Saturday, October 13, 2012

Pictures from the Overview of Kanban - Austin SPIN Oct 11, 2012

David Hawkes CEO of Agile Velocity gave an overview of some Kanban concepts to the Austin Software Process Improvement Network

Here's the notes I jotted down during his talk:
Multitasking is bad
Why do we work on too many projects at one time?
- Not focused on deliverying value
- Maximizine utilization
- stakeholders need to have their project "In progress"

getKanban.com

Little's Law

Work In Progress
----------------   = Aggregate cycle Time
Throughput           

Stop Starting and start finishing

If we focus on fewer items at a time we can:
1. Increase productivitiy and deliver more
2. Get our customers more engaged
3. Have agility to adjust when changes occur
4. Lower our cycles times, less time to finish after getting a project
5. Limit the costs of delay

David Anderson wrote a Kanban Book for software development 2010

How to limit WIP
Throttling the input (demand) into the system

Lowering the WIP highlights the bottlenecks

Prioritization is no longer about ordering all the work, 
  but picking the next one

We need to optimize the whole system not just one part.

Kanban
Start with what you do now
Agree to continuous improvement
Respect the current process, roles, responsibilities
Encourage acts of leadership at all levels 

5 Core Properties of Kanban
1. Visualize Workflow
2. Limit WIP
3. Measure Meausre and Manage Flow
4. Make Process Policies Explicit - document what done means
5. Improve Collaboratively (Using Models/ Scientific Method)


Throttle demand to meet throughput in order to gain leveled flow

Shortening cycles and increasing the rate of delivery will build trust

Identify the constraint in your system and focus on optimizing the whole

Kanban companies here in Austin:  BankVue, HomeAway, BaazarVoice
Dan Pink RSA Drive video

Sprint time is how long you can resist change

64% of features are never or rarely used

Do we ever measure the usage of the features we delivery?