From visualization to Kanban Method

I have seen during these last years, the same faults with Kanban as with Scrum. They are committed in the most innocent way, as in Scrum changing ceremonies, not performing them, staying in the superfluous and not reaching the potential of Scrum, as a process to stimulate a change of mindset and way of doing things, as well as to Stress an area, department or company to propagate or initiate a change of productive model.

With Kanban the same thing is happening in many situations. You see many display panels and it's not Kanban, it's not even Proto-Kanban.

Remember that a visualization panel is that, just a panel where we can visualize our problems, our work. No decisions are made, no improvements, simply stay in visualize.

Between that initial visualization process and the Kanban method, an intermediate transition state exists or may exist: Proto-Kanban.

Proto-Kanban is considered to panels whose mission is to stress the system to use Kanban systems and allow evolutionary change.

If you only want to visualize the work we are not even in Proto-Kanban, we are in visualization.

With a Proto-Kanban system, we try to stress the system by:
 - decision making in the display panel.
- start measuring to make decisions with data.
- start with the pull mentality change (it starts to stop, it stops starting or it starts to end, it starts to start).
- have conversations around the panel for decision making including feedback loops.

A big change of visualization, or Proto-Kanban to Kanban method is the existence or not of a column called doing or in progress. If we realize doing or in progress, it does not contribute final value to the product, it is not a state of value, it is a state of transition.

The Kanban method pursues the delivery of value, each state, has to be looked at or revised with that point of view, the delivery of value to the final customer always.

The Kanban method is pursued through the implementation of a series of practices:

- Complete visualization of the system: Many times the whole system is not visualized because you do not want to see the points of pain, bottlenecks, etc that hurt.

- Limit the WIP: Only limiting the work in progress will begin to finish things better, with more quality and faster. The system that is being created will be coherent.

- Having full Pull flow: Start pulling the system and not to be absorbed by the whirlwind of everything is important.

- Establish policies and commitment points: Creating commitment point we strengthen our commitment to the client and the system, having delivery agreements or commitments assumed. We establish policies for the types of work in the system, for changes of state, in this way we improve the quality of work. We establish service classes that facilitate delivery agreements and customer service.

- Feedback loops: These are ceremonies to be performed, ranging from a daily coordination meeting (Standup Meeting), a meeting to manage the input of the pull system (replenishment or Commitment Meeting), a meeting to focus on how the delivery is performed (Delivery Planning Meeting), a review of the delivery method (Service Delivery Review), risks (Risk Review), Operations (Operations Review) and Strategy (Strategy Review), the latter 3 when there are extended Kanban systems, linked and scaled at other levels of the company.

- Evolution of improvement: It is an evolution as we see, in a system that must be continually inspected and adapted to improve, implementing the culture of continuous improvement.

There is a way to see if the Kanban method is really being implemented correctly, because it is not just a practice and a board, it is a culture of improvement and it is a change in relations with those involved, it is called Litmus Test and it verifies if it is The way of doing things really has changed:

- Have managers changed their behavior? The way they relate and cooperate.
- Has the customer's entry changed? The client has changed the request mechanisms.
- Has the client changed his contract? Changing the system and improving negotiation with the client in the new agreements and delivery work frameworks have to change.
- Has the customer's service delivery changed? The delivery mode, quality, speed, commitment, etc. has had to change and be perceived by the customer.

VISUALIZATION:

PROTO-KANBAN:

KANBAN: