Jun

Find a Beginning and Endpoint when starting a Kanban

Jim Benson of Personal Kanban fame tweeted (Jim is @ourfounder on Twitter): All Kanban practitioners should really learn the true meaning of flow. awesome video!

When I reviewed the video I kept coming back to Kanban by David Anderson and his definition of Bootstrapping a Kanban. David discusses that every Kanban needs a beginning and end point.

I find in most instances the toughest part in starting a Marketing Kanban system is just that; not knowing where to start or to end. So where do you begin? I am gong to back up a minute and assume that you have completed a Value Stream Map. After creating the map we normally transfer the Value Stream steps to the Kanban Board. I have found the fuzzy area exist in the handoffs between the steps and the most difficult handoffs typically exist at the beginning and the end. So if you having a difficult time getting started just remove the first and last step. Compress your value stream so that you have better definition and you know exactly what your handoff will be and who you will be giving it to.

Remember, we are just trying to get the Kanban started and the neat thing about a Kanban is that you can change it anytime you want. Was that an awesome video?

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Categories : Kanban, Product Innovation, Six sigma marketing

http://ourfounder.typepad.com Jim Benson

Finding THE beginning and end is pretty hard, so I let people feel around for it.

While they are searching, the quest for the true endpoints don't seem to be as tough for them as getting over external constraints. People freak out when there is something in their value stream they cannot directly control.

Oddly, pointing out areas where we lose control is a major part of having a kanban (personal or otherwise). We want to highlight the part at the beginning where the boss dumps files on her desk and grunts. The more of those we have, the less sustainable the work is.

Very glad the video inspired you!

Jim
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