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1
What is
Kanban
Hafsa Zulfiqar
Enterprise Agile Leader
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• Introduction to Kanban
• Understand the basic definition of Kanban, and experience a simulation
• Kanban Theory
• Understand Pull vs Push and how limiting WIP can create a pull system
• Flow & Metrics
• Understand how we can measure flow of value and how to interpret the 4 key metrics
• Summary
• Understand when and where Kanban can / should be used
What is covered?
2 2 CONFIDENTIAL | October 2020
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Kanban – Truth or Myth?
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Truth? Myth?
Kanban is for process improvement, not workflow
Kanban can only be used for linear processes, or support teams
Kanban is easy to implement
The earlier we start work, the sooner we will finish it
Better to start with Scrum, then move onto Kanban
Kanban is just a board with ‘tickets’ on it
You cannot do long range planning with Kanban
Kanban is only for a team
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4
Kanban is an approach for optimising the flow of value through a process that uses a visual,
pull-based system. There may be various ways to define value, including consideration of
safety, the needs of the customer, the end-user, the organization, and the environment
Kanban
4 4 CONFIDENTIAL | October 2020
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FeatureBan
Round 1
5-7 minutes
Get as many Work Items to done as possible
Agility
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8
3 Practices
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Definition of Workflow (DoW)
Fundamental concept of Kanban
Defined by Kanban system team
members
Defining and
visualising a workflow
Actively managing
items in a workflow
Improving a workflow
Control WIP
Avoiding work items piling up
Ensuring work items do not age
unnecessarily
Unblocking blocked work.
Continuous Improvement
Kanban team members
continuously improve the DoW
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At minimum, members must create their DoW using all of the following elements:
• A definition of the individual units of value that are moving through the workflow. These
units of value are referred to as work items (or items).
• Defined points at which work items are considered to have started / committed and to
have finished / delivered.
• One or more defined states that the work items flow through from started to finished. Any
work items between a start point and an endpoint are considered work in progress (WIP).
• A definition of how WIP will be controlled from started to finished.
• Explicit policies about how work items can flow through each state from started to finished.
• A service level expectation (SLE), which is a forecast of how long it should take a work item
to flow from started to finished.
Definition of Workflow
9 9 CONFIDENTIAL | October 2020
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Exercise
• Split into 4 groups
• 2 Questions to answer:
• What examples do you have of Projects?
• What examples do you have of Products?
Once back in the room – discuss what success looked like for the Projects and Products
5 minutes in rooms, plus 5 minute discussion
Products
10 10 CONFIDENTIAL | October 2020
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Definition of Product
Anything that brings value to a customer and has
benefit to the producer
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Value
12 12 CONFIDENTIAL | October 2020
Exercise
• Split into 4 groups
• 1 Question to answer:
• What is ‘value’ in your Team / Squad / Unit
Open discussion to talk through Value, and who the Customer
was for the value delivered
5 minutes in rooms, plus 5 minute discussion
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FeatureBan
Round 2
5-7 minutes
Get under your WIP Limits – take back control!
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Flow
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There are 4 main Flow Metrics to help a team optimise flow
of value through the system:
• WIP
• Cycle Time
• Throughput
• Work Item Age
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Work Item Age
The amount of time between when a Work Item started and the current
time
Chart to use
Aging WIP Chart
What is it?
Chart What to watch for
X-Axis represents your workflow
(from DoW)
Y-Axis is the current age in days
(from when it started)
Uses Cycle Time percentiles to plot
your likelihood of delivering
Items in green areas are being
delivered under your 70th percentile
Items above that are at risk of going
over that
Teams can take action early to discuss
problems with flow
Aging WIP Chart
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1
2
3 4
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FeatureBan
Round 3
5-7 minutes
Start Again
WIP Limited
Policies in place
Can you beat your score in Round 1?
What can you see from the charts?
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Cumulative Flow
Diagram (CFD)
A flow chart which is able to demonstrate Total WIP and Average
throughput
What is it?
Chart What to watch for
X-Axis represents time
Y-Axis is the number of work items
Shows the number of work items in
each stage of the workflow at that
point in time
Top line growing faster than bottom
line
Increasing bands
Top line and bottom line meeting
(starving the system)
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CFD
What can you see in plots 1, 2 and 3?
What actions might you take?
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Cycle Time
What is it?
The amount of elapsed time between when a work item started and when
a work item finished.
Chart to use
Cycle Time Scatterplot
Chart What to watch for
Shows the time taken for each work
item to get to ‘Done’
X-Axis is the date the work was
done
Y-Axis is the number of days
Each dot represents a single work
item
Horizontal Percentile lines are
drawn to show % of the time work
was done, e.g.
