Kanban
Kanban is a visual workflow management method that tracks work items as cards moving through columns representing stages of progress, using work-in-progress limits to expose bottlenecks and improve flow.
Definition
Kanban is a visual workflow management method that tracks work items as cards moving through columns representing stages of progress, using work-in-progress limits to expose bottlenecks and improve flow.
Overview
Kanban originated in Toyota's manufacturing system, where physical cards signaled when a workstation needed more materials, pulling work through the process rather than pushing it based on a fixed schedule. Software teams adapted this into a board — physical or digital — with columns like "To Do," "In Progress," and "Done," where each work item is a card that moves left to right as it advances. The key mechanism that distinguishes Kanban from a simple task board is the work-in-progress (WIP) limit: each column caps how many cards can sit in it at once. When a column hits its limit, no new work can enter until something moves out, which forces the team to finish work before starting more and quickly surfaces bottlenecks — a column that's perpetually full reveals exactly where flow is breaking down. Unlike Scrum, Kanban has no fixed iterations, sprint planning, or prescribed roles; work is pulled continuously as capacity allows, which makes it well suited to support queues, maintenance work, and other continuous-flow environments where fixed-length sprints add overhead without benefit. Many teams blend the two, using a Kanban board to visualize a product backlog inside an otherwise Scrum-based process. It is often mentioned alongside Agile Methodology in this space.
Key Concepts
- Visual board with columns representing distinct stages of work
- Work-in-progress (WIP) limits that cap items per column and expose bottlenecks
- Pull-based system — new work starts only when capacity frees up
- No fixed iterations or prescribed roles, unlike Scrum
- Continuous delivery rather than batched, sprint-based releases
- Cycle time and lead time metrics used to measure and improve flow
- Easily combined with other agile frameworks for backlog visualization