The success of a project is undoubtedly crucial for a business or organization. But often, a lack of clarity on the progress of the work as well as poor communication among team members can lead to unwanted delays. Implementing a Kanban board can be beneficial in such circumstances. But, what is kanban? And how is it useful for businesses in the present day?
Well, a Kanban board is basically an effective tool that simplifies the process of visualizing and keeping track of the workflow. Generally used in project management, this tool helps in getting rid of uncertainties by making the ongoing work visible to every member of the team. These boards make use of different columns to mark the progress of individual tasks, thereby boosting efficiency. With a Kanban board, every member of the team is fully aware of the progress of the project at all times.
Want to implement kanban boards to improve the efficiency of your teams? Here is all you need to know about Kanban and how to use it to the advantage of your business.
What Exactly is a Kanban Board
Before we go on to explain what a Kanban board is, let’s first take a look at the definition of the word “Kanban”. Kanban is a Japanese word that means visual sign or visual board. And that’s exactly what this project management tool is all about.
So, what is a Kanban board? Well, this is simply a method of visualizing workflows. Often used by project managers, Kanban boards assist in providing complete transparency of the work already completed for a project, as well as the tasks that still need to be done.
The method is rather simple. The board is divided into several columns, each named according to the status of work. For example, you could have one column each for ongoing tasks, tasks in review, and completed work. Every task is represented by a card, which contains the necessary information on it. The progress of the project is marked by moving the cards across the different columns.
Kanban boards thus help optimize the daily processes of a company, especially when it involves teamwork. And being customizable, it can help manage the most complex projects with remarkable ease.
History Of The Kanban Board
The origin of the Kanban board dates back to the 1940s. This tool was first developed by Taiichi Ohno, a Japanese industrial engineer and businessman of Toyota Automotive. It was designed to help manage the inventory and workflows in the most optimal manner to improve the company’s manufacturing efficiency.
But what led to its development? Well, at the time, the Productivity of Toyota was considerably lower than other rival automotive companies, especially those based in America. This new method introduced by Ohno derived inspiration from the way supermarkets functioned – they reordered supplies only when the stock was almost finished.
This gave rise to what was known as “just in time” manufacturing. In other words, the production process was no longer based on the push system in which products were produced and pushed to the market. Instead, the pull system was adopted where the customer demand influenced the production process.
The employees of Toyota used the first version of Kanban boards to visualize the manufacturing process by using cards, each of which represented a specific part of the product. Similar to the supermarket model, the shelves were restocked with a certain part only when there were only a few cards representing that part left on the board.
This visual approach had several advantages. For instance, the workers were able to view the board to determine the amount of work remaining, thus speeding up the work process. Moreover, it helped reduce wastage to a great extent.
This idea of kanban was further developed by David J. Anderson in the early 2000s. While originally introduced to the manufacturing industry, Anderson’s work applied this concept to the fields of software development, IT, and so on. He developed the Kanban Method with a variety of concepts that made it suitable for modern businesses. He put forward a comprehensive definition of the Kanban Method in his book titled “Kanban: Successfully Evolutionary Change for your Technology Business”.
This method helps businesses across sectors improve their workflows. No matter whether it’s sales, software development, manufacturing, recruitment, or any other business function, the Kanban Method can help simplify it to a considerable degree.
The Foundational Principles Of The Kanban Method
The Kanban method as defined by David J. Anderson follows some set principles and practices that aid in improving the workflows. When followed in the right manner, this method can help businesses across a variety of industries gradually boost their productivity. Below are the four foundational principles that you need to follow to ensure maximum advantages for your business.
1. Start With What You Are Doing Now
The Kanban method is implemented in order to minimize any disruptions to the workflow while simultaneously maximizing efficiency. Therefore, one of its fundamental principles is to not make any sudden changes to the ongoing processes or set-up. Instead, the Kanban method should be implemented directly to the present workflow of your business.
Of course, you may need to make some changes to boost productivity, but that should occur gradually. Such decisions can be made by the team in due course. This principle simplifies the work process, as the team members can continue the work at their own pace without needing to deal with abrupt changes.
