Daniel S. Vacantidavidfrico.com/vacanti12.pdf• Lower limits are better – Less work-in-progress (WIP) – Lower cycle times – More agile – More value delivery • Tight lower

Daniel S. VacantiCorporate Kanban

[email protected]@danvacanti

mailto:[email protected]

DO NOT REPRODUCE© Corporate Kanban 2012

Kanban Training 2012

AgendaDay One• Introduction to Kanban

– What is Kanban?– History/Background of Kanban

• Mechanics of Kanban– Work Item Types– Workflow Modeling– Work In Progress Limits

• GetKanban Game (a real Kanban simulation)• Retrospective



AgendaDay Two• Finish up Mechanics

– Leftovers from Day 1• Opportunities for Improvement

– Classes of Service– SLAs– How to run a Kanban Standup– Bottlenecks– Variability– Metrics

• Parking Lot• Retrospective



Introductions

New to lean‐agile?

New to kanban?

Team role?

Desired class outcome?

Anything else?

Who are you?Who are you?





Example Kanban board simulation

5 4 43 2 2

Flow

Courtesy Olav Maassen, Xebia

Input Queue

Dev Ready In Prog Done

Build Ready

Test Release Ready

Stage Prod.DoneIn Prog

DevelopmentAnalysis



“Successful evolutionary change for your technology business”



The Kanban Method The Kanban Method in a Nutshellin a Nutshell

Apply principles and techniques within a given context, to design and continuously improve a system of work (Context is King!)

Kanban is about provoking the right conversations around the best economic outcome for your organization



What is a kanban (pull) system?





A “Little” Queuing Theory

Average Cycle Time =Work in Progress

Throughput

where:

Cycle Time (CT) =how long it takes one item to go through the system

Work in Progress (WIP) =

how many items are in the system at any time

Throughput (TH) = how many items are produced per unit of time John Little



The cost of WIP in knowledge workKnowledge workis perishable

Slow to market, customer/world moves on

Hides inefficienciesand defective processes

Increases cycle timeand lead time

Builds on invalidated assumptions and unknown errors

Causes costlycontext switching

Adds clutter and management overhead

You tend to get waste and lower quality when you increase the time between:•when you need information and when you get it•when you make an error and when you discover it

Low quality,churn, rework, waste

Ties up working capital



Context Switching



5 Core Practices for Successful Kanban Adoption

1. Visualize2. Limit Work-in-Progress3. Manage Flow4. Make Process Policies

Explicit5. Improve Collaboratively

(using models)



5 Core Practices for Successful Kanban Adoption

1. Visualize2. Limit Work-in-Progress3. Manage Flow4. Make Process Policies

Explicit5. Improve Collaboratively

(using models)

Shallow

Deep



Context Setting…

Apply all 5 of these practices to your specific context to

improve the way you work.



Introductory Exercise: Context Analysis

• Split into groups• One volunteer per team• Determine who your customers are• List the types of work you do for those

customers• For each type of work analyze…

– Customer Expectations (even if unreasonable)– Arrival Rate (seasonal fluctuations?)

• Describe Sources of Customer Dissatisfaction– Or points of customer conflict– Identify any policies that affect customer

satisfaction• Describe Sources of Internal /Team

Dissatisfaction– Variability that randomizes the process– Prevents work being delivered on-time, with

good quality etc



KANBAN MECHANICS



VISUALIZATION: WORK ITEM TYPES




5 4 43 2 2

Flow


Input Queue


Build Ready

Test Release Ready


DevelopmentAnalysis



Work Item TypesWhat is a work item type?

– Requires Work (regardless of workflow)

– Want to make the work visible

– Want to track metrics against it



Example Work Item Types



Work Item Types

• Do you want to distinguish types by– How the definition of customer value is

captured (user story, use case, etc.)?– Source or destination of the work?– Regulatory Requirements?– Workflow?– Size of the work?– Something else?



Color can be used to distinguish between different work item types



Design Work Item Cards

Work Item ID

Dates:

ToDo, Doing, Done (steps in the workflow)

Sticky

Work Item Description

Priority?

Fixed Date?

Late?Blocked

Blocked

FrankFrank

Work Item Type by Color?





• Same groups as before• Define a set of work item types that flow

through the system• Decide how to visually communicate the

work item for each type in the system (e.g. what color for each type? cards of different sizes?)

• Design the layout of the work item type card– What information does the card need in

orderto adequately communicate status to the team?

• Please do not build a workflow (yet).• Ask Questions!

