posted 1st May 2023
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Intro
Kanban is a popular approach for managing work in an agile development environment. However, there are several myths associated with the Kanban method. In this blog post, we will discuss 5 myths about the Kanban method, why they are not true, and how this false stance may be negatively affecting your business.
Myth #1: Kanban is Only for Software Development
Many people believe that the Kanban Method is only suitable for software development projects. People's rationale for this could be that agility has historically been seen as a "dark art" that those software folk do. However, this is not true.
The Kanban Method is now being applied to many industries that involve work that is repetitive and requires constant improvement. For example, Kanban can be used in manufacturing, healthcare, marketing, finance, government departments, and even in personal life for managing services, tasks, and projects. What these companies are experiencing is, by leveraging the power of the Kanban Method they are gaining so many opportunities for their teams and departments in regard to continuous improvement, reduced variability, and increased customer satisfaction.
Myth #2: It’s cool we use (insert visualisation tool de jour here) so we are already doing Kanban
Another common myth is that Kanban is a tool. In reality, Kanban is a method for managing work that involves visualizing the workflow, limiting Work in Progress (WiP), managing flow, making process policies explicit, and continuously improving. Although there are various tools available that support the Kanban method, Kanban is not a tool itself. If you believe that because you use any of the visualisation tools out there you are getting the most out of the Kanban Method, you are missing out on so much more.
Feel free to get in touch if you want to learn more on this one.
Myth #3: Kanban is Only for Teams
Some people believe that Kanban is only useful for teams. However, Kanban can also be applied to individuals who want to manage their personal tasks and projects. By using a personal Kanban board, individuals can visualize their work, limit WIP, and manage flow, just like teams.
Alternatively, if you want to scale Kanban, simply do more Kanban. You can utilise the Kanban Method by going wider, higher, or deeper. By going wider I mean to identify end-to-end products & services. By going higher we look at the Portfolio level and by going deeper, we go down to the team level.
The better view you have of your value delivery systems, the better you can meet customer needs effectively and efficiently. There are so many great use cases you can refer to here: *https://kmm.plus/en/case-studies/kmm/* (You’re welcome 😉)
Myth #4: Kanban is a One-Size-Fits-All Solution
Another common myth is that Kanban is a one-size-fits-all solution that works for every team or organization. However, The Kanban Method is a managed evolution approach that we leverage to start from where we are now, respecting the current roles and setup. We want to evolve that setup over time in a way to better meet the specific needs of teams and organizations. Every one of these setups will probably be different to cater to the varying customer demands and its fitness for purpose.
We don’t want a one size fits all approach as we know that this approach rarely works. For example, some teams may need to implement more strict WiP limits during certain aspects of their systems, while others may need to focus more on a capacity WiP across the system.
There is no bad adoption of Kanban just different levels applied and what works for you may not work for me. That's the beauty of Kanban, we start from where we are now and manage the evolution of the organisation.
Myth #5: We don’t need to plan, we are doing Kanban
Some people believe that because a team or service is using the Kanban Method they do not plan. That is just outright madness! In the Kanban Method there are a number of cadences that act as feedback loops that we utilise. We see replenishment happen at the team and workflow levels depending on where you are on their maturity journey. The Kanban Maturity Model is a great body of knowledge you may want to refer to if you have not made yourself familiar already.
Bonus Myth: We need to do Kanban or (Insert Framework De Jour here)
Many folks believe we need to move from Scrum (or other frameworks) to Kanban to get the benefits of the Kanban Method. This is simply untrue.
For more on this one please see the recent blog post on this very subject here: *https://www.thebusinessagilitycoach.com/blog/its-not-scrum-or-kanban--its-scrum-and-kanban*
Conclusion
Kanban is a versatile method for managing work that can be applied to any industry, individual, team, or organization. Kanban is not a tool, but a method that involves visualizing the workflow, limiting WiP, managing flow, making process policies explicit, and continuously improving. Kanban is flexible and can be customized to meet the specific needs of a team or organization. Kanban is not just for agile teams, but for any team that wants to manage their work more effectively to meet customer needs early and often.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. A lot of this you may already know. However, I hope you've found some of this post useful.
If you'd like to learn more about the Kanban Method then check out our upcoming courses here and book your space today: *https://www.thebusinessagilitycoach.com/training*