Kanban - A Retrospective 

Kanban - A Retrospective Hinterher ist man immer schlauer - Wofür man Kanban einsetzen sollte 

Kanban In A Nutshell • Start with what you do now • Agree to pursue incremental, evolutionary change • Respect the current process, roles, responsibilities & titles • Visualize the workflow • Limit WIP • Manage Flow • Make Process Policies Explicit • Improve Collaboratively (using models & the scientific method) 

@devpg Software engineering enthusiast, org development fanatic and strong advocate on modern leadership. Motivated by 'Y'! Currently CTO at @Misterspex 

@devpg … managed Agile transition at ImmobilienScout24 and E-POST (Deutsche Post) • great progress at the beginning :-) • stuck after ~2 years :-( 

Agile Method Of Choice: Scrum 12 % Kanban 5 % Scrumban 7 % Custom hybrid 8 % Scrum/ XP Hybrid 10 % Scrum 58 % Source: Version One, State of Agile, V. 10 

Kanban vs. Scrum Source: GoogleTrends 

Why Is Kanban Adoption So Low? Source: Flickr 

Kanban Is Primarily Used For IT-Operations • Work only partly planable, lots of ad hoc tasks (e.g. service provider for development teams) • Focus on throughput (cycle time) • Simple tasks instead of complex stories 

Reasons For Adopting Agile Accelerate product delivery Ability to manage changing priorities Increase productivity Enhance software quality Enhance delivery predictability Improve business/IT alignment Improve project visibility Reduce project risk Improve team morale Improve engineering discipline Reduce project cost Increase software maintainability Better manage distributed teams 21 % 22 % 23 % 24 % 29 % 40 % 40 % 44 % 44 % 47 % 55 % 56 % 62 % Learning: Focus on software development & project management Source: Version One, State of Agile, V. 10 

Kanban Is NOT A Software Development Lifecycle Methodology No … • built in feedback loops • product development artifacts (iterative planning, backlog, review) “Kanban is NOT a software development life cycle or project management methodology! It is not a way of making software or running projects that make software!” — David Anderson 

Agile Techniques Employed (Top 5) Daily standup Prioritized backlogs Short iterations Retrospectives Iteration planning 69 % 74 % 79 % 82 % 83 % Source: Version One, State of Agile, V. 10 

However, Many Agile/ Scrum Introductions Remain Stuck At Certain Point • Agile growth outside the teams stagnates. • Focus on how (software development) not what (business) • Local optimisation of the overall workflow • Organisation structure remains the same • Two-class society Result: Doing agile but not being agile. 

Agility Can Be achieved By 3 Aspects Process, Organisation, Culture Be Agile Do Agile Learning: Scrum is not made for change management 

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” - Peter F. Drucker Source: Wikimedia 

How To Change Organisation & Culture To Become More Agile? Source: Flickr 

The-Balanced-Corporate-Culture- Transformation-Approach 1. Know your dominant culture 2. Choose the right tool (tool == agile method) 3. Balance between sweet spot and dominant culture 

Core Culture Model by W. Schneider Cultivation culture Control culture Competence culture Collaboration culture Company-oriented Reality-oriented Possibility-oriented • No culture type is better than another • Organisations typically have a dominant culture with aspects from other cultures • Culture may differ between departments within the organisation Source: The Reengineering Alternative 

Core Culture Model by W. Schneider Source: Agilitrix 

Core Culture Model Meets Agile Principles • Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project. • The most efficient and effective method of conveying information [...] is face-to-face conversation. • Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility. • The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self- organizing teams. • Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. … Source: Agile Manifesto 

Core Culture Model Meets Agile Principles Source: Agilitrix 

Where Is The Agile Sweet Spot? Cultivation culture Control culture Competence culture Collaboration culture 

Agile & Control Culture? How about Kanban? Source: Flickr 

Kanban Principles • Start with what you do now • Agree to pursue incremental, evolutionary change • Respect the current process, roles, responsibilities & titles • Visualize the workflow • Limit WIP • Manage Flow • Make Process Policies Explicit • Improve Collaboratively (using models & the scientific method) 

Kanban & Control Culture Learning: Kanban is for improving the overall workflow Source: Agilitrix 

Consider Scrumban As A Next Step To Grow Your Agile Implementation Scrumban in a nutshell: • Scrum as the chosen way of working • Kanban Method to understand and continuously improve how the work is done Using scientific methods (e.g. Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen) can be starting point for next improvements. 

Thanks For Listening And To …