Patterns of Kanban Maturity

Copyright Lean Kanban Inc.dja@leankanban.com @lki_dja
Patterns of Kanban
Appropriate designs for your level of
organizational maturity
Presenter:
David J. Anderson
Lean Kanban North
America
San Diego
May 2016

The Kanban Method

The Kanban Method
Simple Underlying Principles
1. Intangible Goods (professional services)
businesses can be managed like physical,
tangible goods businesses
2. Represent intangible goods with tangible
artifacts
3. Make invisible work & workflows visible
4. Control & limit inventory of intangible goods

The Kanban Method
Service Delivery Principles
1. Understand and focus on your customers’
needs and expectations
2. Manage the work, let people self-organize
around it
3. Evolve your management policies to improve
customer & business outcomes

Seeing Services
Learn to view what you do now as a set of services. Don’t reorg,
just see things differently!
Examples:
HR provides services throughout the organization, but they
also need services from IT
Marketing provides services to product development but they
need services from Sales and from IT
IT provides services to Customer Support. There is an
interdependency between Customer Support, QA, and IT
Engineering.
Different feature teams or product teams may have
dependencies on each other
Many groups are dependent upon specialist individuals

F
F
O
M
N
K
J
I
Pull
For each service implement a Kanban “pull” system
Ideas
D
Dev
Ready
G
5
Ongoing
Development Testing
Done
3 3
Test
Ready
5
F
B
CPull
Pull
*
There is capacity here
UAT
Release
Ready
∞ ∞
Pulling work from development will
create capacity here too –
the pull signals move upstream!
Now we have capacity
to replenish our ready
buffer

Commitment is deferred
E
D
Commitment point
F
F
FF
F
F F
G
Pull
Wish to avoid aborting after commitment
Ideas
Dev
Ready
5
Ongoing
Development Testing
Done
3 3
Test
Ready
5
UAT
Release
Ready
∞ ∞
We are committing to getting
started. We are certain we want
to take delivery.
Ideas remain optional and
(ideally) unprioritized

Discovery Kanban Prepares Options
Ready
for
Engin-
eering
F
I
Comm-
itted
D
4 Ongoing
Development
Done
3
J
K
12
Testing
Verification
3
L
Commitment point
4 -
Requi-
rements
Analysis
2412 -
Risk
Analysis
4824 -
Pool
of
Ideas
∞
Min & Max limits
ensure sufficient
options are always
available
Committed WorkOptions
Discarded
O
Reject
P Q
$$$ spent acquiring options
$$$ spent converting options
Embedded Options
Done
Delivery KanbanDiscovery Kanban

Roles
Ready
for
Engin-
eering
F
I
Comm-
itted
D
4 Ongoing
Development
Done
3
J
K
12
Testing
Verification
3
L
Commitment point
4 -
Requi-
rements
Analysis
2412 -
Risk
Analysis
4824 -
Pool
of
Ideas
∞
Service Delivery ManagerService Request Manager
Discarded
O
Reject
P Q
Marshals Options Manages Flow
Done

The Kanban Method
Change Management Principles
1. Start with what you do now
 Understanding current processes, as actually practiced
 Respecting existing roles, responsibilities & job titles
2. Gain agreement to pursue improvement
through evolutionary change
3. Encourage acts of leadership at all levels

The Kanban Method
General Practices
1. Visualize (with a kanban board 看板)
2. Limit work-in-progress (with kanban かんばん)
3. Manage flow
4. Make policies explicit
5. Implement feedback loops
6. Improve collaboratively, evolve experimentally
(using models & the scientific method)

Strategy
Review
Risk
Review
Monthly
Service
Delivery
Review
Bi-WeeklyQuarterly
Kanban
Meeting
Daily
Operations
Review
Monthly
Replenishment &
Commitment
Meeting
Weekly
Delivery
Planning
Meeting
Per delivery cadence
change change
change
change
change
change
change change
change
info
info
info
info
info
info
info
info
info
change info
Kanban Cadences

Kanban Design Patterns

Personal Kanban
Backlog
F
E
G
D
Next Done
3
In-progress
3∞ ∞

Aggregated Personal Kanban
Backlog
F
E
Team
Member
G
D
Next Done
3
In-progress
3
Joe
Peter
Steven
Joann
per person∞ ∞per person
At this level, we are still focused on
organizing & managing people rather than
enabling people to self-organize around the
work & managing its flow

Team Kanban
Backlog
F
E
G
D
Next Done
3
In-progress
3∞ ∞
GY
PB
DE Avatar for each
team memberStill at a single
team level but
maturing to focus
on managing work
and less on
managing workers

Poorly Understood or Emergent Workflow
F
E
G
D
Next Done
3
In-progress
6 ∞
GY
PB
DE
Wide in-progress
column with tickets
positioned left-to-right
with estimate of
completeness
Horizontal position shows percentage complete

