Achieving Efficient Kanban Flow in Project Management
Implementing kanban methods focused on workflow visualization, work in progress limits, and process improvement are essential for efficient project flow. This article explains how to leverage kanban boards, cumulative flow diagrams, and key metrics to boost productivity.
What is kanban project flow and why measure it?
Kanban flow refers to the movement of work items through the different stages of your kanban workflow and process. It describes how work progresses from start to finish based on team capacity.
Measuring kanban flow is crucial to provide visibility into the workflow, quantify improvements, and drive productivity gains. Tracking flow metrics helps teams understand:
Visualize workflow and observe flow of work
Speed of completing user stories and tasks
Identify bottlenecks slowing progress
Find areas for improvement in business processes
Continuously improve flow over time
Optimize team capacity and workload balance
Reduce average lead and cycle times
Improve predictability and consistency in delivering work
The cumulative flow diagram shows the status of work items on a kanban board and is the most important metric for improving flow. Related metrics like cycle time, throughput, work in progress, and flow efficiency indicate if changes help optimize the system.
Using kanban flow metrics and cumulative flow diagrams enables data-backed assessment of process enhancements. This leads to faster delivery, greater efficiency, and more value add through the steps of your kanban workflow.
What metrics indicate efficient kanban flow?
The most important kanban flow metrics include:
Cycle time - The average time it takes to go from start to finish for an item. Lower cycle time means work moves through states quicker.
Throughput – The average number of items completed per time period. More throughput means greater productivity from your teams.
Work in Progress (WIP) – The amount of work currently being processed. Limiting WIP balances capacity to prevent bottlenecks.
Lead time – The total average time from when work is requested to when it is delivered. Reducing lead time improves satisfaction.
Flow efficiency – The overall percentage of time an item is actually being worked rather than waiting. Higher efficiency equals better resource utilization.
Cumulative flow – A visual diagram showing the status of all work items on a board over time. Consistent flow without large gaps is ideal.
Tracking these kanban flow metrics over time shows whether process changes help improve the flow of work. The cumulative flow diagram reflects whether items are moving smoothly through the workflow stages or experienceing blockages.
Ideally, the cumulative flow diagram should show consistent bands with work items flowing one-by-one from left to right. Variability in the bands or large gaps between stages indicate problems to address.
How does limiting work in progress (WIP) improve flow?
Limiting work in progress is a core principle of kanban and lean processes. The goal is to balance the amount of work to match the team’s capacity as it moves through the workflow.
Lower WIP limits help enhance flow in the following ways:
Reduce waiting time by focusing on finishing work before starting new items
Prevent overburdening team members with too many task assignments
Avoid large batches of work items overwhelming next stages
Minimize queue build up and blocked tasks
Improve average cycle time and lead time
Increase flow of work through the overall system
Gain greater predictability and consistency for project delivery
The WIP limits should reflect the maximum number of work items your team can actually process at each workflow column. For example, limiting testing WIP to 5 items when the testers can truly only handle 2 at once will still create bottlenecks.
Fine-tune the WIP limits based on historic throughput while also factoring in worker focus time. Too high, and flow slows down. Too low, and resources become starved. Analyze your cumulative flow diagram trends to optimize WIP limits.
What does an effective kanban workflow look like?
An effective kanban workflow revolves around smooth movement of work from start to finish focused on value delivery rather than control. Main attributes include:
Visual kanban board with columns representing workflow stages
Swimlanes to assign work items to specific teams
Clearly defined policies for adding & moving cards on the board
WIP limits matched to capacity at each column
Standard sized user stories or work items
Real-time metrics like cycle time and lead time per column
Blockers or impediments highlighted on cards
Regular opportunities to improve flow and policies
The main goal is to facilitate the flow of work items moving horizontally from left to right on the board. Cards should transition one-by-one within WIP limits through each column. Blockages or build up indicates issues needing attention.
Review key metrics like cumulative flow trends, cycle times, and throughput to identify and resolve operational bottlenecks.
How do you get started with kanban?
