"All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered."

What’s Kanban?

Too often the methodology is reduced to the implementation of a visual task management board (Trello, ClickUp, a Planner, you name it), which remains underused and which people struggle to see the significance of.
That’s because Kanban is a whole system and the bpard itself isn’t enough to drive innovation.

Here’s a list of 10 principles you should keep in mind.

👁 Visualize the Workflow: the visual board has the aim to represent the workflow stages, making it easier to see work in progress (see next point) and identify bottlenecks.

🙅‍♂️ Limit Work in Progress (WIP): set limits on the amount of work that can be in progress at each stage to ensure focus and prevent overload. In other words: do not start too many things at once.

🚦 Manage Flow: continuously monitor and optimize the flow of work through the system, for instance removing the bottlenecks you previously indentified.

☝️ Make Process Policies Explicit: clearly define and communicate the rules and policies that govern the workflow to ensure everyone understands and follows them. If nobody follows what you’re saying, you might be the problem.

👍 Implement Feedback Loops: use regular feedback mechanisms, such as stand-up meetings and reviews, to gather input and make necessary adjustments.

⚗️ Improve Collaboratively, Evolve Experimentally: foster a culture of continuous improvement through collaboration and small, incremental changes based on empirical evidence. Standards are awesome as long as they don’t prevent us from exploring new things.

🔎 Focus on Customer Needs and Expectations: prioritize work based on customer value and requirements, ensuring that the most important tasks are completed first.

📏 Measure and Optimize for Efficiency: use metrics to measure performance and identify areas for improvement. Data gathering is crucial for the continuous business justification of improvement.

💪 Empower the Team: encourage team members to take ownership of their work and make decisions that improve the workflow and outcomes. Note: this calls for the right company culture, or it will be rejected.

♻️ Minimize Waste: identify and eliminate activities that do not add value to the customer, gold-plating and redundancies.

How about you? Do you work in Kanban, or do you simply use a kanban board?

books and literature

Werewolves Wednesday: The Wolf-Leader (13)

A werewolf story by Alexandre Dumas père. Chapter XIII: Where it is demonstrated that a Woman never speaks more eloquently than when she holds her tongue As Thibault was talking to himself he did not catch the few hurried words which Suzanne whispered to the Baron;

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Exploring the Symbiotic Future in Sabrina Ratté’s Digital Art

In the heart of Milan, the MEET Digital Culture Center is currently hosting Realia, the first Italian solo exhibition of Canadian visual artist Sabrina Ratté. Running from March 13 to June 1, 2025, this immersive showcase delves into the convergence of technology and biology, inviting

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1 Comment
  • Pingback:Visualize the Workflow – Shelidon
    Posted at 06:50h, 10 July Reply

    […] few days ago I posted a brief overview of Kanban (far from being the first time I post about it), and some of you reached out to highlight how the […]

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