50% of the time, work is done
in 30 days or less
Trends – getting slower or faster
Outliers
Blockers (in red below)
Percentile lines, to inform your SLE
We want low cycle times!
Cycle Time Scatterplot
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1
2
3 4
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Throughput
What is it?
The number of work items finished per unit of time
Chart to use
Throughput Histogram
Chart What to watch for
Shows the number of completed
items in a given period of time
X-Axis is the number of work items
Y-Axis how many days this
throughput occurred
Vertical Percentile lines are drawn
to show a probabilistic view of
likely future
We want to produce more items per
day
Percentile lines, to inform your SLE
Throughput Histogram
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SLE
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Service Level Expectations
A Forecast of how long it should take a Work Item to flow
from Started to Finished
Cycle Time Scatterplot can give you percentiles, i.e. 80% of
the time, we deliver a work item in 25 days.
Best guess until your system becomes predictable
“80% confidence that a Work Item will be done in 25 days or
less.”
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Agility
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Agility
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Agility
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Agility
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31
Quiz
Reinventing westlake | May 2020 | Confidential
31
In teams:
Prepare 5 questions
5 mins to prepare
Each team will ask up to 3 questions of the others in the
course.
32
32
Agility
32
Introduce sustainable work Focus on Flow
Pull not Push
Summary
Controlling WIP is one way to
create a pull system
Pull work when Team is ready
Protect people from
overburdening
Spark collaboration
Identify & Remove
impediments
Stop Starting and Start
Finishing
The less work in progress,
the more work gets done
Powerful metrics to help
33
33
When to use Kanban
33
You want to introduce
sustainability of work and
protect people from
overburdening.
Service delivery lens is a
natural fit for your work as
you work is request-based
(e.g. support team, shared
services/global teams)
You want to spark more
collaboration across
involved parties
Not enough focus on
solving impediments and
blockers as soon as
possible
Powerful flow metric to
track improvement and
quality of service.
Stop starting and start
finishing!
(and bring more
predictability to what you
do)
No process existing / work
requires vastly novel,
creative approach every
single time.
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34
What Questions do You have?
34 CONFIDENTIAL | October 2020
35
35
For formal training and coaching see you Agile Coach and continue your
journey with assessments of your knowledge and practicing Kanban.
Want to know more?
35

More Related Content

Kanban Agile.pptx

  • 2. 2 2 • Introduction to Kanban • Understand the basic definition of Kanban, and experience a simulation • Kanban Theory • Understand Pull vs Push and how limiting WIP can create a pull system • Flow & Metrics • Understand how we can measure flow of value and how to interpret the 4 key metrics • Summary • Understand when and where Kanban can / should be used What is covered? 2 2 CONFIDENTIAL | October 2020
  • 3. 3 3 Kanban – Truth or Myth? 3 Truth? Myth? Kanban is for process improvement, not workflow Kanban can only be used for linear processes, or support teams Kanban is easy to implement The earlier we start work, the sooner we will finish it Better to start with Scrum, then move onto Kanban Kanban is just a board with ‘tickets’ on it You cannot do long range planning with Kanban Kanban is only for a team
  • 4. 4 4 Kanban is an approach for optimising the flow of value through a process that uses a visual, pull-based system. There may be various ways to define value, including consideration of safety, the needs of the customer, the end-user, the organization, and the environment Kanban 4 4 CONFIDENTIAL | October 2020
  • 5. 5 5 FeatureBan Round 1 5-7 minutes Get as many Work Items to done as possible Agility
  • 6. 8 8 3 Practices 8 Definition of Workflow (DoW) Fundamental concept of Kanban Defined by Kanban system team members Defining and visualising a workflow Actively managing items in a workflow Improving a workflow Control WIP Avoiding work items piling up Ensuring work items do not age unnecessarily Unblocking blocked work. Continuous Improvement Kanban team members continuously improve the DoW
  • 7. 9 9 At minimum, members must create their DoW using all of the following elements: • A definition of the individual units of value that are moving through the workflow. These units of value are referred to as work items (or items). • Defined points at which work items are considered to have started / committed and to have finished / delivered. • One or more defined states that the work items flow through from started to finished. Any work items between a start point and an endpoint are considered work in progress (WIP). • A definition of how WIP will be controlled from started to finished. • Explicit policies about how work items can flow through each state from started to finished. • A service level expectation (SLE), which is a forecast of how long it should take a work item to flow from started to finished. Definition of Workflow 9 9 CONFIDENTIAL | October 2020
  • 8. 10 10 Exercise • Split into 4 groups • 2 Questions to answer: • What examples do you have of Projects? • What examples do you have of Products? Once back in the room – discuss what success looked like for the Projects and Products 5 minutes in rooms, plus 5 minute discussion Products 10 10 CONFIDENTIAL | October 2020
  • 9. 11 11 Definition of Product Anything that brings value to a customer and has benefit to the producer
  • 10. 12 12 Value 12 12 CONFIDENTIAL | October 2020 Exercise • Split into 4 groups • 1 Question to answer: • What is ‘value’ in your Team / Squad / Unit Open discussion to talk through Value, and who the Customer was for the value delivered 5 minutes in rooms, plus 5 minute discussion
  • 11. 13 13 FeatureBan Round 2 5-7 minutes Get under your WIP Limits – take back control!
