Kanban Development and the

Paradigm of Flow

Alisson Vale Looking for Sustentability in

Technical Leader
Software Development
http://alissonvale.com/
Software development is
knowledge work
 In software, knowledge work can
involve a large variety of activities

research modification re-engineering

support
new product
development

maintenance
implantation

reuse
sustaining

evolution
data
operations
 direct ou
indirectly we
have to deal
with those
activities
other factors affect us
culture
resources
people
business
technology
risk
the amount of scenarios and
contexts is huge
"Melhores práticas são apenas as
melhores em certos contextos e
para alcançarem certos objetivos.
Uma mudança ou no contexto ou
no objetivo pode rapidamente
transformar uma melhor prática
em uma abordagem estúpida.“

Don Reinertsen
“Kanban is about the notion that your system is truly different and we
will not impose a process upon you”.
David Anderson

After a Kanban Implementation…

“Nothing else in their world should have changed. Job descriptions are
the same. Activities are the same. Handoffs are the same. Artifacts are
the same. Their process hasn't changed other than you are asking
them to accept an WIP limit and to pull work rather than receive it in a
push fashion”.
David Anderson
Context is relevant, so…

Kanban allows you to design processes that

fits to the context, instead of manipulating
the context to fit a specific process
 the key words are…

"design"
“processes”
 A collaborative exercise for
Process Design

provide thinking and action tools to enable people when

they are designing their own processes
but there is more…
Kanban is also a
Mindset
 The Mindset of a
Kanban System

Thinking Tools

Process Design Patterns

Capability Measurements

Collaboration and Team Model Patterns

A Culture of Continuous Improvement

Thinking Tools
Thinking Tools
#1 System Thinking

“Analythical thought doesn’t

produce understanding, it
produces knowledge. The
product of analysis is the
knowledge about how things
work, not why they work the
way they do. System thinking
produces understanding.”
Russel Ackoff
Thinking Tools
#2 Lean Thinking

Thinking about making valueflows

throught the system, improving
processes continuously
"All we are doing is looking at and eliminating waste
the time line, from the
moment the customer gives us progressively.
an order to the point when we
collect the cash. And we are
reducing the time line by
reducing the non-value adding
wastes.“
Taiichi Ohno
Thinking Tools
#3 Theory of Constraints

leveraging systems by being aware

of their bottlenecks.

“A system of local
optimums is not an
optimum system at all”
Eliyahu M. Goldratt
Thinking Tools
#4 Queueing Theory

"The average time in the system is equal to the

average time in queue plus the average time it
takes to receive service."
Little's law

managing the unpredictable nature

of arrival times and task durations.
 Process Design Tools
and Patterns
Patterns for Process Design
Essential Tools Buffers & Queue Limits
Classes of Service
Value Stream Map Leveling Work
Visual Management Two tiered Systems (Expand/Collapse)
Pull System & Single piece-flow Swimlanes/Expediting
Limited WIP Triggers
Priority Filters
Perpetual Multivote for pull Schedulling
Value Stream Map
Visual Management
Pull System & Single piece-flow
Limited WIP
Essential Tools
Value Stream for Product XYZ

Wait. Analysis &

Queue Develop. Queue Verification Queue Deploy
Selection Preparation

Waiting in Waiting in the Waiting for Waiting for

the Product Iteration verification release
Backlog Backlog and homologation

T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8

Value * 100
Eficiency (%) =
Value + Waste
Value Stream Map
Visual Management
Pull System & Single piece-flow
Limited WIP
Essential Tools
Value Stream for Product XYZ

Waiting for Analysis & Queue Develop. Queue Verification Queue Deploy
Selection Preparation
Value Stream Map
Visual Management
Pull System & Single piece-flow
Limited WIP
Essential Tools
Value Stream for Product XYZ

Waiting for Analysis & Queue Develop. Queue Verification Queue Deploy
Selection Preparation
PULL
Why pull? Why kanban?

“People with different skills have to work

together to deliver product features.
Don’t build features that nobody needs
right now. Don’t write more specs than
you can code. Don’t write more code than
you can test. Don’t test more code than
you can deploy.”

