There is a good book on visualizing work called Personal Kanban by Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria Barry. The book is an entry to the world of Kanban which in Japanese literally means "signboard or billboard."
Kanban was designed to control the logistical chain from a production perspective. More recently it has been used in the agile software development space.
At its core Kanban in the software development space is about (a) a backlog of work (b) things that need to be done this week (c) in progress, and (c) done or completed. This reflects a very simple workflow of (a) to do, (b) doing (c) done. This simple workflow can be scaled to much more complicated process.
I became aware of Kanban a couple years ago when I was working on building a talent management system across the New Zealand public service. It became a very effective tool for managing my teams work.
Over the past year I have been learning the rythem and dynamics of a new role. With a full year, I now have a better understanding of the seasonal nature of work for my current organization. My project this past week I have been working on getting clarity around how to apply a Kanban style board to a more strategic role.
The requirements for my strategic Kanban are:
- Shifting the focus from near term (doing) to the future (to-do). [My managers are responsible for doing.]
- Ensuring a long enough time horizon to make sure I am leading my function to a proactive position rather than re-active space.
- Facilitate conversations with my managers about accountability and trade offs.
- Foster understanding of interdependence and pre-requisite.
My first draft, outlined in my book, is in the photo below.
The board as designed has a focus on:
- The three forward quarters (e.g. Q4-15, Q3-15, Q2-15),
- The forward three months (March, Feb, January),
- In progress,
- Waiting on,
- Done.
The board is designed around the standard 76mm square post-it note.
The actual board is now up and I am working through the process of getting it populated by with my direct reports. It is shown in the photo in the header.
For those interested in virtual Kanban, here are some options:
- Lean Kit (leankit.com)
- Kanbanary (kanbanary.com)
- Kanban Flow (kanbanflow.com)
- Kanbanize (kanbanize.com)