretion).
TeamRoles:Productowner,scrummaster,developmentteam:Nofixedroles.
KeyMetrics:Velocity:Cycletime.

InScrum,therearethreemainteamroles,whichareproductowners,ScrumMaster,andthedevelopmentteam.
InKanban,therearenofixedroles.InScrum,oneofthekeymetricsisvelocityoftheteam,andthisisan
internalmetricfortheteam.Butit'sawayforthemtoknowandpredicthowmuchworktheycantakeonfor
everysprint.AndinKanban,oneofthekeymetricsiscycletime,ortheamountoftimethatittakesfortheteam
tostartworkingonanitem,andthencompletingitanddeliveringittothecustomer.

Inthisslide,we'lltalkaboutwhentoconsiderusingKanbanversusScrum.Kanbanishighlysuitedto
environmentswherethefocusisontheflowofwork,orgettingaqueueoftasksfromtodo,toinprogress,to
done.Scrumishighlysuitedforenvironmentswherethere'salotofvariabilityandalotofchange,and
potentiallyalotofunknowns.TheScrumframeworkreallyhelpsusthinkaboutthingsintermsofiterations,
andtheninspecttheresultofeachiteration,andadaptourapproach,andadaptourprioritization,andpotentially
adaptthewaythatweworktogetherasateam.Kanbanworksreallywellifyouhaveasetofitemsthatyou
needtogetthrough.Youunderstandtheprocessreallywell.Theteamisveryhighlyoptimized,andcan
basicallyjustgetthroughallofthosetasksinaflowtypeofscenario.It'salsoareallygoodoptionwhenyou
alreadyhavedeliveredaproductintoproduction,andbasicallyyou'remainlyworkingonenhancements,or
enhancementrequestsandchangesthatarecomingfromthefield,andthoseneedtogetdoneinacertainorder.
Heading:WhentoConsiderKanbanvs.Scrum.

Thepresenterdiscusseswhichmethodtochoosedependingontheenvironmentandthenatureofthework.

Backtotop

FoundationalLeanConcepts
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

matchfoundationalLeanconceptstotheirdescription

1.
Inthisvideo,we'regoingtobetalkingaboutthefundamentalconceptsthatunderlietheLeanwayofthinking.
TheseconceptscanalsobethoughtofasstepsintheapplicationofLeanphilosophy,eachonebuildingonthe
last.TosuccessfullyapplyLeaninanorganization,managementneedstoadoptandapplyeachofthesefourkey
concepts,whichare:value,valuestream,pull,andperfectionandwe'lltalkabouttheseinthenext,upcoming
slides.SoLeanfocusesalotonvalue.Wewanttomaximizevalueandeliminatewaste.Valueisultimately
definedbythecustomer,andit'saratingofhowwellaproductorservicemeetsthatcustomer'sneeds.An
importantpartoftheLeanapproachistheshifttofocusingonthecustomersandtheirrequirementsratherthan
oninternalprocesses.Soinsteadoffocusingonmakingourinternalprocessesmorerigidormoreefficientor
whateveritisthatwe'refocusingon,weneedtoreallymakethoseprocessesflexibleandmakethemdeliverthat
maximumvaluetothecustomer.
Heading:FourLeanConcepts.

Abasicdiagramdisplays,inwhichthefourLeanconceptsarestructuredintheshapeofapyramid.Starting
fromthebaseandmovingup,theseareValue,ValueStream,Pull,andPerfection.

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Heading:Value.

Thefirstkeyconceptisvalue.Valueisdefinedbythecustomer.Thisinvolvesidentifyingwhatcreatesvalueina
processorproductandalsoidentifyinganychangesinthatvaluerightaway.

Goodcommunicationchannelsfacilitatethetransferofinformationbetweenthecustomerandtheorganization
toindicatewhatisitthatcustomersvalue.Thathelpsusunderstandhowweneedtoflexourprocessesinorder
todeliverthatvalue.Thatcommunicationshouldalsobeongoing,toensurethatanychangeinperceivedvalue
isnotedandacteduponassoonaspossibleifweneedtointheorganization.Changesthatmayoccurin
processesandproductscanbemadetomeetthechangingneedsofcustomers,allowingustothenstayaheadof
competitionandreallyaddressourcustomers'needs.Soforexample,wemayhaveprocessesinternallythat
makeuscreatesomethingthatisnotconsideredvaluableforthecustomer.Soifwe'rehavingadditional
meetingsorwe'rewastingtime,orperhapswe'reevenshippingapartofontoourproductorourservicethat
reallyisn'tusedbythecustomer,thatdoesn'tconstitutevalueforthem,andsoweshouldbelookingatwaysto
removethat.Errorsandreworkareconsiderednotvaluabletothecustomer,andsoweshouldbelookingathow
dowebuildinqualitysothatwedon'thavetodorework.

Nextisvaluestream.SovaluestreamisthesecondkeyconceptunderlyingtheLeanphilosophy.Andavalue
streamisalltheactivitiesandprocessesinvolvedinproducingafinalproductwithsomevalue,asdefinedby
thecustomer.Aneasywaytounderstandvaluestreamistothinkaboutandplotallofthestepsoractivitiesthat
youneedtotakefromtheminutethatyouwakeupuntiltheminutethatyougetoutofyourhouseinthe
morning.Soyoumaydefinethosestepsas:Iwakeup,Ibrushmyteeth,Igetdressed,Iputonmysocks,Iput
onmyshoes,Iforgetmykeysupstairs,Irunupstairstogetmykeys,Icomebackdown,etc.And,asyoucan
see,bymappingoutthevaluestream,youcanseewheretheremaybeareasofwaste.Soforgettingyourkeys
upstairswasanareaofwaste.Sonexttime,youoptimizeyourflowsothatyourkeysarealwaysrighttherenext
tothedoorsothatyoudon'thavetowastethattimerunningupstairsandgettingyourkeysandcomingback
down.

Heading:Valuestream.

Valuestreamincludesallactivitiesandprocessesinvolvedincreatingvalueasdefinedbythecustomer.This
includessuppliers,organizations,andcustomers.Theaimistoidentifyandremoveallwastestepsinthevalue
stream.

Sowiththatexampleinmind,allstepsoractivitiesthatdon'taddvalueinourorganizationarecalledwaste
steps.EliminatingthosewastestepsfromprocessesandtheorganizationisafundamentalaimofLean
processes.Identifyingthevaluestreamreallyhelpsusfindthoseareasofwasteandwhereprocess
improvementscanbemade.Removingthosestepsmaymeanthataprocessneedsrestructuringsothatitflows
moresmoothlythesamewaythatwerestructuredwherewetypicallystoreourkeyssothatwedon'thaveto
thinkaboutitorwastetimegoingbackandgrabbingthem.Sothenextconceptispull.ApplyingLeaninan
organizationalsomeansshiftingtoasystemwherecustomersarepullingproductsthroughthevaluestream.
Andyoucanthinkofthatas,oncethereisdemandforsomething,that'swhenitgetspulledthroughthestream.
Thismeansthattheorganizationwillneedtomakewhatourcustomersarerequestingasthey'rerequesting
them,ratherthanproducingalotofextrainventory,forexample,basedonforecastsandmarketpredictions.So
ifwe'recreatinginventorybasedonforecastsandpredictions,thenwe'reactuallydoingwhatwecallpushing
productsthroughthevaluestream.However,ifwe'rereactingjustintimeandwehaveourprocessessetto
maximizevalue,thenwecanjustproduceasmuchasneededbasedonthatimmediaterequest.
Heading:Pull.

Pulliscreatedbycustomerdemandandproductionreliesonpullratherthanmarketforecasts.Thisresultsinno
waittimeandnostockonhand.

Soforexample,ratherthanproducing500computermotherboardsbasedonsalesforecasts,alargecomputer
partsmanufacturerchangedtoapullsystemwheretheynowonlymanufacturemotherboardsascustomersorder
computers.Thismeansthatthosemotherboardsaremanufacturedandimmediatelyplacedincomputersand
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computers.Thismeansthatthosemotherboardsaremanufacturedandimmediatelyplacedincomputersand
shippedtocustomers.There'snowaittimeandnostockonhand.Essentially,inthisexample,every
motherboardthat'smanufacturedhasalreadybeensoldtoawaitingcustomer.Thinkofhowmuchwastewe
reducebyusingthispullprocess.

Andthen,thenextconceptisperfection.Organizationsshouldaimforconstantimprovementinprocessesand
products.That'swhatwemeanbyaimingforperfectioninthiscase.Wedon'tmeanthateverythingisalways
goingtobeperfect.Whatwemeanis,bycontinuouslytryingtoimprove,wecanseelargegainsinprocess
efficienciesandinmaximizingvaluedeliverytocustomers.Thismeansthatwe'regoingtoreviewourprocesses
andcustomerneedsonaconstantbasissothatwestrivefortheidealproductorserviceasrequiredby
customers.Oncewehaveproductsthathavevaluethatarebeingpulledthroughthevaluestream,theprocesses
involvedarereviewedandoptimizedinanongoingcycleofimprovement.Andinstitutionalizingthisprocess
andmakingitapartofourprocesswithLeaninourorganization,makesitsothatwe'reconstantlyimproving,
constantlystayingontopofcustomerneedsandrequirements,anddeliveringmaximumvaluewithaslittle
amountofwasteaspossible.
Heading:Perfection.

Perfectionreferstotheaimforconstantimprovement,whichinvolvesreviewingandoptimizingprocessesinan
ongoingcycle.

Backtotop

IdentifyingandReducingWastes
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

labelexampleofwastetothewastecategoryinLean

1.
Inthisvideo,we'regoingtobetalkingaboutwasteandwhatdefineswasteinanorganization,thedifferent
categoriesofwaste,andhowwecanreducewaste.Inpreviousvideos,we'vetalkedabouttheconceptofvalue.
Andwedefinedvalueashowwellaproductorservicemeetscustomerrequirements.Inorganizations,different
peoplemayvaluedifferentthings.Soitcanbedifficultfiguringoutwhat'sconsideredwastefulandwhat's
consideredusefulfortheorganization.Leangivesussomereallyclear,straightforwardguidelinesonthis.For
ourorganization,valueisaratingofhowwellaproductorservicemeetscustomerrequirements.Soifit's
somethingacustomeriswillingtopayfor,ithasvalue.Thedifferentactivitiesthatweperformduringaprocess
caneitheraddvaluetotheendproductortheydon'taddvalue.Sowecancategorizeactivitiesaseithervalue
addedornonvalueadded.
Heading:ValueaddedandNonvalueaddedActivities.

InLean,valueisdefinedbyhowwellaproductorservicemeetscustomerrequirements.Ifthecustomerwillpay
forsomething,ithasvalue.Valueaddedactivitiesarethosethataddvaluetotheendproductarereferredtoas
valueadded.Nonvalueaddedactivitiesarethosethatthecustomerisnotwillingtopayextrafor.

Valueaddedactivitiesaretheactionsandtasksthatmakeaproductmorecompleteor,bycomplete,wemean
fulfillingthecustomers'requirements.Theseactivitiesincreasethevalueoftheendproductintheeyesofthe
customer.Soforexample,whenweconnectcomponentsofanendproductorpolishthecompletedproductand
delivertheproducttoacustomer,allofthoseareconsideredvalueaddedactivities.Nonvalueaddedactivities

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aretheactionsthataddnoextravaluetotheendproductorservicefromacustomer'sperspective.These
activitiesincludeanynonessentialactionsthatthecustomerdoesn'torisn'twillingtopayfor.Forexample,
transportingcomponentsfromoneendofthemanufacturingfloortoanotherendofthemanufacturingfloorand
conductinginspectionsareactivitiesthatareconsiderednonvalueaddedactivitiesforthecustomer.

Inmanycases,wehavewhatwecallrequirednonvalueaddactivitiesinorganizations.Sosomenonvalueadded
activitiesarenecessaryandactuallyrequired,eveniftheydon'tchangetheproductorserviceorcreatemore
valueforthecustomerfortheendproduct.Nonvalueaddedactivitiesmaybenecessaryinorderto,forexample,
operatethebusinessorwhenyouneedtomeetregulatoryoraccreditationstandardsthatapplytoyour
organization.Thesetypesofactivitiesareknownasrequirednonvalueaddedactivities.Soforexample,a
reviewmeetingwiththedevelopmentandtestingteam,creatinginternalreports,oreventheprocessof
implementingaLeaninitiativearenecessaryforustogettoanefficientrunningofabusinesseventhoughthey
addnodirectvaluetothecustomerintermsoftheirproduct.
Heading:RequiredNonvalueaddedActivities.

Certainnonvalueaddedactivitiesshouldn'tbescrapped.Theymaybenecessarytooperateabusinessor
neededtomeetregularatorystandards.Someexamplesofrequirednonvalueaddedactivitiesarewritingreports
andpayingwages.

Soinorganizationswherewehaveprofessionalsthatareworkingonimprovement,weneedtohavethose
peoplestarttobeabletorecognizevalueaddedactivitiesanddifferentiatethemfromrequirednonvalueadded
ornonvalueaddedactivities.Andthenthosenonvalueaddedactivitiesorprocesseswillbeconsideredwaste.
WasteisalsoknownbytheJapaneseterm"Muda,"andisdefinedasanyactivitythatdoesn'taddvaluetoa
processorproduct,yetstilladdscost.Basically,wasteisanythingthat'snotessentialtothemanufacturerofa
productordeliveryofaservice.TaiichiOhno,thefounderoftheToyotaproductionsystem,identifiedseven
formsofwastethatmaybepresentedas:overproductionwhichisthecreationofmorethanwhat'sneededand
goesagainsttheconceptofjustintimeproductionextraprocessingwhichmeansextrastepsorextra
handlingandoverlycomplexdesignsmotionpeople,information,orequipmentmakingunnecessarymotion
duetoworkspacelayout,ergonomicissues,orsearchingformisplaceditemsisalsoaformofwaste.
Heading:Lean'sSevenWastes.

InLean,wasteortheJapaneseterm"Muda"isdefinedasanyactivityorprocessthatdoesn'taddvaluetoa
productbutdoesaddcost.Lean'ssevenformofwasteincludeoverproduction,extraprocessing,motion,
waiting,transportation,inventory,anddefects.

Waitingsoequipmentoremployeesthatmaywastetimewaitingforanotherprocesstobecompletedbefore
performingatasktransportationwhichisthemovementofaproductoritscomponentsinventorywhichis
materialthat'snotyetneededandsomustbestored(sounnecessaryinventorymeansanyitemsthathavetobe
stored,includingrawmaterials,workinprogress,andfinishedgoods)andthen,finally,defectssodefectsare
flawsinaproductorservice,andtheycausetheproductorpartofittoeitherbediscarded,scrapped,orhaveto
bereworked,andsothereforerepresentswaste.

Onsoftwareprojects,identifyingandremovingwastecanbeveryusefulinthesoftwaredevelopmentprocess.
There'salsoaneighthwasteinLean,andmanyconsiderthiseighthwastetobethenonutilizedorunder
utilizedskillsandtalentsofemployees.Soforexample,ifwehavepeopleinourorganizationthathaveastrong
skillsetintermsofdesign,butwe'renotutilizingtheirdesignskillsetindesigningourendproduct,that'salso
consideredwaste.Sousingthesevenwastesthatwetalkedaboutintheformerslideplusthisaddedwasteof
nonutilizedtalent,wecancomeupwithamnemonicthatcanhelpusrememberallofthosewastes.Andyou
canthinkofthatmnemonicasDOWNTIME,asyoucanseeonthelefthandsidegoingdownthepage.SoDis
forDefects,OisOverproduction,WisWaiting,NisNonutilizedtalent,TisTransportation,IisInventory,Mis
Motion,andEisExtraprocessing.

Heading:The8thWaste:NonutilizedSkillsofEmployees.

Theeighthformofwasteisnonutilizedtalent.Theacronym"DOWNTIME"displays.Itisformedfromthe
namesoftheeightleanwastes.TheseareDefects,Overproduction,Waiting,Nonutilizedtalent,Transportation,
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namesoftheeightleanwastes.TheseareDefects,Overproduction,Waiting,Nonutilizedtalent,Transportation,
Inventory,Motion,andExtraprocessing.

Aswe'vetalkedaboutinapreviousvideo,avaluestreamistheflowofmaterial,service,andinformationthat
bringstheproductorservicetocustomers.Thisconceptofvaluestreamshowsusthewayvalueisdelivered
fromstarttofinish.Havingwasteinsomeareasofthevaluestreamdisruptstheflowofvalueinthatstream.So
forexample,wastedtime,unnecessarymotion,excessinventory,oranyoftheotherwastesthatwetalkedabout
willdisrupttheflowofvalueinourvaluestream.Onthisslide,wehaveanillustrationofavaluestreammap.
Atthetop,youcanseethatwehaveourproductionplanningcontroldepartment.Intotheproductionplanning
control,wegetinputsfromcustomersAandBthatarerequestingcertainitemsincertainamounts.Production
planningcontrolthensendsoffthoserequestsandtheiramountstotheproductionmanager.Theproduction
managercreatesthedailyscheduleanddistributestoeachofthedepartmentsoffabrication,painting,and
inspectionwhattheneedsareforeachdayandforeachweek.
Heading:ValueStreamMapping.

Thevaluestreamistheflowofmaterials,service,andinformationthatbringsaproductorservicetocustomers.
Itisthewayvalueisdelivered,fromstarttofinish.Wastedisruptstheflowofvalueinthestream.Avaluestream
mapshowstheentirestream.

Anillustrationofabasicvaluestreammapdisplays.Aproductionplanningcontroldepartmentreceivesa
weeklyscheduleofrequestsfromCustomerAandB.Theserequestsarethenpassedontotheproduction
manager.Theproductionmanagercreatesadailyscheduleanddistributesspecificrequirementstothree
differentdepartmentsFabrication,Painting,andInspection.Forexample,Fabricationreceivesarequestfor
12itemswithvariousoperatorsymbols.TheCTis14minutes,theC/Ois40minutes,andtheUptimeis90%.

Wealsohavesuppliers(Supplier1andSupplier2)thatarefeedingussuppliesintoourdepartmentsbasedon
theamountsthatwearerequestingwhicharebasedontheamountsthatwe'regettingrequestsfromour
customers.Onceourpartsareputtogether,wethenshipthemtothecustomerintheformofthesetrucksonthe
slideandthatarelabeledwiththeletterD.Sowhenwe'reanalyzingvaluestreams,we'regoingtolookat
typicallytwotypesofmaps,andwe'regoingtocreatetwomaps.Thefirstmapiscalledthecurrentstate.Soa
currentstatevaluestreammapisarepresentationoftheprocessasitcurrentlystands.Soitshowsusthesame
typeofvaluestreamthatyouseeonthisslide,andit'sastartingpointforwherearewetodaytofigureoutwhere
canwefindefficienciesinourprocess.Afuturestatevaluestreammaprepresentsthetargetstateofourprocess
sowherewewanttobe.Thatisthestateonceimprovementshavebeenimplemented,andithighlightsareasin
theprocesswhereimprovementinitiativesarerequired,andwhatflowsshouldbealteredinordertocreatea
leanerproductionandinformationflow.

ThesethreedepartmentsreceivesuppliesfromSuppliers1and2basedonthedailyschedules.Oncethevarious
partshavebeenassembledandtheworkcompleted,theproductsarethendeliveredtoCustomersAandBusing
thetruckslabeledD.

Backtotop

TheTheoryofConstraints
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

describeprinciplesoftheTheoryofConstraints

1.
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Inthisvideo,we'regoingtointroducetheTheoryofConstraints.We'llexplaintheprinciplesbehindtheTheory
ofConstraintsandrelatethattheorytoKanban.Dr.EliGoldratt,whowasaleadingbusinessconsultantand
thinker,developedtheTheoryofConstraintswiththemainconceptbeingthatallsystemshaveatleastone
elementthatlimitsthem.Thisrestrictiveelementwascalledaconstraint,andconstraintspreventthosesystems
fromproducinginfiniteoutputandstopsthemfrombeingbetterthantheycurrentlyare.Soconstraintsbecome
theelementsthatdictatethelevelofperformanceofasystemandorganization.Andifwethinkaboutit,by
identifyingandunderstandingthoseconstraints,wecanalsousethemasleveragepointsforimprovement.Soby
understanding,analyzing,andreallyidentifyingconstraints,wecanminimizethemby,forexample,reducing
workinprogress,reducinginventory,reducingoverproduction,andmaybesmoothingouttheproduction
process.
Heading:IntroductiontotheTheoryofConstraints.