Corey Ladas
Value Stream Map
Visual Management
Pull System & Single piece-flow
Limited WIP Essential Tools
Value Stream for Product XYZ
Limited WIP = 4
Waiting for Analysis & Queue Develop. Queue Verification Queue Deploy
Selection Preparation
Value Stream Map
Visual Management
Pull System & Single piece-flow
Limited WIP Essential Tools
Value Stream for Product XYZ
Limited WIP = 4
Waiting for Analysis & Queue Develop. Queue Verification Queue Deploy
Selection Preparation
Value Stream Map
Visual Management
Pull System & Single piece-flow
Limited WIP Essential Tools
Value Stream for Product XYZ
Limited WIP = 4
Waiting for Analysis & Queue Develop. Queue Verification Queue Deploy
Selection Preparation

Decision
Point
Buffers & Queue Limits
Classes of Service
Leveling Work
Patterns for Process Design
Two-tiers

Value Stream for Support Operations

Waiting for [ 5 ] Diagnosis Resolution Verification Notification Resolved

Selection [2] [3] [1] [1]
#1

#2

#3

#4 Buffer [ 2 ]

#5
Buffer [ 1 ] Buffer [ 1 ]
Buffers & Queue Limits
Classes of Service
Leveling Work
Patterns for Process Design
Two-tiers

Classes of Service influence behaviour of the

work in the system by being:
• Time-sensitive
• Risk-sensitive
• Flow-sensitive
• Policy-sensitive

or by having whatever differentiation that

matters for your process
Colors and symbols are used to
differentiate work items of different
classes of services.
Buffers & Queue Limits
Classes of Service
Leveling Work
Patterns for Process Design
Two-tiers

Value Stream for Product XYZ

Classes of Service can be Develop. Queue Verification

one more decision element

for team members

Decision
Point
Buffers & Queue Limits
Classes of Service
Leveling Work
Patterns for Process Design
Two-tiers

T-Shirt Sizing
Diagnosis Resolution Verification Notification
[2] [3] [1] [1]

Classification
S G S
Over S
Estimation
S S

S
Buffer [ 2 ]
Reference
Over M
Commitment Buffer [ 1 ] Buffer [ 1 ]

S: less than 1 day of work M: less than 3 days G: less than 5 days
Buffers & Queue Limits
Classes of Service
Leveling Work Patterns for Process Design
Two-tiers (Expand/Collapse)

Value Stream for Product XYZ

Waiting for In Progress Preparation Develop. Queue Verification

Release
Selection [2] [4] [2] [1] [1]

MMF #1
MMF #4 MMF #3

MMF #2
MMF #5

Expand Collapse

MMF: Minimum Marketable Feature

Swimlanes/Expediting
Triggers
Priority Filters
Patterns for Process Design
Perpetual Multivote for pull Schedulling

Value Stream for Sustaining Products with Shared Resources

Super Customer
Waiting for Selection Preparation Develop. ISO-DOC Verification Approval Delivery
[2] [2] [1] [1]

Queue [ 1 ] Queue [ 1 ]

Regular Customer
Waiting for Selection Preparation Develop. Verification Delivery
[3] [4] [1]
Swimlanes/Expediting
Triggers
Priority Filters
Patterns for Process Design
Perpetual Multivote for pull Schedulling

Value Stream with Swimlane to expediting work

Expedite
Approval Preparation Develop. ISO-DOC Verification Delivery
[1] [1] [1] [1] [1]

Super Customer
Waiting for Selection Preparation Develop. ISO-DOC Verification Approval Delivery
[2] [2] [1] [1]

Queue [ 1 ] Queue [ 1 ]
Swimlanes/Expediting
Triggers
Priority Filters
Patterns for Process Design
Perpetual Multivote for pull Schedulling

Events can trigger a card or a

collection of cards to move forward
to another stage in the process
Examples:
 When a signed approval form is received
 When the build passes
 When the proposal is sent
 When a certain number of user stories are
done
Swimlanes/Expediting
Triggers
Priority Filters
Patterns for Process Design
Perpetual Multivote for pull Schedulling

“What we really want is a method that allows us to

Designing the make good sequencing decisions as late as possible
Selection Process and for the lowest incremental cost”.
Corey Ladas

We should work on this We have to do, but no We intend to work on

soon capacity available this immediately
Backlog No Pressure No Capacity Current
[5] [3] Capacity [ 2 ]

Uncertainty guides these limits Capacity guides this limit

Swimlanes/Expediting
Triggers
Priority Filters
Patterns for Process Design
Perpetual Multivote for pull Schedulling

Designing the Selection Process

 three quick decisions with one weak commitment

Backlog No Pressure No Capacity Current

[5] [3] Capacity [ 2 ]
Swimlanes/Expediting
Triggers
Priority Filters Patterns for Process Design
Perpetual Multivote for pull Schedulling

