The Beauty of Kanban: Manage Any Project Gracefully
#kanban #project #management8 min read
Kanban is a thing of beauty. It’s a simple, flexible, yet elegant system to manage a project and visualize workflow.
It’s wonderful when you can take just one glance and see the current state of the project, which can be nerve-calming or nerve-wracking depending on how it looks. But the reflection of reality provides useful feedback to make smart decisions about what, when, and how much to deliver, and that is lovely.
Table of Contents
What is Kanban?
Kanban (看板 [kambaN], pronounced as ‘kambang’, meaning signboard) as a project management tool we know today was first implemented by David J. Anderson at Microsoft and Corbis in the 2000s as
Although the original Kanban system was developed by an industrial engineer, Taiichi Ohno, in 1940 to improve Toyota’s manufacturing efficiency, Ohno’s method was based on just-in-time manufacturing principles and more like a supply-chain and production management system where you “produce what is needed only when it’s needed,” while David J. Anderson has adapted the philosophy from manufacturing to software project management to coordinate tasks between team members.
“The reality is that the idea to adopt virtual kanban systems from manufacturing to software engineer came from Dan Reinertsen. Dragos Dumitriu and I implemented it.” – David J Anderson
Despite being used in a different context, both methods share two of the core principles that make Kanban a beautiful workflow management system:
- Workflow visualization
- Work-in-Progress limit
Ohno said that to do Kanban effectively, you must follow strict rules. Having strong principles, or limitations, helps us be flexible without crumbling all over the place. Now, let’s dive into how you can adopt these principles and make them work for any project you have.
How to Kanban?
The simplest way to apply Kanban is to put each task in your current project into a single card, using a physical board of any software you prefer. Then sort them into three fundamental flow stages: To-do → In-progress → Done. You can further divide these stages however you like to reflect the nature of your projects. But keep them as minimal as possible.
Example of Kanban Software:
- Trello
- Jira
- Asana
- Notion
This In-progress stage helps us focus on what we must work on; the real productivity begins here.
Visualize Workflow
For The Daily Rituals, I stick to the basics:
- Backlog → To-do → Doing → Done
If you have a writing project, you can divide the stages into:
- Ideas → To-write → Write → Edit → Published
For a small programming project, you can try something like:
- Backlog → To-do → Develop → Test → Done
If you have to organize a party, an event, or maybe a workshop, what would your workflow look like?
Ideas or Backlog columns can be used to dump in all the tasks and anything imaginable that you want to do in the project but still can’t figure out whether it is needed or not. For smaller projects with fewer tasks, this column can be optional.
To-write or To-do columns are for current top-priority tasks that you haven’t started yet and they still could be changed or rearranged. I find the To-do stage greatly helps me mentally prepare for upcoming tasks.
Write or Develop columns are for in-progress tasks. In example cases, Edit or Test columns are also a part of the in-progress stage as well, but we divide them into extra steps to visualize the flow more clearly. You can also add a Research column before Write if that works better for your workflow.
Published or Done columns are for finished tasks. This is where you can see the total output of your workflow. It also gives you a little dopamine boost by reminding you of all the hard work that has been done.
Work-in-Progress Limit
The second principle that makes Kanban beautiful is the Work-in-Progress (WIP) limit. It means you are not taking on more workload than you can handle. Instead of tasks being pushed into the flow, tasks are pulled in as your capacity allows.
Whenever a bottleneck occurs, it signifies inefficiency in the flow that needs to be addressed.
The Benefits of WIP Limit:
- Limit unnecessary multi-tasking
- Prevent excess tasks from building up
- Force task prioritization
- Help detect problems in the workflow.
- Increase workload awareness
The limit depends on the nature of each project, and it should be realistic and reasonable. If it’s a solo project, the odds are that you will have to go with about 1-2 limits per stage. For a group project, begin with the minimum limit possible. And if you find that somebody in the group is idling and has nothing to do, you can then adjust the limit accordingly. Again, you don’t have to work at your maximum capacity all the time if it compromises work quality. So think carefully.
For example, my flow may look something like this:
- Ideas → To-write (2) → Write (1) → Edit (1) → Published
- Backlog → To-do (2) → Do (2) → Test (1) → Done
Will it be efficient? Who knows? The only way to know is when we’re actually working. Kanban is a system to help us organize work better and improve workflow. So it is crucial to review the board and improve the flow regularly. And remember this,
If it doesn’t break the project, don’t break the limit.
Kanban in Action
Since our brain processes visual information better, I’ve found the simple Kanban intro by Henrik Kniberg below helpful in grasping what a Kanban flow looks like. You may also want to try this Agile Game by Octigo to simulate the feeling of a live project.
Kanban Good Practices
There are no right or wrong ways to apply Kanban to suit your project’s needs—use your creativity to create a board that serves you well. However, adhering to sound practices helps increase productivity and reduce frustration. Here are some practical tips to get the most out of your Kanban board.
Start simple, then evolve along the way: Recite Gall’s Law three times a day if you need to, “A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. The inverse proposition also appears to be true: a complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be made to work. You have to start over, beginning with a simple system.”
The board must reflect reality: Avoid trying to make the board look pleasing by ignoring the sad reality creeping up. This can lead to making bad decisions. The board should accurately represent the current state of your workflow.
Don’t break the limit: It’s there for a reason. Take it seriously and don’t go over the limit.
Focus on the right tasks: Prioritize. You’ve heard a thousand times that focus is the key to productivity. But no highly sophisticated system in any world can save you from inefficiency born of focusing on the wrong tasks. Kanban helps you stay focused but you should help by choosing the right tasks. Set your priorities carefully.
Avoid moving cards backward: The flow must go on. If you keep moving back and forth, you will interrupt the workflow and create a mess. When a card gets stuck and cannot move forward for some reason, which could happen especially because of unexpected events, try to find a workaround that makes sense to your project. Analyze the problem and see if you can prevent it from happening or be more prepared if it comes up again.
Review the board regularly: The flow is dynamic and constantly changing; you must always actively improve the flow. When Kanban doesn’t work, it’s often because of a lack of reviewing or improving the flow. Get the visual feedback from Kanban and see how you can prioritize your tasks better, how you can improve efficiency, is the workload reasonable?, and most importantly, is it realistic?
Flow Is Beautiful
“To build your working life around the experience of flow produced by deep work is a proven path to deep satisfaction.” - Cal Newport
The concept of flow is the heart of Kanban. We aim to create value and do so optimally, and Kanban is a great way to optimize value by optimizing flow. It guides us in finding the right balance between workload, capacity, and efficiency.
Multitasking or switching between tasks, interrupting the flow, costs us time and mental energy which could reduce our productivity by up to 40%. Kanban forces us to stay with the task and finish it. The efficiency rises, boosting productivity.
Lastly, new tasks added to the backlog don’t distract us. They don’t force us to change or ruin our workflow. Unplanned stuff is not so frustrating when we have a bird’s-eye view of the whole project and know where new stuff fits—or doesn’t. It’s peaceful to have a quality focus on a task without worrying about other moving parts.
I hope you find the beauty of the Kanban methodology, apply it in a way that best serves you, and benefit from the improvement of your workflow.
Be kind, be happy.