Kanban
Kanban is a lean method for managing and improving work across systems that emphasizes visualizing the workflow, limiting work in progress, managing flow, and making process policies explicit.
Explanation
Kanban originated from the Toyota Production System and was adapted for knowledge work. Unlike Scrum, Kanban does not prescribe roles, events, or fixed-length iterations. Instead, it focuses on optimizing the flow of work through a system by making work visible, limiting WIP, and continuously improving.
The core practices of Kanban include visualizing the workflow (typically using a Kanban board), limiting work in progress at each stage, managing flow by monitoring lead time and cycle time, making process policies explicit, implementing feedback loops, and improving collaboratively using models and the scientific method.
Kanban is well-suited for environments where work arrives unpredictably, such as maintenance teams, support desks, and operations. It is also commonly combined with Scrum in a hybrid approach sometimes called Scrumban. For the exam, understand that Kanban is a pull-based system: new work is pulled into the system only when capacity allows.
Key Points
- •Visualize the workflow, limit WIP, and manage flow
- •No prescribed roles, iterations, or events
- •Pull-based system: work enters when capacity is available
- •Focuses on continuous delivery and flow optimization
Exam Tip
Kanban is a pull system focused on flow. If a question describes a team that needs to manage unpredictable incoming work without fixed sprints, Kanban is likely the answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Topics
Kanban Board
A Kanban Board is a visual management tool that displays work items as cards moving through columns representing stages of the workflow, making the current state of work transparent to everyone.
Work in Progress (WIP) Limits
Work in Progress (WIP) Limits are constraints placed on the number of work items allowed in each stage of a workflow at any given time, designed to improve flow and reduce multitasking.
Cumulative Flow Diagram
A Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) is a stacked area chart that shows the number of work items in each workflow stage over time, used to monitor flow, identify bottlenecks, and track work in progress.
Lean Principles
Lean Principles are a set of practices derived from the Toyota Production System that focus on maximizing customer value while minimizing waste, forming a foundation for agile and Kanban practices.
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