The following guidelines establish the foundation for efficient kanban project flow:
Map the workflow - Define the value stream stages from start to finish horizontally on a board. Focus on improving end-to-end flow rather than functional silos.
Establish WIP limits – Analyze capacity to determine max numbers per column allowing flow without overload.
Create uniform work items – Define requirements for work items or cards to promote clarity & comparability
Add items to backlog – Populate the “To Do” section with known work volumes and priorities
Implement pull system – Teams pull work into the flow by moving items into the first stage column
Limit expedited items – Reduce ad-hoc work added that skips defined workflow stages
Define policies – Create protocols for adding, moving, escalating, and completing work
Start tracking metrics – Capture cycle time, throughput, and cumulative flow metrics to start optimizing
Continuously improve – Conduct regular retrospectives on what tweaks improve flow.
These starting guidelines enable teams to establish an efficient foundation for kanban flow. Refine the system based on learnings using data-driven analysis.
How do you create an effective kanban board?
Steps to create an effective digital or physical kanban board include:
Map value stream from left to right on board
Limit columns to essential workflow stages
Define work item types and guidelines
Determine WIP limits per column
Add swimlanes to assign items to teams
Populate backlog with new requests
Customize columns to match policies
Select cadence for analysis meetings
Enable key metrics per column
Automate cumulative flow diagram
Keep the board as simple as possible. Prevent key details on cards from becoming obstructed even as WIP volumes scale.
Review the board daily in stand ups. Revisit settings in recurring planning sessions.
What practices should you avoid that hurt kanban flow?
Common pitfalls that negatively impact smooth kanban flow include:
No work in progress limits causing uncontrolled buildup
Too many stages and columns obscuring flow
Unbalanced assignments flooding particular teams
Numerous blocked work items stagnating progress
Continually allowing expedited items that skip process
Changing workflows without measuring impact
Lack of focus on finishing existing work first
Eliminating improvement opportunities during retrospectives
Prevent these issues with training on kanban methods, visual controls, and discipline through improving team policies.
How do cumulative flow diagrams highlight flow issues?
Cumulative flow diagrams provide a powerful visualization of the workflow by showing:
Number of items at each workflow stage over time
Drastic changes in quantity per column signalling WIP issues
Flow variability signalling unevenness problems
Long horizontal plateaus indicating blocked process steps
Value stream stage durations that are bottlenecks
Queue build up and capacity constraints
Aging of work items and priority conflicts
Digging into the root causes behind CFD fluctuations helps identify areas to improve flow. Analyze trends indicating uneven build up, large gaps between stages, aging items, and slope direction changes.
Compare CFD charts across teams to showcase examples of smooth flow. Review metrics like cycle time and throughput alongside CFD charts.
What are kanban board examples by industry?
While originated for manufacturing, kanban boards now visually manage flow for:
Software Teams - Map user stories through development stages from design to release
Marketing Campaigns - Visualize campaign progress through planning, creation, approval, launch
Sales Pipelines - Model opportunity workflow through contact stages to closed deals
Project Management - Display project phase tasks from approved charters to post-mortems
Product Development - Show product workflows from ideas, roadmap prioritization, prototyping, to launch
Support Tickets - Route issues from new, active, on-hold, to resolved
Manufacturing Lines - Model inventory flow through fabrication, sub-assembly, assembly, and shipping
Both physical and digital kanban boards work to visualize and enhance value stream flow. Customize columns and policies to your teams’ processes.
How do WIP limits, metrics, and diagrams interconnect?
WIP limits directly influence cumulative flow diagram trends and related metrics:
Lower WIP limits smooth workflow and prevent work item buildup
This causes narrower, consistent CFD bands with smaller gaps between stages
Smoother CFDs translate to lower average cycle times
Coupling lower WIP with increased throughput optimizes flow
Digitize kanban boards centralize the visualization while also highlighting key quantified flow metrics. Review the CFD analysis along with cycle time durations, throughput per column, and other data to make informed policies improving flow.
Control charts help assess whether recent changes positively impacted key metrics versus normal variation. Give changes sufficient time for analysis before further modifying workflow policies.
