Kanban

Kanban

Introduction: Why This Matters

While Scrum organizes work into fixed iterations, Kanban focuses on continuous flow. It is a visual system for managing work that helps teams improve efficiency, reduce bottlenecks, and deliver value steadily.

On the PMP exam, Kanban is often tested through situational questions about visual management, work-in-progress (WIP) limits, and continuous delivery. In practice, Kanban is widely used beyond software, in manufacturing, IT operations, service delivery, and even personal productivity.

Purpose and Objectives

Primary Purpose: To improve workflow transparency, optimize efficiency, and promote continuous delivery.

Key Objectives:

  • Define Kanban and its core principles.
  • Explain the role of the Kanban board.
  • Understand Work-in-Progress (WIP) limits and their purpose.
  • Apply Kanban concepts to exam questions.
  • Recognize when Kanban is preferable over other Agile approaches.

Overview

Kanban improves flow by making work visible, limiting how much work is happening at once, and continuously optimizing the system.

Characteristics

  • Visual workflow management: Work is represented on a board and moves across stages as progress is made.
  • Work-in-Progress (WIP) limits: Caps concurrent work to prevent overload, reduce bottlenecks, and improve focus.
  • Continuous delivery: Work flows continuously instead of being time-boxed into fixed iterations.
  • Metric-driven improvement: Uses cycle time and throughput to guide continuous optimization.

Practical Example

Context: An IT support team uses Kanban to manage service tickets.

Activities:

  • Activity 1: Set up a board with columns: New Requests → In Progress → Review → Closed.
  • Activity 2: Apply a WIP limit of 5 tickets max in “In Progress” at any time.
  • Activity 3: Use the board to give stakeholders real-time visibility into ticket status.
  • Activity 4: Track cycle time and throughput to measure performance changes.

Outcome: Cycle time improves from 7 days to 3 days because WIP limits prevent overload and keep flow steady.

Common Pitfalls

Pitfall: Treating Kanban as “just a board”

  • Pitfall: Teams move cards around but do not control flow.
  • Prevention: Use WIP limits and continuously improve the system using metrics.

Pitfall: Overloading workflow stages

  • Pitfall: Too many items sit in “In Progress,” creating delays.
  • Prevention: Enforce WIP limits and finish work before starting more.

Pitfall: Confusing Kanban with Scrum

  • Pitfall: Teams assume Kanban needs Scrum roles, ceremonies, and sprints.
  • Prevention: Remember Kanban supports continuous flow and does not require time-boxing or defined Scrum events.

Pitfall: Failing to track metrics

  • Pitfall: Improvements are assumed but not measured.
  • Prevention: Track cycle time and throughput to prove impact and guide changes.

Sensei Tip : If your team is constantly “busy” but nothing is finishing, you do not need more speed. You need tighter WIP limits and stronger finishing discipline.

Exam Alert : If the question says the team has too many items in progress or work is stuck in a column, the exam is usually pointing you to WIP limits and flow control, not Scrum ceremonies.

Exam Lens

Patterns on the PMP Exam:

  • Situational questions where Kanban improves visibility or reduces bottlenecks.
  • Wording like “continuous flow,” “visualizing work,” or “WIP limits.”
  • Clues that Kanban has no required roles, events, or time-boxes like Scrum.

Sample Question

Question: A project team struggles with too many tasks in progress, leading to delays. Which Agile practice would best address this issue?

  1. Daily stand-ups
  2. WIP limits
  3. Sprint reviews
  4. Product backlog refinement

Correct Answer: B. WIP limits. Work-in-Progress limits directly prevent overloading and bottlenecks.

Quick Recap Table

Element Purpose Exam Watch Point
Kanban Board Visualize workflow Columns = stages, tasks = cards
WIP Limits Control concurrent work Prevents overload and bottlenecks
Continuous Flow Steady delivery Not sprint-based, no time-boxing required
Metrics Cycle time and throughput Track and prove improvement over time

Key Takeaways

  • Kanban focuses on visualizing work and optimizing flow.
  • WIP limits prevent multitasking and bottlenecks.
  • Continuous delivery differentiates Kanban from Scrum.
  • Metrics like cycle time and throughput ensure improvement.
  • On the PMP exam, remember Kanban = flow, Scrum = iterations.

Next Step

With Kanban explained, we will now move into Extreme Programming (XP), which emphasizes engineering practices for quality and adaptability in Agile software development.

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