Themainconceptinthetheoryofconstraintsisthatallsystemshaveatleastoneconstraintthatlimitsthem.
Constraintsaretheleveragepointsforimprovementandmustthereforebeminimized.Thiscanbedoneby
reducingworkinprocess,reducinginventoryandoverproduction,orsmoothingoutproduction.

TherearesomebasicunderlyingprinciplesbehindtheTheoryofConstraintswhichare:Dr.EliGoldratt
comparessystemstochains.Achainalwayshasaweakestlinkthatpreventsitfrombeingbetterorstronger
thanitcurrentlyis.Asystemall...alwaysalsohasaweakestlink,oralimitingfactororconstraint.Sincethere
canonlybeoneweakestlinkorconstraintlimitingatatime,theremaininglinks,orsystemelements,aretermed
nonconstraints.TheTheoryofConstraintsfocusesonimprovingsystemsbyfixingthatweakestlinkandcalling
itthesystemconstraintinachain.SothisisaslightlydifferentapproachthanLean,whichfocuseson
eliminatingwasteoverallinaholisticway.Removingconstraintsonebyonemayremovewastefromprocesses,
therebyaddressingLeanprinciples.Thedifferenceisthat,intheTheoryofConstraintsandbycomparingitto
theweakestlink,we'refocusingonthatweakestlinkoneatatime,removingit,andthenmovingontothenext
weakestlink.
Heading:PrinciplesoftheTOC.

Thetheoryofconstraintshasfourkeyprinciples.Firstsystemsarecomparabletochainsinhavingoneweakest
linkorconstraintatanygiventime.Second,beforechangingthesystem,youneedtounderstandit.Third,
ongoingimprovementisessential.Andfinally,strengtheningnonconstraintsbringsnobenefit.

Nextbeforechangingasystem,youneedtounderstandit.Sotounderstandwherechangesshouldorcouldbe
made,managersneedtounderstandtheentiresystem,itsgoals,andalltheprocessesthatareinvolved.Sohow
muchfreedomdoesthesystemhave?What'stheminimumnumberofpointsyouneedtoimpacttobeableto
impactthewholesystem?Soforexample,ifweneedtoimpact10differentpointsinordertomakeachangein
thesystem,thenitmaybeaverycomplexsystemtomanage.Wemightneedtofindwhatarethosefew
elementsthatgovernthesystemandfindthecauseandeffectrelationshipsbetweentheseelementsandallof
theelementsinthesystem.Elementsthataredictatingthelevelofperformanceofasystemare,again,the
constraintsofthatsystem.Sothoseconstraintsaretheleveragepoints.Nextongoingimprovementisessential.
Soassoonaswestrengthentheweakestlink,it'snolongerconsideredtheweakestlink.

Thenextweakestlinkbecomestheconstrainingfactorinthesystem.Sotheprocessstartsagain.Westartagain
byidentifyingthatweakestlinkandeliminatingit,orremovingit,orstrengtheningit.Likeachain,asystemisa
setofprocessesandsubprocessesininterdependentrelationships.Thestrengthandperformanceoftheoverall
systemwilldependuponthestrengthandperformanceoftheconstrainingprocess.It'sreallyimportantand
necessarytoidentifyandfixthatconstraintifyouwanttostrengthentheoverallsystem.Andfinally,
strengtheningnonconstraintsbringsnobenefit.Sowhenwestrengthentheweakestlinkinasystem,wecreate
improvementandwemayeliminateprocesswaste.However,ifwe'relookingatlinksthatarenottheweakest
link,webringactuallynobenefittothesystemorwedon'tactuallystrengthenandimprovetheoverallsystem
asmuch.

Soherewe'regoingtotalkaboutthetypesofinternalconstraints.Thefirsttypeofinternalconstraintis
machinesandequipment.Thesearephysicalinnature,andconstraintscanarisefromthewaythey'reused.
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Physicalsystemconstraintsareeasytoidentifyastheyusuallyhavesomevisibleelementormanifestationthat
wecaneasilysee,andnoteassomethingthatneedstobefixed.Secondispeople.Soanylackofabilityor
knowledgebecomesaconstraintaswell.Thirdispoliciesandprocedures,orrules.Theseconstraintsarenon
physicalinnatureandtheymightbemoredifficulttorecognize.Theymightbewritten,theymightalsobe
unwritten.Somethingsmayjustbethewaythatwedothingsinaspecificorganization.They'reoften
entrenchedinthewaythatanorganizationfunctions,andacceptedsometimesasfact.Identifyingandremedying
theseconstrainingpoliciesresultsinareallylargedegreeofsystemimprovementwhenwe'refinallyaddressing
them.Forexample,inasoftwaredevelopmentenvironment,ifwehavepoliciesaroundmultipleapprovalsfor
requirementsbeforewegotodevelopmentifwecanstarttoremovesomeofthesepoliciesformultiple
approvalsandstreamlinetheapprovalprocess,thenwecanremovethatwasteandwecancreatealotofbenefit
fortheoverallsystem.
Heading:TypesofInternalConstraints.

Therearethreetypesofinternalconstraintsmachinesandequipment,people,andpoliciesandprocedures.

Sotheideaaboutremovingbottlenecksandconstraintsandimprovingthroughputandflow,canimprovehow
weputKanbanintopracticeinourorganizations.OneoftheprimarywaysofimprovinginKanbanistofocus
onflowandimprovingthatstateofflowinourorganization.SothereasonstoconsiderKanbanfromthe
perspectiveofTheoryofConstraintsarereallyreinforcedwhereKanbanandTheoryofConstraintsalignin
termsofremovingwasteandimprovingtheoverallsystem.TheTheoryofConstraintshelpsusunderstandand
identifyconstraintsinasystem,andhencewecanusetheminaKanbansoftwaredevelopmentprojects
environment.Andthen,oncethoseconstraintsareidentified,wecanappropriatelyhandleandimprovetheflow.
SomeimportantquestionstoconsiderwhenapplyingtheTheoryofConstraintstoourKanbanenvironmentare:
howcanweleveragethoseconstraints?Howcanweunderstandthemsothatweunderstandhowtominimize
themorhowtoremovethem?Howcanweoptimizeandworkaroundtheconstraints?Howdowerethink
constraintspotentiallyfiguringouthowtoturnthemintoadvantages,orhowtoreplacethemandplacethem
indifferentareasoftheflow,sothatthey'renolongeraconstraint?Bythinkingaboutconstraintsinthisway,we
canthinkaboutimprovingourimplementationofKanbanandreducingwaste,andultimatelyreachingthegoal
ofmaximizingvalue.
Heading:TOCandKanban.

TheoryofconstraintsprinciplesalignwithKanbanandcanhelpwithitsimplementation.Forexample,
improvingthroughputandremovingbottlenecksorconstraintshelpsachievetheaiminKanbanofimproving
flow.

Backtotop

TheVisualWorkplace
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

selectvalidexamplesofvisualworkplace

1.
Inthisvideo,we'llbeexplainingtheconceptofthevisualworkplace,whattoolsareusedinthistypeof
workplace,andwe'llberelatingKanbantothevisualworkplace.Thevisualworkplaceisawayofdescribinga
workplace,thatreliesonvisualcuestocommunicateinformation.Anddependingontheindustrythatoneisin,
theymighteitherworkinavisualofficeoravisualfactory.Thevisualofficeisprimarilyusedinservice

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industriessuchashealthcare,hospitality,airlines,andcustomerserviceoperations,orcallcenters.Byhavinga
visualofficeweenableemployeestoseeataglancewhattheirroleis,howtheofficeisorganized,andwhether
thecompanyordepartmentisachievingtheirgoals.Soforexampleinacallcenterwemayusesomevisual
cues,likepiechartsorbargraphs,toindicatehowwellthey'reachievingtheircustomerservicemetrics.The
visualfactoryisprimarilyusedinmanufacturingindustries.Thevisualfactoryenablesmanagementto
immediatelyseethecurrentstatusofallprocesses,andalltasks,anditenablesemployeestoseethecorrect
procedurestofollow.

Heading:VisualWorkplace:VisualOffice/VisualFactory.

Avisualworkplaceisaworkplacethatreliesonvisualcuestocommunicateinformation.Thetermvisual
workplaceisinterchangeablywithtwoverydifferentenvironmentsvisualfactoryandvisualoffice.Animage
ofafactorydisplaysasanexampleofvisualfactoryenvironmentandanimageofanofficedisplaysasan
exampleofavisualofficeenvironment.

Havingavisualfactoryreallyhelpsreducemanufacturingerrorsandemployeeaccidents,andthenreduces
wasteandincreasesproduction.Soforexample,acomputerfactorymayuseprocessdiagrams,toshow
employeeshowtocompleteproductiontaskseffectivelyandsafely.We'llusethetermvisualworkplaceto
representboththevisualfactoryandthevisualoffice.

Sothereareanumberofdifferenttypesofvisualcues,thatwecanuseinavisualfactoryoravisualworkplace.
Someofthesearewarningsigns,processflowcharts,statuscharts,buildingmaps,indicationlights,colored
labels,andsimplearrows.Soasyoucanseethewholeconceptbehindavisualworkplaceisrelyingonsome
visualcues,wherevisualcommunicationisgoingtobemoreeffectivethanwrittencommunication.Inthevisual
workplace,wemayusethingslikesigns,layouts,charts,andcolorcodestoinformemployeesandcustomers
wherethingsare,whatthecurrentstatusofprojectsare,andwheretheremaybepossibledangers.Sovisual
cuesarereallyefficientbecausetheyconveyinformationquickly.Youimmediatelyseesomethingandifthe
colorcodingis,forexampleredconveysthatthere'sablockingissue,thenweknowimmediatelyjustbyseeing
aredcardthatthere'ssomethinggoingwrong.Sothesevisualcuesalsoreducetheneedforrepeatedverbal
messagingorverbalcommunication.
Heading:VisualCues.

Fourimagesdisplay.Theseareawarningsign,abasicflowchart,abuildingdrawing,anarchitecturalfloor
plan,andanarrowindicatingasharpturntotheright.Allfourimageshavethesamebluebackground.The
warningsignhasayellowbackground.

Someofthecommonvisualtoolsinorganizationsare:workinstructionssothesearesimpleguidesonhowto
completeaspecifictask,suchashowtoforexamplereplacealight.Theseshouldbeplacedneartowherea
personwouldcarryoutthattask,sotheycanquicklylookatthatdocumentationoratthatvisual,andsee
visuallyhowit'sperformed.Theseinstructionsshouldbeconcise,easytoseeandinterpret,andsupportedwith
illustrations.Thenexttypeofvisualtoolisaprocessflowdiagram.Thesediagramsshowthecorrectsequence
ofstepsinaprocess.Thishelpsensurethateverybodywhocarriesoutthesametaskdoessoinaconsistentway.
Flowdiagramsshowthestepsfromthestartoftheprocessallthewaytotheend,andtheyindicatewhat
decisionshavetobemadeatvariousstages.Labelsareusedtoidentifyequipmentandmaterials.Soinafactory,
labelscanbeusedtoidentifywhatthedifferentleversonamachineoperateorwhattheydo.Inanoffice,you
mayuselabelstoidentifywhichdepartmentsdifferentsuppliesbelongto,forexample.Thiscanhelpensurethat
timeisn'twastedbyemployeeslookingformaterials,ortryingtofigureoutwheretoplacethem.
Heading:CommonVisualToolsinOrganizations.

Fivecommonvisualtoolsusedinorganizationsareworkinstructions,processflowdiagrams,labels,andons,
andstatusboards.

Nextisandons.Attheverysimplestdescription,anandonlightisacoloredlightusedtoconveyinformation.So
forexample,ifyoulookatatrafficlight,youquicklyknowbythecolorofthelightwhentostop,slowdown,
andwhentogo.Andonscanrefertoanyelectronicsignalingdevicethatupdatesyouonthestatusofaprocess
orwarnsyouofimpendingdanger.Airportsuseandonstoupdatepassengersaboutdelays,departures,and...and19/52
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orwarnsyouofimpendingdanger.Airportsuseandonstoupdatepassengersaboutdelays,departures,and...and
arrivals.Coloredsignalscanbeusedtotellmanagerswhenperformanceisbelowaverage,ataverage,orabove
average.Soforexample,callcenterscanuseandonstoinformemployeeswhenthere'saseriousbacklogof
customers.Sometimesandonscanalsoincludeaudiocuesorwarningssuchasalarmsorbeepingsounds.And
thenfinallystatusboards.Statusboardsareusedtoupdatepeopleaboutperformancemetricsandprojectstatus.
Statusboardsmaybeelectronicdisplayunitsorsimplewhiteboards.Theseletemployeesknowwhetherthey're
ontargettomeettheirdeliverables.Afinancialofficeforexample,mightusestatusboardstoindicatehow
manynewmortgageshavebeenapprovedeachmonth,andthencomparethatagainstthegoal,whichshould
alsobestatedonthestatusboard.

SoKanbanandtheconceptofthevisualfactoryorthevisualworkplace,areverysimilarandcomplimentary
toolsintheLeanarsenal.Theyhavesimilargoalsandareusedinterchangeably.Threebasicgoalsthatare
fulfilledbyKanbaninthevisualworkplacetoolsare:firstofall,theymaketheworkandtheproblemsvisible.
Sobyhavingvisualcardsthatrepresentwhat'shappeningatanygiventime,it'sveryclearwhat'sbeingworked
on.Visualcardsorvisualcuesalsoallowustoindicatequicklyandclearlywhensomethingiswrong.And
manyteamsusecolorcodingoraspecificshapeortypeofcardtoindicatecertainthings.Onceweunderstand
whatthoseareitbecomesreallyquickandeasytointerpretwhat'sgoingon.Second,theyprovidedirectcontact
withtheworkplace.Andwhatthatmeansisthevisualworkplaceandvisualmanagementingeneral,makea
directconnectiontowhat'sgoingoninaspecificspace.Thisisahighlyeffectiveformofcommunicatingwhat's
happeninghereandnow.Andthenfinally,theyclarifytargetsforimprovementasrequired.Soutilizingtools
likeprocessflowdiagrams,valuestreammapping,andstatusupdates,wecanstarttofigureout,wheresomeof
ouropportunitiesforimprovementexistinoursystemorflow.
Heading:KanbanandtheVisualWorkplace.

KanbanandthevisualworkplacearebothLeantools.Theyhavesimilargoalsandareoftenused
interchangeably.Bothmakeworkandproblemsvisible,directcontactwiththeworkplace,andclarifytargetsfor
improvement,asrequired.

Backtotop

KanbanandPull
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

describecharacteristicsofKanbanpullsystem

1.
Inthisvideo,we'regoingtobetalkingabouttheconceptof"pull"andhowitrelatestoKanban.SoKanbanis
reallybasedonthisconceptofapullbasedsystem.Inapullbasedsystem,thecustomerdemandcreateswhat
wecallpull.Soacustomerdemandmayrequirethatweproducemoreofacertainitem.Productionor
developmentreliesonpull,ratherthanoncreatingcomplicatedmarketforecaststodeterminehowmuch
productstodeliver.Withapullbasedsystem,wehavenowaittime,andwedon'treallykeepanystockonhand.
Soifcustomersarerequiringfivemoreunits,forexample,weputthatintotheproductionqueueandthenoutput
fiveunits.Thisallowsustobereallyefficientandleanwithourproduction,andwithhowmuchwe'reputting
throughthesystem.InasoftwareoranITenvironmentforexample,wearegoingtorelyonthecustomerto
communicatewhattheirneedsare.Andthenoncetheycommunicatewhattheneedsare,wethenstartworking
onanddeliveringcertainfunctionality.Thisisadifferentapproachthanthinkingthatweunderstandexactly
whatweneedtobuild,andbuildingheavierbloatedsystemsthathavetoomanyfeatures,thatdon'treally

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addressthecustomer'sneeds.
Heading:TheConceptof'Pull'.

Pulliscreatedbycustomerdemand.Productionordevelopmentreliesonpullratherthanmarketforecasts.A
pullbasedsystemhasnowaittimeandnostockonhand.

SoinKanban,weagainarereallybasedonthisconceptofapullbasedsystem.Sowehavesuppliersand
production/developmentthen...thenfinallyweflowtocustomers.Soonceacustomermakessomedemandthat
goestoproduction/development,andthenwehavethisworkinprogressflowwherewe'rethendeliveringback
tothecustomer.Wealsohavecommunicationbetweenproduction/developmentandoursupplierssothatwe're
sure,thattheflowofmaterialandinformationfromoursuppliersmatchesthatofourcustomerdemand.Sowe
havetobeworkingincloseconjunctionwithoursuppliers,toalsomatchourpullsystemofunitsorofwhatever
itisthatthecustomerisrequestingofus,sothatwe'reworkinginonecontinuousflow.
Heading:Kanbanpull.

Aflowdiagramdisplays.It'scomprisedofsuppliers,productionordevelopmentdepartment,andcustomers.
Productionordevelopmentfirstreceivesdemandsfromthecustomer.Thesupplierprovidesthematerials
neededtomeetthosedemandstoproductionanddevelopment.Thereisanongoingmaterialorinformationflow
betweenthesupplierandproductionordevelopmentwherebyrequestsaremadeandthenfulfilled.Similarly,
thereisalsoanongoingproductorworkinprogressflowbetweenproductionordevelopmentandthecustomer
wherebydemandsaremadeandthenfulfilled.Thesetwoflowsultimatelyformoneoverallflowbetweenthe
threeparties.

SothereareanumberofopportunitiesandchallengesthatrelatetotheKanbanpullsystem.Someofthe
opportunitiesis...arethatbyusingthepullsystemwereducetheamountofinventory.Wereducetheamountof
workinprogressthatwehaveatanygiventimethatisn'tnecessary.Wereducecycletime,whichistheamount
oftimebetweenwhensomebodystartsworkingonataskandwhenit'sdelivered.Wereduceturnaroundtime
andwereducemachinedowntime.Wealsoincreasethevisibilityofanyqualityissues.Havingtorespond
directlytocustomerdemandmakesusneedtobealotmoreefficient,withhowwerunoursystems,andour
flow,andourworkinprogress.SomeofthechallengeswiththeKanbanorpullbasedsystem,arepotential
variationsinmaterialorinformation,flowrates,andcycletimes.Soifwehavealotofvariationintheratesof
flowofmaterialorinthe...intheratesofcycletimethenitmightbehardtobedeliveringataconsistentbasis.
Alsoanyfluctuationsinthemarketmaymeanthatourpullbasedsystemisreallyheavilytaxedatonegiven
pointintime,anditmaymeanthatwedon'thavealotofproductiongoingonatanothergiventime.
Heading:KanbanpullSystem.

ThereareanumberofopportunitiesandchallengesassociatedwiththeKanbanpullsystem.Intermsof
opportunities,theKanbanpullsystemreducesinventory,workinprogress,cycletime,turnaroundtime,and
machinedowntime.Italsoincreasesthevisibilityofqualityissues.Thechallengesofthesysteminclude
variationsinmaterialorinformation,cycletime,andflowrate,aswellasmarketfluctuations.

Backtotop

KanbanandVisualSignsintheRealWorld
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

distinguishbetweenvisualdisplayandvisualcontrolsigns

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1.
Inthisvideo,we'regoingtobegivingexamplesofKanbansystemsintherealworld,aswellasvisualsignsand
visualcontrol.Soifyouthinkabouthowweoperateintherealworld,therearemanywaysthatKanbanis
actuallybeingutilizedintermsofusingvisualcardsorvisualcuestoindicatewhatneedstohappennextina
systemflow.Soforexample,yourairlineticketandboardingpassarebothwaysofindicatingwhatneedsto
happennext.Sobyhavingthatvisualcardofaboardingpass,itindicateswhereyouneedtoberoutedtointhe
airport,andwhereyouneedtobeloadedontoaplaneandatwhattime.Alsoevenifyouthinkabouttheconcept
ofacoffeeshop,whereyourcupisactuallylinedupinlineforwhoeverispreparingthecoffee,sothatthey
knowwhathappensnext.Therearealotofvisualcuesrightthereonthecup,thatexplaintothispersonwhat
needstobeproducedorbasicallywhatyourcoffeeorderis.
Heading:ExamplesofKanbanSystems.