What are other best practices for kanban flow efficiency?
Additional kanban methods for excellent flow include:
Gain leadership support to drive culture focused on customer value
Start small then evolve approach over time
Actively monitor CFD charts on a daily basis
Flag blocked items on board causing delays
Reduce individual board columns to minimum required
Limit work item size variation which hinders flow
Filter views by work item type or assignment
Map value stream first before team processes
Stop starting new features; finish existing work first
Conduct regular standups and retrospectives
Continually probe for improvement opportunities
Automate cumulative flow diagram generation
Carefully applying these techniques will enable smooth flow of work across the kanban board. Teams deliver greater productivity and predictability while workers enjoy less stress.
Summary of Key Kanban Flow Improvement Takeaways
Leverage cycle time, throughput, and other metrics to understand and optimize workflow
Limit work in progress at each step to match capacity, preventing downstream overload
Map your value stream into a simple kanban workflow focused on flow rather than control
Visualize workflow stages and work items on a physical or digital kanban board
Use cumulative flow diagrams to highlight workflow issues impacting value stream flow
Define standardized policies and cadences for adding/moving/completing kanban cards
Continuously improve processes by experimenting informed by metrics trends
Focus on finishing existing work first before starting new items
Implementing these core kanban practices will help your teams achieve excellent flow. The result is greater productivity, predictability, quality, and customer satisfaction from streamlined processes.
Achieving Efficient Kanban Flow in Project Management
Implementing kanban methods focused on workflow visualization, work in progress limits, and process improvement are essential for efficient project flow. This article explains how to leverage kanban boards, cumulative flow diagrams, and key metrics to boost productivity.
What is kanban project flow and why measure it?
Kanban flow refers to the movement of work items through the different stages of your kanban workflow and process. It describes how work progresses from start to finish based on team capacity.
Measuring kanban flow is crucial to provide visibility into the workflow, quantify improvements, and drive productivity gains. Tracking flow metrics helps teams understand:
Visualize workflow and observe flow of work
Speed of completing user stories and tasks
Identify bottlenecks slowing progress
Find areas for improvement in business processes
Continuously improve flow over time
Optimize team capacity and workload balance
Reduce average lead and cycle times
Improve predictability and consistency in delivering work
The cumulative flow diagram shows the status of work items on a kanban board and is the most important metric for improving flow. Related metrics like cycle time, throughput, work in progress, and flow efficiency indicate if changes help optimize the system.
Using kanban flow metrics and cumulative flow diagrams enables data-backed assessment of process enhancements. This leads to faster delivery, greater efficiency, and more value add through the steps of your kanban workflow.
What metrics indicate efficient kanban flow?
The most important kanban flow metrics include:
Cycle time - The average time it takes to go from start to finish for an item. Lower cycle time means work moves through states quicker.
Throughput – The average number of items completed per time period. More throughput means greater productivity from your teams.
Work in Progress (WIP) – The amount of work currently being processed. Limiting WIP balances capacity to prevent bottlenecks.
Lead time – The total average time from when work is requested to when it is delivered. Reducing lead time improves satisfaction.
Flow efficiency – The overall percentage of time an item is actually being worked rather than waiting. Higher efficiency equals better resource utilization.
Cumulative flow – A visual diagram showing the status of all work items on a board over time. Consistent flow without large gaps is ideal.
Tracking these kanban flow metrics over time shows whether process changes help improve the flow of work. The cumulative flow diagram reflects whether items are moving smoothly through the workflow stages or experienceing blockages.
Ideally, the cumulative flow diagram should show consistent bands with work items flowing one-by-one from left to right. Variability in the bands or large gaps between stages indicate problems to address.
How does limiting work in progress (WIP) improve flow?
Limiting work in progress is a core principle of kanban and lean processes. The goal is to balance the amount of work to match the team’s capacity as it moves through the workflow.
