Visualising the work.
WHAT THE BOARD SHOULD SHOW
Every stage work passes through Every item currently in progress The limit for each stage Anything blocked
WHAT COLUMNS TO CREATE
The stages your work actually passes through.
WHY ACTUALLY
Boards frequently show an idealised process nobody follows.
WHAT TO INCLUDE THAT PEOPLE OMIT
Waiting stages: awaiting review, awaiting deployment, awaiting information.
WHY
That is where time is genuinely lost, and hiding it hides the problem.
WHAT TO MARK CLEARLY
Blocked items, and what they are waiting for.
WHAT TO SET LIMITS ON
Each stage, based on team size and observation.
WHAT TO DO WHEN A LIMIT IS REACHED
Help finish something rather than starting something new.
WHAT DEFINITIONS TO MAKE EXPLICIT
What must be true for an item to enter each stage.
WHY
Otherwise items move when someone feels like moving them.
WHAT TO REVIEW
Where items accumulate.
WHAT ACCUMULATION INDICATES
A constraint in the next stage.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
Address the constraint, not the stage before it.