A
Proposed Projects
B
D
E
F
K
H
G
Projects-in-progress
Complete
0%
Complete
100%
C
Simple Portfolio Visualization
J
I
M
N
O
L
Tickets represent Projects,
MVPs or MMFs

A
Strategic
40% budget
Operational
40% budget
Tactical
20% budget
Allocation of personnel
Total = 100%
B
D
E
F
K
H
G
Complete
0%
Complete
100%
C
Color may indicate
cost of delay (or other risk)
Visualizing Risk in a Portfolio Kanban
Size of ticket
indicates budget
A total of 4 risk dimensions are shown on this
board
Schedule progress
Business contribution capacity allocation
Cost of Delay (and class of service)
Project size or budget

A
Proposed Projects
D
E
F
K
H
G
Complete
0%
Complete
100%
C
Earned Value Portfolio Visualization
J
I
M
N
O
L
percentage scope complete
Percentagebudget/scheduleused
Size of ticket
indicates budget
B
Safe
Management
Attention
RequiredAt Risk

O
P
R
N
M
L
J
Per Person WIP Limit
Done
F
E
I
Pending
G
D
GY
PB DE
MN
AB
Dev/Build/
Test/Deploy
Dev
Ready
GY
GY
PB
PB
MN
MN
DE
DE
AB
AB
K
Bench
Specify
∞∞ ∞
Unbounded
Queue
Delayed
WIP
At this level, we are
focused on managing
work and enabling people
to self-organize around it
but we aren’t limiting WIP
in the system as a whole.
Hence, service delivery will
not be predictable
Moving beyond a single
team to a service
delivery workflow

Decoupled Cadences & Constant WIP
Backlog
F
E
G
D
Committed
Ready
For
Delivery
In-progress
6
∞ ∞
GY
PB
DE
Delivered
∞
Replenishment
The frequency of system
replenishment should reflect
arrival rate of new
information and the
transaction & coordination
costs of holding a meeting
The frequency of delivery should
reflect the transaction &
coordination costs of
deployment plus costs &
tolerance of customer to take
delivery
WIP limit should be
sufficient to keep the
team busy until the
next replenishment
meeting
Delivery
CONWIP

Aggregated Team Kanban
Done
Pool
of
Ideas
F
E
I
Next
Deploy-
ment
Ready
G
D
GY
PB
DE MN
5 ∞
P1
AB
Ongoing
Development Testing
Done Ongoing Done
3 3
Team 1 Kanban
∞ ∞
Team 2 Kanban

Done
Pool
of
Ideas
F
E
I
Next
Deploy-
ment
Ready
G
D
GY
PB
DE MN
5 ∞
P1
AB
Ongoing
Development Testing
Done Ongoing Done
3 3∞ ∞
Also
known
as
“infinite
done
queues”

Done
Pool
of
Ideas
F
E
I
Next
Deploy-
ment
Ready
G
D
GY
PB
DE MN
5 ∞
P1
AB
Ongoing
Development Testing
Done Ongoing Done
3 3
Infinite limits on Done columns means that there really
isn’t a kanban pull system present.
This style of proto-kanban controls multi-tasking but
doesn’t limit workflow WIP
∞ ∞

Q
P
O
M
L
K
J
I
Kanban can be represented with slots
Ideas
D
Engin-
eering
Ready
G
Ongoing
Development
Testing
Done
Test
Ready
F
B
CPull
Pull
*
UAT
Deploy-
ment
Ready
An empty slot signals
pull
Pull
Pull
Pull
I
Physical slot is a kanban
The tickets on the board are not
the kanban. Believing the tickets
are the kanban is a common
misconception
This board and
the next two all
look different
but they all
visualize the
same identical
kanban system

F
F
O
M
N
K
J
I
Using movable tokens as kanban is more flexible
Ideas
D
I
Dev
Ready
G
Development Testing
Test
Ready
F B
C
UAT
Release
Ready
In-progress
Legend
Done
Blocked - issue
Blocked - defect
Colors are used
to denote state
Physical token such as a
magnet is a kanban
Moving done items
down below a line is an
optional enhancement
seen in some
implementations

F
F
O
M
N
K
J
I
Ideas
D
I
Dev
Ready
G
Development Testing
Test
Ready
F B
C
UAT
Release
Ready
In-progress
Legend
Done
Blocked - issue
Blocked - defect
Override on kanban
limit introduces
additional “blocked –
issue” kanban
People working on
blocked item “A”
have been
redirected to
work on item “I”

F
F
O
M
N
K
J
I
Ideas
D
I
Dev
Ready
G
Development Testing
Test
Ready
F B
C
UAT
Release
Ready
In-progress
Legend
Done
Blocked - issue
Blocked - defect
Using physical slots in the previous
example has been shown to create
inertia to modification & improvement
Using movable tokens allows for
WIP limits to be easily modified
and provides a natural signal
token mechanism