Exercise: Work Item Types



VISUALIZATION: WORKFLOW MODELING




5 4 43 2 2

Flow


Input Queue


Build Ready

Test Release Ready


DevelopmentAnalysis



“95% of the problem is in the system”

-W. Edwards Deming

“95% of the problem is in the system”

-W. Edwards Deming



Modeling the Workflow• First step is to change nothing (or as

little as possible)!• Define point to control input• Define point to control output• Identify steps in the value stream

from input to output and make them explicit on a visual control system (e.g. a whiteboard)



There is no such thing…

….as a “correct” visualization

What are the value-add steps in our existing process?

Focus on the how to highlight the “problem areas” from the context exercise

What follows are some sample visualization techniques for kanban boards



Design Pull‐System Card Wall



Consider Splitting Work Columns into

“In Progress”

and “Done”

Ready (6)Design (3) Development (5)

Test (3) DeployedDoing Done Doing Done

Possibly Use Swim Lanes

Ready (6)Design (3) Development (5)

Test (3) DeployedDoing Done Doing Done

Large (3)

Medium (5)

Small (9)



Lonely Planet





Putting it all together…



Electronic Tools

http://wiki.limitedwipsociety. org/display/ltdwip/Tools



• Same groups as before• Create a Kanban board to map and track

the workflow• What “problem” areas from the earlier

exercise do you want to visualize or highlight?

• What is the definition of done at each step of the workflow?

• Run some of the work items types you created previously through your board as a validation of your workflow.

• Do not consider WIP Limits (yet)!• Ask Questions!

Exercise: Workflow Modeling



DAY 2



UNDERSTANDING CUMULATIVE FLOW

DIAGRAMS



Cumulative Flow Diagrams

CountCount(arrivals or departures)(arrivals or departures)

TimeTime(reporting intervals)(reporting intervals)

Process StatesProcess States



Time

Cum

ulat

ive

Qua

ntity

WIP

Cycle TimeAr

rival

Departure (Throughput)

Cycle Time =Work in ProcessThroughput

CFD: Cycle Time, WIP, and ThroughputCFD: Cycle Time, WIP, and Throughput



CFD—Work In Progress

WIP = (20 WIP = (20 ––

13)13)= 7 work items= 7 work items



CFD—Lead Time

Approximate avg. cycle time =Approximate avg. cycle time =3/25 3/25 ––

3/20 = 5 days3/20 = 5 days



CFDs & Predicting Issues

WhatWhat’’s going on?s going on?Is this good? Why?Is this good? Why?



Visual signature can indicate dysfunction & predict quality problems

Project B Cumulative Flow

025

5075

100125

150175

9-O

ct

23-O

ct

6-N

ov

20-N

ov

4-D

ec

18-D

ec

1-Ja

n

15-J

an

29-J

an

12-F

eb

26-F

eb

11-M

ar

Time

Feat

ures

Inventory Started Designed Coded Complete



CFDs & Predicting Issues

WhatWhat’’s going on?s going on?Is this good? Why?Is this good? Why?



WORK IN PROGRESS LIMITS




5 4 43 2 2


Input Queue


Build Ready

Test Release Ready


DevelopmentAnalysis

WIP Limits represent the team’s capacity at each step in the workflow

WIP Limits can be grouped across columns and queues

They should be adjusted over time as the team’s capacity or capability changes

What about “unlimited” columns?



WIP Limits – Example Policies• Each person should work on no more than

2 items at a time– Hence, limit = number of people x 2

• Adjust policies based on your context– Non-dedicated resources– Other work– Vacation/Sick time

• Input (ready) queue must be large enough for one week of pull (or whatever cadence duration you choose)



WIP Limits – Violating

Can WIP Limits ever be violated?



WIP Limits – Other Thoughts• Lower limits are better

– Less work-in-progress (WIP)– Lower cycle times– More agile– More value delivery

• Tight lower limits inflict pain on the organization– Tight limits will cause work to stall (no flow)– Requires good skill in issue management & resolution

(impediment removal)– Requires capability in root cause analysis and resolution

• Lower maturity organizations should have looser limits• Higher maturity organizations tighter limits



• Same groups as before• What initial WIP limits make sense at

each step of the workflow?• Consider things that might affect your

WIP Limit decision:– Vacation/sick time– Specialized/Generalist Resources– Partially dedicated team members– What else?

• What might be some clues that you’ve set your WIP Limits too high? Too Low?

• Ask Questions!

Exercise: WIP Limits



SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS



(Basic) Control Chart

Scatter plotScatter plotPercentiles Percentiles

50th

‐

5 days8585thth

‐‐

22 days22 days

9595thth

‐‐

40 days40 days



Choosing an SLA

For standard class items, offer a target lead time based on the 85th

percentile.



