A Lean, Kanban Manufacturing Concept Ripe for the IT World
Kanban is the Japanese word for 'sign,’ and the core of a Kanban type process is a pull system where flow between work stations within a factory as well as with external suppliers and distributors is driven by downstream demand. Historically this downstream demand was indicated by a simple sign that was displayed when a work station needed more material.
The goal of Kanban is to level production across a system, reduce lead times, and decrease excess inventory - all major components of the lean definition of waste. Many different tools and processes have been created to accomplish this including an important concept known as the 'visual factory.'
The intent of the visual factory is to empower workers with information pertaining to a production system beyond that of their own work station. By having access to the big picture, well trained and motivated employees can begin self-managing the production system according to lean principles.
This technique is highly adaptable to the information technology workspace. Modern knowledge workers thrive on information and can make the myriad decisions necessary to maintain optimal productivity without minute by minute managerial involvement. The visual factory is a powerful tool to enable skilled, dedicated teams to get to the next evolutionary level - self-organization.
The goal of Kanban is to level production across a system, reduce lead times, and decrease excess inventory - all major components of the lean definition of waste. Many different tools and processes have been created to accomplish this including an important concept known as the 'visual factory.'
The intent of the visual factory is to empower workers with information pertaining to a production system beyond that of their own work station. By having access to the big picture, well trained and motivated employees can begin self-managing the production system according to lean principles.
This technique is highly adaptable to the information technology workspace. Modern knowledge workers thrive on information and can make the myriad decisions necessary to maintain optimal productivity without minute by minute managerial involvement. The visual factory is a powerful tool to enable skilled, dedicated teams to get to the next evolutionary level - self-organization.
Examples that Theory Y Managers Will Love
Anyone who has taken a business management course has probably had to answer exam questions about Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X assumes that employees will avoid work whenever able and that constant, close management is necessary. Theory Y, the more accepted of the two in most modern practices, states that employees are self starters who work hard at their jobs and are even capable of self-management and course correction when it comes to tactical goal obtainment.
Managers who subscribe to McGregor's Theory Y will quickly see the value of always available production information whether it be in an IT situation or elsewhere. A help desk call center could be made aware of average wait time and number of customers on hold via wall mounted monitors. If one subscribes to Theory Y, it is easy to see that many decisions are going to be made directly by the employees that could have beneficial effects on the center's overall performance. Break times might be adjusted when the backlog and wait times are increasing. Effort and focus could ramp up when the collective body of service providers sees that they are getting behind.
Doing this successfully also requires a range of management competencies beyond the scope of this article to incentivize performance through obtainable, metric based goals and to foster a self-managing team environment. The point here is that with the information available, dedicated and trusted employees will take steps on their own to make the organization more successful.
This same principle is very well represented in an arena that many will be familiar with – Agile.
Managers who subscribe to McGregor's Theory Y will quickly see the value of always available production information whether it be in an IT situation or elsewhere. A help desk call center could be made aware of average wait time and number of customers on hold via wall mounted monitors. If one subscribes to Theory Y, it is easy to see that many decisions are going to be made directly by the employees that could have beneficial effects on the center's overall performance. Break times might be adjusted when the backlog and wait times are increasing. Effort and focus could ramp up when the collective body of service providers sees that they are getting behind.
Doing this successfully also requires a range of management competencies beyond the scope of this article to incentivize performance through obtainable, metric based goals and to foster a self-managing team environment. The point here is that with the information available, dedicated and trusted employees will take steps on their own to make the organization more successful.
This same principle is very well represented in an arena that many will be familiar with – Agile.
Agile Gets It
One could make a strong case that Agile is the software development incarnation of Kanban, and Agile has fully embraced the concept of the visual factory whether practitioners realize it or not. Waste exists in much the same way within a development team as it does in a traditional production environment, and in poorly functioning situations, a typical waterfall software development team could easily resemble an inefficient factory from the last century.