Lower WIP limits help enhance flow in the following ways:
Reduce waiting time by focusing on finishing work before starting new items
Prevent overburdening team members with too many task assignments
Avoid large batches of work items overwhelming next stages
Minimize queue build up and blocked tasks
Improve average cycle time and lead time
Increase flow of work through the overall system
Gain greater predictability and consistency for project delivery
The WIP limits should reflect the maximum number of work items your team can actually process at each workflow column. For example, limiting testing WIP to 5 items when the testers can truly only handle 2 at once will still create bottlenecks.
Fine-tune the WIP limits based on historic throughput while also factoring in worker focus time. Too high, and flow slows down. Too low, and resources become starved. Analyze your cumulative flow diagram trends to optimize WIP limits.
What does an effective kanban workflow look like?
An effective kanban workflow revolves around smooth movement of work from start to finish focused on value delivery rather than control. Main attributes include:
Visual kanban board with columns representing workflow stages
Swimlanes to assign work items to specific teams
Clearly defined policies for adding & moving cards on the board
WIP limits matched to capacity at each column
Standard sized user stories or work items
Real-time metrics like cycle time and lead time per column
Blockers or impediments highlighted on cards
Regular opportunities to improve flow and policies
The main goal is to facilitate the flow of work items moving horizontally from left to right on the board. Cards should transition one-by-one within WIP limits through each column. Blockages or build up indicates issues needing attention.
Review key metrics like cumulative flow trends, cycle times, and throughput to identify and resolve operational bottlenecks.
How do you get started with kanban?
The following guidelines establish the foundation for efficient kanban project flow:
Map the workflow - Define the value stream stages from start to finish horizontally on a board. Focus on improving end-to-end flow rather than functional silos.
Establish WIP limits – Analyze capacity to determine max numbers per column allowing flow without overload.
Create uniform work items – Define requirements for work items or cards to promote clarity & comparability
Add items to backlog – Populate the “To Do” section with known work volumes and priorities
Implement pull system – Teams pull work into the flow by moving items into the first stage column
Limit expedited items – Reduce ad-hoc work added that skips defined workflow stages
Define policies – Create protocols for adding, moving, escalating, and completing work
Start tracking metrics – Capture cycle time, throughput, and cumulative flow metrics to start optimizing
Continuously improve – Conduct regular retrospectives on what tweaks improve flow.
These starting guidelines enable teams to establish an efficient foundation for kanban flow. Refine the system based on learnings using data-driven analysis.
How do you create an effective kanban board?
Steps to create an effective digital or physical kanban board include:
Map value stream from left to right on board
Limit columns to essential workflow stages
Define work item types and guidelines
Determine WIP limits per column
Add swimlanes to assign items to teams
Populate backlog with new requests
Customize columns to match policies
Select cadence for analysis meetings
Enable key metrics per column
Automate cumulative flow diagram
Keep the board as simple as possible. Prevent key details on cards from becoming obstructed even as WIP volumes scale.
Review the board daily in stand ups. Revisit settings in recurring planning sessions.
What practices should you avoid that hurt kanban flow?
Common pitfalls that negatively impact smooth kanban flow include:
No work in progress limits causing uncontrolled buildup
Too many stages and columns obscuring flow
Unbalanced assignments flooding particular teams
Numerous blocked work items stagnating progress
Continually allowing expedited items that skip process
Changing workflows without measuring impact
Lack of focus on finishing existing work first
Eliminating improvement opportunities during retrospectives
Prevent these issues with training on kanban methods, visual controls, and discipline through improving team policies.
How do cumulative flow diagrams highlight flow issues?
Cumulative flow diagrams provide a powerful visualization of the workflow by showing:
Number of items at each workflow stage over time
Drastic changes in quantity per column signalling WIP issues
Flow variability signalling unevenness problems
Long horizontal plateaus indicating blocked process steps
Value stream stage durations that are bottlenecks
Queue build up and capacity constraints
Aging of work items and priority conflicts
Digging into the root causes behind CFD fluctuations helps identify areas to improve flow. Analyze trends indicating uneven build up, large gaps between stages, aging items, and slope direction changes.
Compare CFD charts across teams to showcase examples of smooth flow. Review metrics like cycle time and throughput alongside CFD charts.
What are kanban board examples by industry?
