Core kanban principles and practices

Kanban is built on a foundation of core principles and practices that guide how teams work together. Understanding these fundamentals is key to implementing Kanban successfully.

The four core principles of kanban

Kanban is based on four fundamental principles that guide everything else:

1. Start with what you do now

Kanban doesn’t require you to change your current process immediately. Instead, it encourages you to:

• Understand your current workflow - Map out how work actually flows through your team

• Respect existing roles and responsibilities - Don’t force changes to team structure

• Start with your current process - Use Kanban to visualize and improve what you already do

Why this matters: This principle makes Kanban adoption much easier because teams don’t have to undergo major changes right away. You can improve gradually over time.

2. Agree to pursue incremental, evolutionary change

Kanban encourages small, continuous improvements rather than big, disruptive changes:

• Make small changes - Start with minor adjustments and observe the results

• Respect the current process - Don’t force radical changes

• Encourage acts of leadership - Let team members suggest and implement improvements

• Use the scientific method - Test changes, observe results, and adjust accordingly

Why this matters: Small changes are less risky and easier to implement. They also allow teams to learn and adapt gradually.

3. Respect current roles, responsibilities, and job titles

Kanban works with your existing organizational structure:

• Keep current roles - Don’t change job titles or responsibilities just to adopt Kanban

• Work within existing authority - Respect current decision-making processes

• Involve everyone - Encourage participation from all team members

• Maintain accountability - Keep existing reporting relationships

Why this matters: This principle reduces resistance to change and makes Kanban adoption smoother.

4. Encourage leadership at all levels

Kanban empowers everyone to contribute to improvement:

• Everyone can lead - Leadership isn’t just for managers

• Encourage suggestions - Welcome ideas from all team members

• Support experimentation - Allow team members to try new approaches

• Celebrate improvements - Recognize and reward positive changes

Why this matters: When everyone feels empowered to improve the process, you get more ideas and better results.

The six core practices of kanban

Along with the principles, Kanban has six core practices that teams should follow:

1. Visualize the workflow

What it means: Make your work visible on a Kanban board so everyone can see what’s happening.

How to do it:

• Create a board that represents your current workflow

• Use columns to show different stages of work

• Put each piece of work on a card

• Make the board visible to everyone on the team

Example:

To Do In Progress Done

Card 1 Card 2 Card 3

Card 4 Card 5 Card 6

Card 7

2. Limit work in progress (WIP)

What it means: Set limits on how much work can be in progress at any given time.

How to do it:

• Decide how many items can be in each column at once

• Set WIP limits based on your team’s capacity

• Don’t start new work until there’s space available

• Use WIP limits to identify bottlenecks

Example WIP limits:

• To Do: 5 items maximum

• In Progress: 3 items maximum

• Review: 2 items maximum

3. Manage flow

What it means: Monitor how work moves through your system and identify where it gets stuck.

How to do it:

• Watch how cards move through your board

• Identify columns where work tends to pile up

• Look for patterns in delays or bottlenecks

• Take action to improve flow when needed

Signs of poor flow:

• Cards sitting in one column for too long

• Some team members are overloaded while others are idle

• Work getting stuck in review or approval stages

4. Make policies explicit

What it means: Clearly define the rules and criteria for each stage of your workflow.

How to do it:

• Write down the definition of “done” for each column

• Define what criteria must be met to move a card

• Make policies visible on your board

• Review and update policies regularly

Example policies:

• To Do → In Progress: Card must have clear requirements and be assigned to someone

• In Progress → Review: All work must be completed and tested

• Review → Done: Code review completed and approved

5. Implement feedback loops

What it means: Create regular opportunities to review your process and make improvements.

How to do it:

• Hold regular team meetings to discuss the board

• Review metrics like cycle time and throughput

• Discuss what’s working and what isn’t

• Make adjustments based on what you learn

Types of feedback loops:

• Daily standups - Quick check-ins on work progress

• Retrospectives - Regular meetings to improve the process

• Service delivery reviews - Meetings to discuss delivery performance

6. Improve collaboratively, evolve experimentally

What it means: Work together as a team to continuously improve your process using data and experimentation.

How to do it:

• Use data to understand your current performance

• Experiment with changes to see what works

• Involve the whole team in improvement discussions

• Learn from both successes and failures

Improvement techniques:

• A/B testing - Try different approaches and compare results

• Root cause analysis - Dig deep to understand why problems occur

• Kaizen - Continuous improvement through small changes

How these principles and practices work together

The principles and practices work together to create a system that:

1. Starts simple - You begin with your current process

2. Makes work visible - Everyone can see what’s happening

3. Limits overload - Teams don’t take on too much work

4. Identifies problems - Bottlenecks and issues become obvious

5. Encourages improvement - Teams are empowered to make changes

6. Evolves gradually - Changes happen incrementally and safely

Common mistakes to avoid

1. Ignoring current process

Mistake: Trying to implement a “perfect” Kanban system from the start Better approach: Start with your current workflow and improve it gradually

2. Not setting WIP limits

Mistake: Allowing unlimited work in progress Better approach: Set reasonable limits and adjust them based on team capacity

3. Making policies too complex

Mistake: Creating detailed rules that are hard to follow Better approach: Keep policies simple and update them as needed

4. Ignoring data

Mistake: Making changes based on gut feelings alone Better approach: Use metrics to understand your process and guide improvements

5. Not involving the team

Mistake: Managers dictating how Kanban should work Better approach: Include everyone in discussions about process improvement

Getting started with kanban principles

Step 1: Understand your current process

Before making any changes, map out how work currently flows through your team.

Step 2: Create a simple board

Start with a basic board that represents your current workflow stages.

Step 3: Set initial WIP limits

Begin with conservative limits and adjust based on what you observe.

Step 4: Establish basic policies

Define simple criteria for moving work between columns.

Step 5: Start using the board

Begin moving work through your board and observe how it flows.

Step 6: Hold regular reviews

Schedule time to discuss how the process is working and identify improvements.

Conclusion

Kanban principles and practices provide a framework for improving how teams work without requiring major changes to existing processes. By following these fundamentals, teams can:

• Make work more visible and manageable

• Identify and resolve bottlenecks

• Improve delivery speed and quality

• Create a culture of continuous improvement

The key is to start simple, observe how your process works, and make small improvements over time. Remember, Kanban is about evolution, not revolution.