In waterfall, developers sit idle until they receive development tasks properly vetted by business analysts and dev leads, and then they work at various rates until their tasks are complete. Some programmers finish faster than others, and if the feature pipeline is empty, they may sit idle again.
Many developers stay 'heads down,' plugging away on features that may no longer be top priority to the stakeholders. At the same time, in demand features that need to be prioritized up because of marketplace developments sit far back in the queue because the schedule is driven by an inflexible plan written and approved months or even years before. In some organizations, changing the project plan requires approval of numerous entities, the blessing of assorted deities, and perhaps even the sacrifice of a few forest creatures.
In its purest form, Agile is a true software building utopia and is lean to the extreme. Teams are self-organizing, self-managing, and cross trained enough to assist with any of the major development functional areas. When a task is completed, a new task is simply taken from the backlog and started. The cross-team training and familiarity allows developers and designers to help other team members ensuring that no bandwidth is wasted throughout the course of the sprint, and shippable software containing the most desirable features is always the outcome.
Well establish Agile teams are virtual factory workers constantly surrounded by real time data. Roadmaps, task boards, and burn down charts line the walls of team work spaces. This information is crucial to the team's success as self-managers. It allows decisions to be made on the spot that impact the future of the project without any input outside of the team.
Team progress is always clear via the burn down chart helping to make time and resource allocations self-evident, and members are empowered to complete the agreed upon sprint backlog on time. The sprint team's buy-in is often higher because they have a big picture perspective and control of what is going on as opposed to working on a single task in an informational vacuum.
In waterfall, developers sit idle until they receive development tasks properly vetted by business analysts and dev leads, and then they work at various rates until their tasks are complete. Some programmers finish faster than others, and if the feature pipeline is empty, they may sit idle again.
Many developers stay 'heads down,' plugging away on features that may no longer be top priority to the stakeholders. At the same time, in demand features that need to be prioritized up because of marketplace developments sit far back in the queue because the schedule is driven by an inflexible plan written and approved months or even years before. In some organizations, changing the project plan requires approval of numerous entities, the blessing of assorted deities, and perhaps even the sacrifice of a few forest creatures.
In its purest form, Agile is a true software building utopia and is lean to the extreme. Teams are self-organizing, self-managing, and cross trained enough to assist with any of the major development functional areas. When a task is completed, a new task is simply taken from the backlog and started. The cross-team training and familiarity allows developers and designers to help other team members ensuring that no bandwidth is wasted throughout the course of the sprint, and shippable software containing the most desirable features is always the outcome.
Well establish Agile teams are virtual factory workers constantly surrounded by real time data. Roadmaps, task boards, and burn down charts line the walls of team work spaces. This information is crucial to the team's success as self-managers. It allows decisions to be made on the spot that impact the future of the project without any input outside of the team.
Team progress is always clear via the burn down chart helping to make time and resource allocations self-evident, and members are empowered to complete the agreed upon sprint backlog on time. The sprint team's buy-in is often higher because they have a big picture perspective and control of what is going on as opposed to working on a single task in an informational vacuum.
In Conclusion
Knowledge and information are power. One of the key workplace differentiators between now and just a few decades ago is the broad availability of real time data that was once only accessible by a privileged few executives.
Production data regarding a process or project is widely available and expected in the modern age. Though some forms of data dissemination have become common place such as gantt charts and burn down charts, the possibilities are so much greater. The goal is to provide each team member with near realtime project progression, task completion, and visibility into what everyone else is working on. When accomplished, you will have laid an important piece of the foundation necessary to construct a high performing, self-organizing team.
Production data regarding a process or project is widely available and expected in the modern age. Though some forms of data dissemination have become common place such as gantt charts and burn down charts, the possibilities are so much greater. The goal is to provide each team member with near realtime project progression, task completion, and visibility into what everyone else is working on. When accomplished, you will have laid an important piece of the foundation necessary to construct a high performing, self-organizing team.