While originated for manufacturing, kanban boards now visually manage flow for:
Software Teams - Map user stories through development stages from design to release
Marketing Campaigns - Visualize campaign progress through planning, creation, approval, launch
Sales Pipelines - Model opportunity workflow through contact stages to closed deals
Project Management - Display project phase tasks from approved charters to post-mortems
Product Development - Show product workflows from ideas, roadmap prioritization, prototyping, to launch
Support Tickets - Route issues from new, active, on-hold, to resolved
Manufacturing Lines - Model inventory flow through fabrication, sub-assembly, assembly, and shipping
Both physical and digital kanban boards work to visualize and enhance value stream flow. Customize columns and policies to your teams’ processes.
How do WIP limits, metrics, and diagrams interconnect?
WIP limits directly influence cumulative flow diagram trends and related metrics:
Lower WIP limits smooth workflow and prevent work item buildup
This causes narrower, consistent CFD bands with smaller gaps between stages
Smoother CFDs translate to lower average cycle times
Coupling lower WIP with increased throughput optimizes flow
Digitize kanban boards centralize the visualization while also highlighting key quantified flow metrics. Review the CFD analysis along with cycle time durations, throughput per column, and other data to make informed policies improving flow.
Control charts help assess whether recent changes positively impacted key metrics versus normal variation. Give changes sufficient time for analysis before further modifying workflow policies.
What are other best practices for kanban flow efficiency?
Additional kanban methods for excellent flow include:
Gain leadership support to drive culture focused on customer value
Start small then evolve approach over time
Actively monitor CFD charts on a daily basis
Flag blocked items on board causing delays
Reduce individual board columns to minimum required
Limit work item size variation which hinders flow
Filter views by work item type or assignment
Map value stream first before team processes
Stop starting new features; finish existing work first
Conduct regular standups and retrospectives
Continually probe for improvement opportunities
Automate cumulative flow diagram generation
Carefully applying these techniques will enable smooth flow of work across the kanban board. Teams deliver greater productivity and predictability while workers enjoy less stress.
Summary of Key Kanban Flow Improvement Takeaways
Leverage cycle time, throughput, and other metrics to understand and optimize workflow
Limit work in progress at each step to match capacity, preventing downstream overload
Map your value stream into a simple kanban workflow focused on flow rather than control
Visualize workflow stages and work items on a physical or digital kanban board
Use cumulative flow diagrams to highlight workflow issues impacting value stream flow
Define standardized policies and cadences for adding/moving/completing kanban cards
Continuously improve processes by experimenting informed by metrics trends
Focus on finishing existing work first before starting new items
Implementing these core kanban practices will help your teams achieve excellent flow. The result is greater productivity, predictability, quality, and customer satisfaction from streamlined processes.
Achieving Efficient Kanban Flow in Project Management
Implementing kanban methods focused on workflow visualization, work in progress limits, and process improvement are essential for efficient project flow. This article explains how to leverage kanban boards, cumulative flow diagrams, and key metrics to boost productivity.
What is kanban project flow and why measure it?
Kanban flow refers to the movement of work items through the different stages of your kanban workflow and process. It describes how work progresses from start to finish based on team capacity.
Measuring kanban flow is crucial to provide visibility into the workflow, quantify improvements, and drive productivity gains. Tracking flow metrics helps teams understand:
Visualize workflow and observe flow of work
Speed of completing user stories and tasks
Identify bottlenecks slowing progress
Find areas for improvement in business processes
Continuously improve flow over time
Optimize team capacity and workload balance
Reduce average lead and cycle times
Improve predictability and consistency in delivering work
The cumulative flow diagram shows the status of work items on a kanban board and is the most important metric for improving flow. Related metrics like cycle time, throughput, work in progress, and flow efficiency indicate if changes help optimize the system.
Using kanban flow metrics and cumulative flow diagrams enables data-backed assessment of process enhancements. This leads to faster delivery, greater efficiency, and more value add through the steps of your kanban workflow.
What metrics indicate efficient kanban flow?
The most important kanban flow metrics include:
Cycle time - The average time it takes to go from start to finish for an item. Lower cycle time means work moves through states quicker.
