What is Kanban? A complete guide

Kanban, at its core, is a visual method for managing work that emphasizes flexibility and continuous improvement.  Initially developed in the manufacturing sector, Kanban has transcended its origins and found widespread application across various industries. Imagine a whiteboard with sticky notes representing tasks, each labeled with key information like description, priority, and stage of completion. This simple yet powerful system allows teams to visualize their workflow, identify bottlenecks, and adapt their process.

Now, step into IT service management (ITSM) and IT, where Kanban truly shines. Here, Kanban boards become digital dashboards and to track everything from software development tasks to incident tickets. IT teams leverage Kanban's focus on flow to optimize their processes, ensuring smooth delivery of IT services while meeting customer expectations. Kanban boards become central hubs for collaboration, allowing team members to see the big picture, identify dependencies, and resolve issues promptly. Moreover, Kanban's data-driven approach empowers IT professionals to continuously measure and improve their service delivery, ensuring efficient allocation of resources and timely resolution of critical issues. In essence, Kanban translates its generic strengths into a language that IT professionals understand, becoming an invaluable tool for streamlining operations and driving service excellence.

In this exploration, we will dive deep into the fundamentals of Kanban, unraveling its core principles and practices. More importantly, giving you a guide beyond the basics, providing insights into practical implementation strategies and sharing tips to maximize the benefits of Kanban that speak to your specific organizational context. By the end of this journey, you will not only grasp the essentials of Kanban but also own a deeper understanding of how to harness its potential to drive transformative change in your everyday life. Let’s start from the beginning.

The genesis and evolution of the Kanban Methodology

Did you know that the roots of Kanban can be traced back to the Toyota Production System (TPS), a revolutionary manufacturing philosophy developed by Toyota in the 1940s and 1950s? Following World War II, Toyota faced resource constraints and sought innovative ways to optimize production processes. Taiichi Ohno, an engineer at Toyota, played a pivotal role in conceptualizing the principles that would later evolve into the TPS and give birth to the Kanban methodology.

The term "Kanban" itself translates to "visual card" or "signal" in Japanese, embodying the fundamental concept of using visual cues to control and manage the flow of production. The system aimed to minimize waste, improve efficiency, and enhance productivity. Ohno drew inspiration from supermarkets, where stock levels were visually controlled by replenishing products based on customer demand.

Kanban, as an integral part of the TPS, and became a groundbreaking approach to just-in-time production. It introduced the idea of pull systems, where work is triggered by actual customer demand rather than being pushed through the system based on forecasts. This revolutionary shift in mindset marked a departure from traditional mass production methods. It paved the way for a more flexible, responsive, and economically efficient manufacturing process we still use today. Over the decades, the success of the Toyota Production System and Kanban principles spread beyond the automotive industry. Various industries, including software development, healthcare, and services, actively adopted Kanban to streamline processes and improve workflow management.

Recent improvements in Kanban for the modern era

While the foundational principles of Kanban were established in the 1950s within the Toyota Production System, it wasn't until 2007 that David J. Anderson formalized the Kanban Method as a standalone approach for knowledge work. Since then, Kanban has undergone significant adaptation and expansion across various areas, evolving beyond its manufacturing origins. In software development, Kanban gained popularity as an alternative to traditional project management methodologies, such as Scrum. Its focus on visualizing work, limiting work in progress, and continuously improving processes resonated with the need for agility and adaptability in the ever-changing software development landscape. 

In ITSM solutions for healthcare, Kanban has been successfully applied to improve patient care and optimize operational processes. Hospitals and healthcare providers use Kanban boards to visualize better patient flow, manage resources, and reduce bottlenecks in delivering overlapping medical services. The methodology's emphasis on continuous improvement aligns well with our healthcare industry's commitment to enhancing patient outcomes and efficiency within the hospital network. The service industry, including marketing, customer support, and project management, has also experienced a Kanban revolution. Service-oriented teams leverage Kanban boards to visualize tasks, prioritize work, and enhance collaboration.

As industries continue to embrace Kanban, the methodology's expansion reflects its enduring effectiveness in efficiency, collaboration, and responsiveness in a diverse landscape.

Key principles and components of Kanban

Kanban is a visual management method to optimize workflow efficiency and productivity, so emphasizing a pull-based approach to work makes the most sense. To give you an enhanced visual, if Kanban were a made-to-order option on the menu, it would be operating at its best by initiating tasks based on actual demand rather than being pushed through a system according to predefined schedules.

