A central component of Kanban is to make invisible knowledge work visible. However, you will notice quite often that you very often cannot work, but are blocked. Waiting for the test environment, requirements unclear, or missing customer information are only a small part of blockages that prevent us from continuing to work. These blockages are in most cases not a singular event, but have a systemic cause. In other words, it is very unlikely that a blockage occurs only once in the history of a company. Normally the same blockage occurs again and again. What can one do about it? Jumping out of the window in despair would be a possible approach. Another idea would be to see the blockages for what they are: Treasures of improvements. In this session, we show you how to harvest these treasures and to improve sustainably your working system. In addition, we will present a model that shows with the help of a few simple number games, which blockages need to be removed to achieve the greatest possible leverage.
- 1. Dr. Klaus Leopold web: www.LEANability.com blog:
www.klausleopold.com email: [email protected] twitter:
@klausleopold Blockades - Treasures of Improvement Lean Kanban
Central Europe Conference, November 2014, Hamburg, DE Troy Magennis
web: www.focusedobjective.com blog: www.focusedobjective.com/news
email: [email protected] twitter: @t_magennis
2. @klausleopold, @t_magennis (3) ANALYZE IN PROG. DONE IN PROG.
DONE (2) DEVELOP (2) TEST (4) DEV READY VERIF. UAT READY 2 DEPLOY
() ?? What could we do? > increase WIP limit in DEV -> solve
problems 3. @klausleopold, @t_magennis 4. @klausleopold,
@t_magennis BLOCKERS Text and photos for reservation page missing
(MyBooking) DAYS BLOCKED 5. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
INTERNALEXTERNAL Caused by us Example: waiting for review. Caused
by others Example: waiting for customer info. 6. @klausleopold,
@t_magennis INTERNALEXTERNAL customer clarification others test
env. not ready no time for review others 131 days 47 days 23 days
12 days waiting for backend 87 days 7 days 7. @klausleopold,
@t_magennis INTERNALEXTERNAL others test env. not ready no time for
review others 47 days 23 days 12 days waiting for backend 87 days 7
days content missing other clarifications 109 days 22 days 8.
@klausleopold, @t_magennis test env. not ready 47 days waiting for
backend 87 days content missing 109 days FOR EACH CLUSTER 1.
Understand the problem - I love asking WHY - it performs miracles!
2. Find solutions - What can YOU do? Its usually NEVER a lack of
solutions. The problem is implementing solutions without
understanding the problem and without understanding the impact! 9.
@klausleopold, @t_magennis content missing 109 days ?- WHY is
content missing? !- The customers dont send it. ?- WHY dont they
send it? !- Often they dont know what we need. ?- WHY dont they
know what we need?!- We dont tell them always. > Maybe itd be
smart to tell them ALWAYS 1. UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM 2. FIND A
SOLUTION Add an item to the Definition of Done checklist in the
Analysis step: > INFORM CUSTOMER ABOUT CONTENT DELIVERIES 10.
@klausleopold, @t_magennis test env. not ready 47 days waiting for
backend 87 days content missing 109 days WHICH SOLUTION SHOULD WE
IMPLEMENT? repeat this for all blocker clusters! 11. @klausleopold,
@t_magennis HEURISTIC FORBLOCKER REMOVAL 2. THOSE THAT BLOCK A
CONSTRAINED SKILL OR PROCESS FRIST! hard to solve moderate easy to
solve lowmediumhigh 3 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 SOLVABILITY qualitatively
assigned time blocked 1. If it costs more to fix a blocker than it
costs in delay, then it SHOULD NOT be fixed 3. 12. @klausleopold,
@t_magennis test env. not ready 47 days waiting for backend 87 days
content missing 109 days hard to solve moderate easy to solve
lowmediumhigh 3 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 time blocked 13. @klausleopold,
@t_magennis Defects 14. (3) ANALYZE IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE (2)
DEVELOP (2) TEST (4) DEV READY VERIF. ACC. READY 2 DEPLOY ()
defect! @klausleopold, @t_magennis 15. (3) ANALYZE IN PROG. DONE IN
PROG. DONE (2) DEVELOP (2) TEST (4) DEV READY VERIF. ACC. READY 2
DEPLOY () @klausleopold, @t_magennis DONT ALLOW RETURN TRAFFIC! 16.
defect fixing is no new work! your work item is still WIP you only
uncovered a problem (3) ANALYZE IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE (2)
DEVELOP (2) TEST (4) DEV READY VERIF. ACC. READY 2 DEPLOY ()
@klausleopold, @t_magennis YOU WIN THE OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE YOUR
SYSTEM!! 17. @klausleopold, @t_magennis BLOCKERS 18. ?- WHY are we
blocked by UAT? !- Customers are not satisfied with what wedeliver.
?- WHY arent they satisfied? !- Theres a mismatch on what they want
andwhat we deliver. ?- WHY is this mismatch? !- 1. UNDERSTAND THE
PROBLEM 2. FIND A SOLUTION -After analysis were doing a review of
the requirements with the customer, developers and testers. UAT not
passed 92 days 19. ?- WHY are we blocked by UAT? !- Customers are
not satisfied with what wedeliver. ?- WHY arent they satisfied? !-
Theres a mismatch on what they want andwhat we deliver. ?- WHY is
this mismatch? !- 1. UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM 2. FIND A SOLUTION
-After analysis were doing a review of the requirements with the
customer, developers and testers. UAT not passed 92 days Do we want
to implement this solution?? 20. ECONOMIC SIMULATION 21. download
it for free: www.focusobjective.com 22. Completes Days Staff Cost
Cost of Delay Days Late Baseline 20.Feb.15 79 79,000 35,714 50
Halved 13.Feb.15 74 74,000 30,714 43 Eliminated 30.Jn.15 64 64,000
20,714 29 ECONOMICS 23. Total Saving Total Cost Baseline - 114,714
Halved 10,000 104,714 Eliminated 30,000 84,714 0 5.000 10.000
15.000 20.000 25.000 30.000 Baseline Halved Eliminated X X X 24.
@klausleopold, @t_magennis WHAT ELSE COULDYOU LEARN FROM? support
requests production defects process violations depen- dencies
outliers in lead times everything abnormal 25. @klausleopold,
@t_magennis BLOCKER CLUSTER WRAP-UP - Blockers are opportunities
for improvements! - Dont only solve single blockers, work on the
root-cause(s) - Prioritize which ones you fix. - Make financial
arguments. - Complex systems are difficult to predict. Simulation
helps. 26. www.kanbaninit.com to appear in EN in Feb. 2015 Troy
Magennis web: www.focusedobjective.com blog:
www.focusedobjective.com/news email:
[email protected] twitter: @t_magennis Dr. Klaus
Leopold web: www.LEANability.com blog: www.klausleopold.com email:
[email protected] twitter: @klausleopold
www.focusedobjective.com
