Prioritising Flow and Adaptability

Lean-Kanban is an adaptive methodology perfectly suited for teams that require flexibility, rapid response to change, and a clear focus on the continuous flow of value. It’s a modern approach that complements Lean-Scrum, particularly when the nature of the work doesn’t fit a traditional time-boxed sprint model.

Why Choose Lean-Kanban?

ou might choose a Lean-Kanban approach for a few key reasons:

• Service teams or teams where priorities change frequently, making it difficult to commit to a fixed set of deliverables within a time-boxed sprint.
• Smaller, non-multidisciplinary teams, such as a group of software developers. In these cases, alignment is often simpler and dependencies are limited, reducing the need for the more formal planning events of Scrum.
• Discovery projects or similar stages in product development where the direction needs to change rapidly based on new insights and learnings.

Maintaining Long-Term Alignment

While Lean-Kanban excels at managing the day-to-day flow of work, there is a risk that teams can lose their long-term direction and alignment. To counter this, we strongly recommend holding a Quarterly Planning session. This event ensures the team remains focused on mid-to-long-term goals and strategic objectives, providing a vital compass for daily activities.

Core Principles in Practice

• Remote-First: Just like our Lean-Scrum approach, Lean-Kanban is built for the modern, remote-first workplace, leveraging digital tools to visualise work and enhance communication.
• Flow is the Key: The central focus is on optimising the flow of work. To achieve this, user stories or tasks must be broken down into smaller, manageable pieces. As a guide, we recommend that no single item should require more than one week’s effort. This ensures a steady pace and prevents bottlenecks.
• Daily Coordination: Even in Kanban, daily stand-ups are essential for a quick sync. This short, focused session allows the team to coordinate their daily activities and identify any immediate blockers.
• Show and Tell: We still need to regularly share what has been completed with our stakeholders. Holding a Show and Tell session at a cadence agreed upon by the team ensures we get crucial feedback and maintain a strong connection with our stakeholders.
• Continuous Improvement: Just as in Scrum, retrospectives are vital. Teams should agree on a time frame for holding retrospectives to make sure that a continuous improvement process is in place, allowing for a regular and structured reflection on ways to enhance collaboration and efficiency.