Animageofanairlineticketandboardingpassdisplays.Theboardingpasshaspassenger,time,date,andseat
information.Totherightofthisisadisposablecoffeecupwithvariousvisualcuesprinteddownitsside,suchas
across,atick,andaprohibitedsign.

Thereareanumberofreallifeexamplesofcombiningvisualdisplayandcontrol.Oneofthemforexampleisin
acheckoutlineatasupermarket.Oneofthevisualdisplaysmaybealightthatindicatesthataregisterisopento
servingcustomersora"nowserving"sign.Thisisavisualdisplaythatactuallyalsoisutilizedasacontrol,ora
wayofknowingwhatneedstohappennext.Anotherexampleisavisualhospital.Onewayofmanifestinga
visualdisplay,maybeawhiteboardorabulletinboardthatshowstheoperatingroomschedule.It'saveryclear
wayofshowingwho'sthedoctoronduty,who'stheincomingdoctor,andwhoneedstosubstituteifsomething
iswrongorweneedsomebody,andthedoctorondutyortheincomingisnotthere.Ontheotherhand,there's
alsoanumberofwaysforvisualcontrolinanoperatingroomorinahospital.Sotheremaybelightsfor
example,ortheremaybesignsorarrowsonthefloorindicatingwheretogonext.
Heading:CombiningVisualDisplayandControl.

Anexampleofavisualdisplayandcontrolbeingcombinedisthatofacheckoutareainasupermarket.Visual
displaysmightincludelightsusedtoindicatethataregisterisopentoservecustomers,ora"Nowserving"sign.

Heading:Example:AVisualHospital.

Twoimagesdisplay,providinganexampleofavisualdisplayandavisualcontrolusedwithinahospital
environment.ThevisualdisplayexampleisanOperatingRoomScheduleonawhiteboard.It'scomprisedofa
tablewiththreecolumnsDoctorOnDuty,DoctorIncoming,andSubstitute.Therearethreerows.Thefirst
rowis:
Dr.Mark:Dr.Ryan:Dr.Joe.

Thevisualcontrolexampleisaanexitsignonthefloor.It'scomprisedofaredarrowandthetext"Exit."

Sovisualinformationsystems,aresystemsorwaysofconveyinginformationinasimplewayaboutthe
performanceofprocesses.Soforexamplesigns,labels,markingspaintedonthefloor,boardsthatshowuswhat
toolsweneed,indicatorlights,andKanbancardsareallwaysforustoconveyinformationinaveryvisualway.
Asyoucanseejustfromsomeofthereallifeexamples,havingvisualinformationsystemsallowsustoconvey
informationquickly,withouthavingtogothroughalotofverbaldescription.
Heading:VisualInformationSystems.

Avisualinformationsystemconveyssimpleinformationabouttheperformanceofprocesses.Examplesinclude
signs,labels,markingspaintedonthefloor,toolboards,indicatorlights,andKanbancards.Fiveimages
displayasvisualexamples.ThefirstisaDangersignwiththemessage,KeepHands&Fingersawayfrom
cutter.Thesecondisasetofplasticcrateswithlabels.Thethirdisamanufacturingenvironmentwithyellow

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linesonthefloorindicatingspecificstockingareas.Thefourthisanindicatorlight.Thefifthisaflowchart
comprisedofvariouselementsandarrows.

Backtotop

LeadTimeandCycleTime
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

compareleadtimetocycletimeinagivenscenario

1.
Inthisvideo,we'regoingtobedefiningleadtimeandcycletime.Andthenwe'lltalkaboutthebenefitsandthe
impactofreducingcycletime.Leadtimeisdefinedastheamountoftimeittakesbetweenwhenacustomer
makesarequest,untilthatrequestisfinallyfulfilledanddeliveredtothecustomer.Leadtimeincludesany
delaysorwaitingtimesinbetweentasks,untilthe...theticketortherequestisfinallydelivered.Soasyoucan
seeontheslidewehaveanexamplewhereaticketiscreatedbytheclient,andthenthere'sawaittimeoralag
timefromwhenthatticketiscreated,untilthepriorityofthattickethasbeenset.Andthenwealsoaddinthe
timeforwhenmachinesareavailabletostartworkingontherequest.Andthenweaddthetimefromwhenwe
starttheworkuntiltheticketisfinallylive.Thatamountoftimefromwhenwestarttheworkuntiltheticketis
liveiscalledthecycletime.
Heading:LeadTimevs.CycleTime:ITMaintenanceExample.

Abasicdiagramcomprisedfivephasesdisplays.Fromstarttofinish,thefivephasesareTicketCreatedby
Client,PrioritySet,Availabilityortimespentwaitingformachines,StartWork,andTicketLive.Leadtimeis
indicatedasthesumofalltimefromthemomenttheticketisfirstcreatedbytheclienttothepointatwhichthe
ticketfinallybecomeslive.Cycletimeisindicatedasthetimetakenfromthemomentworkisstartedtothepoint
atwhichtheticketbecomeslive.

Here'sanotherexampleofleadtimeversuscycletimewithanonlinepublishingexample.Soifyoulookat
onlinepublishingasaseriesoftasks,andthencalculatetheamountoftimethateachtasktakesfromwhenit
whenwestartworkingonthattasktowhenit'scompleted,wemayseethefollowingexample.Soforexample,
meetingwithanauthormaytakeacycletimeof1day.Readingandapprovingmanuscriptsmaytake3days.
Proofingthedocumentationmaytake2days.Thefinalproofreadmaytake2days,andthenpostingtothe
Internetmaybea2dayprocess,forexample.Soifyouaddupallofthecycletimesforthosespecifictasks,you
getanaggregatedcycletimeof10days.However,ifyou'relookingatthebiggerpictureandyou'relookingat
allofthetimeinbetween,whenwestartedourtasksplusanyofthedelaysinbetweenthetasks,orwaiting
times,orpendingtimes,wemayendupwithaleadtimethat's30days.Understandingcycletimesandlead
timesisreallyimportantforustoknowwhattoexpectwhenwestartworkingonatask,orwhenataskis
requireduntilwefinallycandeliverthattask.
Heading:LeadTimevs.CycleTime:OnlinePublishing.

Adiagramdisplaysindicatingindividualtaskcycletimes,totalcycletime,andleadtimewithinanonline
publishingenvironment.It'scomprisedoffivetasksmeetwiththeauthor(cycletimeofoneday),readand
approvemanuscript(cycletimeofthreedays),proofstageorstages(cycletimeoftwodays),finalproofread
(cycletimeoftwodays),andposttotheInternet(cycletimeoftwodays).

Thetotalcycletimeforallfivetasksis10days.However,theleadtimeis30daysbecauseisincludesanytime

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spentwaitinginbetweenthefivetasks.

Therearemanybenefitstoreducingcycletimeasyoucanseeonthisslide.Someofthosebenefitsarewaste
reduction.Sobytryingtoreducecycletime,wealsohavetoactuallylookatwherewemighthavewasteinour
process,andwherewecanremovethatwaste.Oneofthestrategies,forexample,istohavepeopleableto
maintaintheirownmachinesordevicesthatthey'reusingtocompletetasks.Bydoingso,youreducetheamount
oftimeittakestohavemaintenance,orsomebodycomeandservicethosemachines.Andyou'reabletoreduce
cycletime.Anotherbenefitissignificantcostreduction.Whenwereducecycletimeobviously,we'reusingless
resourcesintermsofmachinesorequipmentaswellaslessofpeople'stime.We'realsoincreasingproductivity.
We'regettingmoretasksdoneinthesameamountoftime.Andthenwe'reimprovingqualitybylookingathow
wecanincludethequality,inthewaythatwedothingssothatwedon'thavetodoalotofrework.We'realso
decreasingproducttimetomarket,bydeliveringmoreinthesameamountoftimeorlesstime.Andthen
finally,improvingcustomersatisfactionbysettinganexpectationwithourcustomers,onhowquicklyorhow
muchwecandeliverinanygivenamountoftime.
Heading:BenefitsofCycleTimeReduction.

Cycletimereductionhassixkeybenefits.Thesearewastereduction,significantcostreduction,increased
productivity,overallqualityimprovement,decreasedproducttimetomarket,andimprovedcustomer
satisfaction.

Manyorganizationshavethegoalofreducingtheircycletimeby30to70%.Ifthey'reabletoachievethatgoal,
theycanalsohaveanumberofdifferentimpactsfinanciallyontheirorganization.Bylookinghere,youcansee
someexamplesofsomeimprovementsthatyoucanseewithcertainmetrics,thatrelatebacktotheperformance
financiallyofthatorganization.Sobyreducingcycletimebyanywherebetween30to70%wemayhavea
betterreturnonassets,thatcanbecalculatedbetweenanywherefrom20and105%,forexample.Wealsomay
improvethingslikeourtimetomarket,anywherefrom20to70%.Soyoucanlookonthisexampleandsee
somemetricsthatmaybeimprovedbyreducingcycletime.Andthesecancausesomereallysignificant
reductionincost,butalsosomefinancialgainsforanorganizationthatmayincreasecompetitivenessinthe
market.Socycletimesandleadtimesareanimportantmeasure,whenyou'reimplementingKanbanandapull
basedflowsystem,inordertounderstandwherewecangainefficiencies,andwherewecangetalotofimpact
forourorganizationfinancially.

Heading:ImpactofCycleTimeReduction.

Reducingcycletimeby30to70%canhaveasignificantimpactonanorganization.Returnonassetsmaybe
improvedby2005%,revenuesincreasedfrombetween520%,inventoriesreducedby2050%,invisible
inventoriesreducedby2060%,deliveryleadtimesreducedby3070%,andthetimetomarketimprovedby
2070%.

Backtotop

WIPandFlow
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

differentiatebetweenWIPandflow

1.

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Inthisvideo,weintroducetheconceptsofworkinprogressandflow,thedifferencebetweenthetwoconcepts,
andthenwe'lltalkaboutcontinuousflowasaleanconcept.TheacronymWIPstandsforworkinprocessor
workinprogressinaLeanorKanbanbasedsystem.Workinprocessisdefinedasanyworkthatstarted,butis
waiting,unfinished,orstillbeingworkedon.Therearemanyreasonswhyit'simportanttotrackandmeasure
theamountofworkinprocess.Sincethatworkcannotaddvaluetothecustomerortoyourorganizationuntil
it'sfinished.Minimizingworkinprocessbecomesanimportantconcept,inordertoincreasethevaluewe're
deliveringtocustomersperunitoftime.Onthisside,wehaveanexampleofaKanbanboardforateam.Asyou
cansee,thereareanumberofcolumnsforitemsthatareinprogress,inqueue,orevenawaitingapproval.Allof
theseareconsideredworkinprocesssincethey'renotyetprovidingvaluepracticallyspeakinguntilthey're
finished.Thisslidealsogivesusanideaofthisteam'sflow,orthewayinwhichworkitemsprogressthrough
thisteam'ssystemorworkflow.
Heading:WIP.

AKanbanboardforanorganizationnamedZOFLINASYSTEMSdisplays.Itcontainseighttoplevelcolumns
NewRequest:Ready,Design,QueueD,Development,QueueT,Testing,Approval,andDeployment.The
Design,Development,andTestingcolumnsareeachdividedintotwosubcolumnsInprogressandDone.A
numberofworkrelateditemsarelistedundereachcolumn.Forexample,workitemsincludeProjectABug,
ProjectBImprovement,ProjectCNewFeature,andProjectAOtherWork.Theworkitemsarecolorcoded
tomakeiteasytoseethedifferenttypesofwork.Forexample,allworkrelatedtobugsarered.Workitemsstart
attheNewRequest:ReadystageandprogressuntiltheyreachthefinalworkinprogressstageDeployment.
TheKanbanboardprovidesanoverviewofallworkinprogressacrosseachofthevariousstages.

Soaswebrieflymentionedinthelastslide,flowreferstothewayinwhichworkitemsprogressthroughateam
ororganization'ssystem.Theexampleonthisslideshowsasystemoraworkflowthatrequiresworkitems,to
gofrombeingintheToDocategory,toInProgress,toToVerify,andthenfinallytoDone.Goodflowreferstoa
systemwhereworkmovesthroughatasteadyandpredictablepace.Badflowreferstoasystemwherework
stopsandstartsfrequently.Ultimately,wewanttohaveasystemthathasaconsistentsteadyflow,thatallowsus
todelivervalueinareliableandpotentiallyfasterwaybyremovingbottlenecks.Mappingoutourworkflowis
thefirststepinbeingabletoimproveflow.Sincewecanonlyimproveourflow,byfirsthavingasolid
understandingofwherewehavebottlenecksinourcurrentflow.Soworkinprocessisanyworkthathasbeen
started,butnotyetfinished.Andflowisthewayinwhichthoseworkitemsprogressthroughthephasesorsteps
ofourworkflow.Wecanminimizeworkinprocessbyimprovingourflowandremovingbottlenecks.
Heading:FlowandSoftwareDevelopmentProjects.

Anexampleofaworkflowdisplays.It'scomprisedoffourstagesarrangedascolumnheaders.Fromleftto
right,theseareToDo,InProgress,ToVerify,andDone.Variousworkrelateditemsarelistedundereachstage
column.Forexample,theToDocolumncontainsthreeitemstwoRequirementsandaBug.Theworkitemsare
colorcoded.Forexample,allrequirementsarepurple.

KanbanandLeanallowustohavecontinuousflow,whichmeansthatwe'redeliveringvalueatacontinuous
steadystream.Bylimitingourworkinprocessandremovingbottlenecks,andbyutilizingtheconceptof
continuousimprovementtocontinuouslyimproveoursystems,wecanachievethattypeofcontinuousvalue
delivery.Sowithcontinuousflowthatmeanswehaveanabsenceofinterruptions,problems,delays,or
backlogs.It'satimebasedmethodologywherewetakeasetof...asetamountoftimeandwedelivervalue
withinthatamountoftime.Andourfocusistoreducedefectsorreworkbyimprovinglogistics,andtocontinue
todelivervalue.
Heading:ContinuousFlow.

Continuousflowreferstotheabsenceofinterruptions,problems,delays,orbacklogs.It'satimebased
methodologythatfocusesonreducingdefectsbyimprovinglogistics.Asimpleflowdiagramdisplaysasan
example.It'scomprisedofaSupplier,Customer,andfourworkflowstagesAssembly1,Process2,Process3,
andProcess4.Materialsaredelivereddailyfromthesupplierandimmediatelyenterstageoneoftheworkflow
Assembly1.OncethefourthworkflowstageProcess4iscomplete,theendproductisimmediately
shippedtothecustomer.Shipmentstothecustomeroccuronceamonth.
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Solet'stakethefollowingexampleofsometoolswecanusetoachievecontinuousflow.Anautomobile
manufacturermapsitsproductionflow,andusingleantechniquesthenbeginstheprocessofcreatingcontinuous
flow.ByreducingbatchsizesusingKanbanandswitchingfromapushtoapullproductionsystem,this
manufacturerdramaticallyreducesqueuesandinprocessinventory.Itnegotiateswithsuppliersformore
frequentandsmallerdeliveries,andstreamlinestheshippingofvehiclestoitscustomers.Theresultofallof
theseactionsisthatproductiontimeshavehalvedandthecompanysavesmillionsofdollars.Limitingworkin
process,reducingtheamountofworkwecommittoupfronttomatchourcapacity,andremovingbottlenecks,
arealltoolsinachievingthetypeofsystemthatdeliversvaluecontinuouslyandconsistently.

Backtotop

KanbanDriversandApplication
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

recognizedriversandapplicationofKanban

1.
Inthisvideo,we'lltalkabouttheadoptionofKanbanintheITandsoftwaredevelopmentsectors,whatdrove
thatadoption,reasonsnottoadoptKanban,andotherindustryapplicationsofKanban.AlthoughKanbanispart
ofabroaderLeantoolsetanditoriginatesinmanufacturing,it'sbeenreadilyacceptedasthenextbigtrendin
AgiledevelopmentintheITandsoftwaredevelopmentarena.Today,severalserviceandtransactionbased
industriessuchasdefenseestablishments,hospitals,banks,andseveralgovernmentandprivatesector
organizationsuseKanban.Inthelastfewyears,andespeciallysince2007or2008,Kanban'sapplicationhas
beengainingpopularityinthesoftwareandITworlds.SomepeopleattributethistotheKanbanOpenSpace
sessionthatDavidAndersonranattheAgile2007conference,whichresultedinawidespreadinterestin
Kanban.SomeofthedriversoftheKanbanadoptionare:someAgileframeworksincludingScrummay
requirecomplex,comprehensive,andswiftchangebytheorganizationsthatareadoptingthem.Thesechanges
mayinhibittheseorganizationsfrommovingforwardwithadoptingtheseframeworks.
Heading:KanbanAdoptioninITandSoftwareDevelopment.

TherearefourkeydriversbehindKanban'sadoptioninanumberofenvironments.Thefirstisthecomplex,
comprehensive,andswiftchangeoftenrequiredbyscrumandotheragileadoptions.

Second,therearealsosomechallengesandlimitationsoftraditionalprojectmanagementapproachesoreven
Agilemethodologies.Third,istheeaseandintuitivenessofKanbanand,fourth,theincrementalorevolutionary
approachtochangeandimprovementthatKanbanbringsalongwithit.TherearemanyreasonsforanITor
softwaredevelopmentorganizationtoadoptKanban,includingthefollowing.It'ssimpleandintuitive.Kanban
requiresminimalorganizationalbuyinupfront.ChangecausedbyKanbanisgradualandincrementalandthen,
itsinitialadoptionisnoninvasivetoadepartment'sregularactivities.It'sreallyjustmeantmappingoutthat
department'soriginalworkflowhowtheyworktoday,andthen,gradually,figuringoutwherearethereareasof
improvement.Also,itfollowsanadaptiveapproachtoworkorganization,soyou'readaptingovertimeand
changingwhatneedstobechangedintheorganizationorworkfloworprocessesofourwork.Andthen,finally,
asaleanapproachtosoftwaredevelopment,KanbanyieldsseveralbenefitsthatLeandeliversaswell,suchas
wasteandcostreduction,speedandefficiency,andbettercoordinationandcommunicationamongteam
members.
Theseconddriverrelatestothechallengesandlimitationassociatedwithtraditionalprojectmanagementand

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Agilemethodologies.ThethirdistheeaseandintuitivenessofKanban.ThefourthandfinaldriverisKanban's
incrementalorevolutionaryapproachtochangeorimprovement.

Heading:WhyKanbaninITandSoftwareDevelopment.

TherearethreekeyreasonswhyKanbanissuitableforITandsoftwaredevelopment.Kanbanissimpleand
intuitive.Itfollowsanadaptiveapproachtoworkorganization.Finally,asaLeanapproachtosoftware
development,KanbanyieldsseveralbenefitsthatLeandelivers.

AlthoughtherearemanygoodreasonstoadoptKanban,youshouldalsobeawareofsomeassumptionsabout
Kanbanthatarenotgoodreasonstoadoptitinyourorganization.Sosomereasonswhyyoushouldnot
potentiallyadoptKanbanare:justbecauseeverythingelsesuchasScrumfailed.Soifyourorganizationtried
toimplementScrumorothermethodologiesandtheyallfailed,itdoesn'tmeanthatKanbanisyoursolution.
Also,justbecauseit'saneasymethodologyandeasytoimplement.That'sanassumptionaswell.Sothe
simplicityofKanbandoesn'tmeanthatit'seasyordoesn'tmeanthatthey...theredoesn'tcomealongwithita
numberofchangesthattheorganizationneedstogetusedtoandneedstoadaptto.Again,thatmeansnumber
threeitdoesnotrequirechangeisalsoabadassumptiontomakeifyou'regoingtoadoptKanban.Itdoes
requirechangeanditrequiresthattheorganizationstartstoadopttheseprocesschangesthatwillallowustobe
moreefficientandeffectiveandproducebettervalueforourcustomers.Andthen,finally,theassumptionthatit
canquicklyandeasilyfixallofourproblemsofflowandspeed.Itcanonlydosowiththeeffortthatweputinto
improvingoursystems.

Heading:WhyYouShouldNOTAdoptKanban.

ThereareanumberofpoorreasonsforchoosingKanban.Forexample,don'tadoptKanbansimplybecause
everythingelse,includingScrum,hasfailed.Youshouldalsoavoidchoosingitbecauseit'seasytoimplementor
becauseitdoesn'trequirechange.Finally,don'tchooseKanbanbasedontheassumptionthatitcanquicklyand
easilyfixallyourproblemsofflowandspeed.

