Many project professionals see the growing demand in organizations for an agile approach to project management. But introducing Agile methods like Scrum to a traditional organization can be a revolutionary process, with a high risk of failure if conditions aren't right for adoption. In this session, we'll show you how to use the language of Lean (from Lean Manufacturing) and the evolutionary change model of kanban visual management to introduce Agile to your organization, and achieve the promised benefits of Agile "one step at a time". Bio: Jon Terry is co-Chief Executive Officer of LeanKit. Before LeanKit, Jon held a number of senior IT positions with hospital-giant HCA and its logistics subsidiary, HealthTrust Purchasing Group. He was among those responsible for launching HCA’s adoption of Lean/Agile methods. Jon earned his Global Executive MBA from Georgetown University and ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, and his Masters Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University. He is a Project Management Professional, a Certified Scrum Master, a Kanban Coaching Professional, is certified in the Lean Construction Institute’s Last Planner Method, and trained in the SAFe Lean Systems Engineering method.

1. @leankitjon
Kanban
An evolutionary approach to agility

2. @leankitjon
Change is a given
We can’t control it
Prepare for bad
Embrace good
Water-fail
Laundry List
Gold plate
Slap Together
Blamestorm

3. @leankitjon
Many people you
meet will have a
narrow software
development
centric view of
modern
management ideas
Agile
Scrum
XP
LeanKanban?
DSDM
Nope

4. @leankitjon
1950s-1980s 1980s 1990s 2000s Today
Just-In-Time
Kanban
Lean
(Manufacturing)
Lean IT
(SAFe & ITSM)
Lean
Engineering
Toyota
Production
System
Six Sigma
TQM
Agile
XP
Scrum
Lean
Construction
Lean (Startup)
Enterprise
DevOpsUnderstanding shared heritage
broadens learning and eases
communication

5. @leankitjon
Kanban is a means to an end
Helping teams apply Lean
principles
Eliminate
Waste
Build
Quality In
Create
Knowledge
Defer
Commitment
Deliver
Fast
Respect
People
Optimize the
Whole
Process
Skilled
People
Tools&
Technology

6. @leankitjon
What is this? Why should I care?
How?Who will notice?
Why? What else?
FSGD
One of Many Lean Tools

7. @leankitjon
We use sticky notes
But …
There’s a bit more
than that
YepThe Kanban Method

8. @leankitjon
Value Stream Mapping

9. @leankitjon
The quickest path
to agility is to start
from where you are
today.
1. Visualize the (current) workflow
2. Limit Work-in-Progress (WIP) *
3. Manage (for smooth) flow
4. Make process policies explicit
5. Implement feedback loops
6. Improve collaboratively
using Kanban to implement Lean
Evolve
* Often implicitly at first
Kanban Principles

10. @leankitjon
This is Greek to me. So are many/most project deliverables to
non-specialists

11. @leankitjon
A picture translates complexity into a simple pattern
we can all digest

12. @leankitjon
Map out your real,
current process.
Not what your
policy manual says
1. Have each team member write down a few of
their current work items
2. Ask each person to pick one at a time
3. Have them describe:
• What am I doing to it now?
• Who had it before & what were they doing with it?
• Who will I hand it to next, to do what?
Visualize
Workflow
Exercise

13. @leankitjon
Cards are (usually) nouns, lanes are verbs

14. @leankitjon
As the manager,
only add your
“official” list after
Exercise
1. Have each team member list their full, current
workload
2. Have them assign each item a type: UX
feature, API feature, defect, task, etc
3. Collate the work types they defined into one
list and assign each a card color
4. Turn the lists into cards and place them in the
correct lane on the board
Visualize
Workflow

15. @leankitjon
Be succinct and focus on results. Try to limit types of
work

16. @leankitjon
Be succinct and focus on results. Try to limit types of
work

17. @leankitjon
Focus on delivery of
value by the team,
not individual
activity
Daily(at first) Standup
Allow a fixed time period – 1 min/person
Ensure board is complete & accurate
Are there expedites or blockers?
Otherwise, walk the board from right to left a
card at a time
• What’s needed to advance this item?
• Who can help?
Stop when time runs out
Feedback
Loops

