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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
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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
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Introductions
New to lean‐agile?
New to kanban?
Team role?
Desired class outcome?
Anything else?
Who are you?Who are you?
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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
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“Successful evolutionary change for your technology business”
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Kanban Training 2012
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
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What is a kanban (pull) system?
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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
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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
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Context Switching
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5 Core Practices for Successful Kanban Adoption
1. Visualize2. Limit Work-in-Progress3. Manage Flow4. Make Process Policies
Explicit5. Improve Collaboratively
(using models)
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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
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Context Setting…
Apply all 5 of these practices to your specific context to
improve the way you work.
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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
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KANBAN MECHANICS
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VISUALIZATION: WORK ITEM TYPES
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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
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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
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Example Work Item Types
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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?
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Color can be used to distinguish between different work item types
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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?
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• 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
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VISUALIZATION: WORKFLOW MODELING
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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
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“95% of the problem is in the system”
-W. Edwards Deming
“95% of the problem is in the system”
-W. Edwards Deming
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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)
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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
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Design Pull‐System Card Wall
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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)
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Lonely Planet
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Putting it all together…
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Electronic Tools
http://wiki.limitedwipsociety. org/display/ltdwip/Tools
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• 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
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DAY 2
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UNDERSTANDING CUMULATIVE FLOW
DIAGRAMS
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Cumulative Flow Diagrams
CountCount(arrivals or departures)(arrivals or departures)
TimeTime(reporting intervals)(reporting intervals)
Process StatesProcess States
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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
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CFD—Work In Progress
WIP = (20 WIP = (20 ––
13)13)= 7 work items= 7 work items
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CFD—Lead Time
Approximate avg. cycle time =Approximate avg. cycle time =3/25 3/25 ––
3/20 = 5 days3/20 = 5 days
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CFDs & Predicting Issues
WhatWhat’’s going on?s going on?Is this good? Why?Is this good? Why?
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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
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CFDs & Predicting Issues
WhatWhat’’s going on?s going on?Is this good? Why?Is this good? Why?
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WORK IN PROGRESS LIMITS
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Example Kanban board simulation
5 4 43 2 2
Courtesy Olav Maassen, Xebia
Input Queue
Dev Ready In Prog Done
Build Ready
Test Release Ready
Stage Prod.DoneIn Prog
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?
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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)
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WIP Limits – Violating
Can WIP Limits ever be violated?
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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
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• 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
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SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS
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(Basic) Control Chart
Scatter plotScatter plotPercentiles Percentiles
50th
‐
5 days8585thth
‐‐
22 days22 days
9595thth
‐‐
40 days40 days
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Choosing an SLA
For standard class items, offer a target lead time based on the 85th
percentile.
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(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
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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
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• 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
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KANBAN STANDUPS
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BOTTLENECKS
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What is a bottleneck?
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Manage Bottlenecks
Elaboration
7070
Analysis Code Integration Test
Regression Test
Acceptance
6060 4040 3030 2020 3030
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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
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• 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
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VARIABILITY
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Let’s talk about Wimbledon…
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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
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• 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
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METRICS
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Manage using a few simple metrics
• Q uality• W IP• Cycle time (Lead Time)• Throughput
• Ultimately teams need to become “self- measuring”
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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
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Cycle Time Control Chart
Scatter plotScatter plotPercentiles Percentiles
50th
‐
5 days8585thth
‐‐
22 days22 days
9595thth
‐‐
40 days40 days
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Flow Efficiency = Work Time / Total Cycle Time
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• 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
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THANK-YOU!
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APPENDIX
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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
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CLASSES OF SERVICE
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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
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• Same groups as before• Ask Questions!
Exercise: Classes of Service
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THROUGHPUT PROJECTION
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Cum
ulat
ive
Qua
ntity
Time
Cumulative Flow DiagramCumulative Flow Diagram
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Cum
ulat
ive
Qua
ntity
Time
Cumulative Flow DiagramCumulative Flow Diagram
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Cum
ulat
ive
Qua
ntity
Time
Cumulative Flow DiagramCumulative Flow Diagram