Introduction
============

What is Kanban?
---------------

Kanban is a methodology originally developed by Toyota to be more
efficient.

There are only two constraints imposed by Kanban:

-  Visualize your workflow
-  Limit your work in progress

Visualize your workflow
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-  Your work is displayed on a board so that you have a clear overview
   of your project
-  Each column represents a step in your workflow

Limit your work in progress
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-  Encourages focus by avoiding multitasking
-  Each phase can have work-in-progress limits
-  Limits help identify bottlenecks
-  Limits help avoid working on too many tasks at the same time

Performance Measurement
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kanban uses lead and cycle times to measure performance:

-  **Lead time**: Time between task creation and completion
-  **Cycle time**: Time between task start and completion

For example, you may have a lead time of 100 days but only have to work 1 hour to complete the task.

Kanban vs Todo lists
--------------------

Todo lists:
~~~~~~~~~~~

-  Single phase (just a list of items)
-  Multitasking possible (not efficient)

Kanban:
~~~~~~~

-  Multiple phases, each column represents a step
-  Bring focus and avoid multitasking by setting a work-in-progress limit per column

Kanban vs Scrum
---------------

Scrum:
~~~~~~

-  Sprints are time-boxed, usually 2 or 4 weeks
-  Do not allow changes during the iteration
-  Estimation is required
-  Uses velocity as default metric
-  Scrum board is cleared between sprints
-  Scrum has pre-defined roles like scrum master, product owners and the
   team
-  A lot of meetings: planning, backlogs grooming, daily stand-up,
   retrospective

.. _kanban-1:

Kanban:
~~~~~~~

-  Continuous flow
-  Changes can be made at any time
-  Estimation is optional
-  Use lead and cycle time to measure performance
-  Kanban board is persistent
-  Kanban doesn’t impose strict constraints or meetings; the process is more flexible

Usage Examples
--------------

You can customize your boards according to your business activities:

Software development
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-  Backlog
-  Ready
-  Work-in-progress
-  To be validated
-  Validated
-  Deployed in production

Bug Tracking
~~~~~~~~~~~~

-  Reported
-  Confirmed
-  Work-in-progress
-  Tested
-  Fixed

Sales
~~~~~

-  Leads
-  Meeting
-  Proposal
-  Purchase

Lean Business Management
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-  Ideas
-  Development
-  Measure
-  Analysis
-  Done

Recruiting Process
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-  Job offers
-  Candidates
-  Phone screens
-  Interviews
-  Hires

Online Shops
~~~~~~~~~~~~

-  Orders
-  Packaging
-  Ready to send
-  Shipped

Manufactory
~~~~~~~~~~~

-  Customer Orders
-  Assembly
-  Tests
-  Packaging
-  Ready to ship
-  Shipped