Designing the Selection Process

Also great for injection of

improvement items into the
system by using a democratic
selection approach

Source: http://leansoftwareengineering.com/2008/09/29/perpetual-multivote/
Collaboration and
Team Model Patterns
Self-Organization/Ownership of the Process
Swarming
Kanban daily standup meetings
Feature Teams/Teamlets
Process Ownership
Swarming
Kanban daily standup meetings
Patterns for Collaboration
Feature Teams/Teamlets

Self-Organization/Process Ownership

Stages, limits, buffers, work

size, triggers, daily-basis decisions
and all other process definitions
are in control of the team.
Process Ownership
Swarming
Kanban daily standup meetings
Patterns for Collaboration
Feature Teams/Teamlets

“The stages in a workflow are not people, or even

roles. Just stages. So anyone can do them.”
Karl Scotland
Process Ownership
Swarming
Kanban daily standup meetings
Patterns for Collaboration
Feature Teams/Teamlets

Immediate response and cooperation to

solve a flow interruption issue.
Process Ownership
Swarming
Kanban daily standup meetings
Patterns for Collaboration
Feature Teams/Teamlets

Focus on changes on the board, instead of assignments

of each person.

“How big can an effective standup be?”

“This is a picture of a standup meeting on a large project at Corbis. Today I counted 41
attendees. The attendance has averaged 39 or 40 every day for 6 weeks.”
David Anderson
Source: http://www.agilemanagement.net/Articles/Weblog/Howbigcananeffectivestand.html
Process Ownership
Swarming
Kanban daily standup meetings Patterns for Collaboration
Feature Teams/Teamlets

Value Stream for Product XYZ

Cross-functional teams can be formed as people are
getting involved with different units of work.

MMF #3

MMF #2 In, some cases, a dedicated team can be assigned to

a specific unit of value from beginning to
completion.
Capability
Measurements
Cycle Time/Lead Time
SLA
Throughtput
Cumulative Flow Diagrams
Cycle Time/Lead Time
SLA
Throughtput
Capability Measurements
Cumulative Flow Diagrams

Lean is about time

Cycle time
Cycle Time/Lead Time
SLA
Throughtput
Capability Measurements
Cumulative Flow Diagrams

Customer Customer
Request Receive
Service Service

Lead time
Cycle Time/Lead Time
SLA
Throughtput
Capability Measurements
Cumulative Flow Diagrams

Given the last 30 days of work of a certain type and size...

Work Item Cycle Time SLA Factor %

1456 2,34 1,0 20%

1532 1,91 1,5 20%

1588 1,68 2,0 60%

1638 0,89 2,5 100%

1644 2,12 3,0 100%

SLA should be a reference, not a contractual commitment

Cycle Time/Lead Time
SLA
Throughtput
Capability Measurements
Cumulative Flow Diagrams

Throughtput can be useful for Senior Manager

analysis and for understanding System performance

DDP – Due Date Performance

Volume that missed SLA
Volume that was delivered on Time

Throughtput transparency can lead you to build a

strong trusting relationship with business investors
Cycle Time/Lead Time
SLA
Throughtput
Capability Measurements
Cumulative Flow Diagrams

The importancy of throughtput is not

in establishing and achieving goals,
but in putting the system under
control.
Cycle Time/Lead Time
SLA
Throughtput Capability Measurements
Cumulative Flow Diagrams

Cumulative Flow Diagrams bring WIP and

bottlenecks to the throughtput analysis

Source: http://leadinganswers.typepad.com/leading_answers/2006/09/creating_and_in.html
To Establish a Culture for
Continuous Improvement

 When doing Operation Reviews

 When trying to enable CI Actions

 By expanding oportunities for

Improvements
 Bottlenecks
 Waste Elimination
 Variability Reduction
 Thank you!
Read more...
Limited WIP Society
http://limitedwipsociety.org

Blog Articles
http://alissonvale.com/englishblog

Kanban: When Signalization Matters

alissonvale.com/englishblog/post/Kanban-When-Signalization-Matters.aspx

The History of a Kanban System (Portuguese)

http:// alissonvale.com/englishblog/post/A-Historia-de-um-Sistema-Kanban.aspx

Interview on InfoQ Brazil (Portuguese)

http://www.infoq.com/br/news/2009/01/brasil-representacao-conferencia

Contact
Mail: [email protected]
Blog: http://alissonvale.com/englishblog
Twitter: http://twitter.com/alissonvale