How can Kanban be Integrated with Other Project Management Methodologies?

Kanban is a visual management tool that helps teams track the flow of tasks or items through various process stages. It uses cards placed on a board to represent individual tasks. Have you ever seen one of those boards filled with colorful sticky notes in an office? That might have been a Kanban board. Originating from the Japanese term meaning “signboard,” it offers a hands-on approach to managing tasks.

Integrating Kanban with Popular Project Management Techniques

The project management techniques are vast which includes procedures and approaches used to plan and manage the projects. Techniques such as Agile, Scrum, Kanban, and Lean can be applied individually or in combination with two, based on the requirement of the project. To demystify this for you, here’s a firsthand guide on how to seamlessly blend Kanban with other popular methodologies.

1. Kanban with Agile

Agile is an iterative approach that focuses on collaboration, customer feedback, and small, rapid releases. Kanban complements Agile by visualizing the workflow, helping to limit work in progress, and facilitating continuous delivery. By incorporating Kanban boards, Agile teams can better manage and prioritize backlog items, track sprint progress, and adapt quickly to change.

Example:

A software development team works on a new feature using Agile. They decide to use Kanban to visualize their workflow. They set up a Kanban board with columns for each step of their Agile process: Backlog, Analysis, Development, Testing, and Deployment. As they start work on the new feature, they pull tasks from the Backlog to Analysis and so forth, ensuring that only a limited number of tasks are in progress at any time.

A diagram of a Kanban board integrated into an Agile process flowchart. The board will have columns labeled for each step in the Agile process, with a limited number of task cards in each column to represent work-in-progress limits.

Kanban with Agile

2. Scrum: Embracing “Scrumban”

Combining Scrum with Kanban is successfully implemented with:

• Backlog Visualization: Use a Kanban board to bring your product backlog to life. It’s like creating a storyboard for your project’s narrative.
• Sprint Dynamics: While sprints remain time-boxed, a Kanban overlay can add an extra dimension to task tracking within each sprint.
• Balancing Act with WIP: I’ve noticed that setting Work In Progress limits helps Scrum teams avoid the pitfalls of overcommitment.

Example:

A Scrum team adopts Kanban to manage their sprints better. They create a Kanban board with columns for the Scrum process: Sprint Backlog, In Sprint, Review, and Done. During the sprint, they move user stories along these columns to track progress transparently and limit the number of stories worked on simultaneously.

A flowchart showing a Scrum sprint cycle with an integrated Kanban board. The board will feature the Scrum process stages and arrows will indicate the flow of user stories through the sprint cycle.

Kanban with Scrum

3. Waterfall: The Classic Meets the Visual

Though Waterfall’s step-by-step approach contrasts with Kanban’s fluidity, they can indeed co-exist. Here’s my take:

• Phases Come Alive: Map out Waterfall’s meticulous phases on a Kanban board. It’s a game-changer for visualizing linear processes.
• Milestones at a Glance: Slide tasks across the board as they transition through the Waterfall stages. This real-time movement can help spot potential roadblocks.

Example:

Imagine a tech startup working on a new mobile app. They’re sticking to the Waterfall model’s strict phases: concept, design, coding, testing, and launch. To make the process easy, they bring in Kanban. A Kanban board is set up, each column mirroring a Waterfall phase.

As the app’s concept is fleshed out, cards representing user interface designs and user stories migrate from left to right. The board quickly shows what’s done and what’s pending. Say the ‘Design’ column starts to overflow, this should not happen. The project manager spots it and hustles the team to clear the backlog, avoiding delays before coding even starts.

Waterfall Technique

The diagram depicts a simplified Kanban board aligned with the Waterfall model for software development.

• It is structured into five columns representing the sequential phases of the Waterfall process: ‘Concept’, ‘Design’, ‘Coding’, ‘Testing’, and ‘Launch’.
• Each column contains an equal number of task cards, suggesting a balanced distribution of workload across the stages.
• The minimalist design emphasizes clarity and efficiency in task management without any signs of backlog or delay, allowing for a quick assessment of the project’s current status.

4. Lean: Efficiency Redefined

Lean’s core principle of waste reduction finds a natural ally in Kanban. Here’s how they can be harmonized:

• Mapping Value: Incorporate Kanban boards into your value stream maps. It’s like giving a visual pulse to your project’s value flow.
• Kaizen with Kanban: When looking for improvement areas, a glance at your Kanban board can reveal bottlenecks, making continuous improvement easier.

Example:

Consider a manufacturing company designing a new coffee maker. They’re all about Lean, cutting waste to speed up production. They use Kanban to visualize everything from initial sketches to shipping. Each coffee maker feature, like programmable timers or an auto-clean function, gets its card on the board.

One glance at the board tells the team if there’s any obstacle. If the ‘Prototype’ column is stuffed, it’s a cue that testing hits an obstacle. The team huddles, decides maybe that ‘auto-clean’ isn’t essential, and pulls that card off the board. In this, Kanban just made problem-solving faster.

Lean Technique

The diagram shows a Kanban board tailored for a manufacturing company applying Lean principles in the design of a new coffee maker.

• The board is divided into columns for ‘Initial Sketches’, ‘Design Features’, ‘Prototype’, and ‘Shipping’, reflecting key development stages.
• Individual features of the coffee maker are represented by cards, with the ‘Prototype’ column containing more cards, indicating a current focus area or bottleneck.
• This visualization aids the team in identifying delays and facilitates decision-making, such as removing the ‘auto-clean’ feature card to streamline the process, reflecting Lean’s emphasis on efficiency.

Conclusion

Kanban’s visual nature brings a dynamic edge to project management, enhancing various methodologies with its clear, agile framework. Whether it’s fine-tuning Agile’s rapid iterations, guiding Scrum’s structured sprints, mapping Waterfall’s methodical stages, or driving Lean’s efficiency, Kanban provides a panoramic view of progress and bottlenecks alike. By integrating Kanban, teams cultivate a collaborative environment where information flows freely, decisions are made with full visibility, and continuous improvement becomes part of the culture.