2. Agree to Pursue Incremental, Evolutionary Change
The second principle is closely related to the first one. Making big changes can adversely affect your workflow, not to mention lead to disagreements or issues within a team. Therefore, the Kanban method emphasizes on adopting an incremal approach when it comes to making changes.
In other words, instead of making a radical change, it’s best to introduce small changes periodically so that it doesn’t drastically affect the workflow. This will ensure that the project progress isn’t slowed down, leading to increased costs over time.
3. Respect Current Roles, Responsibilities, Processes, And Job-Titles
The Kanban method focuses on improving the overall processes without changing the established model of operations. This method doesn’t force changing the organizational structure. Therefore, the existing roles, titles, and responsibilities remain the same as long as there is no negative impact on performance.
The identification and implementation of any such changes is done by the team as a whole. This principle makes it easier to implement the Kanban method in larger organizations where it’s difficult to implement drastic changes without affecting work speed and quality.
4. Encourage Acts of Leadership at All Levels
The Kanban method is based on the idea that acts of leadership shouldnt be limited to the managers or team leaders when working in a collaborative environment. Employees of all levels can take leadership in addressing issues or implementing changes in order to improve the final product or service.
The Kanban methodology empowers people across different levels to not shy away from leading and taking risks in order to grow professionally.
Core Practices of a Kanban Board
Using the kanban board for managing your workflow is not enough – unless you use it the right way. Apart from the four foundational principles that lie at the core of the Kanban methodology, David J. Anderson also mentioned some essential practices that result in a successful implementation of a Kanban board. Usually referred to as the core components of any physical (or digital) Kanban board, these are as follows.
- Visualize the Flow of Work
- Limit Wip (Work In Progress)
- Manage Flow
- Make Process Policies Explicit
- Implement Feedback Loops
- Improve Collaboratively
1. Visualize the Flow of Work
The Kanban method is all about visualizing your workflow. This can be either on a physical Kanban board or a more advanced digital one. The board will vary depending on the type of project you are handling. It can range from very simple to extremely detailed. In short, it needs to help you visualize the process – right from beginning to end.
You will need a board with columns and cards. Each column stands for a step contributing to the project’s progress, while the cards stand for individual tasks. The kanban board is thus a visual representation of the project you are working on. This allows you to understand where your project stands with a single glance.
As the project progresses and more work gets done, the concerned employee will move the cards from one step to another to reflect the current situation. This makes it easier to track changes as well as identify issues with certain tasks and solve them.
2. Limit WIP (Work in Progress)
Kanban boards are designed to make workflows more manageable. Therefore, one of the fundamental practices of this method is limiting the number of tasks that are in progress at a given time. But how does limiting the work benefit the company? Well, it enables team members to focus on the tasks at hand before moving on to any new work.
Therefore, only when the work currently in progress is completed and marked as done on the board, the team can move on to the next ones. This helps the project progress in a systematic manner with fewer chances of mistakes.
You need to set a maximum limit on the number of items (or tasks) allowed at every stage of the project. Setting the limit may initially seem difficult, but it should be decided on after considering the team’s capacity to handle tasks. Therefore, it’s best to start out without having a WIP limit, and first observe the progress to determine the optimum numbers.
3. Manage Flow
A Kanban system is all about simplifying workflow management. And that is achieved by clearly defining the different steps or stages of an ongoing project, as well as the status of the work in every step. Depending on the application of the first two practices, you may either notice an even flow of work across the stages or issues in the workflow leading to bottlenecks and therefore delays.
The key here is to focus on observing the progress and eliminating the bottle necks. Instead of increasing the workload of the team members to make up for the lost time, the goal should be to reduce the length of time a task stays in the wait stages.
With the improvement of work flows, it becomes easier to predict the time taken for completion. This can help improve your company’s relationship with clients and build trust.
4. Make Process Policies Explicit
It’s essential to clearly define the process policies or guidelines while visualizing the process using the Kanban system. These are, simply speaking, the rules related to how the work should be done.
