{"id":5003235,"date":"2015-12-16T23:01:43","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T07:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aadev22.local\/?post_type=aa_glossary&#038;p=5003235"},"modified":"2023-03-12T12:41:02","modified_gmt":"2023-03-12T19:41:02","slug":"kanban-board","status":"publish","type":"aa_glossary","link":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/kanban-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Kanban Board"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the context of Agile teams where the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/kanban\/\">Kanban method<\/a>\u201d of continuous improvement (or some of its concepts) has been followed, the following adaptations are often seen:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>such teams deemphasize the use of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/iteration\/\">iterations<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/estimation\/\">effort estimates<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/velocity\/\">velocity<\/a>\u00a0as a primary measure of progress;<\/li>\n<li>they rely on measures of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/lead-time\/\">lead time<\/a>\u00a0or cycle time instead of velocity;<\/li>\n<li>and in the most visible alteration, they replace the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/taskboard\/\">task board<\/a>\u00a0with a \u201ckanban board\u201d:<\/li>\n<li>unlike a task board, the kanban board is not \u201creset\u201d at the beginning of each iteration<\/li>\n<li>its columns represent the different processing states of a \u201cunit of value\u201d, which is generally (but not necessarily) equated with a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/user-stories\/\">user story<\/a><\/li>\n<li>in addition, each column may have associated with it a \u201cWIP limit\u201d (for \u201cwork in process\u201d or \u201cwork in progress\u201d): if a given state, for instance \u201cin manual testing\u201d, has a WIP limit of, say, 2, then the team \u201cmay not\u201d start testing a third user story if two are already being worked on<\/li>\n<li>whenever such a situation arises, the priority is to clear current work-in-process, and team members will \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/blog.crisp.se\/2009\/06\/26\/henrikkniberg\/1246053060000\">swarm<\/a>\u201d to help those working on the activity that\u2019s blocking the flow<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Also Known As<\/h2>\n<p>The term \u201ckanban\u201d is Japanese (\u770b\u677f), with the sense of a sign, poster, or billboard, and derived from roots that literally translate as \u201cvisual board\u201d. Its meaning within the Agile context is borrowed from the Toyota Production System, which designates a system to control the inventory levels of various parts. It is analogous to (and in fact inspired by) cards placed behind products on supermarket shelves to signal \u201cout of stock\u201d items and trigger a resupply \u201cjust in time\u201d. The Toyota system affords a precise accounting of inventory or \u201cwork in process\u201d, and strives for a reduction of inventory levels, considered wasteful and harmful to performance. The phrase \u201cKanban method\u201d also refers to an approach to continuous improvement that relies on visualizing the current system of work scheduling, managing \u201cflow\u201d as the primary measure of performance, and whole-system optimization \u2013 as a process improvement approach, it does not prescribe any particular practices.<\/p>\n<h2>Common Pitfalls<\/h2>\n<p>Kanban boards are generally more sophisticated than \u201cmere\u201d task boards. This is not a mistake in and of itself; however, it is not advisable that the kanban board should serve as a pretext to reintroduce a \u201cwaterfall\u201d-like, linear sequence of activities structuring the process of software development. This may lead to the creation of information silos or over-specialization among team members. In particular, teams should be wary of kanban boards not accompanied by WIP limits, not only defined but also enforced with respect to demands from managers, customers, or other stakeholders. It is from these limits that the kanban approach derives its effectiveness.<\/p>\n<h2>Expected Benefits<\/h2>\n<p>In some contexts, measuring lead time rather than velocity, and dispensing with the regular rhythm of iterations, may be the more appropriate choice: for instance, when there is little concern with achieving a specific release date, or when the team\u2019s work is by nature continuous and ongoing, such as enhancement or maintenance, in particular of more than one product. At the risk of oversimplifying, a \u201ckanban board\u201d setup can be considered first for efforts involving maintenance or ongoing evolution, whereas a \u201ctask board\u201d setup may be a more natural first choice in efforts described as \u201cprojects\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2>Origins<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>2001: Mary Poppendieck\u2019s article, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/drdobbs.com\/architecture-and-design\/184414734\">Lean Programming<\/a>\u201c, draws attention to the structural parallels between Agile and the ideas known as Lean or the \u201cToyota Production System\u201d<\/li>\n<li>2003: expanding on their earlier work on Lean Programming, Mary and Tom Poppendieck\u2019s book \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0321150783\">Lean Software Development<\/a>\u201d describes the Agile task board as a \u201csoftware kanban system\u201d<\/li>\n<li>2007: the first few experience reports from teams using the specific set of alterations known as \u201ckanban\u201d (no iterations, no estimates, continuous task boards with WIP limits) are published, including reports from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.agilemanagement.net\/AMPDFArchive\/KanbanAtLeanNPD.pdf\">Corbis<\/a>\u00a0(David Anderson) and BueTech (Arlo Belshee)<\/li>\n<li>2007: the \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/guide.agilealliance.org\/guide\/finance.groups.yahoo.com\/group\/kanbandev\/messages\/1\">kanbandev<\/a>\u201d mailing list is formed to provide a venue for discussion of kanban-inspired Agile planning practices<\/li>\n<li>2009: two entities dedicated to exploring the kanban approach are formed, one addressing business concerns, the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.leanssc.org\/\">LSSC<\/a>,\u00a0and a more informal one aimed at giving the community more visibility: the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.limitedwipsociety.org\/\">Limited WIP Society<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Kanban Board is a visual workflow tool consisting of multiple columns. Each column represents a different stage in the workflow process. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6000331,"featured_media":8067461,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[908],"tags":[837],"class_list":["post-5003235","aa_glossary","type-aa_glossary","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-process","tag-velocity"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/aa_glossary\/5003235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/aa_glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/aa_glossary"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6000331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5003235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/aa_glossary\/5003235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8067461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5003235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5003235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5003235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}