Pre-Requisites

N/A

Lessons

Kanban methods have increased in popularity. Going beyond the manufacturing origins, more and more teams in information technology are adopting the practices. Kanban methods go beyond the visual aspects of the Kanban board. In addition to visualizing the work in progress, Kanban provides techniques to manage the flow of work and continuously improve on that flow. You learn how to focus on the work that is needed and reduce the time spent on the wrong work. Other advantages include flexibility of process, increased productivity, and improved efficiency. The concepts are easy to understand yet difficult to master.

The Kanban Workshop provides guidance on Kanban implementation and bootstrapping a Kanban system in your own organization. You will learn how Kanban is a cultural change initiative and what that shift means, how Kanban can be applied to your software development workflow, and how it differs from other development methods.

• Kanban origins, evolution, and benefits
• Kanban concepts, principles, and terminology
• Visualization of Work
• Limiting Work-In-Process
• Analyzing the Flow of Work
• Optimizing your Kanban system
• Continuous improvement culture
• Common misunderstandings and pitfalls of Kanban
• Experiments and analysis to improve team performance
• Kanban Metrics and Management Reporting

Course Outline
Section I: WelcomeSummary: General logistics for the class.
Topics covered:

• Housekeeping
• Course Objectives
• Introductions
• Instructor Bio
• Agenda
• Kanban Parking Lot

Section II: The Case for Change
Summary: Gain an overall understanding of the basic principles, and benefits of Kanban along with how it differs from other development methodologies. Review similar methodologies practiced in organizations today. Show how it differs from Scrum as an example.Topics covered:

• What is Lean
• What is Agile
• What is Kanban
• Why Kanban
• How Kanban differs from other methodologies
• Difference from Scrum
• Kanban Team and Roles

Objectives From Summary:

• Benefits of Kanban
• How Kanban differs from other Agile methodologies

Section III: Kanban Overview and Concepts
Summary: Learn the foundation of Kanban concepts, properties, and terminology. Understand the philosophy behind the Kanban framework and how it originated.Topics covered:

• Kanban's 5 Core Properties
• Kanban Emergent Behaviors
• General Concepts at high level

Objectives From Summary:

• Kanban origins and evolution
• The Kanban concepts, principles, and terminology
• Understand the Kanban core principles

Section IV: Implementing Kanban
Summary: The best way to understand Kanban is to go through the process of implementing it. This section goes through the various techniques and ceremonies associated with Kanban.Topics covered:

• Work Item Types
• Card Walls
• Workflow
• Queues and Buffers
• Cadences
• Work-in-Progress
• Bottlenecks
• Issues and Blocked Items

Objectives From Summary:

• Visualization of Work
• How to set up a Card Wall
• Setting Work-in-Process Limits
• Limiting Work-In-Process
• Analyzing the Flow of Work
• Learn to build visualization methods like a Kanban board
• Understand implementation approaches
• How to use Work Item Types
• Setting input and output limits

Section V: Metrics and Reporting
Summary: Kanban needs to report slightly different metrics than traditional or Agile project management. Understand how metrics and reporting differs in Kanban.Topics covered:

• Metrics Overview
• Tracking Work-in-Process
• Cumulative Flow Diagram
• Lead Time
• Trends
• Throughput

Objectives From Summary:

• Kanban Metrics and Management Reporting
• How to use metrics and tracking methods
• How to optimize the Flow of Work

Section VI: Scaling Kanban
Summary: Applying Kanban techniques to other types of efforts. How to track requirements, decouple work, and leverage the Minimal Marketable Release.Topics covered:

• Scaling Kanban for different size efforts
• Minimal Marketable Release
• Two-Tiered Card Walls
• Swim Lanes

Objectives From Summary:

• Understand considerations for scaling Kanban
• Learn how Kanban is used by software development teams
• Using the Minimum Marketable Release to break work down

Section VII: Improvements
Summary: Learn how to recognize opportunities for improvement in your Kanban system and what to do about them.Topics covered:

• Three types of Improvement Opportunities
• Estimations
• Class of Service
• Service Level Agreements
• Policies
• Issue Management and Escalation Policies

Objectives From Summary:

• Optimizing your Kanban system
• Practices to improve Kanban team performance
• Understand Service Level Agreements

Section VIII: Kanban Change Initiative
Summary: Understand the cultural change components of Kanban. Understand the goals behind the Kanban approach to change.Topics covered:

• Kaizen Culture
• Kaizen Mindset
• Agile Leadership
• Servant Leader
• Kotter's Model

Objectives From Summary:

• Continuous improvement culture
• Learn the role of Continuous Improvement

Section IX: Summary
Summary: Summarize key takeaways.Topics covered:

• Review Key Takeaways
• Review Kanban objectives board
• Survey Information

 Exercises
Summary: In-class exercises help to reinforce the fundamental principles of Kanban and the techniques that will increase its effectiveness. With our exercises, you will learn ways to leverage Kanban and lead your project to success.Topics covered:

• Review Kanban Emergent Behaviors
• Building a Kanban board
• Documenting a work flow
• Change a workflow into a Kanban system
• Kanban Simulation

Videos
Topics covered:

• Kanban pronunciation
• High Performing Tree
• Building a Kanban Board
• Six Sigma Career Day
• Changing the World

Cancellation Policy

If a change needs to be made to your public course registration (cancel, transfer, or substitution) ASPE must receive written notice via email at customerservice@aspeinc.com or fax at 919-816-1710. If a cancel or transfer request is made less than 15 business days prior to the class start date, payment will still be due, no refunds will be issued and you will be charged a $200 change fee. Your paid tuition will be available for one year to be used as a credit towards another course of equal value; only one reenrollment opportunity is allowed. Failure to attend the course without written notification will result in forfeiture of the full course price. Student substitutions may be made at any time prior to the start of class free of charge. If ASPE is forced to cancel a course for any reason, liability is limited to the registration fee only.