· 2 min read
Developing Healthy Habits for Data-Driven Kanban Board
My experience implementing Kanban Principles.
Board is the single source of truth
Everything is visible on the board. And everyone works off from the board.
The board should keep track of each and everything you do.
Each activity, however small, should be captured.
Each workflow step should be present. Therefore board structure needs to be updated regularly too.
Kanban is visual. And the way it is helps everyone in a team be in sync. And reduces handover.
In practice,
- You’ll likely see and use and update the Kanban board multiple times a day.
- And the start and end of your day will be on the board.
Here are few more tips I came up with to help in this.
- I prefer keeping the board open in a tab at all times. And working off the board.
- I do not keep a personal todo list.
For teams,
- Teams can play a game: it’s called “Moment of Glory” 1
Moment of Glory is a game where anyone in the team can ask someone about the board. If that card isn’t updated or in the right column, it’s a moment of glory, and the facilitator or the person updates the card.
Timesheet Management
I use Google Calendar to track each and every activity I do to the minute. And transfer them to the Agile Board.
Pull System
Think of every work item as a release.
Your goal is to work on a work time and make sure that cumulative turnaround time is the least.
Once you start working on a work time, pull it until it is released.
You always work on the rightmost card assigned to you and push it towards completion.
The card/task which gets completed and on production is of must higher value than the 50% done card.
In practice,
- Look at the board, look at the right most items and start working on them first.
- If you have a new task, add a card to the start of the board (the backlog) but don’t start working on it just yet. Come back to your current card and finish it.
Agile Daily Standup - How To Walk the Board (aka Walk the Wall) - YouTube