The Agile Attorney Podcast 085. Make Work Visible: Using Kanban Boards To Manage Your Law Firm’s Capacity
Sep 2, 2025
Discover how knowledge work often remains hidden, leading to overwhelming capacity issues. Learn how Kanban boards can transform invisible commitments into visible tasks, facilitating better communication and decision-making. Explore the power of prioritizing visible work, identifying bottlenecks, and enhancing team workflow and onboarding. Hear how this system fosters psychological safety and objective discussions, ultimately improving overall efficiency. Plus, tips on measuring progress and ensuring leadership is aware of team capacity!
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Knowledge Work Hides Capacity Problems
- Knowledge work hides in inboxes, chat threads, and people's heads, making capacity invisible.
- Making work visible is the primary antidote to hidden overcommitment and coordination costs.
Use Kanban Cards And Limits To Quantify Load
- Use a Kanban board (sticky notes or software) to turn commitments into countable visible items.
- Pair boards with WIP limits or Q columns to eliminate guesswork about team capacity.
Boards Reveal Bottlenecks And Date Collisions
- Visible boards expose bottlenecks where work piles up, often in client homework, internal review, or long phases like discovery.
- Spotting those piles lets you manage timing and prevent date collisions and capacity overloads.