Introduction to Kanban

INTRODUCTION TO

KANBAN

Presenters

• Will Iverson• CTO, Dynacron Group• Author, Architect

• Elise Shapiro• Sr. Technical Project

Manager• Scrum Master, former

SysAdmin

• Special Guest: • Peter Turner

Scrum Master

Audience & Schedule• Intended Audience: Software Technology

Management Professionals

• 3:00 PM - Doors Open! Social Mixer with Appetizers and Beverages

• 3:30 PM - Presentation• 4:30 PM - Open Discussion, Coffee & Appetizers

Agenda• Assumptions (Scrum & Waterfall)• Kanban Overview

• Key Kanban Concepts• Mapping Kanban

• Existing Process, Tools, Roles• Real World Examples• Q & A

Assumptions: Project• Waterfall

• Series of phased gates• Highly structured roles & responsibilities

• Scrum• 2-4 week incremental work• Focus on “get it done” over roles & responsibilities

• Discuss: • Pros & Cons with both models?

Assumptions: Org Structures• Cross-functional matrix

• Dev, QA, PM, Ops “own” resources• Virtual teams created from matrix

• Team-based structure• PM owns project

• Discuss: • Pros & cons of both models?• Fit with process choice?• Change management?

Kanban Overview• Workflow Visualization• WIP Limits• Flow Management• Explicit Process Policies• Incremental Collaborative Improvement

Workflow Visualization• Project Report• Standard Scrum Board• Kanban Board[s]

Sample Kanban Board

WIP Limits• Problem: To Do Mushball• Problem: Not Enough Work @ Right Place

Epic Story Design Test Dev Validate

To Do In Progress Done

Software Dev Example

Flow Management• How long are things stuck?• How do you know what to fix?• How do you know if changes actually improved

things?• What metrics are you tracking?

Epic Story Design Test Dev Validate

AgileZen: Reporting

Explicit Process Policies

Development

Tests Pass Build Works Release Produced

TestAcceptance Criteria

ClearNegative Test Criteria

ClearTests associated with

proper tier

DesignWorkflow Mockups Matched to Style Guide

StoryAs a [user] I want to [perform action]

so that I can [do something] PrioritiedExample: Clear definition of done for each lane

Incremental Collaborative Improvement• Review bottlenecks

• E.g. Scrum Retrospectives• Suggest improvements• Perform experiments & track results with metrics

• Scientific method, not opinion

Mapping Kanban To Existing Process, Tools, Roles • First board: From Scrum to ScrumBan

Scrumban: Scrum + Kanban• Less emphasis on (lengthy) sprint

planning meetings• Keep sprint planning, daily standups,

retrospectives• Make them higher level

• Move from burndown charts to Kanban style-reports• Tends to be better for both line staff &

management

TEN BOARDS, FIVE MINUTES

Real World Kanban Examples• Software Development Team (Elise)

• Blending Scrum with cross-functional matrix team• Software Development Team (Pete)

• More pure Lean/Kanban• Intake Kanban

• Feature definition & Lean UX paper prototyping - get rapid feedback on potential products / product features

• Operational/Maintenance Team (Pete)• Personal Kanban –Workplace (Elise)

Kanban with Scrum Artifacts

Star Wars Team - Before

Star Wars Team - After

Star Wars Team - Detail

Ops Team – Back of Board

Ops Team – Front Before

Ops Team – Front After

Ops Team – Front Detail

Ops Team – Front Detail

Personal Kanban at Desk

Personal Kanban in Office

Tools

• http://agilescout.com/best-kanban-tools/• 25+ Tools Listed

• http://www.toolsjournal.com/tools-world/item/142-kanban-tools• 15+ Tools Listed

• Many existing tools adding support• E.g. Atlassian Greenhopper, Rally, VersionOne, etc.

Tool: AgileZen

Challenges & Observations• Make the board work for you & your team!

• No such thing as one true board• Keeping the value stream filled

• You need to get stuff to the ready to work column somehow!• Scrum + Kanban = tactics, still need strategy• Agile & Agile Manifesto = human values declaration

• Discuss: “Soulless Agile”

Q & A