When you have the process guidelines explicitly defined, it becomes easier for all employees to understand how to do a certain task within the system. Such guidelines can be defined for different levels of work. For example, there may be specific guidelines that apply to the whole board (i.e. the entire project), while others may apply to a single column or stage of the project.
5. Implement Feedback Loops
Implementing feedback loops is no less than mandatory for companies that aim to be more efficient. In project management, it helps ensure that changes are being made in the right direction along with making communication easier among different stakeholders.
The Kanban method emphasizes such feedback loops, which may be of multiple types. For instance, visual signals, reports, etc. are some examples of how you can implement feedback loops into the system.
The lack of continuous feedback can put you on the wrong path, delaying the completion of the project. Feedback loops, also known as Kanban cadences, help you get feedback at an early stage, making it easier to shift to the right track without any considerable loss of time.
6. Improve Collaboratively
The Kanban method emphasizes collaborative improvement and experimental evolution that’s based on scientific methods. By adopting smaller changes at a time, you improve steadily at a pace that your team can handle without difficulty. And the scientific method lies at the heart of all such improvements – you prepare a hypothesis, test it out, and make changes as necessary based on the results.
As you make a change, you need to observe its impact on your workflow. This will help you evaluate whether there are any improvements or not and thereby decide on a further course of action. Kanban boards, both physical or digital, help you in organizing your data in one place. This makes it easier to evaluate changes and make adjustments as necessary.
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Types of Kanban Boards
Kanban boards are very versatile – these can be setup as per need and the resources available. From physical boards to updated Kanban-based software, there are multiple types of Kanban boards you can use to manage your projects.
Physical Kanban Boards
Physical Kanban boards are the easiest to prepare. At its simplest form, this board may consist of only a board divided into different columns, with sticky notes acting as the cards. These may be stuck on to a whiteboard and moved from one column to another to mark the progress of the project.
Physical boards are most suitable for small teams collaborating together on a particular project. The advantage of these Kanban boards is that they are easy to set up and manage, and makes it easier for different team members to communicate on the progress of their respective tasks. But, it may not be the best choice if the work is being done remotely.
Digital Kanban Boards
Digital Kanban boards were created to overcome the limitations of physical Kanban boards. As this method began to grow popular among teams not only in manufacturing but also a range of different businesses, Kanban software was introduced to help in project management.
The right Kanban board tool or software needs to be designed with all the essential features that a team might need. While some have a simple design, others may be loaded with additional features that let you customize your Kanban board to suit your work.
Digital Kanban boards are usually of two types – web-based and desktop software. And the version your organization needs depends on the way your teams work. For example, if the work is office-based, a desktop Kanban board that every team member can access would suffice. These are customizable, secure, and support offline use.
But in case your organization prefers remote working, an online Kanban tool would be the best choice. These don’t need to be installed and often have multiple subscription plans that you can choose from. And the best part is that the data is updated in real time – so no matter your location, you will always get access to the most recent version of the Kanban board, as long as you are connected to the network.
Digital boards are more advantageous compared to physical boards in various aspects. Firstly, these can be set up much quicker as you don’t need to manually draw up a board – all can be done in a few clicks. Moreover, it can be shared easily with other team members via a computer. This helps when you are working in comparatively large teams. Also, it’s easier to make changes, add feedback, and track the status of the project digitally than on a physical board.
Different Parts of a Kanban Board
Every Kanban board acts as a visual representation of an ongoing project. Therefore, any standard Kanban board can be broken up into 3 parts in general. These are as follows.
- Tasks to Be Done
- Tasks in Progress
- Completed Tasks
While the above parts sum up the way how Kanban boards simplify workflows, its core elements are mentioned below.
Kanban Cards
The cards on a Kanban board stand for the different tasks that need to be completed for that particular project. At first glance, the card needs to have a title so that you know which task it represents, whom it is assigned to, as well as the due date (if applicable). These may also be denoted by specific colors depending on the type of tasks.
You can usually open the card by clicking on it when using a digital Kanban board. This opens up additional information including a description of the work, guidelines, comment or feedback history, as well as any attachments.
