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 and design thinking.

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 experiences in the comments!

Kanban Lab: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kanban-lab

Orod Semsarzadeh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orod-semsarzadeh/

Soma Mazumder: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soma-mazumder/

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 empowers teams with data to drive smarter decisions.

In the latest episode of Kanban Lab, someone asks Soma, "What should I do when we have a backlog of work with hard deadlines?"

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 teams, identify constraints, and align on shared expectations. STATIK fosters stronger collaboration and continuous improvement. Tune in to learn how you can leverage STATIK to build stronger, more effective teams!

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 progress, helping teams identify bottlenecks. Additionally, they dive into the Kanban pull system, which is fundamentally different from the phase-gate approach used in Waterfall.

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 can effectively prioritise tasks and create a roadmap if desired.

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 pioneer in Australia, is the director of Evogility, a Kanban coach, and the chair of the Kanban Australia Conference. With over 20 years of experience in Agile and Lean software and product development, Daniel focuses on enhancing team capabilities and systems to unlock an organisation's potential.