What is Kanban and how can it work for me?

Kanban is a method for managing and improving work across all kinds of organisations. It was developed by Toyota in the 1940s as a way to improve the efficiency of their manufacturing process and has since been widely adopted in a variety of industries.

At its core, Kanban is a visual system for managing work and improving flow. It consists of a series of cards, each representing a task or piece of work, and a series of columns, each representing a stage in the process. As work is completed, cards are moved from one column to the next, showing the progress of the work and highlighting any bottlenecks or delays.

Image: Simple columns help to make work transparent

One of the key principles of Kanban is continuous improvement. By constantly reviewing and analysing the flow of work, teams can identify opportunities for improvement and make changes to increase efficiency. Kanban also emphasises the importance of maintaining a constant work-in-progress (WIP) limit, which helps to reduce waste and improve flow by ensuring that work is not started until it is needed and that each task is completed before moving on to the next.

In addition to the visual board, Kanban also includes a number of practices and tools to help teams manage and improve their work. These include regular review meetings, where progress is discussed and any issues are identified and addressed, and the use of metrics to track and analyse the flow of work.

Kanban is often used in conjunction with other frameworks, such as Scrum, to provide a more comprehensive approach to project management. It is particularly well-suited to environments where work is unpredictable or the requirements are constantly changing, as it allows teams to adapt and adjust their work in real-time.

Image: Optimising Flow is an important action when working with Kanban

Overall, Kanban is a powerful tool for managing and improving work in any organisation. By providing a visual system for tracking progress and a set of practices and tools to help teams continually improve, Kanban helps teams to deliver high-quality products and services efficiently and effectively.

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