Kanban Method: Basics and Beyond

This page contains a short list of articles and videos that will help you get a clear and deeper understanding of Kanban Method, enough to get started.

What is Kanban - Card, Board, System or a Method?

Kanban is often a vaguely understood term. Two professionals talking about kanban usually have different level of understanding, despite both deriving good practical value from their knowledge. Learn about the different Kanban terms here.

Common Kanban Myths and Misconceptions

As it happens with poorly understood concepts, myths and misconceptions flourish. Agile community has developed many such myths around Kanban which seem more out of ignorance than any substance. Unearth the reality beyond these common Kanban myths here.

Principles and Practices in Kanban Method

A great article on Kanban principles and six core practices by David Anderson, the master himself. Please find it here.

Kanban for Dev Projects

Yes, Kanban can be used for Development projects. Since Kanban favours an evolutionary change approach rather than a big-bang, disruptive change, it can ensure a smooth transition to Agility. No need to define new roles, no need to change team structure, no need for any drastic changes in the way you develop products or deliver services.

Please find more ideas on how Kanban can be used for dev projects: Article and Video

A Deep Dive into Kanban Metrics [video]

While Kanban has powerful metrics to fuel the continuous improvement (kaizen) cycle, most teams (and even expert agile coaches) are not well versed with them. In this webinar, we explore the following Kanban metrics that can help you evolve your Kanban implementation continuously (with real life examples):

• Cumulative Flow DIagram (CFD)
• Control chart or Run chart
• Lead time distribution
• Throughput chart

Please see the video here.

Also, I have uploaded a presentation on 'Kanban Metrics'. Please find it here.

Case Study: Evolutionary Change using Kanban Method [video]

This is a case study presentation shared during Lean Kanban India Conference 2017. In this case study, we share how ideas from Kanban Method were used to fix a sub-optimal Scrum implementation, and the results (real data and metrics) team produced over the next three quarterly release cycles. We also talk about why we chose to introduce Kanban Method rather than fixing Scrum per the book. Please see it here.

Managing Change in Scrum vs Kanban

Most teams that transition to Kanban, find it more adaptive with respect to handling ad-hoc requests and requirement changes. There are two reasons for this - continuous flow of work in Kanban and the concept of Class of Service (CoS). This article compares how Scrum and Kanban teams are likely to handle requirement changes.

Scrumban without Sprints

Complete books have been written to explain in detail the idea of Scrumban, but there is no standard recipe for implementing Scrumban - a combination of Scrum and Kanban. In this article, I talk about the Scrumban version that uses continuous flow rather than iterations. Please read details here.

Understanding Kanban Certifications offered by LKU

Kanban certifications from Lean Kanban University (LKU) are the most renowned Kanban certifications in the technology world. To get a deeper understanding of Kanban Method, you have three classroom training options - TKP, KMP1 and KMP2. Please learn more about them here.

Thanks for taking time to visit this page. Request you to share your thoughts and your personal experience on using Kanban for IT projects. Cheers!