Kanban Lab

🎙️ In this episode of Kanban Lab , Soma and Orod tackle another common myth: that Kanban isn’t disciplined because it lacks planning. They explain how Kanban actually promotes continuous, thoughtful planning through regular and on-demand replenishment. Work is pulled when the team has capacity and when customer demand is ready. They also explore the role of the upstream process in improving clarit...

This week, Soma and Orod unpack a common myth: Kanban doesn’t support change. In reality, change is at the heart of Kanban. In this episode, they explore how Kanban takes an evolutionary approach to change, introducing improvements gradually, guided by problems, dissatisfaction (STATIK), and data-driven decisions to track progress over time. Tune in to learn how Kanban helps you build sustainable...

This week on Kanban Lab , Soma and Orod explore the real value of having a clear workflow. Orod shares a recent client story that highlights how even a simple workflow can improve visibility, reduce overhead, boost collaboration, and help teams focus on what really matters. If you're still using task lists to track progress, this episode might change the way you think about flow.

In this episode, Soma and Orod bust another common myth: Kanban doesn’t work for large teams. They share real examples of using Kanban with teams of 20+ people and explain how Kanban doesn’t prescribe team size. Instead, it helps you see problems and use its principles to improve collaboration, flow, and outcomes—no matter the team size. Have you used Kanban with a large team? Share your experienc...

Many teams track progress using tasks, but is that the best approach? In this episode, Soma and Orod discuss how workflows helped one of Orod’s clients track progress more effectively. They explore the benefits of a simple workflow—reducing admin work, improving collaboration, identifying bottlenecks, and ultimately enhancing flow and customer satisfaction. 📌 How does your team track progress? Sh...

Many believe Kanban only works for teams with a stable workflow, but is that true? In this episode, Soma and Orod break down this misconception and explain that not all work has to follow the same workflow. They share insights on how to design a Kanban board that adapts to different types of work and changing conditions. 📌 How does your team handle unstable workflows? Share your experience in the...

n this episode of Kanban Lab , Soma and Orod address the misconception that Kanban is only for manufacturing or operations. They explore the origins of the Kanban System in Toyota manufacturing and share their experiences showing how Kanban principles make it highly effective for product development. With Kanban’s focus on starting with the customer, it aligns perfectly with product development an...

This time, Soma and Orod tackle another common misconception: that Kanban doesn’t have feedback loops, unlike Scrum which has Sprint review, retro. In reality, Kanban encourages continuous feedback and offers various types of feedback loops tailored to the maturity and needs of your team and organisation. Have you used feedback loops to drive improvement in your Kanban implementation? Share your e...

In this episode of Kanban Lab , Soma and Orod tackle another common misconception about Kanban: "the idea that it doesn't involve planning sessions and can't support a long-term vision ". They discuss how Kanban encourages continuous planning and replenishment and provides tools and principles to align short-term actions with strategic goals. Don't miss this insightful conversation!

Soma and Orod have just released another episode of Kanban Lab , where we tackle another common Kanban myth: "Kanban has no metrics." In this episode, we dive into Kanban's scientific, hypothesis-driven, and evolutionary change method , exploring how metrics play a crucial role in supporting continuous improvement. We also review some of the key metrics and their benefits, showing how Kanban empow...

In the latest episode of Kanban Lab, someone asks Soma, "What should I do when we have a backlog of work with hard deadlines?" Orod and Soma discuss Kanban’s Classes of Service, focusing on the Fixed Date class to help prioritize time-sensitive tasks. They also dive into the Lead-Time Distribution Chart, explaining how it helps teams understand when to start work to ensure it's completed on time....

In this episode of Kanban Lab, Orod and Soma explore how the STATIK (Systems Thinking Approach to Introducing Kanban) method can be applied to create a meaningful team working agreement. They explain how STATIK encourages teams to focus on identifying the right problems first, agree on how to address them, and consider their impact on other teams; STATIK helps teams consider their impact on other...

Many people see a Kanban workflow and think it's just like Waterfall, believing it doesn't improve agility. In this episode, Soma and Orod explain how Kanban workflows actually represent a series of knowledge discovery activities that visualize how work flows through a system (whether in an organization or team). They discuss how Kanban highlights where work gets stuck or remains in progre...

In this episode, Orod shares a conversation with a senior manager who suggested that showing the Kanban board is enough for training. Orod and Soma discuss why not every board is a Kanban board and explain how a true Kanban board should send signals about team capacity, enabling a pull system that aligns both the team and the organisation.

Recently, Soma spoke with a product manager who believed that Kanban doesn't support estimation and, therefore, roadmaps can't be created. In this episode, Orod and Soma clarify this misconception. They explain that Kanban neither prescribes nor prohibits estimation. In fact, by using the Lead Time Distribution Chart (histogram) and categorising different work items, teams and companies ca...

Join our hosts Orod and Soma as they sit down with Daniel Ploeg , a well-known figure in the Australian Kanban community, for an insightful conversation on scaling Kanban. Dan shares his experiences and emphasises the importance of starting with what you have. Whether you're just beginning your Kanban journey or looking to scale, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways. Daniel, a Kanban...

Have you ever heard someone say that Kanban has roles like 'Flow Manager'? In this episode, Soma and Orod discuss another common myth about Kanban: that it has prescribed roles and responsibilities. They clarify why Kanban doesn't have any predefined roles and explore real-life scenarios and lessons learned from them.

In this episode, Soma and Orod discuss about another Kanban Myth, whether Kanban can deliver results within a two-week timeframe. Drawing from their own experiences, they explore how Kanban operates with SLAs and compare this to the two-week time-boxed events in Scrum.4o

A common concern that people has is that Kanban does not have a commitment point! In this episode, Orod and Soma clarified that not only Kanban has a commitment point, but also this a crucial element in designing an effective Kanban System.

It's a frequent challenge for large organisations with multiple teams collaborating on extensive projects to strategise on a quarterly basis. Many assert that Kanban isn't suitable for such planning endeavours. In this episode, Soma and Orod delve into this contentious issue. Orod shares his firsthand success story illustrating how the Kanban Method effectively facilitates teams and organi...

The latest episode of our Kanban principles series has just been released on both Podcast and YouTube platforms. In the Kanban Method, we perceive organisations as dynamic entities, with the connections between its components constantly evolving over time, along with our policies and agreements. In this episode, Soma and Orod delve into the principle of 'Regularly reviewing the network and its...

In traditional management, the emphasis lies on overseeing individuals, monitoring their activities, and frequently reassigning them, all with the aim of optimising their utilisation. However, it's widely recognized that mere busyness doesn't necessarily translate to increased productivity. In this episode, Soma and Orod delve into a pivotal principle of the Kanban Method: 'Manage the...

In this episode Soma and Orod talked about the first Kanban Service Delivery Principles and this principle: - Who are your customers? - What are the desires and preferences of your customers? - When do they expect their needs to be met? - What standards of quality do they anticipate?

Tune in to the latest episode of Kanban Lab where Soma and Orod explore Kanban's third change management principle: encouraging leadership at all levels. They discuss how leadership extends beyond top-level roles, emphasising the importance of empowering every individual in an organisation to take ownership and drive change. Through real-world examples, they illustrate how distributed leadersh...

In this episode, Orod and Soma deep dive into the second principle of Change management, which says, " Gain agreement to pursue improvement through evolutionary change ," emphasizes the importance of obtaining consensus among the team members and stakeholders regarding the need for continuous improvement through incremental changes rather than radical transformations. In essence, this pr...