Project management: Project monitoring and the kanban board
Kanban is one of the most popular project management frameworks used in business today. The tool helps project managers to make workflows more efficient and teams more productive by defining project scope and eliminating waste.
What is a kanban board?
Meaning ‘signboard’ or ‘billboard’ in Japanese, the kanban board is useful for implementing a system of agile project management.
The framework originated in the Toyota manufacturing plant during the 1940s and was designed to improve efficiency by limiting the supply of resources to only what is needed for the task at hand.
Project managers broke complex workflows down into more manageable tasks, which were then assigned to particular individuals on the production line. As the card passed from one section of the manufacturing floor to the next, the resources necessary to complete the upcoming job would be made available, decreasing wait time and wastage.
In 2010, David Anderson popularised kanban as we know it today among software developers. Anderson found that dividing a board into various columns, and moving cards along those columns, helped teams visualise their workflows and kept everyone up to date about the status and projects of various projects at a glance.
What are the elements of the kanban board?
While cards and columns are the most prominent elements of the Kanban board, the less obvious commitment and delivery points, and work-in-progress limits also play key roles in ensuring effective resource allocation and minimising workflow inefficiencies.
1. Cards
Probably the most eye-catching feature of any kanban board, cards help team members to gauge the progress of various tasks at a glance.
Each work item has its own card, which clearly displays the task name, a short description and its due date. A team may choose to include additional information like the assignee or project status to help them identify capacity issues or external roadblocks.
2. Columns
A kanban board in its entirety represents the complete workflow for a team. Columns represent the various activities or tasks that come together to create this workflow, dividing a larger project into more manageable, discrete tasks.
The most basic workflow consists of only three columns or steps: ‘To do’, ‘In progress’ and ‘Done’.
Cards move across these columns as a project moves through the workflow until completion; the distribution of cards across the columns helps teams to identify where there might be bottlenecks or where idle team members can be assigned additional work.
3. Commitment point
The commitment point is the moment at which a team picks up a project and work begins. One of the most important points on a kanban board, this is the stage where a work item crosses from the ‘To do’ or backlog area and moves into the active columns that indicate work is in progress.
4. Delivery point
The end of a team’s workflow, usually when a product or service is in the hands of a customer, is known as the delivery point.
The time it takes for a card to move from the commitment point to the delivery point is known as lead time. A kanban team aims to have a short lead time – moving cards from the backlog area to the delivery point as quickly as possible.
5. Work-in-progress limits
Work-in-progress (WIP) limits are used to limit the number of cards in any column at any one time. Capping the volume of work items at each stage of the workflow encourages team members to focus only on the tasks at hand, helps to prevent overcapacity and decreases lead time.
Rather than creating a backlog in a particular column – which places unnecessary pressure on particular individuals – work is only released when the team has sufficient available operational resources to move it through the workflow.
Advantages of using a kanban board
The kanban board’s visual elements make it easy for teams to conceptualise their workflow. The benefits of this are twofold.
First, the visual representation helps to understand how workflow components fit together. This increases natural collaboration, as teams are able to spot weaknesses in the process, and identify where team members require assistance or where external factors are preventing progress.
Second, for cards to be effective, larger tasks must be broken down into defined, actionable work items. When identifying the various components of a project, teams must collect the information needed to complete each job and allocate the necessary resources, preventing delays and overages.
The planning required to divide projects into smaller jobs has the additional benefit of eliminating unnecessary meetings. As each team member is aware of their responsibilities and the parameters of each task are clearly defined at the outset, endless catch-ups and gatherings can be eradicated in favour of shorter, more constructive updates.
While the kanban board reduces the need for meetings, it still allows for continuous improvement.
Teams are able to collect workflow metrics such as lead time, bottlenecks and common idle areas to better understand how tasks move through production. This allows project managers to customise workflows to suit specific teams and applications, as well as actively organise priorities and respond to change.
How to set up a kanban board
A physical board is the best place to start. Find a whiteboard, chalkboard or even window and divide it into three columns: ‘To do’, ‘In progress’ and ‘Done’. While it might be tempting to add more columns, it’s best to stick to the three-column model at this stage.
This set-up allows the team to observe how the board is being used and sparks conversations about the workflow.
For example, there might be a column where work comes in quickly but stays for longer periods, causing a bottleneck. The whole team will be able to see this and will be able to come up with a solution to remedy the problem, leading to changes in the workflow and more effective prioritisation.
When the team has a better understanding of how work items move through production, the board can be customised. This may involve adding columns to the board or including more specific information on individual cards. A collaborative approach like this encourages the team to take ownership of its workflow and the tasks that fall therein.
Once the workflow has been streamlined, the team might choose to move to a digital board. There are various benefits and drawbacks to both digital and physical Kanban boards.
| Physical | Digital |
|---|---|
| Tangible and fun | Accessible by all team members at any point with internet access |
| Easy to set up | Fast – boards, cards and columns can be created in seconds |
| Moving sticky notes is engaging and motivating | Built-in analytics helps with planning and prioritisation |
| Simple | Task automation saves time |
By enabling teams to visualise their workflows, the kanban board improves resource allocation and lessens inefficiencies, reducing wastage and lead times. Whether it be a small, on-site team working or a larger remote team, a kanban board has the potential to increase productivity within any company.