SomostoftheLeanandKanbanconceptswe'vediscussedsofarwereinitiallyappliedinmanufacturing,but
softwaredevelopmentisnotaproductionoramanufacturingactivity.Therefore,it'simportanttounderstand
howthesetoolsandtechniquescanbesuccessfullyappliedintheITandsoftwareworldsbylookingat
examplesofotherindustriesthathaveapplieditsuccessfully.Kanbancanworkandbe...andisbeingused
successfullyinanumberofbusinessesandserviceindustries,suchasbusinessserviceslikehealthcare,banking
specificallyinvestmentbanking,government,andfastfoodindustries.InITandthesoftwarefieldsthe
flexible,intuitive,andincrementalapproachtoLeaningeneralandKanbaninparticularcanworkverywelland
produceresults.AfewdomainswhereKanbanhasbeen...hasproventobeextremelyeffectiveinthoseworlds
hasbeensoftwaredevelopment,softwaremaintenance,multimedia,andgamedevelopment.
Heading:Kanban:IndustryApplications.

TherearefourdomainswithintheITsectorwhereKanbanisextremelyeffective.Thesearesoftware
development,softwaremaintenance,multimedia,andgamedevelopment.

SothereareanumberofreasonswhyKanbanworksineachofthesedifferentfields.Softwaremaintenanceis
oneofthemostcitedinstanceswhereKanbanisextremelysuccessful.Softwaremaintenanceinvolvesfixing
productionbugsanddoingsmall,incrementalimprovements.Kanbanworkswellwiththisbecausethiswork
isn'treallyanaturalfitforprojectsorforevensprintsthatlastonetofourweeks.Itmakesmoresensetotake
thoserequestsinaqueueandworkonthemandthendeploythemassoonasthey'reready.That'swhyKanbanis
agoodfitforsoftwaremaintenance.Inaddition,mediacompanieshaveawiderangeofdemandsandtheyneed
toberesponsiveandrespondquicklytomakechanges.ThisisabenefitofKanbanthatallowstheseindustries
torespondquicklyandmakechangesanddeployquicklyversushavingtowaitforasprintcycle.Another
industrywhereKanbanhasbeenbeneficial,isgamedevelopment.Manygamecompaniesarereallyworkingon
producingthingsthatprovidevalueforthecustomerthataren'tnecessarilysoftwaredevelopment.Sofor
example,we'recreatinggraphics,animation,music,soundeffects,etc.andlevelswithinthegame,thatadd...and
they'realmostconsideredproductionelementsofthegame.Finally,Kanbanhasbeenadoptedinmanyplaces
aroundtheworld,mostnotablyinNorthandSouthAmericaandinEurope.
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aroundtheworld,mostnotablyinNorthandSouthAmericaandinEurope.
Heading:KanbanAdoptionFootprints.

ThethreemostnotableareasKanbanhasbeenadoptedinareNorthAmerica,SouthAmerica,andEurope.

Backtotop

KanbaninITandSoftwareDevelopment
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

identifykeyconsiderationsforKanbaninITandsoftwaredevelopment

1.
Inthisvideo,we'lltalkspecificallyaboutapplyingLeanandKanbantoITandsoftwaredevelopment.Aswe
mentionedinapreviousvideo,KanbanandotherLeanpracticeshavemadetheirwayintotheITandsoftware
developmentsectors.ThegoalsofapplyingKanbanintheseenvironmentsismultifoldandincludes:visualizing
work.Kanbangivesusagreatwaytovisualizeourworkflowsbeforeevenapplyinganychangesor
improvementstotheseworkflows.It'sbecomeestablishedthatweprocessandunderstandvisualcuesmore
effectivelythanweinterprettext.Visualizinghowworkprogressesinourenvironmentsallowsustoseeareas
forpotentialimprovement.Pull.We'vetalkedaboutKanbanandLeanbeingapullbasedsystem,andthe
efficienciesthatcomewithrespondingtodirectcustomerdemandversuspushingexcessproducttocustomers.
Thisappliestosoftware,inthatwedon'twanttopushbloatedfeaturesetsthatdon'taddvaluetocustomersand
wastetimeandeffortdoingso.Instead,werespondtocustomerdemandjustintime.Thirdisremove
bottlenecks.Oncewe'vevisualizedourworkflow,wecanstarttoseetasksandworkitemsastheyprogressand
wecanvisuallyidentifywherethoseitemsgetstuck.Thesearebottlenecksthatwecanworktoremoveover
time.
Heading:GoalsofKanbanforIT/SoftwareProjects.

KanbanhassixkeygoalswithintheITenvironment.Thesearetovisualizework,pullwork,andremove
bottlenecks.

Ensureasteadyflowofvalue.Bycontinuouslyimprovingandadaptingourprocesses,weareworkingtowards
continuousflowanddeliveryofvalue.Thisisimportantforsoftwareenvironmentswheretherearehigh
expectations,demand,orcompetitionfordeliveringfunctionalitycontinuously.Reduceworkinprocessand
cycletime.Reducingtheamountofworkinprocesswehaveandtheamountoftimeittakestogetworkitems
completed,meansthatwe'rereducingwasteandfocusingondeliveringvalue.Andthen,finally,aimat
predictable,shortleadtimes.Bystartingtogainanunderstandingofourworkflowandcapacity,wecanfigure
outhowtomakeourleadtimesshorterandmorepredictableforcustomerssotheycanstarttoexpectvalue
fromusataregularcadence.
OthergoalsareensureasteadyflowofvaluereduceWIPandcycletimeandtoaimatpredictable,short,lead
times.

ThereareanumberofguidingprinciplestoapplyingKanban,including:beginwithwhatyouhaveordonow.
Thisisimportant,sincewecan'timproveunlesswestarttotrackandunderstandwhatwehaveinplacetoday.
It'salsoimportanttounderstandwherewecurrentlystandsothatourexpectationsaresetappropriately.
Recognizethecurrentprocess,roles,andresponsibilities.Weshouldalsorecognizeandunderstandwhythe
currentprocess,roles,andresponsibilitiesworkthewaytheydo.Itdoesn'tmakesensetotrytochangeor

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improvetheseunlessweknowwhatpurposetheyserveorwereintendedtoserve.Aimforincrementaland
evolutionaryimprovements.There'sareasonweusethetermcontinuousimprovement.Andthatisbecausethe
improvementsweapplytoaKanbansystemneedtohappenincrementallyandovertime,sothatwecanensure
theywillbesustainableandlastforthelongterm.Thismeansthatweneedtosetourexpectationsappropriately
andnotexpecteverythingtochangeallatonce,overnight.Empowerteammembersandencourageleadershipat
alllevels.Teammembersshouldbeempoweredtotakeinitiativeandsuggestaswellasimplementchanges
tothesystemsthatcreatecontinuousimprovement.Teammembersarethebestpeopletoidentifywhatissues
existwiththecurrentsystemandworkflow,andleadershipcomesfromthemtakingthatinitiativeversusfrom
leadingateamoradepartment.

Heading:Kanban:GuidingPrinciples.

ThereareanumberofprinciplestoapplywhenadoptingKanban.Beginwithwhatyouhaveordonow.Second,
recognizethecurrentprocess,roles,andresponsibilities.Third,aimforincrementalandevolutionary
improvements.Finally,empowerteammembersandencourageleadershipatalllevels.

Aswe'vetalkedaboutinpreviousvideos,Leancomesfromthemanufacturingprocessand,specifically,the
Toyotaproductionsystem.Assuch,wecanstillapplyLeanprinciplesinasoftwareenvironment.However,we
needtounderstandthatthedifferencesbetweensoftwaredevelopmentandmanufacturingproductsleadusto
have...todifferentexpectationsofwhatcomesoutoftheLeanprocess.Soaswe'reapplyingLeaninasoftware
developmentenvironment,weneedtofocusondifferentthings.Insteadoffocusing,forexample,onspecific
numberswhenitcomestocycletimeorleadtime,wemayfocusinsteadonwhatdefinesvalueandhowdowe
deliverthatvalue.Wemayadaptourprocessesdifferentlyinasoftwaredevelopmentenvironmentthanwe
wouldinamanufacturingenvironment.Italldependsonthetypeofsoftwaredevelopmentenvironmentthat
we'reapplyingLeanandKanbanprinciplestoaswell.Thebasicpointhereistobeawarethattheapplicationof
LeanandKanbanprinciplesinasoftwaredevelopmentenvironmentisdefinitelyrelevant,butdefinitely
differentthanitisforamanufacturingenvironment.
Heading:LeanSoftwareDevelopment.

Abasicdiagramofabusinesscomputernetworkdisplays.Itcontainsacentralbackboneswitchthatconnectsto
wirelessclientsviaawirelessroutertheInternetviaarouterandfirewallvariousservers,suchasMail,FTP,
andDNSandacomputernetworkviaafiberopticcableandswitch.

ApplyingLeanandKanbaninanITandsoftwaredevelopmentworldmeansthatthereareanumberofthings
weneedtotakeintoconsideration.SoalthoughLeanagainoriginatedinmanufacturing,inaToyota
productionsystem,it'snowbeingusedextensivelyinsoftwaredevelopmentininformationtechnology.It's
becomeaneffectivetooltovisualizeandlimitworkinprogressonITandsoftwaredevelopmentprojects
wherewecanstarttolookatourprocessesandseewherewehaveinefficiencies.Italsoallowsustohavethe
potentialtocreativelysolveavarietyofefficiency,cost,productivity,throughput,andqualityrelatedproblems
byapplyingdifferentLeanprinciplesandgoingbeyondjustapplyingtheuseofKanbanboardsinoursoftware
environments.Andthen,finally,weshouldn'tjustlimitouruseofKanbantoKanbanboards.Weshould,
instead,findsolutionstoproblemsandbecreativewiththeapplicationofdifferentLeantoolsthatcanhelpus
lookatthewaythatweprocessflow,andthewaythatweprocessworkitemsthroughoursystemsmore
effectively.

Heading:KanbanApplicationinITandSoftwareDevelopment.

KanbanoriginatedinmanufacturingandTPSandisnowbeingusedextensivelyinsoftwaredevelopmentand
informationtechnology.It'saneffectivetooltovisualizeandlimitworkinprogressonITorsoftware
developmentprojects.Kanbanhasthepotentialtocreativelysolveavarietyofefficiency,cost,productivity,
throughput,andqualityrelatedproblems.ApplyingKanbanshouldn'tbelimitedtoKanbanboards.Itshould
ratherbeusedtofindsolutionstoproblemsandbecreativewiththeapplicationofLeantools.

Backtotop

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IntroductiontoKanbanBoards
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

describefeaturesofKanbanboards

1.
Inthisvideo,we'llgetanintroductiontoKanbanboards,lookatacoupleofexamples,anddiscussapplying
KanbanprinciplesinITandsoftwaredevelopment.IfyouwalkaroundtheworkspaceofanITorsoftware
developmentdepartment,it'snotuncommontoseestickynotesuponthewallsdepictinginformationvisually
fortheteamonacertainproject.Kanbanboards,whethercreatedusingawall,whiteboard,orevenanelectronic
versionthatmaybesharedwithremoteteammembers,isthesinglebiggestapplicationofKanbaninsoftware
developmenttoday.Kanbanboardsareaneffectivevisualtool,andarealsoreferredtoasavisualinformation
systemthatcanbeusedtoquicklycaptureanddisplayinformationonthestatusofworkandtasksgoingthrough
asystemorworkflow.Theindividualstickynotesthatyouseeontheslidealsocalledcardsdepictstasks
thatprogressthroughthestagesofourworkflow.
Heading:KanbanBoards.

Fiveboardsarearrangedinasinglerowwithfivecolumns.TheboardorcolumnheadingsareCustomerOrder
Received,PaymentReceived,Developed/Produced,Dispatched,andDelivered.Eachboardcontainsvarious
pinnednotesorcards,someofwhichhavebeencolorcoded.

Onthisslide,youcanseeanexampleofateam'sworkflow.Theheaderofeachcolumndescribeswhatthat
columnrepresentsintermsofthestagesoftheworkflow.Sointhisspecificteam'sworkflow,thestagesare
BacklogorNewrequest,Design,Development,Testing,Approval,andDeployment.Ascardsaremovedfrom
onecolumntoanother,teammembersaswellasstakeholdershaveaquickwaytovisuallyseethestatusofeach
task.Manyteamsusecolorcodedstickynotestodepictdifferentcategoriesofinformation.Forexample,yellow
stickynotesmaydepictanewfeature,redstickiesmaydepictabugorissue,andsoon.Teamsusuallycomeup
withtheirowncolorcodingthat'smeaningfultothem.
Heading:DepictingWorkflows.

Asimpleworkflowdiagramwithsixcolumnsdisplays.Eachcolumnrepresentsoneofsixworkflowstages.
Fromlefttoright,theseareBacklog/Newrequest,Design,Development,Testing,Approval,andDeployment.
Therearetworows.Eachrowcontainssixpinnednotesorcardsoneundereachworkflowstage.Thenotesare
colorcodedintothreecategoriesorange,green,andpurple.

CreatingamanualKanbanboardissimple,andstartswithcreatingavisualflowofyourwork.Startingwith
anythingassimpleasasheetofpaperorawhiteboard,youcanwritedownyourprocessstepsinorder.These
stepscanthenbeusedastheheadersofthecolumnasyouseeinthisslide.Thestepscanbeassimpleand
genericasTodo,Doing,andDone,ortheycanbemorespecific.Someteamsalsochoosetocreaterowsthatare
specificallysetasideeitherforacertaincategoryofwork,likehavingaswimlaneforbugfixes,andthen
anotherswimlanefornewdevelopmentwork,etc.Asyoucanseeonthisslide,thisspecificteamisusingaflow
thatstartswithaCustomerOrderReceived,movingontoPaymentReceived,thenDevelopedorProduced,then
Dispatchedandthen,finally,Delivered.
Heading:ManualKanbanBoard.

AnKanbanboardwithfivecolumns.Thefivecolumnsrepresenteachofthefiveworkflowstages.Fromleftto
right,theseareCustomerOrderReceived,PaymentReceived,Developed/Produced,Dispatched,andDelivered.

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TheKanbanboardisemptysonocardsornotesareallocatedtoanyofthestages.

ThereareanumberofsoftwaretoolsavailablethatallowyoutocreateelectronicKanbanboards.Someteams
haveevendevelopedtheirownversionofanelectronicKanbanboardthatfitstheirneeds.Intheexampleon
thisslide,youcanseethecolumnsdepictingaspecificworkflowthatconsistsofthefollowingsteps.NEW
REQUESTthatstartswithReady.Sowhensomethingisready,itthenmovestotheDESIGNprocess,which
includesInprogressaswellasDone.Sothen,oncewe'redonewithdesign,wemoveintoqueuefor
development.AndthenwegetintoDEVELOPMENT,sowestartwithInprogress,andthendevelopmentDone.
ThenitmovesintoanotherqueueforTESTINGandwehavetestingInprogressandtestingDone.Andthen
thenextstepisAPPROVAL.Onceapprovalisdone,thenwemoveontoDEPLOYMENTandmaintenance.
Heading:ElectronicKanbanboard.

AKanbanboardforanorganizationnamedZOFLINASYSTEMSdisplays.Itcontainseighttoplevelcolumns
NewRequest:Ready,Design,QueueD,Development,QueueT,Testing,Approval,andDeployment.The
Design,Development,andTestingcolumnsareeachdividedintotwosubcolumnsInprogressandDone.A
numberofworkrelateditemsarelistedundereachcolumn.WorkitemsincludeProjectABug,ProjectB
Improvement,ProjectCNewFeature,andProjectAOtherWork.Forexample,theApprovalcolumncontains
threeworkitemsProjectCNewFeature,ProjectCImprovement,andProjectBNewFeature.Thework
itemsarefurthercategorizedusingcolorcoding.Thismakesiteasytoseethedifferenttypesofwork.For
example,allbugrelatedworkitemsarered.WorkitemsstartattheNewRequest:Readystageandprogress
untiltheyreachthefinalworkinprogressstageDeployment.TheKanbanboardprovidesanoverviewofall
workinprogressacrosseachofthevariousstages.

Startingwithmappingyourworkflowintocolumnsandusingstickynotestodepicttasksgoingthroughyour
workflowisagreatstartingpointforimplementingKanban.However,Kanbanismuchmore.Therearea
numberofLeantoolswecanusewithourKanbanboardstointroducecontinuousimprovementintoour
workflows,suchastheTheoryofConstraints,orfiguringoutwherewehaveconstraintsorbottlenecksinour
systemandremovingthemMudaorwasteanalysisandremovalthevisualworkplace,sogoingbeyondjust
usingKanbanboardsforvisualinformationandseeingwhereelsewecandepictinformationvisuallyvalue
streamanalysisand,finally,creatingmoreofapullbasedsysteminourworkflows.
Heading:OtherKanbanApplicationsinSoftwareDevelopment.

OtherLeantoolscanbeusedtogetherwithyourKanbanboards.Theseincludethetheoryofconstraints,muda
orwastesanalysis,thevisualworkplace,valuestreamanalysis,andthepullbasedsystem.

Backtotop

KeyConceptsinKanbanApplication
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

matchkeyconceptsinKanbanapplicationtotheirdescriptions

1.
Inthisvideo,we'llcoversomekeyconceptsthatareimportantwhenapplyingKanban.InITandsoftware
development,there'saninherenttradeoffbetweenthefrequencyofreleasingproductsandthecostofthose
releases.Thegraphshownonthisslideshowsthatwhenourreleasefrequenciesareverylow,wehaveahigh
totalcostassociatedwithreleaseswhichisaresultofhavingahighopportunitycost.Thismeansthatitcosts

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usmoretodobig,infrequentreleasesofalotofsoftwarebecausewe'remissingoutonopportunitiestobemore
competitiveandgaingroundinthemarket.Ifyoumovealongthegraphtotheright,youcanseethatthetotal
costassociatedwithmorefrequentreleasesgoesdown,becausetheopportunitycostgoesdownmeaningwe
arebecomingmorecompetitiveandcosteffectivewithmorefrequentreleasesofsoftware.Thepointatwhich
totalcostislowestcanbeconsideredouroptimizationpointwherethefrequencyofreleasesisjustrightand
doesnotcauseourtotalcoststogoup.Thisgraphshowsthat,toapoint,it'seconomicallyattractivefora
companytobefastertomarketthanthecompetitionviafrequentreleases.
Heading:OptimizationofSoftwareReleaseCostvs.ReleaseFrequency.

Alinegraphdisplays.Thexaxismeasuresthefrequencyofreleaseandtheyaxismeasurescosts.Bothaxes
rangefromlowtohigh.Therearethreeplottedlinesresultingtotalcosts,costofrelease,andopportunitycost.
Thecostofreleaselinestartsaroundtwomillimetersupontheyaxisatapointmarkedasthefixedsetup
costandattheoriginonthexaxis.Itrisessteadilyonboththexandyaxestoforma40degreeline.The
opportunitycostlinestartshighupontheyaxisandaroundtwomillimetersalongthexaxis.Atfirstitfalls
steeplyontheyaxiswhileincreasingveryslowlyonthexaxis.Thelinebendsandbeginstoincreaserapidlyon
thexaxiswhilefallingmuchmoreslowlyontheyaxis.Iteventuallyrunsalmostparalleltothexaxis,endingat
itshighpointandlowontheyaxis.Theresultingtotalcostslinestartshighupontheyaxisandaroundfour
millimetersalongthexaxis.Atfirstitfallsverysteeplyontheyaxiswhilstslowlyincreasingonthexaxis.At
aroundathirdofthewayalongthexaxis,thelinebendsbackslowlyandbeginstoclimbbackuptheyaxis.
Lineshavebeendrawnfromthexandyaxistojoinatthepointwheretheresultingtotalcostsarelowest.This
occursatthehalfwaymarkontheyaxisandaroundathirdofthewayalongthexaxis.Thisareaisthepointat
whichthecostandfrequencylevelsareoptimized.

IfyoutakealookattheKanbanboardshownonthisslide,youwillseesomecolumnsthathavearedcircle
aroundtheirtitles.Thesecolumnsarewhatwerefertoasbuffersorcues.Buffersorcuesarestagesinour
processeswhereworkitemshavetowait,andareinpendingmode,untilthey'rereadytobetakenorworkedon
bysomeone.Themorebuffersandcueswehave,themoreworkinprocesswehaveand,ultimately,theless
valuewe'recreatingperunitoftime.Thesecolumnsrepresentwaitingtimeanddon'taddorcreateanyvalueto
customers,whichmakesthemoneofthesevenwastesidentifiedinLean.It'simportanttounderstandhowto
recognizebufferstates,inordertofigureouthowtostartminimizingthissourceofwasteinourprocess.This
bringsustotheconceptofcostofdelay.Thecostofdelayisthecostassociatedwithhavingdelaysinour
workflowsand,ultimately,showsupaslostopportunity.Whenwehavedelaysindeliveringvalue,weareless
effectiveatcapitalizingonmarketopportunitiesandwewastecyclesoftimeandeffortfromtheteam
perspective.Asyoucanseeonthisslide,theimplicationsofoptimizingourflowstobequickertomarketcreate
organizationalefficiency,improvedprofitability,andincreasedcustomersatisfaction.
Heading:Buffer/Queue.

AKanbanboardforanorganizationnamedZOFLINASYSTEMSdisplays.Itcontainsseventoplevelcolumns
NewRequest:Ready,Design,QueueD,Development,QueueT,Testing,andWaitingforApproval.TheDesign,
Development,andTestingcolumnsareeachdividedintotwosubcolumnsInprogressandDone.The
followingthreecolumnshavebeencircledNewRequest:Ready,QueueD,QueueT,andWaitingforApproval.
Anumberofworkrelateditemsarelistedunderthesethreecolumns.WorkitemsincludeProjectABug,
ProjectBImprovement,ProjectCNewFeature,andProjectAOtherWork.Forexample,theWaitingfor
ApprovalcolumncontainsthreeitemsProjectsCNewFeature,ProjectCImprovement,andProjectB
NewFeature.Theworkitemsarefurthercategorizedusingcolorcoding.Thismakesiteasytoseethedifferent
typesofwork.Forexample,allbugrelatedworkitemsarered.

Heading:CostofDelay.

Beingquickertomarkethasthreekeybenefits.Theseareorganizationalefficiency,improvedprofitability,and
increasedcustomersatisfaction.

Blockersaretasksorworkitemsinourflowthatcannotmoveforwardintheprocess,orareblockedfrom
movingforward.Thismethodofvisuallyindicatingworkthatcan'tmoveforwardintheprocessallowsusto
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quicklyseewhenthereareblockingissues.Somereasonswemighthaveblockersare:inabilitytocompletea
taskbecauseofskillsetissues,feasibility,unavailableresources,orsomethingthathasstoppedworkonanitem
duetocircumstancesoutsideoftheteam'scontrol.Oncetheworkhasbeenunblocked,orit'sclearthatthere'sno
resolutionfortheblocker,teamsusuallyremovetheseblockerstickersoffoftheirKanbanboards.It'simportant
topayattentiontothefollowingwhentrackingandmonitoringblockers.Howoftendowehaveblockers?How
longdotheytypicallystayblocked?Whereinourprocessdoblockerstypicallyhappen?Onepracticethatcan
helptrackthenumberofblockeddaysistoaddonefieldtoafieldcalledblockeddays.Sowehaveafield
calledblockeddaysontheseblockercardsandwecontinuouslyincrementitbyoneonthecardandnotewhere
theblockoccurred.Thatway,wecankeeptrackofhowmanydaysthatblockerstayedasablockeditemand
howlongittooktoresolve.Byremovingblockeditemsandbyfiguringouthowtoremovebuffersandqueues,
wecangettothatpointwherewe'redeliveringmorefrequentreleasesofsoftwareandmorevaluetoour
customers.

Heading:Blocker.

AKanbanboardwithsixcolumnsdisplays.Eachcolumnrepresentsoneofsixworkflowstages.Fromleftto
right,theseareBacklog/Newrequest,Design,Development,Testing,Approval,andDeployment.Notesare
pinnedundereachofthestagecolumns.Threeofthenotesareredandtitled"Blocker."Theyappearunderthe
Design,Testing,andApprovalstages.

Backtotop

TheKanbanProcess
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

liststepsintheKanbanProcessinthecorrectorder

1.
Inthisvideo,we'llwalkthroughthestepsassociatedwiththeKanbanprocess.Thisslideshowsthesteps
requiredtoimplementKanbanwithyourorganizationorteam.Itstartswithvisualizingandmappinghowwork
flowsthroughoursystemtoday,thenfiguringouthowtolimitworkinprocess,thenmanagingflowtotryand
createacontinuousflowscenario,thenmakingpoliciesaroundhowtohandlecertainscenariossuchasbuffers,
theamountofworkwecommittoforaunitoftime,orhowtohandleblockersandfinallybutcontinuallywork
towardscontinuousimprovement.ThefirststepintheprocessofapplyingKanbaninvolvesvisualizingand
mappingwork.Sowhyvisualize?It'sbeenfoundthatourbrainsprocessimages60,000timesfasterthantext.
Byvisualizingourworkflow,wegainabetterandmoreimmediateunderstandingofhowworkflowsthrough
oursystems.Drawingthingsoutjustmakesitthatmucheasiertoidentifyissuesorbottlenecks.
Heading:KanbanProcessSteps.

TherearefiveKanbanprocesssteps.Inorderfromstarttofinish,thesearevisualizeandmapwork,limitWIP,
manageflow,makepoliciesexplicit,andworkforcontinuousimprovement.

Heading:Step1:VisualizingtheCurrentWorkflow.

VisualizingthecurrentworkflowisthefirststepintheKanbanprocess.

Startfromwhereyouare.Whenfirstvisualizingourworkflows,weneedtodrawtheworkflowasitstands
todayversusafuturestatethatwehopetobein.Also,whenwe'redoingthisexercise,wehavetothinkabout

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whatourcurrentprocessesare.Herewewanttoexplicitlystartstating,orshowing,howourcurrentprocesses
work.Wealsowanttoobjectivelyfocusonflowofvalue,etc,andnotontheindividualsandwhodidwhat.And
then,finally,we'llcreateaKanbanboardwhichiswhatwe'regoingtotalkaboutnext.Youcancreateyour
processflowchartsinmanywaystoshowtheflowofinformationandtheflowofworkthroughyoursystem.
Herearesomeexamples.Thisslideshowsabasicprocessflowchartwithaspecificsymbolforeachtypeof
activity,suchasstartanddecisionpoint,etc.Youmayhaveseentheseinthecontextofyourwork.However,for
ourpurposes,amuchsimplerversionwithoutusingspecificsymbolssuchastheoneonthenextslides,can
servethepurposeforourKanbanboards.FormostKanbanboards,allyoureallyneedtodoislinearlydepict
thekeyworkflowsteps.

Heading:BasicProcessFlowChart.

Abasicprocessflowchartdisplays.It'scomprisedofeightcomponents,eachrepresentedbyauniqueshape.
Forexample,shapesincludeacircle,rectangle,andadiamond.Directionalarrowsconnectallofshapesand
indicatetheflow.Forexample,fiveofthecomponentsarearrangedinaverticallineandthearrowsconnecting
eachindicateaflowfromtoptobottom.

BeforewegoontohowtodepictaKanbanboard,thisslideshowsanotherexampleoftypesofworkflows
withthetopdiagramdepictingwhat'scalledaparallelworkflow,wheretwoormoreactivitiesarehappeningin
parallel.Thebottomdiagramshowsadepartmentalworkflow,whichshowsactivitiesthatoccurbasedonthe
departmentresponsibleforthoseactivities.Thisslideshowsasimplerepresentationofworkflowstepsthata
typicalsoftwaredevelopmentteamwillundertake.Typically,tasksstartasabacklogitemoranewrequest.
Theythenmoveontobeinginthedesignphase.Oncesomebodyhascompletedthedesigntask,they'llmoveon
todevelopment.Oncedevelopmentisdone,itmovesontotestingandthenapprovalandthen,finally,
deployment.InordertocreateaKanbanboard,thistypeofflowisthesimplestwaytodepictourworkflow
wherewesimplycreatecolumnsunderneatheachprocessstep,andstartplacingworkitemsintheirappropriate
columnsastheyprogressthroughourflow.
Heading:ParallelandDepartmentalWorkflows.

Twobasicdiagramsdisplay.Thefirstrepresentsaparallelworkflow.It'scomprisedoffourcomponents.Twoare
stackedverticallyinthecenterandtheremainingtwoarepositionedoneoneitherside.Theleftandrighthand
componentsarebothdirectlyconnectedtothetwoverticallystackedcomponentsbytwolines.

Theseconddiagramrepresentsadepartmentalworkflow.It'scomprisedoftwoseparateandidentical.Eachof
theseismadeupofthreeconnectedcomponents.Onelargecomponentispositionedabovetwosmaller
componentsplacedsidebyside.Alineconnectsthetopcomponenttoeachofthecomponentsbelowit.

Heading:LinearWorkFlow.

Alinearworkflowwithsixstagesdisplays.Fromlefttoright,thestagesareBacklog/Newrequest,Design,
Development,Testing,Approval,andDeployment.Eachstageactsasacolumnheader.Allsixcolumnsare
currentlyempty.

Backtotop

KanbanProcess:CreatingaKanbanBoard
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

listactivitiesincreatingaKanbanboard

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1.
Inthisvideo,we'llwalkthroughtheprocessofbeingsetupwithandcreatingyourfirstKanbanboard.ManyIT
organizationsstarttheirimplementationofKanbanbycreatingaKanbanboardandhavingavisualwayof
trackingtasksalongtheirworkflow.Thisisagreatfirststep,asitisthestartofrecognizingwherewemayhave
bottlenecksoropportunitiesforimprovement.InordertogetstartedwithcreatingaKanbanboard,youandyour
teamshouldcreateaboardthatreflectsyourcurrentactualprocess.Thisiskeyinunderstandingwhatour
startingpointis.Makesuretodothisexercisetogetherwithyourteam,asdifferentpeoplehavedifferent
perspectivesandmayknowaboutstuffsthathappenthatnoteveryoneisawareof.Wheninitiallycreatingyour
board,thisisnotthetimetotryandcreateimprovementstoyourprocess.Theimprovementswillcomeover
time.Makesuretodecidewhetheryou'regoingtouseaphysicalorelectronicboardwithyourteam.I
personallyliketostartteamsoutwithphysicalboards,astheyhelpcreatearealconnectionbetweenpeopleand
theinformationthat'sbeingconveyed.
Heading:ManualKanbanWhiteboard.

AKanbanboardwithsixcolumnsdisplays.Eachcolumnrepresentsoneofsixworkflowstages.Fromleftto
right,theseareBacklog/Newrequest,Design,Development,Testing,Approval,andDeployment.Therearetwo
rows.Notesarepinnedinvariouspositionsineachrow.

Inordertovisualizeandmapyourworkflow,youcansetupabrainstormingsessionwithyourteam.Thefirst
stepistomakeamapoftheprocessthat'scurrentlyinplace.Inordertodosoyoucantakeafewsampletasks
thatwouldnormallyenteryourworkflow,figureoutforthosetaskswhatprocessstepstheyhavetogotofrom
beginningtoend.Markallthestepsoftheworkflowthatareactualvalueaddactivitiesandensurethatthose
haveacolumnonyourboard.Makesuretoaddanyothercolumnsthatareconsistentlyintheworkflow.Atthis
pointwe'recreatingtheboardfortheprocessasitis,notasitshouldbe.Inotherwords,we'remappingthe
processweactuallyhaveversustheoneweshouldhave,ortheonethatdocumenttellsusthatweshouldhave.
Heading:VisualizeandMapYourWorkflow.

AKanbanboardwithfivecolumnsdisplays.Eachcolumnrepresentsoneoffiveworkflowstages.Fromleftto
right,theseareCustomerOrderReceived,PaymentReceived,Developed/Produced,Dispatched,andDelivered.
Differentcolorednotesarepinnedundermostofthecolumns.Forexample,there'sagreennotepinnedunder
theCustomerOrderReceivedcolumnandapurpleandorangenotepinnedundertheDeliveredcolumn.

Foreachworksteporstepintheprocess,it'simportanttocapturesomeinformation,whichwe'velistedhere.
Someofitcanbecapturedontheboarditselfandotherpartsofthisinformationmaybewellsuitedtobeposted
upnexttotheboardsomewhereorinashareddocument.Thisinformationis:thestagesanddetailsofeachof
thestepsandeachofthetasksenteringandleavingtheboard.Sosomehowwewanttocapturewhatthestageis
foreachofthesteps,andthenforeachtaskenteringtheboard,isitinprogress,isitcompleted,isitstilltodo,
andbyputtingintherightcolumnthat'showwe'recapturingthatdata.Thedateandtimeforeachtask
sometimesithelpstoputadateandatimeandassociateitwiththetaskifthedateandatimeareimportant
thingstoknowaboutthetask.Sowemightwantto,forexample,notethedatewhenataskenteredthe
workflowandnotethedateandthetimewhenthetaskexistedorwascompletedfromtheworkflow.
Heading:InformationCapturedforEachWorkStep.

Varioustypesofinformationshouldbecapturedforeachworkstep.Thisincludesthestagesanddetailsofsteps
andtasksenteringandleavingtheboardandthedate,timeforeachtask.

Wealsowanttoknowthetypeoftask.Sobythatwecanactuallyusetheconceptofcolorcoding,where
differentcolorsrepresentdifferentcategoriesoftasks.Wecanalsonoteifthereareanypotentialissues.So
someteamsdothisbymarkingblockeditemswitharedstickynote,forexample.Wealsomightwanttoknow
anyharddeadlinesorpolicyconstraintsthatmightimpacthowweactuallyworkonthisspecificworkitem.And
thenfinally,wewanttonotewhoisresponsibleorwhoisworkingoncertaintasks.Someteamsendupsplitting
uptheirboardsothattheyhavedifferentrowsfordifferentpeopleontheteam.Andsowitheachrowthat

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personunderstandsthatanytasksthatareplacedinthatrowarespecificallyforthem.

Otherinformationisthetypeoftaskanypotentialissuesdeadlinesandpolicyconstraintsandwho's
responsibleorwho'sworking.

Backtotop

LimitingWIP
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

useLittle'slawforreducingleadtimebylimitingWIP

1.
Inthisvideo,we'lltalkabouttheimportanceoflimitingworkinprocessandhowcreatingthoselimitsallowsus
toimprovethroughputandflow.Limitingyourworkinprocessisveryrelevantforsoftwaredevelopment
projects.Apartfromthegainswegetinspeedandflow,oneofthebiggestchallengessoftwaredevelopment
teamsfaceisnotgettingcustomerfeedbackintimetomaketherightproductforthem.Soweenduptakingon
bigchunksofworkandthenshippingbigpiecesofwork,andnotget...havingtimetogetfeedbackfrom
customerstomakechangesearlieron.However,bylimitingworkinprocess,youhavereducedcycletimesand
youhavefinishedcodefastertothecustomersowecangetfasterfeedbackandimproveproductaswegoalong
buildingit.
Heading:WhyLimitingWIP.

ThefiveKanbanprocessstepsdisplay.Inorderfromstarttofinish,thesearevisualizeandmapwork,limitWIP,
manageflow,makepoliciesexplicit,andworkforcontinuousimprovement.ThelimitWIPstepishighlighted.

AfocusonflowleadsustoadiscussionaboutLittle'slaw.Lengthofthequeue,suchasthenumberoftasksin
thesoftwaredevelopmentprocess,isalwaysequaltothearrivalrateorthepointintimeinwhichyou've
completedthequeue,timestheaveragewaittime.Soflippingthisaroundyoucansaythat,thewaittimeina
queueisequaltothelengthofthequeuedividedbythearrivalrate.Sohere,youcanseeW,whichisthe
averagewaitingtimeinthesystemforanitem,isequaltoL,whichistheaveragenumberofitemsinthe
queuingsystemdividedbylambda(),whichistheaveragenumberofitemsarrivingperunittime.InLeanor
theTheoryofConstraintsterminology,youcansaythatthroughputtimeequalsworkinprocessdividedbyflow
time.Thisisanimportantrelationshipthat'susedthroughouttheKanbanapplication.Ifyouwanttoreducethe
throughputtimeoryourleadtime,youmustreduceworkinprocesstoincreasefloworspeed.Allofthismakes
senseifyouthinkaboutitfromacommonsenseperspective.
Heading:Little'sLaw.

ThealgebraicversionofLittle'slawdisplaysL=lambdatimesW.Itstatesthattheaveragenumberofitems
inthequeuingsystem,L,isequaltotheaveragenumberofitemsarrivingperunittime,lambda,multipliedby
theaveragewaitingtimeinthesystemforanitem,W.

NotethatLittle'slawcanbeapowerfuldemonstrationofhowreducingworkinprocesscanreducecycletime,
whichisoftenavaluablebusinessbenefit.Youcanalsoimproveleadorcycletimebyincreasingthroughput.
Butincreasingateam'sthroughputisoftenmoredifficultinpracticethaninreducingthetotalworkinprocess.
Sowelimitworkinprocesstofacilitatecollaboration,totriggerimprovementconversations,tominimizecues,
toidentifybottlenecks,andfinallytoreducecycletime.
Heading:LimitWIP.

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Limitingworkinprogresshelpsachievefivemaingoals.Thesearetofacilitatecollaboration,trigger
improvementconversation,minimizequeues,identifybottlenecks,andreducecycletime.

Sohere,we'regoingtotalkaboutanexample.AnIThelpdeskteamhas20ticketsinprocessatanygivenpoint
intime.TheITmanagerhasreportedanaveragethroughputoffourticketsperday,whichincludesthewait
queuetimesaswell.Whatwillbetheaverageofleadtimeforthehelpdesk?Sotheansweristhatwetakethe
averageleadtimeasequalto20,whichisthenumberofticketsinprocessatanygivenpointintimedividedby
four,whichequalsfivedays.Nowif,forexample,theCEOcomesinandsays,wewanttheleadtimecuttotwo
days,howmuchwouldwehavetohaveourITteamreducetheirworkinprocessassumingthatthethroughput
isstillfourticketsperdayinordertoachievethatgoal?Theanswerforthisquestionwouldbeworkinprocess
isequaltotwo,whichistheleadtimethatwe'restrivingfor,timesfour,whichisthethroughput,whichequals
eight.Sothismeanstheaverageworkinprocessshouldbereducedtolessthanhalftoeighttickets.Sowe
don'twant20ticketsinprocessatanygiventime,wewantonlyeightticketsifwe'regoingtoachievealead
timeoftwodays.

Heading:AnotherVariantofLittle'sLaw.

Thefollowingformuladisplays:leadtimeisequaltoworkinprogressdividedbytheaveragecompletionrate.

Backtotop

WaystoLimitWIP
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

selectmostplausiblewaytolimitWIPinagivenscenario

1.
Inthisvideo,we'llbetalkingabouthowtolimityourworkinprocess.We'lltalkabouthowtorecognizewhen
youhavetoomuchworkinprocessandhowtoprioritizeitemsinyourbacklog.We'vetalkedaboutthe
importanceoflimitingworkinprocessinordertoachieveastateofflowandincreasethroughput.Limiting
workinprocessstartswithbeingabletoidentifyandacknowledgewhenwehavetoomuchWIPinour
workflow.Youshouldbeabletodeciphertheworkinprocessthat'scausingbottlenecksandfindboththeitems
thatareclearlyinprogressitemsaswellashiddenworkinprocess,suchasitemsthatarejustsittingandwaiting
inaqueue.Forexample,weshouldbeabletoidentifywhenwehavewhatwecallfreecapacity,whichiswhat
wehavewhenwehavetheabilitytotakeonmoretasks,butinsteadwearetakingonlessworkthanwehave
capacityfor.Weshouldalsobeabletoidentifyexcessiveweightorinqueuetimes,whichhappenswhenitems
getstuckinaqueuefortoolong.Andweshouldalsobeabletoidentifyoverload,whichiswhenateamor
individualstakesonmoretasksthantheycangetdonewithoutresortingtomultitaskingorpoorqualityoutputs.
Heading:WatchOutforWIPSignals!

