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The Basics
In principle, Kanban is a control instrument for production processes in industry. It was developed in 1947 by the Japanese Taiichi Ōno for Toyota to increase their productivity in the production chain. Ōno’s thoughts on this were as follows: “It should be possible to organize the flow of materials in production according to the supermarket principle, i.e. a consumer takes a product of a certain specification and quantity from the shelf; the gap is noticed and refilled”. The operations are only suitable for serial production and are very complex. However, this article is not intended to explain this type of Kanban system in detail. However, if you are interested, please have a look at the Wikipedia article. This one goes into great detail about this method.
Kanban as a lean management method
Nowadays, Kanban is known and popular as a lean workflow management method. It provides a framework and a way to visualize, design and optimize the work. This is done with the so-called Kanban boards. This way, even multiple team members can monitor and work on complex projects. There are various tools or apps for this, such as Trello, which I love to work with, which enable collaboration with several people remotely.
The Kanban Board
A Kanban board is divided into different columns or the respective work phases. These can be, for example, the following three columns: To-Do; Under way; Done. Or: To create; ready for launch; Launched. Depending on what is best suited for the respective project. Of course, it can also be much more than just three columns. I also have boards with columns for each month of the current quarter.
The execution (WIP – Work in Progress)Different cards are created in the phases. On these, the respective work step is precisely defined. There you can also set a deadline and agree on who is responsible for this card. Once a job is done, the respective card moves one phase further into the next column. Until it has reached the last one and is thus completely processed. There are so-called work-in-progress limits. These are useful so that the planned work can actually be done and the team members or yourself, if you work alone, do not throw the plans over again at some point because you are overwhelmed. Which would be extremely ineffective. Also, under certain circumstances, you would be busy all the time without doing the really essential things.
Cadences
Cadences are so-called feedback loops. This can basically be a regular team Kanban meeting, which helps to optimize the workflow. As a result, effectiveness can be increased and free capacities can be determined.
Begin
Just implement the Kanban method first for all tasks that you usually do anyway. This makes your workflow more manageable or visible in the first place.
Then think about which steps (cards) you could improve. How can it be easier, or faster? Make sure that not too many cards get “stuck” in one column. Set yourself a WIP limit and if, for example, the “in progress” column already contains some cards, then do not start the next task, but finish the started tasks first. The amount of parallel operations should be limited to a realistic level. How much this is depends on the project, the size and complexity of the respective tasks and personal preference.
The Benefit
Integrating the Kanban method into one’s own workflow brings significantly more clarity to everyday work. Kanban is also one of the so-called agile methods. And can be combined very well with other Agile methods, such as Scrum.
Agile as a mindset
Agile as a software development method is certainly known to everyone in the IT industry. However, Agile basically describes framework conditions and working practices that can be transferred very well to any other industry or even area of life. That’s because Agile focuses on the people who do the work. It provides many solutions for self-organization, time management, workflow, etc. and supports smooth collaboration with team members. The Agile Manifesto describes various values and guidelines for working with Agile methods, which aim to continuously improve one’s own workflow. By applying them, you train the recommended working methods, which has a lasting effect on the minimum. Over time, you become more effective and orderly in all areas of your life. Which can increase the quality of life and, above all, make everyday work easier.
Result
You should know agile methods such as Kanban and Scrum at least to some extent if you want to improve your workflows. Especially as a self-employed person, especially at the beginning, in the start-up phase, there are so many things to do and consider. Such methods can develop into a veritable lifesafer. There are many extremely detailed articles on Kanban and Agile etc. however, most of them are in English and go very deep into business processes. I hope my short introduction to Kanban and also recently Scrum, will help you to start with them at all, if the methods were still completely new to you, or maybe to bring them a little closer to you, if you have heard the terms before. If you have any further questions on this topic, feel free to write me a comment. Have you been using Kanban for a while? Which tools do you prefer to use for this? Feel free to let me know, I’m looking forward to your feedback. 🙂
I wish you a successful, productive week.
All the best,
Christina
“Compared to the ability to organize the work of a single day in a meaningful way, everything else in life is child’s play.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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About the author
Christina Ernst is the founder and CEO of Linen & Quince. She is also a designer, writer and real estate expert. She shares her experience and knowledge not only in her personal blog on christinaernst.net , where she writes about financial literacy, business start-ups, real estate knowledge and personal development, but also on our Linen & Quince blog. There she regularly writes about interior design, fashion and lifestyle topics. She loves interior design, art, antiques as well as elegant, sustainable and high-quality fashion.