The key principles of Kanban to take away as a team:

• 1. Visualizing Workflow: Kanban encourages the use of visual boards, often referred to as Kanban boards, to represent the entire workflow. Tasks are visualized as cards, each progressing through different stages of the process. This transparency provides a clear and shared understanding of the work in progress

• 2. Limiting Work in Progress (WIP): To prevent overburdening teams and maintain a smooth workflow, Kanban limits the number of tasks allowed in each stage of the workflow. By doing so, teams can focus on completing existing tasks before initiating new ones, avoiding bottlenecks and promoting a more balanced workload.

• 3. Managing Flow: Kanban aims to ensure a steady and efficient flow of work through the system. Teams aim to minimize lead time, the time it takes for a task to move from initiation to completion, and focus on continuous delivery and improvement.

• 4. Making Policies Explicit: Kanban encourages teams to define explicit policies for how work is handled at each stage of the workflow. These policies clarify how tasks should progress, aiding in consistent decision-making and reducing ambiguity.

• 5. Feedback Loops and Continuous Improvement: Regular meetings, such as Kanban's daily stand-up meetings or periodic reviews, facilitate continuous feedback. By analyzing metrics and discussing challenges, teams can identify areas for improvement and adjust their processes accordingly.

• 6. Collaborative Evolution: Kanban acknowledges constant change, and teams should be adaptable. It promotes an evolutionary, incremental approach to change, allowing organizations to improve their processes based on feedback and evolving requirements gradually.

It’s important to note that Kanban serves as a flexible and adaptive framework for managing work, providing a visual representation of tasks, limiting work in progress, and fostering a continuous improvement mindset. These principles make Kanban applicable not only to manufacturing but also to knowledge work and various service industries where managing workflow and responding to changing demands lead to their (and who they serve) success. Within the same Kanban framework, several terms are crucial in managing and optimizing workflow. 

Learn how the terms 'swimlanes' and 'throughput’ have made their mark in creating harmony in the workplace:

• Swimlanes:

  • Definition: Swimlanes are horizontal divisions or lanes within a Kanban board that categorize or group tasks based on specific criteria. They visually represent different work categories, teams, or types of work.

  • Role within Kanban: Swimlanes help enhance the clarity and organization of the Kanban board. By dividing tasks into lanes, teams can quickly identify different work streams or priorities. For example, swimlanes might represent different teams, projects, or priority levels, allowing for better visualization and management of diverse work items within the same Kanban board.

• Throughput:

  • Definition: Throughput refers to the rate at which work items are completed or delivered over a specific period. It measures the efficiency of a team or process by quantifying the amount of work that successfully moves through the workflow and reaches completion.

  • Role within Kanban: Throughput is a key performance indicator in Kanban, providing insights into the team's productivity and the system's overall efficiency. By tracking the number of tasks completed within a given time frame, teams can assess their capacity, identify potential bottlenecks, and make informed decisions to improve workflow. Throughput helps teams set realistic expectations, optimize processes, and make adjustments to ensure a steady and balanced flow of work.

Implementing the Kanban method across workflows

Kanban's flexibility allows it to be applied to a wide range of organizational workflows, from individual tasks to complex projects and even across diverse industries. Here are prime examples that bring the adaptability of Kanban into the spotlight:

• Individual Task Management:

  • Example: A software developer uses a personal Kanban board to manage their tasks. Columns on the board might include "To Do," "In Progress," and "Done." The developer visualizes their work, limits tasks in progress, and ensures a steady flow by completing and moving tasks across the board.

• Team Collaboration:

  • Example: A marketing team uses a Kanban board to manage campaigns. Columns could represent stages like "Ideation," "Design," "Review," and "Launch." Each task card represents a specific campaign, allowing the team to visualize the progress, limit work in progress, and collaborate effectively.

• Project Management:

  • Example: A product development team uses Kanban to manage a software release. The board includes columns such as "Backlog," "Ready for Development," "Testing," and "Release." The team collaboratively works on features, limits work in progress, and maintains a constant flow to deliver the release on time.

• Portfolio Management:

  • Example: An organization uses Kanban at the portfolio level to manage multiple projects. Each project is represented by a swimlane, and columns could include "Initiation," "Planning," "Execution," and "Closure." The portfolio manager gains a holistic view of all projects, helping to balance resources and prioritize work effectively.

• Service Desk and Support:

  • Example: A customer support team implements Kanban to manage incoming support requests. Columns on the board might represent stages like "Received," "Assigned," "In Progress," and "Resolved." The team can control the number of open tickets, prioritize urgent issues, and maintain a smooth support workflow.

• Maintenance and Operations:

  • Example: A facility management team uses Kanban to handle maintenance tasks. Columns could include "Scheduled," "In Progress," "Inspection," and "Completed." The team visualizes preventive maintenance tasks, controls work in progress, and ensures efficient facility operations.

• Strategic Planning:

  • Example: An executive team uses Kanban to visualize strategic initiatives. Columns might represent stages like "Ideation," "Approval," "Execution," and "Review." This allows customer service representatives to track progress on strategic goals and adjust priorities based on changing organizational needs.

Kanban's adaptability stems from its principles rather than rigid rules, enabling organizations to tailor it to their unique workflows. Kanban’s flexibility makes it a valuable tool for organizations, including yours, seeking to optimize processes and adapt to dynamic environments.

Kanban vs. Scrum

While both Kanban and Scrum aim to improve delivery processes, their approaches differ significantly. Kanban's continuous delivery model offers flexibility, adaptability, and a steady flow of work, making it suitable for environments with evolving requirements. On the other hand, Scrum's sprint cycles provide a structured framework with fixed commitments and regular opportunities for review and adaptation. 

Learn how the choice between Kanban and Scrum can look like depending on your specific needs:

• Nature of Work:

  • Kanban: Emphasizes a continuous flow of work, with tasks pulled as needed. There are no predefined time-boxed iterations.

  • Scrum: Operates in fixed-length iterations called sprints, usually lasting 2-4 weeks, where a set amount of work is planned and committed to.

• Work Planning and Commitment:

  • Kanban: Does not require upfront planning for a specific time frame. Work items are continuously pulled as capacity allows, and priorities can be adjusted dynamically.

  • Scrum: Requires the team to plan a fixed amount of work during sprint planning. Commitments are made for the entire sprint, and changes are discouraged during the sprint.

• Flexibility and Adaptability:

  • Kanban: Offers high flexibility, allowing teams to respond quickly to changing priorities, emerging requirements, and customer feedback. New work items can be be introduced at any time.

  • Scrum: While adaptable within the sprint, changes to the committed work are discouraged during the sprint to maintain stability.

• Delivery Frequency:

  • Kanban: Supports continuous delivery, enabling teams to release work as soon as it is completed and tested. There are no fixed release points tied to specific time frames.

  • Scrum: Releases occur at the end of each sprint, regardless of whether all planned work is completed. This may lead to longer release cycles, especially if sprints are of considerable duration.

• Predictability:

  • Kanban: Provides a more predictable and steady work flow, making it easier to manage and measure lead times. Work items move through the system based on their priority and readiness.

  • Scrum: Predictability is tied to sprint cycles. While the team aims for a consistent velocity, uncertainties can arise during the sprint that may impact the predictability of completion.

• Work in Progress (WIP):

  • Kanban: Uses WIP limits to control the amount of work in progress, preventing overloading of the team. WIP limits help maintain a balanced flow of work.

  • Scrum: Relies on the commitment made during sprint planning. If the team encounters unexpected challenges, it may affect the ability to meet the sprint goals.

• Feedback Loop:

  • Kanban: Provides a continuous feedback loop as work items progress. Changes can be made based on immediate feedback, promoting quick adjustments and improvements.

  • Scrum: Feedback primarily occurs at the end of each sprint during the sprint review. Changes are implemented in the next sprint, introducing a delay in responding to feedback.

Although similar, there are many differences between Kanban and Scrum. It is important to review your specific needs and the offerings of these two methods before choosing the right one.

What is a Kanban Card?

A Kanban card visualizes a work item on a Kanban board, providing key information about the task or work in progress (WIP). The details included on a Kanban card vary based on the team's preferences and the specific requirements of the project, but including these details enhances transparency, communication, and coordination within the team:

• Task/Work Item Title: Clearly states the name or a brief description of the task or work item, making it easily identifiable on the board.

• Description/Details: Provides additional information or context about the task, helping team members understand the scope, requirements, or specific details related to the work.

• Assignee/Responsible Person: Indicates who is responsible for completing the task. This helps in assigning accountability and clarifying roles within the team.

• Due Date/Deadline: Specifies the deadline or target date for completing the task, facilitating time management and ensuring timely delivery.

• Priority: Communicates the priority level of the task, guiding team members on which tasks should be addressed first. It helps in managing work in progress effectively.

• Status: Reflects the current stage of the task within the workflow. Teams can quickly assess the progress of each task and identify bottlenecks or areas that may need attention.

• Tags/Labels: Allows for categorization or classification of tasks based on specific attributes, such as project phase, type of work, or urgency. Tags enhance the organization and retrieval of information.