Kanban Columns
Kanban columns represent the different stages of your workflow. In the simplest version of a Kanban board, this may only include “to-do”, “doing”, and “done” columns. But depending on the project, it may be much more elaborate.
For example, the three general categories mentioned above may be divided into subcategories. For example, the “to-do” category may be replaced by two or more columns dividing the tasks based on priority. Similarly, other columns may be introduced for tasks on review, or those awaiting feedback, and so on.
Usually, the cards are moved into the first column that represents the work to be done. And as the work progresses further, the cards are moved from one stage to another until they reach the final column, i.e., completion.
Kanban Swimlanes
Kanban swimlanes are horizontal lanes that you can use to better manage and refine your workflows. These lanes can be used to separate different activities, team responsibilities, and so on while working on a shared board.
Work in Progress Limits
As mentioned previously, work-in-progress (WIP) limits are an integral part of every Kanban board. Setting a limit to the number of tasks that can be present in a “work in progress” column helps eliminate distractions, allowing the employees to focus better on the tasks at hand. No new tasks can be moved onto the column once the limit is reached, unless the existing work is completed and moved to a different column.
Commitment Point
A commitment point in a Kanban Board is when a new task is pulled into the system. In other words, it marks the moment when a team member moves a particular card or task into the “doing” column.
Delivery Point
The delivery point marks the end of the project. It is when the team working on the Kanban board have completed all the tasks associated with the project and are ready to deliver it to the client. In order to be successful, the team’s aim should be to reduce the lead time, i.e. the time taken to move a card from the commitment point to the delivery point.
Advantages of Using Kanban Boards
The best way to improve productivity in a team is by ensuring transparency in the work process instead of trying to micromanage. And Kanban boards help you by making the entire process visible to every team member. Below are some of the advantages you gain by using Kanban boards to manage your projects.
Improves Visibility
The basic intent of using the Kanban method is ensuring that the whole work process is visible to the concerned team. The board acts like a visual representation of the progress of the project, complete with all the pending, ongoing, and completed tasks. The employees working on the project can easily check the status by viewing the board. This makes the work process completely transparent, and there are lesser chances of missing out on a particular task as everything is represented by cards.
Reduces Downtime
Project managers who use Kanban boards can easily monitor the work done by team members. At the same time, they can continuously comment and share feedback on the ongoing work to ensure it is headed towards the right direction. The work done is reviewed faster, which reduces downtime and speeds up the delivery process.
Ensures that the Execution of Tasks are Aligned With the Company’s Goals
The Kanban method encourages a transparent approach to the workflow, along with continuous feedback and reviews. These practices help ensure that the business goals are always at the forefront of how the work is executed. Moreover, as the process policies or guidelines are clearly mentioned within the Kanban board, it’s easier for the team members to understand the right way forward.
Enhances Work Efficiency
Kanban boards help teams easily identify the tasks that need to be done. This, combined with the WIP limits ensure the tasks are done with increased efficiency. You see, the WIP limit fixes the number of tasks that need to be worked on at a time. This helps the team focus on what’s important without being distracted by other less urgent work. As a result, the overall productivity increases.
Boosts Predictability
Working on a Kanban board can help improve work predictability. As the project manager, when you track and monitor the ongoing work and analyze it, it provides you with a solid understanding of the process. And when you identify how long every task takes for completion, it’s not difficult to estimate the period of time you need to wrap up the project. This will help you make accurate predictions as to the project duration.
Makes Collaboration Easier
A Kanban board is designed to assist in collaborative team work. No matter whether you are working on site or remotely, using the Kanban method enables you to effectively communicate and assign tasks to every team member. This eliminates confusion on who is doing what.
Moreover, as every card has all the required details mentioned on it, it is easy for remote employees to understand what exactly needs to be done. In addition, the team remains aware of the progress at all times, even when working from different parts of the world.