AKanbanboardforanorganizationnamedZOFLINASYSTEMSdisplays.Itcontainseighttoplevelcolumns:
NewRequest:Ready,Design,QueueD,Development,QueueT,Testing,Approval,andDeployment.The
Design,Development,andTestingcolumnsareeachdividedintotwosubcolumns:InprogressandDone.A
numberofworkrelatedtasksarelistedundereachcolumn.Forexample,tasksincludeProjectABug,Project
BImprovement,andProjectCNewFeature.Thetasksarefurthercategorizedusingcolorcoding.For
example,allbugrelatedtasksarered.ThereareonlythreetaskslistedundertheDesign:Inprogresscolumn.
Thishasbeenidentifiedasaworkflowstagewheretherecouldpotentiallybefreecapacity.Thereareseven

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taskslistedundertheQueueDcolumn.Thishasbeenidentifiedasastagewheretherecouldpotentiallybe
excessivequeueorwaittime.ThreetasksarelistedundertheDevelopment:Inprogresscolumnandthishas
beenidentifiedasanareathatcouldpotentiallyhaveanoverload.

Byreducingworkinprocesswecandramaticallyreducecycletime,waittime,queues,andthelongesttime
throughthesystem.Insomecasesdoingsowemightactuallydecreaseourthroughput,butqualityshouldbe
increasingsincewe'renotsendingpoorqualityoutputsthroughthesystemanymore.Soasateamyouwantto
figureoutwhat'syourtotalsystemworkinprocess.Istheworkinprocessineachcolumnreasonable?Isthe
taskorworkreallyinprocessorisitjustsomethingsittingthereandwaitingaround?Alsoisyourworkin
processlimitmorethanorequaltoyourteammembers?Youshouldexperimentwiththislimitandtryreducing
itandseewhathappensthen,ormaybetryincreasingitifyoufeellikeit'stoohighortoolow.

Therearesomekeythingstokeepinmindwhentryingtolimitworkinprocessasfollows.Whenyou'retrying
tolimityourworkinprocessasateam,oneofthefirstthingsyouhavetostartdoingisstopacceptingnewwork
completelyifpossible.Acceptingnewworkwhenyou'retryingtolimityourworkinprocessincreasesleadtime
andcustomerexpectations.Whereyouknowthatyou'renotgoingtodelivervalueuntilyoustartfiguringout
someofyourbottlenecksandclearingoutyourcurrentworkinprocess.Alsosharethesayingwithyourteamof
"Stopstartingandstartfinishing."Thisisacommonsayinginsoftwaredevelopmentteamsanditfocuseson
gettingthingstodonebeforestartingnewtasks.Nextlimitingworkinprocessmayresultinimprovement
opportunities,sinceyou'rebetterabletoseewherebottlenecksareoccurring.Andthenonceyouactonthese
opportunitiesyougetbetterflow.Figuringouttherightworkinprocesslimit,therearenofixedrulestodoso.
It'sreallyaprocessofexperimentationandtryingtomakesurethatyou'resettingtherightlimitsthatallowyou
toincreaseyourflowwhiledecreasingtheamountofmultitaskingandpoorquality.
Heading:KeyPointsaboutLimitingWIP.

Whenlimitingworkinprogress,stopacceptingnewworkcompletely,ifpossibleitincreasesleadtimeand
customerexpectations.Also,sharethesaying,"Stopstartingandstartfinishing"withyourteam.Limitingwork
inprogressmayresultinimprovementopportunitiesandactingontheseopportunitiesyieldsbetterflow.
Finally,tryandfindtherightworkinprogresslimitandrememberthattherearenofixedrules.

Sothisillustration,thepointofthisisreallytohelpusseehowweneedtostartbeingabletoseepatternsinour
Kanbanboard.Onceyouseecertainpatternsandyoucanidentifythattheseusuallycorrelatetohavingtoolong
ofacue,orexcessivecapacity,ortoolongofawaittimethenyoucanstartfiguringoutwhereyouneedto
createimprovementsonyourKanbanboard.Onthissidewe'lltalkaboutusingtheconceptoftriagingto
determinethepriorityoftasks.Inthesoftwareworld,triaginginvolvesusingtheconceptofseverityand
criticalityofanissuetodetermineitspriority.Whentryingtolimityourworkinprocess,youneedtoassign
prioritytoupcomingandcurrenttasksbasedonwherefundsorotherresourcescanbestbeusedormostneeded,
oraremostlikelytohelpyouachieveyourprojectgoals.AtthisstageinyourKanbanprocess,youmayneedto
asksometoughquestionsandmaketoughdecisions.Thisexerciseoftriagingcanhelpyouinrationinglimited
resourcesbothtechnicalandfinancial.Soforexample,you'llwanttofigureoutwhetheranissueishighseverity
andhighcriticality,orhighseverity/lowcriticality,orlowseverity/highcriticality,orlowseverity/lowcriticality.
Figuringthatoutwillhelpyoudeterminewhetheryourissueisofhighpriority,mediumpriorityorlowpriority.
Heading:WarningSigns:ExcessiveWIP,Wait,andQueues.

AverybasicKanbanboarddisplays.ThereareninecolumnsofKanbancards.Somecolumnshaveafulllistof
11cardswhileothershaveonly1,2,or3.Variouscardsorgroupsofcardswithinonecolumnhavebeen
outlinedtoidentifypatterns.Insomecasesanentirecolumnof11cardsisoutlinedandinothersasinglecardis
outlined.

Heading:Triaging.

Asimpleformuladisplayshighseverityplushighcriticalityresultsinhighpriority.

Sowemayhave,forexample,anissuethat'sconsideredhighseverityifitpreventsusersfromaccessingyour
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siteorservice.Thatissuemayalsobeconsideredhighcriticalityifnotbeingabletoaccessyoursiteorservice
meanslostrevenueforthewholecompany.Withthiskindofissue,wemaydeterminethatit'sahighpriorityfor
beingfixed.Nowlet'stakeanexampleofsomethingthat'slowseverity.Sosomethingthat'slowseveritymay
notworkexactlyasrequired,butmaystilldelivertherequiredendfunctionality.Ifitdoesn'treallyhavemuchof
animpactontheuseroronthecompany,itmayalsobeconsideredalowseverityissue.Sosomethingthat'slow
severityandlowcriticalitylikethatmaybeconsideredalowpriorityandgolowonourprioritylist.Byhaving
aframeworksuchastheseverityandcriticalityavailabletouswhentriaging,wecanbeabletoprioritizeissues
morereadilyandhaveaprocessforhowtofigureoutwhatitemsneedtoactuallybecompletelyremotefrom
ourKanbanboards.

AnothertechniqueusedbyITandsoftwaredevelopmentteamsiscalledweightedshortestjobfirst.Thismethod
usedtobeusetofigureoutwhatitemsneedtogothroughorschedulebatchjobsforcomputersinawaythat
madethebestuseofscarceresources,whichwastypicallytime.Mostrecentlythisconcepthasbeen
popularizedasawayofimprovingtheprioritizationofworkdeliveredbysoftwareteams.Sowhentryingto
figureoutfortasksthepriority,we'regoingtousetwothings.Wearegoingtofigureoutawayofeachjoband
thenthedurationofeachjob.Thewaitingofeachjobthatisrecommendediscalledcostofdelay.Sowe're
goingtotakethecostofdelayofnotimplementingsomethingornotfinishingatask,anddividethatbythe
durationofthattask.Thehigherthatresultingnumberis,thehigherthepriorityofthatitemisonourlist.Soif
wehaveanissuethathasahighcostofdelay,sonotimplementingitwillcauseusahighcostforour
organization,andthenitwilltakeashortdurationtoimplementthatitem.Thatitemwillgohigheronour
prioritylist.Ifwehaveanitemthatisahighcostofdelay,butwilltakeusalongtimetoimplementthatitem
mightgoloweronourprioritylist.

Heading:WeightedShortestJobFirst(WSJF).

Onewayofdeterminingbacklogprioritizationrequirementsistodividetheweightingofeachjobwithduration
ofeachjob.

Backtotop

ManagingFlow
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

matchtechniquesforalleviatingbottleneckstotheircorrectdescription

1.
Inthisvideo,we'lltalkaboutmanagingflowandtheimportanceofthisconceptinachievingasuccessful
Kanbanimplementationandreachingyourorganization'sgoals.ManagingflowisthefocusofseveralLeanand
almostallKanbanefforts.Asuccessfulsoftwaredevelopmentteamfocusesongettingvaluethroughtheflowas
quicklyaspossible.Thisvalueneedstobedefinedinthecustomer'sterms.It'simportantfirsttomeasurethe
flowinordertomanageit.Sowefirstmeasurethespeedandthroughputwecurrentlyhavesothenumberof
cardsortasksthatmovethroughtheprocessduringagiventimeperiod.Wecanmaximizevaluebyreducingthe
amountoftimeittakestofinishataskoraworkitem.Byfiguringouthowlongitcurrentlytakesthecomplete
workitemsonaverage,whichisthecycletime.Wecanthenfocusondeterminingwhatweneedtodotoreduce
thattime.Thatmayinvolvebreakingourtasksintosmallertasksorrethinkinghowwedeliverworkorvalue.
Ultimately,wewanttodelivermorevalueinshorterburstsoftimeandfiguringthisoutinvolvesanalyzingareas
whereourvalueflowmaybeinstalledorconstricted.You'regoingtohavetodigdeepertodecidewhatto
tackle,whichofLean'sprinciplesortoolsshouldhelphereinordertoalleviateconstriction,andremovethe

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constrains,andthenhowtoapplythemwithyourteam.
Heading:ImportanceofManagingFlow.

TheKanbanprocessstepsdisplay.Inorderfromstarttofinish,thesearevisualizeandmapwork,limitWIP,
manageflow,makepoliciesexplicit,andworkforcontinuousimprovement.Themanageflowstepishighlighted.

Heading:MaximizingValueandReducingCycleTime.

Abasicdiagramwithfivecolumnsdisplays.ThefirstcolumnislabeledReadyandthefifthcolumnislabeled
Done.EachcolumncontainsvariousamountsofKanbancards.Cycletimeisindicatedastheamountoftimeit
takesforworkitemsundertheReadycolumntoreachthefifthstageDone.

Thelocationofaconstraintwithinasystemisknownasabottleneck.Inabottleneck,thedemandforservice
exceedsthecapacitytoserve.Thismeansthatthroughputofasystemisdependentonthatthroughputofthe
bottleneck.Soyoucanthinkofitas,we'reonlyasstrongasourweakestlinkinourprocessorinourvalue
chain.Identifyingbottlenecks,analyzingtheirrootcausesandmakingeffortstoremovethemhelpsimprove
flow.Furtherreductionsinworkinprocesscanmakebottlenecksobvious.Sowhenwereduceorlimitourwork
inprocess,wecanstarttoseewhereourbottlenecksare.Inthisgraphic,forexample,youcanseeagraphical
depictionofourthroughputin...indifferentsectionsofourworkflow.Soyoucanstarttoseehowthingsstartto
getreallybottleneckedandconstrictedclosetotheendoftheflow,andhowthatbottleneckslowsdownthe
processdrasticallyfortherestoftheflow.Asabehavioralcaution,teamleadersshouldrealizethatinsteadof
blindlycontinuingtoproducemoreandmore,teamsshouldfocusonimprovingtheflowbyremoving
bottlenecks.Itmayfeellikeittakestimetodedicatetofiguringoutthebottlenecksandremovingthem,butthat
investmentintimewillultimatelypayofffortheteam.
Heading:IdentifyingandRemovingBottlenecksforFlow.

Abasicdiagramofasoftwaredevelopmentpipelinewithabottleneckdisplays.Thediagramdepictsabottle
lyingonitssidewithitsbottleneckontherighthandside.Onthelefthandside,newfeaturerequestsenterthe
baseofthebottleatarateof10perweek.Theseitemsmovefromlefttorightalongthesoftwaredevelopment
pipeline,whichisrepresentedbythebodyofthebottle.However,uponreachingthebottleneck,thenewand
improvedsoftwarefeaturesareonlyabletomovethroughatarateofthreeperweek.

Youcanuseanumberoftechniquestoalleviatebottlenecks.Someofthesetechniquesincludeleaning.Leaning
isanumbrellatermforthewidearrayoftoolsintheLeanmethodology.Soanexampleofleaningtoalleviatea
bottleneckwouldbetoapplyapoll,whichisarelevantstrategytotheKanbansystem.Secondwouldbe
standardizing.Sostandardizingaprocessmeansdocumentingtheworkanddoingitthesamewayeverytime.
Standardworkalleviatesbottlenecksbysavingtimeandpreventingmistakesfrombeingrepeated.Fool
proofingisanothertechniquewhichisawaytoalleviatebottlenecksbypreventingerrors.Forexample,a
programmightnotworkuntilalltherequiredfeaturesarebuiltintoit,oramachinemightnotworkunlessall
specificrequiredfunctionshavebeenpluggedinoranythingthatrequiresthemachinetoworkproperlyhas
alreadybeenprovided.Andfinally,anothertechniqueisflexibleresourcing.Flexibleresourcinginvolvesthe
provisionofskilledpeopleintherightplaceattherighttimefortherequiredduration.Itpreventsbottlenecksby
providinghumanresourceswithoptionsforcompleteworkinaprocess.Soforexample,workcouldbe
assignedtofulltimeemployeesinitially,butcontractorscouldhandleoverflowonanasneededbasis.
Heading:AlleviatingBottlenecksUsingTOC.

Thereareseveraltechniquesthatcanbeusedtoalleviatebottlenecks.Theseincludeleaning,standardizing,
foolproofing,andflexibleresourcing.

Backtotop

MakingPoliciesExplicit
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LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

recognizeexamplesformakingpoliciesexplicitonKanbanprojects

1.
Inthisvideo,we'lltalkabouttheimportanceofmakingourprocesspoliciesexplicitwhenwe'reimplementinga
Kanbantypeofflow.Settingpoliciesaroundprocesssimplymeansdefiningwhatthetermsandboundariesof
certainprocessstepsare.Forexample,bydefiningwhatthepolicyisforconsideringatasktobedone,we
createacommonandclearunderstandingofwhatdonemeans.Soforexample,doesdonemeandeliverytothe
customerordoesitmeanvaluerealizationforthecustomer?Ordoesitsimplymeanthatataskhasbeen
completedinthedevelopmentphase?Kanbanisallaboutmakingthingsvisible,asyou'veseen.Thatdoesn't
onlyapplytotheprocessstepsandtasks,butalsotothepoliciesaroundthoseprocesssteps.Thisiswhyit'svery
importanttomakethosepoliciesexplicit.Wewanttransparencynotjustintotasks,butintotheprocess.
Heading:ProcessPolicies.

TheKanbanprocessstepsdisplay.Inorderfromstarttofinish,thesearevisualizeandmapwork,limitWIP,
manageflow,makepoliciesexplicit,andworkforcontinuousimprovement.Themakepoliciesexplicitstepis
highlighted.

Everyorganization,department,andteammighthaveitsownpoliciesatvariouslevelsfordifferentkindsof
products,software,andserviceswithinaKanbanorganization.Herearesomecommonexamples.Sowemight
setpoliciesaroundwhenaworkortaskisconsidereddoneoraccepted.Wemightsetspecificpoliciesaround
whatshouldtheturnaroundtimebeforaspecifictaskinnormalcircumstances.Wemightalsosetpolicies
aroundwhatthemaximumnumberofworkinprocessitemsareforeachprocessstep.Also,what'sthe
maximumnumberofcolumnsonaKanbanboard?Ateammightsetacertainnumbertobethemaximum.
Whendoweconsideranitemtobeblocked?Wemightsetapolicyaroundwhentoremoveblockeditemsfrom
theboard.Also,what'sthemaximumwaittimeallowedataparticularstationorstepintheprocess?Wemight
alsosetpoliciesaroundhowtoseekresolutionifsomeonerunsintoanimpediment,orpoliciesincludinghowto
includeunplannedworkintothebacklog,orpoliciesaroundincludingcriticalnewfeaturerequestsfroma
customertothebacklogthatmightnothavebeenplannedatthebeginningofourtimeboxoratthebeginningof
usstartingintoacertainworkflow.
Heading:ExamplesofPolicies.

Therearemanydifferenttypesofpolicies.Forexample,apolicymightdeterminewhenworkoragiventaskis
considereddoneoraccepted,whattheturnaroundtimeforspecifictasksis,themaximumnumberofworkin
progressitems,orthemaximumnumberofcolumnsonaKanbanboard.Policiesmayalsodefinewhenanitem
iscalledblocked,howtoseekresolutionifonerunsintoanimpediment,howtoaddunplannedworktothe
backlog,andhowtoprioritizenewwork.

Andthen,finally,howdoweprioritizenewwork?What'sourpolicyaroundprioritizingnewwork?Soasyou
cansee,therearemanythingsthatwecansetpoliciesforthatallowustocreateareallyclearunderstandingof
howourflowworkswithourteam.Onthisslide,thereareanumberofideasforhowtomakeprocesspolicies
visiblewithyourteam.Soonethingyoucando,isprovidewrittendescriptions.Wemayhavesomekindof
shareddocumentthatexplainsallofthepoliciesaroundsomeoftheitemswediscussed.Wealsocansetand
displayworkinprocesslimitsveryclearlyonourKanbanboards.Thoseareavailableforeverybodytoseeand
makeitveryclearwhatthelimitisonworkinprocessitems.Wecouldalsousepredefinedcardsforcertain
tasksthatmayberecurring.Youcanalsobuildworkflowandrelationshippoliciesintotheboardlayout.Sothe
boarditselfmightshowyoucertainrelationshipsbetweentasksorbetweenstepsinyourflow.Andthen,finally,
youcanusetemplatestostandardizemovementandflowpolicies,andsharethosetemplateswithyourteam.
Heading:IdeasforMakingProcessPoliciesVisible.
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Thereareanumberofwaystomakeprocesspoliciesvisible.Thismightbeachievedbyprovidingwritten
descriptions,settinganddisplayingWIPlimits,orusingpredefinedtaskcards.Inaddition,workflowand
relationshippoliciescouldbebuiltintotheboardlayout,andtemplatescouldbeusedtostandardizemovement
andflowpolicies.

Backtotop

WorkingforContinuousImprovement
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

labelexampleswiththeKanbanmetricbeingusedformonitoringandcontrol

1.
Inthisvideo,we'regoingtobetalkingabouttheimportanceofcontinuousimprovementwithKanbanteams,
andhowtoachievecontinuousimprovementorencourageyourteamtoachievecontinuousimprovement.The
finalstepintheKanbanprocessisforteamstostriveforcontinuousimprovementforoptimizingandstabilizing
thesystem.Soitreallyseemslikethefinalstep,butit'sactuallyastepthatisgoingtobeincludedallacross
yourimplementationofKanbanwithyourteam.It'ssomethingthatyourteamshouldbestrivingforatevery
stepalongtheway,whichisworkingtowardscontinuousimprovement,identifyingareasforimprovement,and
thenfiguringouthowtoimprove.Inyourimprovementcycle,youaregoingtoaimforsmallcontinuous,
incremental,andevolutionarychangesthatstick.Sowedon'twanttomakechangesthatareonlygoingtobea
temporaryBandAidwewanttothinkaboutchangesthatwillactuallyhavealongtermeffect.Wealsowantto
makethesechangesperiodically,andallowtheteamtousetheboardinthatconfigurationforaperiodoftime.
SoifyouchangeyourworkflowandyouchangeyourstepsalongyourKanbanboard,you'regoingtowantto
allowyourteamtousethatnewconfigurationforaperiodoftimebeforedeterminingwhetheradditional
changesneedtobemade.Thenwewanttomeasurewhetherthosechangesactuallyimproveperformance,and
thenchangeitbackifthosechangesdidn'tworkordidn'tcausethetypeofimprovementswewerehopingfor.
Heading:ContinuousImprovement.

TheKanbanprocessstepsdisplay.Inorderfromstarttofinish,thesearevisualizeandmapwork,limitWIP,
manageflow,makepoliciesexplicit,andworkforcontinuousimprovement.Theworkforcontinuous
improvementstepishighlighted.