  • 12. 15 15 Flow 15 There are 4 main Flow Metrics to help a team optimise flow of value through the system: • WIP • Cycle Time • Throughput • Work Item Age
  • 13. 16 16 16 Work Item Age The amount of time between when a Work Item started and the current time Chart to use Aging WIP Chart What is it? Chart What to watch for X-Axis represents your workflow (from DoW) Y-Axis is the current age in days (from when it started) Uses Cycle Time percentiles to plot your likelihood of delivering Items in green areas are being delivered under your 70th percentile Items above that are at risk of going over that Teams can take action early to discuss problems with flow Aging WIP Chart
  • 15. 18 18 FeatureBan Round 3 5-7 minutes Start Again WIP Limited Policies in place Can you beat your score in Round 1? What can you see from the charts?
  • 16. 20 20 20 Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) A flow chart which is able to demonstrate Total WIP and Average throughput What is it? Chart What to watch for X-Axis represents time Y-Axis is the number of work items Shows the number of work items in each stage of the workflow at that point in time Top line growing faster than bottom line Increasing bands Top line and bottom line meeting (starving the system)
  • 17. 21 21 CFD What can you see in plots 1, 2 and 3? What actions might you take?
  • 18. 22 22 22 Cycle Time What is it? The amount of elapsed time between when a work item started and when a work item finished. Chart to use Cycle Time Scatterplot Chart What to watch for Shows the time taken for each work item to get to ‘Done’ X-Axis is the date the work was done Y-Axis is the number of days Each dot represents a single work item Horizontal Percentile lines are drawn to show % of the time work was done, e.g. 50% of the time, work is done in 30 days or less Trends – getting slower or faster Outliers Blockers (in red below) Percentile lines, to inform your SLE We want low cycle times! Cycle Time Scatterplot
  • 20. 24 24 24 Throughput What is it? The number of work items finished per unit of time Chart to use Throughput Histogram Chart What to watch for Shows the number of completed items in a given period of time X-Axis is the number of work items Y-Axis how many days this throughput occurred Vertical Percentile lines are drawn to show a probabilistic view of likely future We want to produce more items per day Percentile lines, to inform your SLE Throughput Histogram
  • 21. 25 25
  • 22. 26 26 SLE 26 Service Level Expectations A Forecast of how long it should take a Work Item to flow from Started to Finished Cycle Time Scatterplot can give you percentiles, i.e. 80% of the time, we deliver a work item in 25 days. Best guess until your system becomes predictable “80% confidence that a Work Item will be done in 25 days or less.”
  • 27. 31 31 Quiz Reinventing westlake | May 2020 | Confidential 31 In teams: Prepare 5 questions 5 mins to prepare Each team will ask up to 3 questions of the others in the course.
  • 28. 32 32 Agility 32 Introduce sustainable work Focus on Flow Pull not Push Summary Controlling WIP is one way to create a pull system Pull work when Team is ready Protect people from overburdening Spark collaboration Identify & Remove impediments Stop Starting and Start Finishing The less work in progress, the more work gets done Powerful metrics to help
  • 29. 33 33 When to use Kanban 33 You want to introduce sustainability of work and protect people from overburdening. Service delivery lens is a natural fit for your work as you work is request-based (e.g. support team, shared services/global teams) You want to spark more collaboration across involved parties Not enough focus on solving impediments and blockers as soon as possible Powerful flow metric to track improvement and quality of service. Stop starting and start finishing! (and bring more predictability to what you do) No process existing / work requires vastly novel, creative approach every single time.