• Dependencies: Highlights any dependencies or relationships between tasks. Understanding dependencies is crucial for managing workflow and ensuring tasks are addressed in the correct sequence.

• Comments/Communication Log: Provides a space for team members to leave comments, updates, or notes related to the task. This fosters communication and collaboration among team members.

• Cycle Time/Lead Time Metrics: Records the time it takes for the task to move from initiation to completion (cycle time) and the total time from initiation to delivery (lead time). These metrics help in assessing the efficiency of the workflow.

What is a Kanban Board?

Kanban boards foster transparency and clarity within teams by centralizing data. Kanban boards provide an instant and shared understanding of the team's work status by visually representing the entire workflow, from initial tasks to completed work. Each task is represented by a card on the board, showcasing essential details such as task titles, assignees, due dates, and current status. 

This visual depiction not only aids in tracking the progress of individual tasks but also allows team members to identify bottlenecks, assess work distribution, and collaborate effectively. WIP (work in progress) limits prevent overloading, ensuring a balanced workload. As seen in other methodologies, the continuous flow of tasks and the absence of fixed time frames contribute to an adaptive and dynamic environment. Our Kanban boards become dynamic information centers that enable your team to make data-driven decisions, encourage open communication, and promote a culture of continuous improvement within the organization.

Managing workflow and efficiency with Kanban in ITSM

Who knew that Work in Progress limits are crucial in ITSM Kanban for managing and optimizing workflow? By enhancing productivity with the Kanban task view, these limits can define the maximum number of tasks allowed in each workflow stage at any given time. 

The benefits of WIP limits are clear with these key points:

Work-in-progress (WIP) limits are a core concept in Lean IT and Kanban methodologies, aiming to optimize workflow efficiency and throughput within IT service management (ITSM) frameworks. Implementing WIP limits offers several advantages from both ITSM and IT perspectives:

ITSM Benefits:

• Improved flow and reduced lead times: Limiting the number of active tasks ensures resources (e.g., technicians, servers) aren't overloaded, preventing bottlenecks and expediting issue resolution. Faster resolution translates to better service levels and user satisfaction.

• Enhanced visibility and prioritization: With fewer active tasks, it's easier to visualize the workflow, identify and prioritize critical issues, and ensure teams focus on high-impact work.

• Reduced work in progress (WIP) bloat: Unmanaged WIP can lead to context switching, wasted effort, and delayed resolutions. WIP limits prevent this sprawl, streamlining work and improving team focus.

• Early identification of capacity constraints: WIP limits expose resource limitations as queues build up, prompting proactive action to adjust capacity or delegate tasks.

• Improved team morale: WIP limits decrease stress and context switching, allowing teams to concentrate on individual tasks, leading to higher morale and engagement.

IT Benefits:

• Increased resource utilization: WIP limits ensure resources are used effectively, preventing underutilization or burnout. This promotes efficient resource allocation and cost optimization.

• Improved predictability and planning: Stable WIP levels enable more accurate forecasting of team capacity and workload, aiding in better planning and scheduling of tasks.

• Reduced technical debt: By limiting WIP, teams can focus on completing tasks before moving on, minimizing the accumulation of unfinished work and potential technical debt.

• Enhanced decision-making: WIP limits create data-driven insights into team performance and workflow bottlenecks, empowering better decision-making for process improvement.

• Promotes continuous improvement: The focus on flow and bottlenecks encouraged by WIP limits fosters a culture of continuous improvement within IT teams.

Overall, WIP limits are a valuable tool for ITSM and IT teams, promoting streamlined workflows, improved service levels, better resource utilization, and ultimately, a more efficient and effective IT organization – metrics play a crucial role in the overall success of Kanban systems. These quantifiable measures act as guideposts, illuminating strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. Tracking metrics like lead times, and the time it takes to complete tasks helps identify bottlenecks and prioritize work effectively. Monitoring cycle times, the average time a task spends in each stage of the Kanban board exposes process inefficiencies and areas for streamlining. WIP (Work in Progress) limits provide valuable insights into resource utilization, preventing overload and ensuring smooth workflow. Tracking throughput and the number of tasks completed within a specific timeframe also measures team performance and efficiency, allowing for data-driven adjustments. Kanban metrics go beyond numbers; they empower informed decision-making, enable continuous improvement, and ultimately contribute to a more productive and responsive IT and ITSM environment. 

The advantages of adopting a Kanban process for IT

Implementing Kanban within our Freshervice product brings several benefits that contribute to improved delivery speed and increased employee satisfaction:

• Enhanced Visibility and Transparency:

  • Benefit: Kanban boards within Freshservice provide a clear and visual representation of tasks, allowing teams to see the entire workflow and the status of each item.

