#166 - The Kanban Guide You Should Know About - Colleen Johnson
Mar 11, 2024
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Learn about optimizing workflow efficiency with Kanban strategy, managing dependencies in software companies, effective work visualization for team collaboration, and empowering women in Kanban. Discover the benefits of tracking work progress, managing blockers, and connecting online for Kanban discussions.
Kanban prioritizes efficiency, effectiveness, and predictability for optimal value delivery to customers.
Visual pull-based systems, well-defined workflow policies, and WIP limits empower teams in Kanban.
Tools like Jira and Trello help visualize tasks, enhancing work visibility and actionability.
Scaling Kanban to feature or epic levels improves focus and efficiency in complex organizational settings.
Deep dives
Kanban Strategy for Optimizing Value Flow
Kanban is a strategy focused on optimizing the flow of value to customers through efficiency, effectiveness, and predictability. Balancing these three goals is key, ensuring optimal delivery without compromising on quality or timelines.
Implementing Kanban Practices
Efficiency, effectiveness, and predictability in Kanban are achieved through practices like visual pull-based systems, well-defined workflow policies, WIP limits, and service level expectations. These practices empower teams to manage work effectively and efficiently.
Visualizing Work Items in Kanban
Visualizing work items in Kanban can be done using tools like Jira, Trello, or Miro, ensuring teams have a clear view of their tasks and progress. Creating visibility and actionability around work items is crucial for effective Kanban implementation.
Scaling Kanban at the Organizational Level
Scaling Kanban from the team to the feature or epic level can enhance focus and efficiency by limiting WIP and optimizing workflows. This approach ensures better flow of work and delivery, especially in multi-team or complex organizational settings.
Kanban Application in Times of Layoffs
During challenging times like layoffs, Kanban plays a crucial role in managing workload, maintaining sustainable pace, and balancing work influx against capacity. Kanban helps teams navigate changes effectively and ensures continued value delivery.
Women in Kanban Program
The Women in Kanban program offers mentorship and training opportunities for women interested in Kanban, providing a supportive community and guidance for learning and growing in the field. The program aims to empower women in Kanban and foster collaboration and skill development.
Technical Leadership Wisdom
In Kanban, focusing on system-level impact, sustainable pace, and human elements of work is crucial. Striking a balance between data-driven decisions and human-centric practices makes the work more effective and meaningful.
Connecting with Colin
To connect with Colin and engage with the ProKanban community, platforms like Slack, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Threads are available for discussions, questions, feedback, and collaboration. Accessing the Kanban pocket guide and resources from ProKanban can further enhance knowledge and understanding of Kanban practices.
“Kanban is a strategy for optimizing the flow of value to your customers by focusing on three main goals: efficiency, effectiveness, and predictability."
Colleen Johnson is the CEO of ProKanban, and in this episode, we delve into the fundamentals of Kanban and how you can use it to optimize your workflow. We start by defining Kanban and exploring its core principles. You’ll learn why work item age is the single most important aspect you should track in Kanban. Colleen then explains the concept of Service Level Expectation (SLE) and how it can improve predictability and client satisfaction. We also discuss the importance of smaller batch sizes, defining workflow policies, handling blockers, and the benefits of completing already started work items to optimize flow.
We also touch on scaling Kanban beyond an individual team and discuss why Kanban is suitable for navigating unpredictable situations like the current economic climate. Towards the end, Colleen shares Women in Kanban, a community and scholarship programme to empower women to excel in Kanban.
Listen out for:
Career Journey - [00:01:18]
Kanban - [00:04:24]
Work Item Age - [00:04:59]
Calculating Work Item Age - [00:10:20]
Small Batch Size - [00:13:08]
Service Level Expectation (SLE) - [00:16:54]
Managing Blockers - [00:21:05]
Stop Pulling More, Finish Open Work Items - [00:24:46]
Optimizing Flow - [00:28:14]
Scaling Kanban Beyond a Team - [00:30:17]
Kanban in the Current Tough Time - [00:34:37]
Tools to Get Started - [00:37:21]
Women in Kanban - [00:39:33]
Tech Lead Wisdom - [00:41:45]
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Colleen Johnson’s Bio Colleen is the CEO of ProKanban.org, an inclusive Kanban learning community. She is also co-founder of ScatterSpoke, a proud Atlassian Ventures Portfolio company driving actionable improvements through retrospective data. She has presented and taught agile to audiences around the world. As a coach, she has worked across a range of industries with clients like Wells Fargo, eTrade, Home Depot, Tanium, Gemini, and more. Colleen helps organizations apply a systems thinking approach to aligning agile methodologies end-to-end. She has served as a board member for Agile Denver, the Agile Uprising, and chair of the Mile High Agile Conference. She is happiest in the woods, camping with her three kids and very patient husband.
Manning Publications is a premier publisher of technical books on computer and software development topics for both experienced developers and new learners alike. Manning prides itself on being independently owned and operated, and for paving the way for innovative initiatives, such as early access book content and protection-free PDF formats that are now industry standard. Get a 45% discount for Tech Lead Journal listeners by using the code techlead45 for all products in all formats.
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