  • 30. 34 34 What Questions do You have? 34 CONFIDENTIAL | October 2020
  • 31. 35 35 For formal training and coaching see you Agile Coach and continue your journey with assessments of your knowledge and practicing Kanban. Want to know more? 35

Editor's Notes

  1. Module 1 : Introduction to Kanban Understand the basic definition of Kanban, and experience a simulation which they can relate to in their own context. They should be able to describe what is not working in their environment. Make a note this is not ‘The Kanban Method’ which is covered in the formal training in myT&L (although coaches can feel free to introduce elements of the Kanban Method if desired). Module 2 : Kanban Theory Understand Pull vs Push, explain how Kanban can help create a pull system and understand the basics of limiting WIP. Module 3 : Flow & Metrics Understand how we can measure Flow of Value through a Kanban System, and how to interpret 4 key metrics and charts. Module 4 : Summary Link training to their own context, understand how Kanban can help their workload. Should we include some commitments from the team?
  2. These are all Myth. Learning Outcome: establish with delegates where they think they are. This can take 15-20 mins depending on discussion points.
  3. Learning Outcome: Basic definition of Kanban. NB This is not ‘The Kanban Method’ which includes more around organizational change etc. This is the basics needed to establish flow. Focus on flow and value on this slide.
  4. Learning Outcome: Experience Kanban, will likely be a bit chaotic. Reflect on the exercise – 5 mins. What did they observe in the game? How did it feel? What parallels can you draw from this to your current work environment? <Add facilitator notes!!> Skip Rules Dialog * Pause Game * Explain rules * Start game We will run for 10 days.
  5. Reflect on the exercise – 5 mins. What did they observe in the game? How did it feel? What parallels can you draw from this to your current work environment? Skip Rules Dialog * Pause Game * Explain rules * Start game We will run for 10 days.
  6. Make sure intro… Use Henrik Knibergs game (and credit him when you run it please) http://www.crisp.se/henrik.kniberg/multitasking-name-game Use the PDF. We can create a Mural board to simulate using pens and paper. Usually, it is good to get the Team Leader of a team being the ‘Worker’. Not mandatory though. Also good if the teams are well known to each other, to give them different names they can use, and to ask the ‘Customers’ to create chaos, e.g. forget which letter they are on etc.
  7. Learning Outcome: These are the only 3 mandatory practices in Kanban in order to crate a pull system and establish Flow. Again, the Kanban Method builds upon these for their 6 Practices. These 3 fundamental practices are needed to establish flow. There are no Roles defined in Kanban Systems. There are no Events defined in Kanban Systems, however teams will often establish their own cadence in order to manage these practices, e.g. Retrospectives, Replenishment. DO NOT mix up Scrum events with this, e.g. Sprint Planning belongs in Scrum.
  8. Learning Outcomes: Have something which allows teams to establish their own working agreements with Kanban systems and flow. This creates transparency. Again, these are the minimum items needed to establish flow. You can build on these if needed, but teams should start somewhere. SLE will be covered more later, but introduce the concept here
  9. Learning Outcome: Introduce the concept of a Product, and the agile mindset around product delivery (rather than a project plan being delivered). Projects would be things they have been asked to deliver, e.g. compressor overhall, fpso delivery etc. The key thing is a project is a sequence of tasks to be completed to get an output. Success of a Project is driven by delivery of Scope on Time and On Budget. Products – iPad, Phone, car – items which can be improved upon, they have value to the customer, can be used. Success of the product is driven by users (they love it, hate it) and revenue for the company. We are looking to get people focusing on Products at the outcome of their work – which have value.
  10. Learning Outcome: There is always a Product. Every product has a customer – someone who gets value from your product. Every product has a producer – someone who gets a benefit (revenue, cost savings, society) Optional: Ask delegates to give examples where there is NOT a product. Work with them to show what the product is in their examples.
  11. Delegates should bring their context to this, what is valuable to them, what do they deliver that has value. Value as gained by successful completion of the activity. Value may be estimated using tangible or quantitative measures (e.g., mboe, $m, NPT reduced, cost of delay); or using largely intangible or qualitative measures (e.g., strategic, reputational, feel); or some combination of both Remember difference between current value and potential value. We don’t really know the value of something until we deliver it – we only have an estimate of potential value until then.
  12. Learning outcome: Working to understand where WIP limits bring back a degree of control. Reflect on the exercise – 5 mins. What did they observe in the game? How did it feel? What parallels can you draw from this to your current work environment? <Add facilitator notes!!> Skip Rules Dialog * Pause Game * Explain rules * Start game We will run for 10 days.