Throughput – The average number of items completed per time period. More throughput means greater productivity from your teams.
Work in Progress (WIP) – The amount of work currently being processed. Limiting WIP balances capacity to prevent bottlenecks.
Lead time – The total average time from when work is requested to when it is delivered. Reducing lead time improves satisfaction.
Flow efficiency – The overall percentage of time an item is actually being worked rather than waiting. Higher efficiency equals better resource utilization.
Cumulative flow – A visual diagram showing the status of all work items on a board over time. Consistent flow without large gaps is ideal.
Tracking these kanban flow metrics over time shows whether process changes help improve the flow of work. The cumulative flow diagram reflects whether items are moving smoothly through the workflow stages or experienceing blockages.
Ideally, the cumulative flow diagram should show consistent bands with work items flowing one-by-one from left to right. Variability in the bands or large gaps between stages indicate problems to address.
How does limiting work in progress (WIP) improve flow?
Limiting work in progress is a core principle of kanban and lean processes. The goal is to balance the amount of work to match the team’s capacity as it moves through the workflow.
Lower WIP limits help enhance flow in the following ways:
Reduce waiting time by focusing on finishing work before starting new items
Prevent overburdening team members with too many task assignments
Avoid large batches of work items overwhelming next stages
Minimize queue build up and blocked tasks
Improve average cycle time and lead time
Increase flow of work through the overall system
Gain greater predictability and consistency for project delivery
The WIP limits should reflect the maximum number of work items your team can actually process at each workflow column. For example, limiting testing WIP to 5 items when the testers can truly only handle 2 at once will still create bottlenecks.
Fine-tune the WIP limits based on historic throughput while also factoring in worker focus time. Too high, and flow slows down. Too low, and resources become starved. Analyze your cumulative flow diagram trends to optimize WIP limits.
What does an effective kanban workflow look like?
An effective kanban workflow revolves around smooth movement of work from start to finish focused on value delivery rather than control. Main attributes include:
Visual kanban board with columns representing workflow stages
Swimlanes to assign work items to specific teams
Clearly defined policies for adding & moving cards on the board
WIP limits matched to capacity at each column
Standard sized user stories or work items
Real-time metrics like cycle time and lead time per column
Blockers or impediments highlighted on cards
Regular opportunities to improve flow and policies
The main goal is to facilitate the flow of work items moving horizontally from left to right on the board. Cards should transition one-by-one within WIP limits through each column. Blockages or build up indicates issues needing attention.
Review key metrics like cumulative flow trends, cycle times, and throughput to identify and resolve operational bottlenecks.
How do you get started with kanban?
The following guidelines establish the foundation for efficient kanban project flow:
Map the workflow - Define the value stream stages from start to finish horizontally on a board. Focus on improving end-to-end flow rather than functional silos.
Establish WIP limits – Analyze capacity to determine max numbers per column allowing flow without overload.
Create uniform work items – Define requirements for work items or cards to promote clarity & comparability
Add items to backlog – Populate the “To Do” section with known work volumes and priorities
Implement pull system – Teams pull work into the flow by moving items into the first stage column
Limit expedited items – Reduce ad-hoc work added that skips defined workflow stages
Define policies – Create protocols for adding, moving, escalating, and completing work
Start tracking metrics – Capture cycle time, throughput, and cumulative flow metrics to start optimizing
Continuously improve – Conduct regular retrospectives on what tweaks improve flow.
These starting guidelines enable teams to establish an efficient foundation for kanban flow. Refine the system based on learnings using data-driven analysis.
How do you create an effective kanban board?
Steps to create an effective digital or physical kanban board include:
Map value stream from left to right on board
Limit columns to essential workflow stages
Define work item types and guidelines
Determine WIP limits per column
Add swimlanes to assign items to teams
Populate backlog with new requests
Customize columns to match policies
Select cadence for analysis meetings
Enable key metrics per column
Automate cumulative flow diagram
Keep the board as simple as possible. Prevent key details on cards from becoming obstructed even as WIP volumes scale.