Improves Customer Satisfaction
The Kanban system originated as a way of reducing wastage by ensuring production as per demand. In other words, the approach was customer-centric. While the present Kanban methodology is applicable to a wide variety of sectors and not merely in manufacturing, the overall process is aimed to improve customer satisfaction. From receiving and applying the feedback to predicting the time of delivery – the focus is on offering the best to the client or customer.
How to Use Kanban Boards
Kanban boards make it easier to keep tasks organized and improve the flow of work from one stage to another. If you are thinking of implementing this methodology for your team, here is a step by step guide of how to get started with a Kanban board.
Step 1: Create the Necessary Columns
The first step to creating a Kanban board is deciding on the columns you would need. As mentioned earlier, the Kanban board traditionally consists of 3 main columns or categories of work – the “to-do” column, the “doing” column, and the “done” column. But, the number of columns on your board and the way you name them depends on the needs of the project you are working on.
You can create as many columns as you need depending on the stages of the project, and keep adding as the work progresses. From work to be done to tasks waiting for feedback, approval, testing, or more – you can create separate columns for all these stages. All you need to do is to ensure that the categories or columns represent a smooth flow of work right from start to end.
Step 2: Create the Cards
Once you are done with deciding on the columns, it’s time to move on to the actual tasks. These are represented by cards, each with a title that clearly mentions what needs to be done. It should have a due date and also indicate who the task is assigned to. In addition, the card should be complete with all the details of the work to help the concerned employee undertake it without any hassle.
You also need to set a WIP limit at this stage to ensure that the “doing” column isn’t too overcrowded. If you are just starting out and aren’t sure of the optimal limit, you can decide on it later after observing and analyzing the performance of your team for sometime.
Step 3: Add the Cards to the Columns
The next step is to add the cards to the right columns. But before that, make sure to check if the card has all the correct details regarding the work as well as the person it is assigned to. The cards are initially moved to the first column that represents the work that needs to be done.
Step 4: Move the Cards as per Your Progress
As the team takes up and completes the tasks mentioned on the cards, it should be moved to the corresponding column to maintain a smooth workflow. As the board is updated in real time, project managers as well as other members of the team can keep track of changes and look out for bottlenecks.
In other words, if you notice that tasks are arriving at a much quicker pace at a particular column than the tasks leaving it, there might be a potential problem. And unless it is addressed in time, it can slow down the overall progress of the project. The goal here is to make improvements in order to maintain a smooth flow of the work from the starting column to the final one.
Who Can Benefit From Using a Kanban Board?
Kanban boards can be a lifesaver for businesses and organizations that work in teams and are struggling with managing their daily workflows. Usually, in the absence of visualization tools like Kanban boards, it can be difficult for employees to understand the objectives of the project, and the right manner of progressing towards that goal.
You see, without a Kanban board, team members may be unaware of the tasks that need the most attention, and instead focus on other work. Moreover, without a WIP limit, it’s easy for project managers to overburden the team members, thus lowering productivity. This may slow down the workflow, leading to increasing costs for the company.
In such cases, implementing a Kanban board can drastically change the situation for the better. As the project is visualized in the form of a board, it becomes easier for the team to focus on the tasks more efficiently.
Moreover, if you have a tight schedule for your project, conducting team meetings to discuss changes will only lead to more time wastage. Instead, directly adding your feedback in the form of comment on the specific cards on the Kanban board can prove to be a better approach to addressing the issues.
The Kanban method is thus becoming increasingly popular all around the globe. Businesses and organizations of all sizes – from small startups to well established enterprises are leveraging the benefits of this method to boost work efficiency.
As the main goal of the Kanban methodology is to improve the team’s work process, it can be applied to almost every industry. From IT and software development to marketing, HR, procurement, sales, and so on – the Kanban method can be implemented for a variety of functions.
Summing Up
Originally developed to improve production in the manufacturing industry, Kanban boards have undergone numerous changes over the years that have helped in its improvement as a tool. At present, this method of improving workflows can be implemented in all types of industries where teamwork is a norm.
If you have been thinking of adopting the Kanban method to improve business productivity, we hope that this article was of some help to you. Easy to follow and implement, the Kanban method is sure to streamline your workflows and make managing your projects much easier.