Kanban is considered very light-weight yet very effective method helping teams to organize their work and make their flow effective but most importantly to foster continuous improvement. Cost of introducing Kanban is very low and usually first effects of its implementation show up pretty quickly. However it doesn't mean that Kanban will survive in any environment. The method has some weak spots, which a team should take care of, otherwise there can be little value of introducing it. Addressing potential issues related to Kanban implementation is as crucial to its success as knowing its strengths. It is also very important to plan for those risks so a team can get much value out of introducing them method. The presentation discusses a number of different Kanban weak spots, showing their negative effects and advising how they can be avoided which helps teams to make improvements fostered by Kanban sustainable. Both: problems and solutions are based on real-life stories of teams facing issues connected with adopting Kanban.

1. Kanban weak spots
Pawel Brodzinski
@pawelbrodzinski
#lkce11

2. PEOPLE!
With a special thanks to Katherine Kirk

3. But you change the system,
not the people!
With a special thanks to Bob Marshall

4. Thank you
Questions?
Pawel Brodzinski
blog.brodzinski.com
vsoft.pl
@pawelbrodzinski

5. Hi, I’m Pawel
and I’m happy
to meet you here
VSoft
http://vsoft.pl
Software Project
Management
http://blog.brodzinski.com
Twitter
@pawelbrodzinski

6. Let me introduce a party of
heroes...

7. I mean, another party of heroes

8. The party
wanted to
level up as
this is what
heroes do...

9. ...so they
decided to join
the Kanban
Guild

10. THE GOAL: Don’t fail with
Kanban implementation

11. QUEST 1: The Kanban board
not up to date

12. 2 3 2 1

13. 2 3 2 1

14. 2 3 2 1

15. 2 3 2 1

16. 2 3 2 1

17. Treat the board as the main source
of information about the reality

18. Quest
completed!

19. QUEST 2:
Abused
limits

20. 2 3 2 1

21. 2 8 6 4

22. Make abusing limits painful

23. Quest
completed!

24. QUEST 3:
Suddenly,
the board
stood still

25. 2 3 2 1

26. 2 3 2 1

27. 2 3 2 1

28. 2 3 2 1

29. Create and exploit ocassions to
change Kanban board

30. Quest
completed!

31. QUEST 4:
Wishful
I WISH WE HAD
thinking NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER
IN OUR PROJECT…

32. 2 4 4 2

33. 2 4 2

34. Keep the board aligned with the
reality, whatever it takes

35. Quest
completed!

36. QUEST 5:
Over-engineers ahead!

37. 6 9 6 6

38. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)

39. Quest
completed!

40. QUEST 6: Kanban as Project
Management or Software
Development method

41. Learn and apply what you learned

42. Quest
completed!
Level up!

43. Kanban is simple
But it also means
it is fragile

44. Kanban
is like a
flower...

45. And if
you do,
than well…

46. Thank you
Questions?
Pawel Brodzinski
blog.brodzinski.com
vsoft.pl
@pawelbrodzinski