18. @leankitjon
Hold regular retrospectives …. but stop-the-line for
bottlenecks

19. @leankitjon
Aim for a small,
shared list of
actionable items,
not a laundry list
Retrospectives
1. Let data be your guide
2. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
3. Common root cause answers:
• Hidden WIP
• Stop starting, start finishing
• Downstream/external blockages
• Uneven sizing
• Parallel processes
• Rework
Feedback
Loops

20. @leankitjon
Control charts allow targeted process improvements

21. @leankitjon
Better decomposition and delivery speed trends can
replace point story estimating

22. @leankitjon
Estimating is Waste: Decompose instead
The way we think about this at LeanKit …
● A DIV can be completely finished to production in the dark by
a squad in 5 business days or less with 90% confidence
● An A3 can be completely finished to production in the dark by
a squad in 4 weeks or less with 90% confidence
● An A3 must be clearly divisible into 3+ divs that meet the
above standard
● A squad shouldn’t be working on multiple A3s in a sweep. We
need to focus on getting one key thing done well not several
poorly
● A theme should be no more than 3 squad sweeps, ie one
squad for three sweeps or three squads for one sweep, etc.
● Larger than that should be a serious executive risk decision.
We are placing a lot of weight on a hypothesis
● We would rather invest 1-3 sweeps in something initially and
make a decision to proceed further based on multiple
successful div deployments that show progress.

23. @leankitjon
Splitting process steps into active/waiting queues
makes flow more clear

24. @leankitjon
Swimlanes can represent different workflows or
partner teams

25. @leankitjon
Once work visible & process is clear, WIP limits can
balance capacity

26. @leankitjon
Start from where
you are today, even
(especially) if that’s
Scrum
1. Visualize the (current) workflow
2. Limit Work-in-Progress (WIP) *
3. Manage (for smooth) flow
4. Make process policies explicit
5. Implement feedback loops
6. Improve collaboratively
using Kanban to apply new models
Evolve
* Often implicitly at first
Kanban Principles

27. @leankitjon
Release 1
Iteration 1
Iteration
Planning
Daily
Standup
Demo /
Retro
Iteration n
Iteration
Planning
Daily
Standup
Demo /
Retro
Iteration
Backlog
Fixed Time and People
Not
Done
Iteration
Backlog
Not
Done
Product
Owner
Ideas
Product Backlog
Release Planning
Release Backlog
Scrum mandates new roles, “rituals” and cadence for a team
The Scrum Framework
Scrum
master

28. @leankitjon
Look beyond the
tactical practices to
gain real value.
The real value is in
the principles.
Do BothScrum
• A structure of new roles, “rituals” and cadence
• No prohibition against visualization, WIP limitation or
flow measurement
• A mature Scrum team with good technical practices
often looks awfully Kanban-ish
Kanban
• Evolution through measurement
• No opinion on roles, meetings or iterations
• Software dev teams who use Kanban to become
more Agile often act quite Scrum-y

29. @leankitjon
leankit.com/learn
• Articles
• E-books
• Webinars
• Templates
• Case Studies
Key Reading Online

30. @leankitjon
leankit.com/learn
• Articles
• E-books
• Webinars
• Templates
• Case Studies
Key Reading
Kanban: Successful evolutionary change for your technology
business
- David J. Anderson
Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life
- Jim Benson, Tonianne DeMaria Barry
Real-World Kanban: Do Less, Accomplish More with Lean Thinking
- Mattias Skarin
Lean from the Trenches: Managing Large-Scale Projects with Kanban
- Henrik Kniberg
Principles of Product Development Flow
- Don Reinertsen
Online

31. www.leankit.com
@leankitjon
©2016 LeanKit Inc.