(Basic) Control ChartScatter plotScatter plotPercentiles Percentiles

50th

‐

5 days8585thth

‐‐

22 days22 days

9595thth

‐‐

40 days40 days

For example, for standard items offer an SLA of 22 days



Consider offering packages of SLAs

• For expedite, offer as soon as possible with full transparency

• For fixed date, offer 100% with enough lead time notice

• For standard, offer 85% based on percentage coverage on control chart



• Same groups as before

• Take 10 minutes

• Suggest service level agreements– Make a guess (no real data available)– What percentage coverage number makes

sense for you?– Put together a package of SLAs as an offer to

the business to meet their needs

• Ask Questions!

Exercise: SLAs



KANBAN STANDUPS











BOTTLENECKS



What is a bottleneck?



Manage Bottlenecks

Elaboration

7070

Analysis Code Integration Test

Regression Test

Acceptance

6060 4040 3030 2020 3030







Non-instant Availability

• Looks like a bottleneck• Same thinking process applies

Management approach is similar but policies will be different depending on type of bottleneck CCR vs NIA



• Same groups as before• Take 15 minutes• Same groups as before• Where do you think there are bottlenecks in

your workflow?• What type of Bottleneck is it (capacity

constrained resource or non-instantly available)?

• What actions would you take to maximize the utilization of your bottleneck resource?

• What policies are required to subordinate everything else to your exploitation decision?– What policies would you remove or change?– What new policies must you introduce?

• Ask Questions!

Exercise: Bottlenecks



VARIABILITY



Let’s talk about Wimbledon…



Where is the bottleneck now?

Elaboration

70+/-1570+/-15

Analysis Code Integration Test

Regression Test

Acceptance

60+/-1560+/-15 40+/-1540+/-15 30+/-1530+/-15 20+/-1520+/-15 30+/-1530+/-15



• Same groups as before• Take 15 minutes• Same groups as before• List the policies under your control that

affect the time taken to complete value- added work– e.g. Code Inspections, Customer Review

• What levers can you pull and how might they affect risk?– e.g. removing code inspections

• List typical events out of your control that randomize your plans and schedules

• What actions might you take to mitigate the effects of these external events

• Ask Questions!

Exercise: Variability



METRICS



Manage using a few simple metrics

• Q uality• W IP• Cycle time (Lead Time)• Throughput

• Ultimately teams need to become “self- measuring”



Why focus on quality?• Defects increase WIP (thus increasing

cycle—or lead—times and could lead to yet more defects).

• Defects represent extra demand on the system that will have to compete for resources with other value-add work

• Usually the easiest way to increase throughput is to focus on quality



Cycle Time Control Chart

Scatter plotScatter plotPercentiles Percentiles

50th

‐

5 days8585thth

‐‐

22 days22 days

9595thth

‐‐

40 days40 days



Flow Efficiency = Work Time / Total Cycle Time



• Same groups as before• Take 15 minutes• What metrics would you track?• Who is the audience for the metrics?• Can you identify day-to-day (leading

indicator) metrics used for management intervention?

• Versus weekly, monthly, quarterly (lagging indicator) metrics used for executive reporting, customer satisfaction and assessment of continuous improvement?

• Ask Questions!

Exercise: Metrics



THANK-YOU!



APPENDIX



What you will learn• What it means to take an evolutionary/continuous improvement

approach to software development • A brief history of the principles of lean• How those principles can be used to guide for software development• How to identify and visualize work item types• How to model and visualize workflows• How to set and manage Work in Progress limits• What classes of service are and how to utilize them for process

improvement• How to introduce cycle time targets and manage due date

performance• How to run a Kanban Standup• How to identify and manage bottlenecks• How to identify and manage variability• How to identify other opportunities for improvement• How to capture and interpret metrics



CLASSES OF SERVICE



Class of Service• Shortcut for heavy-weight prioritization activities• Policies for order of pull• Prioritization can be done “just-in-time”• Essentially based on a risk profile• What is the most important element of risk that you are

trying to mitigate?: cost of delay, product feature mix, technical complexity, etc.

• Mitigate risk with capacity allocation



• Same groups as before• Ask Questions!

Exercise: Classes of Service



THROUGHPUT PROJECTION



Cum

ulat

ive

Qua

ntity

Time

Cumulative Flow DiagramCumulative Flow Diagram



Cum

ulat

ive

Qua

ntity

Time




Cum

ulat

ive

Qua

ntity

Time


Documents

Daniel S. Vacantidavidfrico.com/vacanti12.pdf• Lower limits are better – Less work-in-progress (WIP) – Lower cycle times – More agile – More value delivery • Tight lower