Continuouslyevaluatingandevolvingexistingprocessesandpoliciesisanimportantsteptohelpusensurethat
we'refocusingonthatcontinuousimprovementandachievingflow.Soaswe'vediscussed,theKanbanmethod
encouragessmall,continuous,incremental,andevolutionarychangesthatstick.Someofthewaysthatwecan
achievethosearethroughunderstandingtheconceptsofKaizenandKaizenBlitz.SoKaizenisatoolthatcomes
fromtheLeantoolset,anditreallyjustmeanscontinuousimprovement.SoKaizenistheprocessofachieving
continuousimprovementwithourteams.AKaizenBlitz,oralsoreferredtoasaKaizenevent,iswhenateam
takesafewdaystospecificallyfocusoncertainprocessimprovementsinaworkshoptypescenarioora
workshoptypeenvironmentandreallyfocusforanumberofdaysanywherebetweentwoand10days
(sometimesusuallyjustaweek)wheretheteamisreallyonlyperformingchangestoprocessesorbrainstorming
onchangestoprocessesandimplementingthosechanges.SothisKaizenBlitzorKaizeneventmakesitsothat
everybodyisfocusedontheprocesschangesweneedtoimplementinfiguringouthowtoimplementthose
changes.
Heading:CollaborativeImprovementandEvolution.

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TheKanbanmethodencouragescontinuousandincrementalevolutionarychanges.Thesecanbeachievedusing
Leancontinuousimprovementtools,suchasKaizenandKaizenBlitz.Feedbackmechanismsshouldalsobein
place.Thesecanincludelessonslearnedmeetingsandprojectdocumentation.

Andthenfinally,weneedtomakesurethatwehaveclearandstrongfeedbackmechanismstohelpus
understandwhetherourchangeswereeffective,andstarttobrainstormandalwayscontinuetolookfor
additionalareasforimprovement.Sooneofthosetoolsistodoalessonslearnedsession.Soperhapsafterevery
iterationoraftereveryspecificgivenamountoftimethattheteamsets,wecanhavealessonslearnedmeeting
wherewediscusswhatwentwellandwhatdidn'tgowellandwhatthingswewanttochange.Project
documentationisalsoagreatwaytoensurethatweareonthesamepageaboutwhathappenedduringthis
project,orhowweimplementedourflow,sothatwecanstarttolookatareasforimprovement.

Onthisslide,weseeadiagramthathelpsusunderstandhowwecanimprovelongtermcapabilityofsoftware
developmentteamsthathaveappliedKanban.Sohowdowemakethisalongtermchangethatissustainable?
Thereareanumberofthingswecando.SofocusonimprovementareasintheKanbanteam.Thismeansthat,
withourKanbanteam,there'salwaysafocusonwherewecanimprove.Wewanttofocusonalwaystryingto
improveourcycletime.Sotheamountoftimethatittakesforsomebodytogetstartedworkingonatasktothe
pointwherethattaskisdelivered.Anythingthatinvolvesprocessinefficienciesorprocesswaste,wewantto
eliminate.Thatisn'ttosaythatwe'retryingtomakepeoplegettasksdoneinanunreasonableamountoftime,
butitistosaythatwe'retryingtoremovewastearoundthosetasks.Wealsowanttoincreasefeedback
frequency.Thefrequencyoffeedbackisdirectlycorrelatedtohowwellweactuallycanimplement
improvementsinourflow.Focusonlongtermquality.Whenwe'reimplementing,wewanttofocusonchanges
thatwillhelpusincreaseourlongtermqualitynotjusttrytogetstuffoutfortheveryshortterm.Andthen,
improveteamandprocessmaturity.Themorematurewegetwithourprocessesandthemorematureourteam
getsinworkingtogetherandinworkingonthecontinuousimprovementmindset,thebetterwe'regoingtobein
thelongterminincreasingthatcontinuousimprovementmindsetwiththeteam.
Heading:ImprovingLongtermCapability.

LongtermcapabilitycanbeimprovedbyfocusingonimprovementareasintheKanbanteam,improvingcycle
time,increasingfeedbackfrequency,focusingonlongtermquality,andimprovingteamandprocessmaturity.

Anothertoolthatwecanuseformonitoringandcontrol,sothatwecanalsoseewhetherourchangesaretaking
effectandwhetherwe'reachievingthedesiredeffectsfromourchanges,istouseKanbanmetrics.Asyoucan
seeonthisslide,thisisacumulativeflowdiagram.Andthisdiagramshowsus,overtime,whatwe'veachieved
intermsoftheamountoftasksthataredoneorreleased,thenumberoftasksthatareintheapprovalstage,in
thetestingstage,development,analysis,design,andbacklog.Byseeingwherewehaveitemsthatarelarger
thanotherareas,wecanseewherethingsaregettingstuck.Soforexample,ifinthisdiagramtherewasa
sectionofthediagramwherewehadwaytoomanythingsthatseemedtobeintheapprovalphaseso,abig
orangechunkofthegraphthenthatmeansthatwehavealotofthingsstuckintheapprovalphase.Andthat's
agreatwayforustostarttoidentifythattheremaybeabottleneckthere.Startingtounderstandsomeofthe
metricsaroundleadtimeandthroughput,andunderstandingwhatthoseindicateforourteam,shouldbeagreat
wayforustounderstandwhetherwehaveareasforimprovementthatwecanimplement.Teamssometimes
hesitatetolookatsomeofthesemetrics,becauseitseemslikethey'rebeingjudgedonthem.Weneedtoenforce
apositiveattitudetowardsthesemetricswithourteams,andlookatthemmoreasaninternalwayofusjudging
whetherourchangesaremakingtheeffectsthatwewantthemtomakeornot.
Heading:UseKanbanMetricsforMonitoringandControl.

Acumulativeflowdiagramdisplays.Itdepictsthequantityofworkinsixdifferentstagesovertime.Thesix
stagesareBacklog,AnalysisorDesign,Development,Testing,Approval,andDoneorReleased.Eachstagehas
auniquecolor.Theyaxismeasuresthequantityofworkandthexaxismeasurestime.Thesixdifferentstages
appearaslayersthatthickenorthinontheyaxisastimeprogressesonthexaxis.Forexample,workinthe
AnalysisorDesignstageincreasesdramaticallyovertimewhileworkintheTestingstagedecreasesmarginally
overtime.
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Backtotop

BehavioralAspectsinApplyingKanban
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

selectcorrectdescriptionofthebehavioralaspectofinterestonaKanbanproject

1.
Inthisvideo,we'regoingtobetalkingaboutsomeofthebehavioralaspectsofapplyingKanbanonyourteams.
Let'stalkabouttechnicaldebt.Technicaldebtisanyaccumulationoftechnicalbugs,issues,inefficiencies,or
sometimeswhatdeveloperscallspaghetticode,thatneedstoberesolved.Sometimes,technicalteamsgo
forwardwithwhattheycallaquickanddirtyapproachtoimplementingafeature,afunction,ordeveloping
software.Theytypicallydosowiththeunderstandingorknowledgethattheircodemaynotbeoptimizedor
implementedinthecleanestway,buttheyusuallyhaveareasonsuchasanaggressivedeadlineoralackofa
specifictechnicalskillforwhytheyneedtogothequickanddirtyapproach.Whenthishappensrepeatedly,we
starttoaccumulatewhatwecalltechnicaldebtmeaningthereareissuesweknowweneedtoresolveorcode
weknowneedstobecleaneduptoremovepossiblefailurepoints.Whilethere'snever100%perfectsoftware,
technicaldebtcanbeverydetrimentaltoyoursoftware'sabilitytobeextended,reused,ortobeveryrobust.
Heading:PayingDownYourTechnicalDebt.

Firstunderstandwhattechnicaldebtisandwhyit'simportant.Technicaldebtraisesotherquestions,suchas
conceptsofabsolutequalityversus100%perfectsoftware.Whengrapplingwiththeseissue,alwaysthinkofthe
lifetimeeconomicvalueoftheproduct.

However,technicaldebtisnotalwaysbadwhenthinkingintermsofthetradeoffs.Forexample,wemayneed
theabilitytodeliverbyacertaintimeversusbeveryfocusedonimprovingqualityfrom98%to99%.The
improvementoroptimizationthatmaycomefromthat,maybethoughtofasincremental.Sotechnicaldebtmay
bethoughtofasanincrementalprocesswhereyoucancomebackandfixthedeficitovertime.It'simportantto
understandtheeconomicsofyourdecisionsandyoushouldlookatthetruevalueofthelifecycleandthereturn
ofaproduct.Sowhenwe'rethinkingabouttheproduct,we'rethinkingaboutthelifetimeeconomicvalue,the
returnoninvestmentofjustmovingforwardwithimplementingsomethingversusfocusingonfixingtechnical
debt.However,likefinancialdebt,technicaldebtalsoincurswhatwemaythinkaboutasinterestpayments.So
thosecomeintheformofanytypeofextradevelopmentworkoreffortthatweneedtoputintofixingour
technicaldebt.Sowecaneitherchoosetofocusonfixingtechnicaldebtandreducingthatamountofinterest,or
wecanfocusonjustmovingforwardandaccumulatingadditionalfeaturesandvalue.
Whenthinkingoftechnicaldebt,bewillingtomakeatradeoff.Technicaldebtcanbeaddressedincrementally
overtimebymakingeffortstooptimizeandresolvetechnicalissuesinthecodeorsoftware.

Inthisslide,we'lltalkaboutviewingthingsthroughwhatwecalltheKanbanlens.Lookingatanorganization
throughthistypeoflensandseeingserviceswherepeoplecurrentlyseeonlyfunctionsandspecializations,is
veryhelpful.Whenwe'reimplementingKanban,wealsowanttostartlookingatthethingsthatwe'reproducing
asbeingaserviceorientedorganization.Thatmeansthatwe'rereallytryingtoserveourcustomersandthink
aboutdeliveringvalue.Thisisaverydifferentapproachthanjustimplementingtechnicalfeatures.ThisKanban
lensreallyallowsustothinkaboutthingsintermsofasystemsapproach.Sowe'rethinkingabouthowdowe
lookatthethingsthatweproduceasaservicetoourendcustomers?Howdowedeliverthatservice,andwhat's
thebestworkflowtodeliverthatserviceandthevalue?Andthen,thinkingabouttheworkthatflowsthrough
ourenvironmentorthroughoursystemasaseriesofknowledgediscoveryactivities.Soaswe'reimplementing,
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we'realsolearning.We'relearningmoreaboutthe...ourworkflow,we'relearningmoreabouthowweworkwell
togetherornotsowelltogether,andmakingincrementalimprovements.
Heading:TheKanbanLens.

TheKanbanlenshasaserviceorientation.Viewinganorganizationinthiswayhelpstranslatevalueinto
servicedeliveryandworkflowsystem.Theworkthatflowsthroughthissystemisseenasaseriesofknowledge
discoveryactivities.

OneimportantbehavioralaspecttoimplementingKanbanisstartingtotrackmetrics,aswellascommunicating
and...kindoftheteamdynamicsthatgoalongwiththat.Sometimes,teamsmayfeelthreatenedbymetricsand
bymeasuringproductivity,andtheymaygetdemotivatedorbecomedefensiveespeciallyifthosemetrics
aren'tshowingthebestresults.However,it'sourjobasprofessionals,teammanagers,andotherteammembers
evenaspeers,todevelopthiskindofmentalityof,we'realwaysstrivingforcontinuousimprovement,andthe
waythatweimproveisbytrackingwherewecurrentlyare.Thosemetricsaren'tmeanttosinglepeopleout
individuallyasmuchastheyareanattempttoassesswherewe'recurrentlyat,sothatwecancontinueto
improve.Sothepointwe'remakinghere,isthatweneedtocreateasafeenvironmentforteamstofeellikethey
canactuallyseetheirmetricsandseehowthey'redoingwithoutfeelingthreatenedthatthoseareawayof
assessingtheirperformanceasindividuals.Wealsoneedtocreateasafeenvironmentforthemtocommunicate
andallowustoknowwhensomethingisn'tgoingwellorwhensomething'sgoingwrong,sothatwecanwork
onfixingthoseissues.

Heading:Metrics,Communication,andTeams.

Acyclecomprisedoffourelementsdisplays.Startingfromthetopandmovingclockwise,theelementsare
Teams,Metrics,Measurement,andCommunication.

Oneimportantdeterminantofteamcultureandoverallsuccessistheteammembers'attitudetowardsthree
specificaspects.Oneishowtheteamhandlesrework.Sohowdoesyourteamhandlerework?Dotheyapproach
itasachorethatneedstogetdone,isitviewedinaverynegativelight,orisitviewedasawaytoimprovethe
workthatwe'vealreadydone?What'stheteam'sattitudetowardstryingoutnewmethodsandtools?Arethey
willingtotryoutnewtoolsandnewmethods,oraretheystuckintheiroldways?Havingflexibilityaround
tryingoutnewmethods,processes,andtoolsandchangingourprocessesisveryimportantforthesuccessofour
Kanbanimplementation.Andalso,what'stheteam'sattitudetowardsrisk?It'sveryimportanttounderstandyour
team'srisktolerancebeforeyoutryandimplementbigchangesthatmightbechallengingorscaryforthem.
Heading:HandlingReworkandTakingRisk.

Animageofthreecogsdisplays.ThelargestcogislabeledHandlingrework.Itconnectswithamediumsized
coglabeledTryingoutnewmethodsortools.ThisinturnconnectswithasmallcoglabeledAttitudetowards
risk.

Soforexample,whenyou'relookingatrework,howwelldoyourteamhandlethesituationwhen,forexample,
youfindbugsin...duringtesting?ThereareanumberofdifferentwaysinKanbanthatyoucanhandlethis,and
itreallygoesbacktotheenvironmentthatyourteamisworkinginandhowpeoplefeelabouteachofthese
options.Soforexample,ifwefoundsomebugs,onethingwecoulddoisjustleavethebuginprogresscolumn
andmarkitasablockingissue.Thatway,it'sveryvisibletoeverybodythatthisisablockingissueuntil
somebodyfixesit.Anotherwaytohandleit,istomovethatissuebackintothedevcolumn,sonowdevelopers
knowthattheyneedtoworkonthisissueandfixit.Anotherthingyoucouldpotentiallydo,isjusttakethat
issueandputitallthewaybackintothetodocolumn,andfigureoutwhereitliesinorderofpriorityandhave
theteamdecidewhenthey'regoingtofixtheissue.

Backtotop

MindsetandCulturalChange
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LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

distinguishbetweenculturesusingSchneiderCulturemodel

1.
WhenapplyingKanbanor,really,anyotherAgileframework,oranybigchangeinprocessinanorganization,
therearetwothingstounderstand.Numberone,cultureisthebiggestchallengeinthewayofadoptingthisnew
systemandthatappliestoKanban.LeanandKanbanarenotsuccessfuliftheydon'taffecttheorganization's
culture,andchangethatculturetooneofcontinuousimprovementandoffocusingonvaluedelivery.Sothere
arefourmodelsherethatyoucanthinkaboutwhenthinkingaboutthecultureofyourorganization.Theseare
calledtheSchneiderculturemodel.Thefirstisacollaborationculture.Sowewanttohaveandbuilda
collaborationculturewhereteammembersareworkingtogether.Whatwedon'twantisacontrolculturewhere
peopletrytogetandkeepcontrolovercertainpartsoftheprocess,certaintasks,orevencertainspecializations
intheorganization.Someorganizationshaveacompetenceculture,wherebeingthebestandbeingcompetentis
highlyvaluedoveranythingelse.Andthen,fourth,isacultivationculture,wherelearningandgrowingwitha
senseofpurposeisthemostimportantthinginthatcultureandthat'salsoonethingthatwedefinitelywantto
encourage.Knowingthesedifferentculturetypescanhelpyouunderstandyourorganizationalculturebetter.
Heading:TeamCulture.

Organizationstypicallyhaveoneoffourculturetypesormodels.Thesearethecollaborationculture,control
culture,competenceculture,andcultivationculture.

SosomeofthecorevaluesthathelpensureaKanbanteam'ssuccessare:firsthavingthevalueofmutual
agreementbasedteamdecisions.Sowewanttoarriveatdecisionsbasedonmutualagreement.Thatdoesn't
meanthateverybodyalwayshastoagreetoeverything,butthatwecanagreeonaprocessthatallowsusto
moveforwardwithdecisions.Second,isrespectforeachotherandforeachother'sviews.Again,inan
organizationliketheonesthatweworkintoday,there'salwaysgoingtobedisagreementandthere'salways
goingtobepeoplethatdon'tseeeyetoeyeoncertainthings.However,havingthevalueofrespectallowsusto
worktogetherinthatenvironmentandfigureouthowtoresolveourdifferences.Nextisindividualleadership
andinitiative.Leadershipisnotamonopolyforpeoplewhoareatthetopmanagersandexecutives.
Leadershipissomethingthateverybodyintheorganizationcanownupto.Takinginitiativeisabigpartof
leadership.Nextiscustomerfocusatalltimes.We'realwaystryingtodelivervalue.Andwhenwevieweven
ourtasksinlightofwhatvaluethosecreateforourcustomers,we'remorelikelytohaveabetterunderstanding
ofwhattasksarereallywasteful.
Heading:CoreIndividualValuesforKanbanTeam'sSuccess.

TherearesixcoreindividualvaluesthatcanhelpensureaKanbanteam'ssuccess.Thesearemakingmutual
agreementbasedteamdecisions,respectforeachotherandeachother'sviews,individualleadershipand
initiative,acustomerfocusatalltimes,transparencyinthedecisionmakingprocessandallactivities,andan
attitudeofcollaborationwithinandoutsidethedevelopmentteam.

Nextistransparencyindecisionmakingprocessandactivities.Sowewanttoknowwhatistheprocessfor
makingdecisionseverybodyneedstobeonthesamepage.Andthen,finally,havinganattitudeof
collaborationwithinandoutsidethedevelopmentteam.Collaboratingwithourstakeholders,withourmanagers,
withpeoplewhoweworkwith...and,etc.isgoingtocreatethatcultureofcollaborationacrossthewhole
organization.Sosomestrategiesthatcanhelpusstayontrackforcreatingthelongtermsuccesswithour
improvementeffortsareasfollows.Firstaimforoverallsystemefficiencyratherthanindividualperformance.
Sothismanifestssometimeswhenwehavetheopportunitytoimproveasinglepointofcontactwithinour
processflows.However,thatsinglepointofcontactmightnotreallymakeadifferenceintheoverallsystem.We
don'twanttoalsomakeanimprovementinoneareathatactuallythencausesissueswiththeoverallsystemor
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causesdetrimenttoouroverallsystemflow.Sowheneverwelookatmakingimprovementsormakingchanges
atonecertainpoint,wealsowanttoassesswhattheimpactisontheoverallsystem.
Heading:LongtermImprovementStrategies.

Thereareseverallongtermimprovementstrategies.Theseincludeaimingforoverallsystemefficiencyrather
thanindividualperformance.

Nextiswewanttoempowertheteambyprovidingautonomyandrewards.Onethingthat'sinterestingabout
teamsandaboutindividualsworkingonteams,isthattherewardsthathavetraditionallybeengiventopeople
havebeenmonetary.Nowadays,weunderstandthatpeoplearedrivenmorebyautonomyandmasteryand
havingasenseofpurpose.Andstructuringrewardsaroundprovidingpeoplewithasenseofthatautonomyand
masteryandpurposeisareallygreatwaytomoveforwardwiththatculturalchangethatwewanttocreatein
ourorganizations.Nextistoencouragechangemanagement.ApplyingKanbanandLeanandacontinuous
improvementculturemeansthatwe'regoingtohavealotofchange.Wealsowanttoempowerpeopleto
understandhowthatchangeisgoingtoaffectthem,andcreateprocessesandtoolsinplaceformanagingthat
change.Andthen,finallyagain,buildacultureofimprovement.Haveeverybodybeonboardwiththisideaof
improvingcontinuouslyandthroughoutthewholeprocess.

Otherstrategiesareempoweringtheteambyautonomyandrewards,encouragingchangemanagement,and
buildingacultureofimprovement.

Soaswe'vetalkedabout,Kanbanbringsaboutalotofculturalchange.Oneofthekeythingstounderstand
abouthowtomanageallthosechangesisusingtheconceptofretrospectives.Sowe'regoingtohavethis
culturalchangethat'sgoingtohelpusembraceLeanthinkingandwealsoaregoingtobe...theLeanthinkingis
goingtohelpactuallydrivethatchange.Sothesechangesaregoingtohappengradually,collaboratively,and
togetherasateam.Whatwecandoisusealotofretrospectivestofigureouthowarewedoing,whatcanwe
improveon,andwhatarethespecificactionitemsthatwecandotoimprovethosethings?Soagain,goingback
totheideaofaculturalshiftthathappensgradually,collaboratively,andasateam...sothatbreaksdownintoa
fewdifferentpieces.WewanttomovebeyondjustusingKanbanboardstoseehowwecanhelpallprojectsin
theentiredepartment,sothatcontinuousimprovementandthatimprovementmentalitydoesn'tjustapplytoour
Kanbanboardsinourspecificworkflow.Eventually,wantto...wewanttoextendthatintothewhole
organization.Wealsowanttoanalyzetheflowofvaluetoourcustomers.Andthen,underneaththat,weare
goingtobeidentifyingandremovingbottleneckswhetherit'swithinourspecificteam'sfloworacrossthe
organization.We'regoingtodevelopaLeanmindsetandwe'regoingtobeapplyingcreativeproblemsolvingat
alllevelsoftheorganization.
Heading:KanbanandCultureChange.