Review the board daily in stand ups. Revisit settings in recurring planning sessions.
What practices should you avoid that hurt kanban flow?
Common pitfalls that negatively impact smooth kanban flow include:
No work in progress limits causing uncontrolled buildup
Too many stages and columns obscuring flow
Unbalanced assignments flooding particular teams
Numerous blocked work items stagnating progress
Continually allowing expedited items that skip process
Changing workflows without measuring impact
Lack of focus on finishing existing work first
Eliminating improvement opportunities during retrospectives
Prevent these issues with training on kanban methods, visual controls, and discipline through improving team policies.
How do cumulative flow diagrams highlight flow issues?
Cumulative flow diagrams provide a powerful visualization of the workflow by showing:
Number of items at each workflow stage over time
Drastic changes in quantity per column signalling WIP issues
Flow variability signalling unevenness problems
Long horizontal plateaus indicating blocked process steps
Value stream stage durations that are bottlenecks
Queue build up and capacity constraints
Aging of work items and priority conflicts
Digging into the root causes behind CFD fluctuations helps identify areas to improve flow. Analyze trends indicating uneven build up, large gaps between stages, aging items, and slope direction changes.
Compare CFD charts across teams to showcase examples of smooth flow. Review metrics like cycle time and throughput alongside CFD charts.
What are kanban board examples by industry?
While originated for manufacturing, kanban boards now visually manage flow for:
Software Teams - Map user stories through development stages from design to release
Marketing Campaigns - Visualize campaign progress through planning, creation, approval, launch
Sales Pipelines - Model opportunity workflow through contact stages to closed deals
Project Management - Display project phase tasks from approved charters to post-mortems
Product Development - Show product workflows from ideas, roadmap prioritization, prototyping, to launch
Support Tickets - Route issues from new, active, on-hold, to resolved
Manufacturing Lines - Model inventory flow through fabrication, sub-assembly, assembly, and shipping
Both physical and digital kanban boards work to visualize and enhance value stream flow. Customize columns and policies to your teams’ processes.
How do WIP limits, metrics, and diagrams interconnect?
WIP limits directly influence cumulative flow diagram trends and related metrics:
Lower WIP limits smooth workflow and prevent work item buildup
This causes narrower, consistent CFD bands with smaller gaps between stages
Smoother CFDs translate to lower average cycle times
Coupling lower WIP with increased throughput optimizes flow
Digitize kanban boards centralize the visualization while also highlighting key quantified flow metrics. Review the CFD analysis along with cycle time durations, throughput per column, and other data to make informed policies improving flow.
Control charts help assess whether recent changes positively impacted key metrics versus normal variation. Give changes sufficient time for analysis before further modifying workflow policies.
What are other best practices for kanban flow efficiency?
Additional kanban methods for excellent flow include:
Gain leadership support to drive culture focused on customer value
Start small then evolve approach over time
Actively monitor CFD charts on a daily basis
Flag blocked items on board causing delays
Reduce individual board columns to minimum required
Limit work item size variation which hinders flow
Filter views by work item type or assignment
Map value stream first before team processes
Stop starting new features; finish existing work first
Conduct regular standups and retrospectives
Continually probe for improvement opportunities
Automate cumulative flow diagram generation
Carefully applying these techniques will enable smooth flow of work across the kanban board. Teams deliver greater productivity and predictability while workers enjoy less stress.
Summary of Key Kanban Flow Improvement Takeaways
Leverage cycle time, throughput, and other metrics to understand and optimize workflow
Limit work in progress at each step to match capacity, preventing downstream overload
Map your value stream into a simple kanban workflow focused on flow rather than control
Visualize workflow stages and work items on a physical or digital kanban board
Use cumulative flow diagrams to highlight workflow issues impacting value stream flow
Define standardized policies and cadences for adding/moving/completing kanban cards
Continuously improve processes by experimenting informed by metrics trends
Focus on finishing existing work first before starting new items
Implementing these core kanban practices will help your teams achieve excellent flow. The result is greater productivity, predictability, quality, and customer satisfaction from streamlined processes.