  13. Reflect on the exercise – 5 mins. What did they observe in the game? How did it feel? What parallels can you draw from this to your current work environment? <Add facilitator notes!!> Skip Rules Dialog * Pause Game * Explain rules * Start game We will run for 10 days.
  14. Learning Outcome: Introduction of the 4 key metrics, and how they can help. We have just completed an exercise in understanding WIP, so we can to a bit deeper here. Cover WIP fully. Work In Progress – all of the work between a defined Start Point and the End Point (as per the DoW). If it is past the start point, and not done yet, it is Work in Progress. Introduce the other concepts briefly. More detail coming in next 3 slides. Cycle Time – the amount of elapsed time between the point a work Item Started and when it Finished. “How long did it take to get completed” Throughput – the number of workitems finished per unit of time, e.g. we finished 5 items in a week (7 days). Work Item Age – the amount of elapsed time between the point a Work Item started and ‘now’.
  15. This is the only ‘leading’ indicator, and is a teams most powerful metric for use in detecting problems with flow and making interventions.
  16. Learning Outcome: understand how to read the chart and what actions could be taken. The X-Axis is the stages of the workflow for this team, everything is WIP. Flowing reasonably well, perhaps something to look at towards the end. Are we focussing on work at the start? Are we pulling in work before finishing work? Lots of issues, aging right from the start, no longer predictable Focus in the early stages, but major issues towards the end – we are not going to deliver on ‘time’ Looking good, but perhaps should think about swarming on the last 3 items.
  17. Learning Outcome: If we start with Kanban, what happens. What differences do the teams see. Usually, more work will get done in this round than in Round 1 and 2 combined. Reflect on the exercise – 5 mins. What did they observe in the game? How did it feel? What parallels can you draw from this to your current work environment? Skip Rules Dialog * Pause Game * Explain rules * Start game We will run for 10 days.
  18. Reflect on the exercise – 10 mins. What did they observe in the game? How did it feel? What parallels can you draw from this to your current work environment? Metrics – what did they see “Doing less will get more done”
  19. Learning Outcome: understand how to read a CFD. Look at the trend lines. Where is Total WIP? Make sure we understand that this shows you approximate average cycle times and throughput. Feel free to introduce Littles Law here, but make it clear that littles law is a relationship, not a formula.
  20. Learning Outcome: How to spot trends in a CFD, and what actions could be taken. Examples of CfD plots – delegates invited to speak about what can be seen from each one Lines diverging – crocodile jaws Stepped delivery – releasing in cycles / iterations? Flat lines – was no-one working? Cumulative Flow Diagram (brodzinski.com)
  21. Learning Outcome: Understand Cycle Time and how to read the chart. What outliers are there, and how to have the conversation. Cycle Time and Lead Time are basically the same. Sometimes you may have Customer Lead Time and Systems Lead Time (Kanban Method), but fundamental understating of cycle time is what we are after here. The additional training can go into the nuances of this.
  22. Learning Outcome: How to spot trends in Cycle Time. Increasing Cycle Time, look at the flow, Wip limits, etc. Clusters – tricky to analyse, but worth finding out what is causing things to cluster together. Gaps – we are not delivering consistently All over the place! Not predictable.
  23. Learnining Outcome: understand Throughput, and how to read the chart.
  24. 81 Days we produced nothing (throughput 0), 25 days was 1, 18 days was 2, 8 days we produced 3 items, 8 days we produced 4 items, 2 days we produced 5 items. 95% of the time, we produce 5 items or less, 85% of the time we produce 3 items or less, 50% of the time we produce no items.
  25. Learning Outcome: Understand SLE as a forecast that can be used by teams to help them understand how much work they can get done, and to have conversations with their customer. The more predictable a system is, the better. Emphasise the wording – it is a forecast, not a promise. Avoid: “It will be done in 10 days” for example. Go back to the Cycle Time Scatterplot to show the percentiles. This is only valid once your system becomes predictable. Ask how we can see if we are predictable (Cycle Time Scatterplot and CfD)
  26. Learning Outcome: Spot the items from the Definition of Workflow, and any other visualisations that are apparent on the picture. What can you see in the examples?
  27. What can you see in the examples?
  28. What can you see in the examples?
  29. Learning Outcome: Spot the items from the Definition of Workflow, and any other visualisations that are apparent on the picture.
  30. Learning Outcome: Solidify the learnings from the delegates by getting them to teach back some of the topics. They can use Mural, slides, flipcharts etc etc – up to them, allow them to be creative.
  31. Learning Outcome: Reminder of what Kanban can do, pull systems and establish flow. Doing less work will get more done.