Kanbanbringsaboutatoplevelcultureshiftthatrequiresanumberofchanges.Thesechangesshouldhappen
gradually,collaboratively,andasateam.Belowthisaretwofurtherlevelscomprisedofdifferentparts.Thefirst
levelhastwoparts.ThesearemovingbeyondKanbanboardstoseehowitcanhelpallprojectsandtheentire
departments,andanalyzingtheflowofvaluetoyourcustomers.Thethirdlevelhasthreeparts.Theseare
identifyingandremovingbottlenecks,developingaLeanmindset,andcreativeproblemsolvingatalllevels.

Inthisslide,we'regoingtojusttalkaboutsomeofthelessonslearnedfromapplyingKanbanindifferent
environments.FirsteachKanbanboardisdifferent.There'snoonerightwaytocreateaKanbanboard.There
aregeneralguidelinesthatareveryhelpfularoundwhatyourcolumnsshouldbe.However,yourteam'scolumns
maybedifferent.Yourvisualcuesmightbedifferentthananotherteam'svisualcues,andthat'sokay.Youneed
toadoptthevisualcuesandtheflowthatworksforyourteam.Nextis,youshouldtrytheLeanmindsetofthe
flowofvalue.Sothinkabouttheflowofvalueversusaspecificworkflowthat'sfocusedontasks.Sohowdoes
valueflowthroughyourorganizationandhavethathelpyoucreateyourcolumns.NextKanbanhelps
continuouslyevaluateexistingprocessesandevolvethem.Sothisissomethingthatpeoplehavelearnedby
applyingKanbanisthatit'snotjusttheonetimechangethere'sacontinuousevaluationofprocessesanda
continuousevolution.Nextisnottobetooemotionallyattachedtoyourdecisions.Sodecisionsthatyoumake,
whetherwithyour...whetherit'saroundyourfloworyourprocesschangesshouldnotcomewithalotof
emotionalattachment,becausethosedecisionsmayneedtochange.

Heading:LessonsLearned.
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Heading:LessonsLearned.

AnumberoflessonshavebeenlearnedfromapplyingKanbanindifferentenvironments.FirsteachKanban
boardisdifferent.Second,youshouldtrytheLeanmindsetoftheflowofvalue,ratherthansimplyfocusingon
tasks.Third,Kanbanhelpscontinuouslyevaluateexistingprocessesandevolvethem.Fourth,don'tbetoo
emotionallyattachedtoyourdecisions.

Nextis,perhapsitmakesensetorewardorincentivizeemployeesthatuseKanban.Actually,onethingthat
we'veseenwithteamsthatweworkedwithistherewardisjustthattheyareactuallyabletousethissystem
andmanyotheremployeeswhentheyseeateamusingaKanbanflowareactuallyincentivizedtocreatetheir
own,justbecauseitseemslikesuchamore...amuchmorecollaborativesystemandacollaborativewaytodo
thingsandpeopleseetheresults.Andthen,finally,qualityisreallytheonlylongtermanswer.Meaning,when
you'rethinkingaboutcontinuousimprovement,you'regoingtothinkabouthowyouaregoingtobuildquality
intoyourprocesses,intoyouroutcomes,intoyourtasks,intoyourcoding,andfocusingonqualityultimatelyis
goingtodrivethevaluethatyou'redeliveringtoyourcustomers.

NextrewardorincentivizeemployeesthatuseKanban.Finally,rememberthatqualityistheonlylongterm
answer.

Sowe'vetalkedaboutallofthedifferentstepsintheKanbanprocess,andyoucanseethemlinedupatthetop
ofthisslide.Nowwe'regoingtotalkaboutthedifferentbehavioralandculturalconsiderationsateachoneof
thosesteps.Firstwe'regoingtostartwithvisualizeandmapwork.Soweneedtobeobjectiveandcandid.We
needtobeobjective,aswe'vetalkedaboutinpreviousvideos,onwhatourcurrentworkflowactuallyis,not
necessarilytheworkflowthatwe'dlikeittobe.That'stheworkflowweneedtostartmappingfirst.Nextwe
needtomeasureourworkflow.Weneedtobeokaywithincludingmetricsandstartingtomeasureour
throughputandothermetrics.Andthen,next,weneedtohavetheopportunitytoonboardeveryone.Everyone
shouldunderstandwhywearenowmovingtothisprocessandwhywe'redoingthingsinthisdifferentway.
Nextintheprocessistolimitworkinprocess.Sothatincludesbeingbrutallyhonest.Whatthingshavebeen
startedandarenotfinishedandarenotdeliveringvalue.Evaluatenewrequirements.Willthosecauseustohave
moreworkinprocessandaretheyworththat?

Heading:BehavioralandCulturalConsiderationsatEachStepintheKanbanProcess.

ThefiveKanbanprocessstepsdisplayascolumnheadersandalistofbehavioralandculturalconsiderations
relevanttoeachstepislistedbelowit.Fromlefttoright,thefivestepsareVisualizeandmapwork,LimitWIP,
Manageflow,Makepoliciesexplicit,andworkforcontinuousimprovement.Thevisualizeandmapworkstep
considerationsarebeobjectiveandcandid,measureworkflow,andonboardeveryone.ThelimitWIPstep
considerationsarebebrutallyhonest,evaluatenewrequirements,andprioritize.

Andthen,finally,prioritize.Prioritizationiskeyinlimitingourworkinprocessandremovingthingsthataren't
deliveringvalue.Nextistomanageflow.Thatincludestheabilitytomanagequeuesanddelays.Also,ensure
continuousvaluedelivery.Andthen,finally,removinghurdlesforflow.Nextistomakepoliciesexplicit.So
we'vetalkedaboutcollaboratingtocomeupwiththerightpoliciesforourprocess.Buildtrust,selforganize.
Allowteamstoselforganizeandfigureouthowthey'regoingtogetworkdone.Andthen,finally,communicate
openly.AndthenthefinalstepintheKanbanprocessistoworkforcontinuousimprovement.Thatrequiresthat
wereflectregularlyandthatwereinforcethisnewculturewe'readapting.Andthen,exchangefeedback.Soall
ofthesethingsputtogethercanhelpusachievethatculturalandmindsetshiftthatweneedinorderto
successfullyadoptKanbaninourorganizations.

Themanageflowconsiderationsaremanagequeuesanddelays,ensurecontinuousvaluedelivery,andremove
hurdles.Themakepoliciesexplicitstepconsiderationsarecollaborate,buildtrust,selforganize,and
communicateopenly.Finally,theworkforcontinuousimprovementstepconsiderationsarereflectregularly,
reinforceculture,andexchangefeedback.

Backtotop

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Exercise:CreatinganOnlineKanbanBoard
LearningObjective
Aftercompletingthistopic,youshouldbeableto

createanonlineKanbanboardusingthedefaulttemplateforyourproject

1.
Alright,sonowthatwe'vetalkedaboutKanbanandaboutthedifferentwaysthatyoucancreateaKanban
board,we'regoingtodoanexercisewhereyouactuallycreateyourownversionofaKanbanboardonline.
ThereareanumberofdifferentsoftwarecompaniesthatprovideonlineversionsofaKanbanboard.Someof
themareKanbanize,Greenhopper,AgileZen,KanbanTool,Kanbanery,andSwiftKanban.Inthisexercise,we
aregoingtouseatoolcalledLeanKit.Youcangotoleankit.comandgetatrialversioninordertocreatean
electronicboard.Sowe'regoingtotalkaboutwhatthisexerciseisgoingtoinclude,andthenyou'regoingto
pausethevideo,gogetsometrialversionofoneofthetoolsthatwementioned,andthencomebacksothatwe
cancreateanonlineboardtogether.Sowe'regoingtocreateanonlineKanbanboardforyourprojectusingthe
defaulttemplate.That'swhatwe'regoingtodo,atleastwiththeLeanKittool.We'regoingtousetheboard
editortocustomizeorcreatedesiredprocessstepsandlanes,andaddpolicyanddescriptions.We'rethengoing
toaddtasksusingcardstoyourboardandaddtaskdetails,andthenupdateworkstatusbyclickinganddragging
taskcards.Pausethisvideosothatyoucangogetyourowntrialversionorgetafreeversionofoneofthese
softwaretools.Again,we'regoingtouseLeanKit,andthencomebackandwe'llcreateaboardtogether.
Heading:Inthisexercise,youwill.

Inthisexercise,youwillcreateanonlineKanbanboardforyourprojectusingthedefaulttemplate.Youwilluse
theboardeditortocustomizeorcreatedesiredstepsorlanesandaddpoliciesanddescriptions.Youwillalso
addtaskstoyourboardusingcardsandaddtaskdetails.Finally,youwillupdateworkstatusbyclickingand
draggingtaskcards.

Nowpausethevideoandperformtheexercise.

Alright,welcomeback.Sonowwe'regoingtouseLeanKittocreateouronlineKanbanboard.Asyoucansee,
we'veloggedinwehaveatrialversion.WecangoinhereandsayNewBoard.WeselectDefaultTemplate.
That'sgoingtocreateaNewBoardwiththedefaulttemplate.Sowe'regoingtocallitTestBoard.Description
TestKanbanBoard.Youcanchangethesecuritysothatonlymanagersoradministrators,forexample,cansee
yourboard,butI'mgoingtoleaveitatthedefaultofUser.Save.Sothiscreatesaboardasyoucanseewith
adefaultsetofcolumns,basedonthefactthatwe'veselectedthedefaulttemplate.Sowecangoinandactually
gototheBoardLayoutEditorandchangesomethingsaboutourcolumns.Solet'ssayforexample,Idon'tneed
allthesesplitcolumnsundertheNotStarted.WhatIcandoisIcandeletetheseonebyone,butIcanalso
unsplittoremoveanychildcolumns.
ThepresenterswitchestoawebbrowserwheretheRecentBoardspagewithintheLeanKittoolisopen.Thetop
levelmenubarcontainsanumberofoptions.TheseincludeTemplates,Boards,andArchivetabsaNewBoard
dropdownaSettingsbuttonandsearchandfilterfunctionality.TheBoardstabiscurrentlyselected.The
RecentBoardspagecontainsanAllBoardssectionwithonesampleboard.

SheclickstheNewBoarddropdownandselectsDefaultTemplate.ACreateNewBoarddialogboxopens.It
containsTitleandDescriptionfieldsandadropdownforsettingthedefaultusersecurityforthisboardwhere
Userisselectedbydefault.

NextshetypesTestBoardintheTitlefield.

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ShetypesTestKanbanBoardintheDescriptionfield.

Thepresenterexpandsthedefaultusersecuritydropdowntorevealthefollowingoptions:Noaccess,Reader,
User,Manager,andAdministrator.

SheclicksSavetosavechangesandloadthenewboardTestBoard.Thepagecontainsthreeexpanded
columnsorlanesDOINGNOW,UNDERREVIEW,andRECENTLYFINISHED.Thereareminusorcontract
iconsinthetoplefthandcornersofthesethreelanes.Onthelefthandsideoftheboardisacontractedlane
titledNOTSTARTEDFUTUREWORK.Ontherighthandsideoftheboardisanothercontractedlanetitled
FINISHEDREADYTOARCHIVE.Thereareplusorexpandiconsatthetopofthetwocontractedlanes.

NextsheclickstheplusicontoexpandtheNOTSTARTEDFUTUREWORKcolumn.Itcontainsthree
sublanes.FromlefttorighttheseareNewRequests,Approved,andReadytoStart.

SheclickstheplusicontoexpandtheFINISHEDREADYTOARCHIVElane.Thefulllanenameisnow
FINISHEDREADYTOARCHIVE(LAST14DAYS).Itcontainsthreehorizontalgroupings.Fromtopto
bottomtheseareFinishedAsPlanned,StartedbutnotFinished,andDiscardedRequests/Ideas.

ThepresenterclickstheSettingsbuttoninthetoplevelmenubarandselects"BoardLayoutEditor"fromthe
dropdownlist.TheTestBoardloadsintheBoardLayoutEditor.ThetoplevelmenubarcontainsSaveand
Cancelbuttons.TheTestBoard'scolumnsorlanesarelistedinthemainpageareaandanumberofeditoricons
arelistedaboveandbeloweachlane'stitlefield.TheseincludeaLaneSettingsicon,MoveLaneUpandDown
icons,MoveLaneLeftandRighticons,aDeleteLaneicon,anUnspliticon,andGrowandShrinkLaneicons.
Inaddition,eachtoplevellanehasaCardsWidesetting.Forexample,TheDoingNowlane'sCardsWide
settingissetto2.TotherightofthefirsttoplevellaneisanoptiontoAddaLane.

Underthetoplevel"NotStartedFutureWork"lane,sheclickstheDeleteLaneiconlistedundertheNew
Requestssublane.Apromptrequestingconfirmationforthedeleteopens.

SheclicksYestoconfirm.TheNewRequestssublaneisremoved.TheNotStartedFutureWorklanenow
containstwosublanesApprovedandReadytoStart.

NextsheclickstheUnspliticonundertheNotStartedFutureWorklane.Apromptopensalertingtheuserthat
unsplittingwillremoveallchildlanes.

SheclicksYestoconfirm.TheApprovedandReadytoStartchildlanesareremoved.

Youcanalsochangethedescriptionofyourcolumn.Soyoucansay,forexample,youjustwanttocallthisTo
Do.Youmight,forexample,AddaLane.YoumightcallthisoneAnalysis.Somaybeyouhavesomeanalysis
thatyouwanttodoandyouwanttosetaLimitof2.YoucansetcertainlimitsonDoingNow,forexample,2
ormaybeyourlimitis4withyourteam.Maybeyouwanttoreview...removetheUnderReviewcolumnbased
onyourteam'sworkflow.Maybe,underFinished,youdon'treallyneedalloftheseunderArchiveorallofthese
AsPlanned,etc.Soyoucanremovethisonebyoneoryoucanjustunsplit.Alright,asyoucansee,youcan
customizeyourboard,youcanremovecolumns,youcanchangethename,youcanunsplit,youcanadda
certainLimit,AnalysisLimitis2...theLimitis4andthen,finally,nowyou'rereadytoSavethenew
configurationofyourboard.

ThepresenterclickstheTitlefieldoftheNotStartedFutureWorklaneandchangesittoToDo.

SheclickstheAddaLaneoptiontotherightoftheToDolane.Anewlaneisaddedtoitsright.It'sdefaulttitle
is<NewLaneTitle>.

Nextsheclicksthenewlane'sTitlefieldandchangesittoAnalysis.

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SheclickstheLimitfieldinthetoprighthandcorneroftheAnalysislaneandchangesitfromthedefaultzero,
to2.

ThepresenterclickstheLimitfieldinthetoprighthandcorneroftheDoingNowlaneandchangesitfromthe
defaultzero,to4.

ShescrollstotheleftandclickstheDeleteLaneiconundertheUnderReviewlane.Apromptrequesting
confirmationforthedeleteopens.

SheclicksYestoconfirm.

NextundertheFinishedReadyasPlannedlane,shereferstothethreehorizontalsublanesFinishedAs
Planned,StartedbutnotFinished,andDiscardedRequests/Ideas.

SheclickstheDeleteLaneiconundertheFinishedAsPlannedsublane.Apromptrequestingconfirmationfor
thedeleteopens.

SheclicksYestoconfirm.

ThepresenterclickstheUnspliticonundertheFinishedReadyasPlannedlane.Apromptopensalertingthe
userthatunsplittingwillremoveallchildlanes.

SheclicksYestoconfirm.TheStartedbutnotFinishedandDiscardedRequests/Ideaslanesareremoved.

NextsheclickstheSavebuttoninthetoplevelmenubartosavechangesandloadtheTestBoard.TheTest
Boardanditsvariouslanesdisplaysinthemainpagearea.

Sonowwehaveournewboardwithitsnewconfiguration.Nowwewanttocreatetasks.Soforexample,right
herewecouldcreateataskbyaddingacard.Wemightcallthisa...thecategoryofthisworkmightbeaNew
Feature.Sowemightsay,Developabilitytoselectproductfromdropdownlist.IfyougointoEditCard
Details,youmightaddmoreofadescription,youmightchangethecategoryagaininhere,youmightgiveit
sometagsifyouwanttostarttaggingthingsorcategorizingthingsbasedontags.Youmightalsowanttoput
somedatesarounditandsetyourpriority.SoI'mgoingtoputitinToDo.I'mnotgoingtoaddmuchofthese
details,butyoucanseehowyoucanaddalotofdetailtoeachofthecards.SaveCard.ThatputsitinmyTO
DO.

TheTestBoardanditsfivelanesdisplaysinthemainpagearea.

ThepresenterclickstheAddanewcardbuttoninthetoplevelmenubar.AnAddaCarddialogboxopens.It
containsaCardTypedropdownwhereOtherWorkisselected,aTitletextarea,andtwobuttonsSave&Add
MoreandEditCardDetails.

SheexpandstheCardTypedropdownandselectsNewFeature.

NextshetypesDevelopabilitytoselectproductfromdropdownlistintheTitletextarea.

SheclickstheEditCardDetailsbutton.Alargerdialogboxopens.Itcontainsalefthandnavigationpanewith
twosectionsDetailsandAssignedUsers.TheDetailssectioniscurrentlyselectedandthemainpanecontains
twocolumnsoffields.Forexample,theseincludeaDescriptiontextareawithformattingtools,aCardType
dropdownwhereNewFeatureisselected,aTagsfield,andaLanedropdownwhereToDoisselected.

ThepresenterreferstotheDescriptiontextarea.

SheexpandstheCardTypedropdowntorevealfiveoptions:Defect,Improvement,NewFeature,OtherWork,
andRisk/Issue.NewFeatureisstillselected.

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NextshereferstotheTagsfield.

ShereferstothePlannedStartandPlannedFinishdatefields,whicharecurrentlyblank,thePrioritydrop
downwhereNormaliscurrentlyselected,andtheLanedropdownwhereToDoisselected.

ThepresenterclicksSaveCard.TheTestBoarddisplaysandthenewcardislistedundertheTODOlane,inits
toplefthandcorner.

SoyoucanactuallyseehowyoucanaddalotoftaskshereinyourTODO.And,asyoucansee,wedidn'tseta
limit.YoucanalsosetalimittohowmanythingsyouwantinyourTODOcolumnoryoudon'twanttogo
overacertainnumber.Asyou'reready,youcanstarttopullthingsintotherightcolumn.Solet'ssayit'snowin
theANALYSIScolumn.Okay,sonowifwe'vecompletedANALYSIS,wewanttomoveitintoDOINGNOW.
MaybenextitgoesintoUNDERREVIEWandthen,finally,itmightgointoRECENTLYFINISHED,andthen
FINISHEDREADYTOARCHIVE.Sothatcanshowyou...thatshowsyouhowLeanKitcanactuallyhelpyou
movetasksaroundinaveryvisualwayverysimilartoaphysicalboard.Soyoucanclickanddragthecardsto
updatetheirstatusandthenyoucanactuallyaddnewcardsasyougoalong.Soasyoucansee,LeanKitisa
reallygoodvisualtoolandvisualwayofcreatingyourKanbanboardonline,andithelpsalotwithdistributed
teamsthatneedtobeabletoseeeachother'sboards.

ShereferstothetoprighthandcorneroftheTODOlanewherenolimitnumberhasbeenspecified.

NextshedragsthecardfromtheTODOlaneanddropsitintheANALYSISlanetoitsright.

ShedragsthecardfromtheANALYSISlaneanddropsitinthenextlanetotheright,whichisDOINGNOW.

ThepresenterrepeatsthisprocesstomovethecardtotheUNDERREVIEWlane,thentheRECENTLY
FINISHEDlane,andfinallytheFINISHEDREADYTOARCHIVE(LAST14DAYS)lane.

Backtotop

2016SkillsoftIrelandLimited

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