Team Kanban: Visualizing Workflow to Achieve Success

Team Kanban is a unique method that assists agile teams in large organizations to improve productivity and overall efficiency by visualizing workflows, the status of each task, and continuously enhancing their operational procedures.

It has become increasingly essential for agile teams to create visual and intuitive digital models of their workflows so they can determine the execution procedure of related tasks. In other words, Team Kanban helps agile teams to clearly identify how to map each phase of a complex project in the columns they have defined. This provides the only visually effective way to deliver an instant view of work in progress and potential roadblocks and bottlenecks empowering the team to take corrective measures in time.

Relying on a singular information source, KanBo enables Kanban Teams to make quick progress through efficient communication. Kanban boards keep Kanban Teams aware of the progress being made by displaying the most relevant information related to every task.

What are the benefits of using Team Kanban?

Team Kanban can be used to achieve efficient results while managing your teams to deliver high-level productivity. As BBVA puts it:

“Once the Kanban board is set up, the following
benefits can be expected as the project progresses.”

Team Kanban will allow you to view the overall status and progress of a project at a single glance. Here are some of the key features of Team Kanban:

• Easy and quick detection of bottlenecks, dependencies, and workflow weaknesses
• Adequate and timely prioritization of tasks in progress
• Eliminates unnecessary meetings whose only objective is to reconcile progress
• Display all activities so progress remains transparent for the rest of the team
• Provides estimations for work in progress that ensures a more balanced workload

Team Kanban in KanBo

Kanban	→	Work schedule ready to implement in KanBo
Kanban Board	→	KanBo Board with Kanban view
Flow (Progress)	→	Set of lists to do, doing, and done in KanBo Board
Flow for Team Kanban (Progress)	→	Boards in Board Collection
Task	→	KanBo Card
Team Kanban Members	→	KanBo members
Who Works on Which Task	→	Responsible and Co-workers in KanBo
Kanban Analytics	→	Analytics in KanBo Board
Task Dependencies	→	Card dependencies (Parent, Child, Previous, Next)

Rules and Definitions for Teamwork in Kanban

Scheduling System & Project Management

If you look at the Wikipedia explanation of Kanban, it is defined as a scheduling system that assists in lean manufacturing as well as just-in-time manufacturing. However, Kanban is much more than just a scheduling system as the tool is extensively used for managing a wide range of projects and project progress across a multitude of departments and a diverse range of industries. It empowers teams to be efficient by allowing them to manage and coordinate workflow processes and related procedures.

Workflow Visualization

Kanban teams can be deployed to visualizing workflow by creating Boards in Board collection and lists in KanBo Board. In its current form, the Board is fundamentally a digital version of the Kanban board that displays all tasks included in the Team Kanban project. By creating this type of List in KanBo, Team Kanban gets a clearer view of their progress throughout the project from its inception to the final deliverable. Apart from that, Team Kanban can rely on the List to organize their tasks using KanBo Cards. If Team Kanban team members need to edit or modify the task details in any way, they can do so by adjusting the information in the existing task cards in KanBo.

KanBo Analytics

Kanban teams can make the most of the KanBo Analytics module to measure the flow of work in real-time. This empowers Kanban teams to analyze the progress and status of tasks right away without any delays and identify bottlenecks and dependencies. Team Kanban can also measure the flow of the work by comparing it against a baseline flow. This allows them to identify areas where the team can improve its process for faster turnaround and greater efficiency.

Dependency Management

Moreover, Kanban Teams require the ability to manage a wide variety of task dependencies that are crucial to keep the project on track and ensure it gets delivered by the deadline. In order to manage dependencies, Kanban Teams can rely on KanBo built-in relations which include Parent, Child, Previous, and Next for managing tasks and complex projects in multi-group environments that are often prevalent in matrix organizations.

Enhancement & Corrective Measures

Kanban Board and flow of work can always be improved to ensure optimal efficiency and productivity. All Kanban teams have the capability to see the current overview of workflow and if necessary, take corrective action in a timely manner so there aren’t any bottlenecks down the road. Using the KanBo software, Team Kanban can come together as a collaborative group that knows how to work as a polished team towards the shared goal. When the Team Kanban board is implemented, the rest of the team, as well as the project members, get the ability to start observing each other’s tasks and team activities right on the Kanban board. This enables seamless interaction between Team Kanban and other team members.

Seamless Communication

Relying on digital KanBo Kanban boards, Kanban teams have the capability to always maintain two-way communication with each other by mentioning and communicating all the team members’ tasks directly to their fellow team members using KanBo Cards. This makes Team Kanban members visible to each other which motivates them to communicate and work together in real-time in a more efficient and productive manner.

Conclusion

Team Kanban is one of the most effective methods to develop a robust support system for team workflows and their processes in large organizations. It enables you to ensure that complex projects are completed in a way that is versatile, cost-effective, and easy to manage. Team Kanban consists of KanBo Board and KanBo Card which can be used by Kanban teams to easily visualize their workflow by giving each member real-time updates of the progress.