Kanban Charts & How to Track Progress in Kanban

Efficient workflow management is the key to ensuring continuous business growth and process improvement. Kanban charts have emerged as a vital visual tool for managing the workflow across all levels within an organization, including individual and team levels. The thing that makes Kanban so successful is that it does not force change to the workflow from the very beginning but focuses on the evolution of existing processes. It is based on the principle that to reach a destination, and one must first be aware of where one stands currently. Read on to learn more about the best Kanban courses.

Kanban Charts- An Overview

Using Kanban for monitoring and tracking workflow progress can be extremely and complex, depending on the final objectives. The method uses a comprehensive analytics module, making handling the task relatively easier. The most important feature of the analytical module is the comprehensive chart tracking system. These charts make it easier to view and analyze performance and identify bottlenecks. Kanban online even offers the benefit of providing access to analytical charts that are automatically generated. To maximize the benefits of using Kanban charts, it is important to understand its core practices, as explained below.

Visualize the Flow of Work

It is important to visualize the process steps currently being used for delivering the products or services. Whether the Kanban charts are simple or extremely elaborate depends on the complexity of the process and the type of work items that are being worked on and delivered.

Limit WIP (Work in Progress)

Limit WIP helps to motivate teams to complete an ongoing task and mark it has done before taking up a new one. However, since deciding the WIP limit may be difficult initially, it is advisable to start with no limits until enough data is obtained to set the appropriate limit for each workflow stage.

Manage Flow

Kanban charts can help in the efficient management of flow by highlighting the different stages of the workflow. They also offer information about the status of work in each stage. When the workflow is well defined and the WIP limits are properly set, users can experience a smooth flow within the set WIP limit.

Make Process Policies Explicit

Creating well-defined process guidelines helps create a common ground for all stakeholders to understand the best ways to do any type of work. The policies can be created at the board level, the swim lane level, or even for each column. 

Implement Feedback Loops

Like any other system, feedback forms an integral part of the Kanban methodology. The Kanban method inspires users to implement different types of feedback loops. Continuous feedback helps in prevents the proper completion of tasks and minimizes the risk of users losing focus.

Improve Collaboratively, Evolve Experimentally

The Kanban method is based on evolving existing processes rather than revolutionizing them. It helps users to adapt to small changes and improve gradually without pressuring the team. 

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Track Progress with Kanban Charts

The various charts and tools included that form a part of Kanban and are used for tracking progress are explained in brief as follows:

1. Cumulative Flow Diagrams

The cumulative flow diagram is a type of graphical chart used for measuring the increase or decrease in tasks over time. The vertical line of the chart represents the number of tasks in absolute zero value. The horizontal line represents the timeline for which the progress of the tasks is to be measured. 

The flow is a collection of tasks that form a part of the Kanban project management, and a single diagram has multiple flows in different colors. Isolating a single flow offers information about the number of tasks contained in a single column of the Kanban board over a given time.

2. Cycle Time Scatter Plot

The cycle time scatter plot is one of the most effective progress tracking p used for tracking progress. It also offers critical information about the probability that a specific task will likely exit the workflow. The two key aspects of the chart are cycle time and lead time. Cycle time is the time required to complete a task on which work has been started, and lead time is the time gap between when something is requested and when it is delivered. 

Each blue dot in the chart informs about the workflow stage that took the maximum time for a specific task to complete. This information helps understand the reasons hampering the workflow progress and the best ways to speed up the same.

3. Aging WIP Chart

Unlike the cycle time scatter plot, the aging WIP chart offers a great overview of the entire process besides providing information about unfinished tasks. The chart enables users to analyze the aging and progress of a task across the workflow. 

In case of any unusual piling up of Kanban cards in any of the columns, the chart offers clear information about the investigative causes and stages the work items go through. The most important feature of the WIP chart is the pace percentiles located on the right side of the chart and the age in days on the left side of the chart. The overall data represents the pace at which the tasks progressed through the workflow over time.

4. Distribution Chart

The distribution chart is in the form of a pie chart and, unlike every other Kanban chart in Excel, is easy to understand and track progress. The chart offers a visual representation of the tasks per unit of measure as per the user's choice. It can also be configured by including or excluding columns or reflecting data related to only a specific swimlane, or even selecting specific dimensions such as assignee, tags, etc. The chart proves extremely effective in gaining an overall understanding of the number of tasks present on each part of the board.

5. Block Resolution Chart

True to its name, the block resolution chart provides information about the time taken to resolve blocked tasks. Each column of the chart represents the time taken for the task and hovering over the column offers details about the reasons why the task has been blocked. The block resolution Kanban chart template is customizable and can be configured as per swimlanes, columns, and time measurement units.

6. Kanban Timeline

The Kanban timeline is considered more of a tool than a graph, but it still makes a useful addition to the above-discussed charts. It helps track the progress of tasks in Kanban along with their smaller constituents over a given time. Using this Kanban chart in an agile environment is highly recommended to eliminate the need for constant status reporting and enable the users to focus on more important tasks.

Conclusion

Using the Kanban project management methodology ensures gradual improvement in the delivery of products and services. It proves extremely effective in removing the bottlenecks in the workflow system, improving the flow, and minimizing the cycle time. Go for Kanban Practitioner certification and gain more learning and knowledge of kanban.