The Kanban Board

Kanban is a very flexible evolutionary change management system. This means that the
prevailing (predominant) process is enhanced gradually without creating disruptions. By
employing minor changes (rather than a bigger one), the risk to the overall system is
minimized. This approach ensures low or no resistance in the team and the
stakeholders. Kanban starts by visualizing the workflow. This is done using a Kanban
board which is a simple whiteboard with sticky notes or cards. Each card or sticky
denotes a task. A typical Kanban board has three columns, as shown in the
picturebelow:

Four Kanban Principles

1. Initiate with what you are currently doing. Don’t change your processes suddenly but
use Kanban for your current workflow. Kanban offers the flexibility of utilization on top of
existing workflows, systems, and processes without disturbing what is already in place.

4. Respect current roles and responsibilities and encourage teams to collectively find and
implement any changes. Encourage leadership from everyone to help keep the continuous
change for maximizing improvements. Leadership at all levels emerges from people’s everyday
insights and acts to better their working processes.