Kanban Maturity Check

Kanban is an evolutionary approach to change management. Originally developed at Toyota, it was adapted by David Anderson for knowledge work. Six core practices form its foundation.

David J. Anderson Kanban (2010)

What is Kanban?

Kanban (Japanese: signal card) is not a rigid framework but a method for evolutionary change. Instead of turning everything upside down, Kanban starts where you are today and improves the process step by step.

The 6 core practices

  1. Visualize work — make invisible work visible (Kanban board)
  2. Limit WIP — cap parallel work to create flow
  3. Manage flow — measure and optimize throughput (lead time, cycle time)
  4. Make policies explicit — write down your process agreements
  5. Implement feedback loops — regular cadences for inspection and adaptation
  6. Improve collaboratively — experiment, measure, learn together

The key: WIP limits. Without them, a Kanban board is just a to-do list.

Kanban maturity check

Rate each core practice (1 = not present, 5 = fully established)

Is all ongoing work visible to the team — on a board, digital or physical?

Weak Strong 3

Are there explicit work-in-progress limits that are actually respected?

Weak Strong 3

Is the flow of work actively measured and optimized (lead time, throughput)?

Weak Strong 3

Are working agreements (Definition of Done, prioritization rules) clearly documented?

Weak Strong 3

Are there regular cadences (stand-ups, reviews, replenishment)?

Weak Strong 3

Is the process evolved jointly and based on evidence?

Weak Strong 3

Inspiriert von David J. Anderson — Kanban Method

Applied to

Weiterlesen

Trivia

  • Kanban comes from the Japanese 看板, meaning "signal card" or "visual signal".
  • Toyota has used Kanban since the 1940s — inspired by American supermarkets.
  • David Anderson adapted Kanban in 2004 at Microsoft for software development.
  • The most important Kanban metric is lead time: how long does it take from intake to delivery?
  • Unlike Scrum, Kanban has no prescribed roles or fixed iterations.