F
F
FF
F
F J
I
Declaring a kanban quantity is even simpler
Ideas
D
I
Engin-
eering
Ready
G
5
Ongoing
Development Testing
Done
3 3
Test
Ready
5
F
B
CPull
PullThese are the virtual kanban
*
These are the virtual kanbanThese are the (virtual) kanban These WIP limits
serve the same
function as the
magnets or slots
This board has even less maintenance
overhead than the magnet board
UAT
Deploy-
ment
Ready
∞ ∞
A “virtual kanban” pull signal is
created by subtracting the column
number from tickets currently in
the column

Discovery Kanban Prepares Options
Engin-
eering
Ready
F
I
Comm-
itted
D
4 Ongoing
Development
Done
3
J
K
12
Testing
Verification
3
L
Commitment point
4 -
Requi-
rements
Analysis
2412 -
Risk
Analysis
4824 -
Pool
of
Ideas
∞
Min & Max limits
ensure sufficient
options are always
available
Discarded
O
Reject
P Q
Done
Delivery KanbanDiscovery Kanban

Single Service, Multiple Classes of Service
Allocate capacity with kanban limit per color
5 4 4 5 2= 20 total
Allocation
10 = 50%
...
+1 = +5%
4 = 20%
6 = 30%
Input
Buffer In Prog DoneDoneIn Prog
DevelopmentAnalysis Build
Ready Test
Release
Ready

3 Services Aggregated Together
5 4 4 5 2 = 20 total
Change Req
12
Maintenance
2
Production Defect
6
Allocation
Total = 20
Input
Buffer In Prog Done
Build
Ready Test
Release
ReadyDoneIn Prog
DevelopmentAnalysis
Released

Change
Requests
3
1
Prod.
Defects
Maintenance
Usability
Improvement
2
1
Improving Liquidity through Labor Pool Flexibility
Teams
F
E
Engin-
eering
Ready
G
D
GY
PB
DE
MN
2
P1
AB
Ongoing
Analysis Testing
Done Verification Acceptance
3 3
Ongoing
Development
Done
3
Joe
Peter
Steven
Joann
David
Rhonda
Brian
Ashok
Team
Lead
Junior who will be rotated
through all 4 teams
Generalist or T-shaped
people who can move
flexibly across rows on
the board to keep work
flowing
It’s typical to see splits of
fixed team workers versus
flexible system workers of
between 40-60%
Roughly half the labor pool
are flexible workers
Promotions from junior
team member to flexible
worker with an avatar
clearly visualize why a pay
rise is justified. Flexible
workers help manage
liquidity risk better!

Organizational Maturity

Personal Kanban
Aggregated
Personal Kanban
Team Kanban
Emergent/Undefined
Workflow
Per Person WIP Limit
CONWIP
Physical space
kanban
Physical token
kanban
Virtual Kanban
Classes of service
Capacity allocation
Liquidity optimization
Aggregated teams
Patterns of Kanban Board Designs

Risk Hedging
Risk Management
Benefits of improving maturity

Learning&improvement
Formula for evolutionary
change …
 Stressor
 Reflection Mechanism
 Leadership
Stressor
ReflectionMechanism
Kanban
Meeting
Risk Review
& SDR
Ops Review
Strategy
Review
Personal
WIP Limit
Column
WIP Limit
Row
WIP Limit
Strategy vs
Capability
Visualization
Replenishment
& Delivery
Planning
Personal
Reflection

Conclusion

Team Kanban
Practitioner
KanbanSystem
Design
Enterprise
Services
Planning
Lean Kanban Class Curricula
Kanban
Management
Professional
KanbanCoachingProfessional
AccreditedKanbanTrainer

Thank you!

About
David Anderson is an innovator in
management of 21st Century
businesses that employ creative
people who “think for a living” . He
leads a training, consulting,
publishing and event planning
business dedicated to developing,
promoting and implementing new
management thinking & methods…
He has 30+ years experience in the high technology industry
starting with computer games in the early 1980’s. He has
led software organizations delivering superior productivity
and quality using innovative methods at large companies such
as Sprint and Motorola.
David defined Enterprise Services Planning and originated
Kanban Method an adaptive approach to improved service
delivery. His latest book, published in June 2012, is, Lessons
in Agile Management – On the Road to Kanban.
David is Chairman & CEO of Lean Kanban Inc., a business
operating globally, dedicated to providing quality training &
events to bring Kanban and Enterprise Services Planning to
businesses who employ those who must “think for a living.”

Appendices

Books

2010 – Kanban “blue book”

2012 Lessons in Agile Management
The heavily under-rated book
that underpins the Kanban
Coaching Masterclass and most
of the theory behind the
Kanban Method

2014 Kanban from the Inside

Patterns of Kanban Maturity

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