  • Impact: Improved visibility enables better collaboration, reduces miscommunication, and enhances overall transparency, fostering a shared understanding of work among team members.

• Optimized Workflow Management:

  • Benefit: Kanban in Freshservice allows teams to define and customize their workflow stages, ensuring alignment with their specific processes.

  • Impact: This customization facilitates workflow management optimisation, enabling teams to adapt Kanban to their unique requirements and work seamlessly within the Freshservice environment.

• Work in Progress (WIP) Limits:

  • Benefit: Implementing WIP limits prevents teams from overloading themselves with too many tasks, ensuring a balanced workload.

  • Impact: This control over work in progress helps maintain focus, reduce multitasking, and ultimately improve delivery speed and the quality of work.

• Quick Response to Customer Needs:

  • Benefit: With Kanban in Freshservice, teams can respond quickly to customer needs, addressing urgent tasks and adapting their workflow dynamically.

  • Impact: This agility in response time contributes to increased customer satisfaction by ensuring timely resolutions and efficient handling of customer requests.

• Continuous Improvement:

  • Benefit: Kanban encourages a culture of continuous improvement by providing metrics such as cycle time and throughput.

  • Impact: Teams using Freshservice with Kanban can analyze these metrics to identify bottlenecks, optimize processes, and make data-driven decisions, leading to continuous enhancements in efficiency and customer service.

• Reduced Lead Time:

  • Benefit: Kanban in Freshservice helps track and reduce lead time, the total time from task initiation to completion.

  • Impact: Shorter lead times mean faster delivery of products or services to customers, contributing to increased customer satisfaction and a more competitive edge in the market.

• Efficient Resource Utilization:

  • Benefit: Kanban within Freshservice ensures that teams allocate resources efficiently by limiting the number of tasks in progress.

  • Impact: This efficient resource utilization leads to optimized productivity, reduced waste, and better overall work management, positively impacting delivery speed and customer satisfaction.

Freshservice leverages the power of Kanban to boost ITSM productivity, offering several advantages for businesses. By visualizing workflows with Kanban boards, teams gain clear visibility of active tasks, prioritize effectively, and identify bottlenecks swiftly. Limiting Work in Progress (WIP) ensures smooth flow and faster issue resolution, ultimately improving service levels and user satisfaction. Additionally, Freshservice integrates Kanban seamlessly with other ITSM features, streamlining tasks and empowering better resource utilization. Whether aiming for reduced lead times, enhanced team morale, or data-driven decision-making, Freshservice Kanban is a valuable tool for optimizing ITSM productivity and achieving a more efficient IT environment.

Kanban method for continuous improvement and feedback

The IT Kanban method is a powerful driver of continuous improvement and feedback through its core structure and practices. Kanban boards' visual nature allows teams to easily identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies in their workflow. WIP limits prevent overload, creating breathing room for reflection and analysis. Regular review sessions encourage teams to discuss flow, identify roadblocks, and brainstorm solutions. Additionally, metrics generated through Kanban boards provide quantitative feedback on lead times, throughput, and team performance, highlighting areas for improvement. The flexible nature of Kanban allows for experimentation and rapid adaptation, enabling teams to implement changes quickly and measure their impact. Feedback from stakeholders and users can be readily incorporated into the process, further refining the workflow. Overall, the Kanban method fosters a culture of continuous improvement by promoting transparency, collaboration, and data-driven decision making, ultimately leading to a more efficient and responsive IT and ITSM environment.

Freshservice: Freshworks kanban solution

Freshservice offers a unique Kanban tool with features tailored for seamless integration with their suite of customer engagement solutions. The tool provides a user-friendly interface, allowing teams to visualize, customize, and manage workflows effortlessly. With collaboration features, real-time updates, and integrations, Freshworks' Kanban tool enhances transparency, communication, and overall efficiency. It addresses common challenges by providing a centralized platform for streamlined task management, reducing manual efforts, and fostering a collaborative environment, ultimately contributing to improved productivity and customer satisfaction.

Conclusion

With a comprehensive overview of the transformative power of Kanban in streamlining workflows, fostering collaboration, and driving continuous improvement, now it's time to try it for yourself. Explore the unique benefits of Kanban, whether by leveraging Freshworks's intuitive tools with a free trial or delving into further resources. Now is the perfect time to discover how Freshworks seamlessly integrates Kanban into its suite of customer engagement solutions. Take the first step towards optimizing your workflow - sign up for a free trial with Freshservice today and unlock your potential for improved productivity and customer satisfaction.