Kanban Schedule

Quick reference

• 00:04 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
• 00:05 Let's talk about a schedule planning tool called a Kanban schedule.
• 00:09 >> This tool is a flow perspective for the project.
• 00:12 By that I mean, a group of items that all have to go through the same set of tasks
• 00:16 or activities on the project.
• 00:18 It is a visual description of how a project deliverable is flowing through
• 00:23 the various steps of the project.
• 00:25 Just like the milestone chart had two ways of showing milestones,
• 00:28 I've seen the Kanban principle applied in two different formats.
• 00:32 One is a flow board that shows the status of deliverables and the tasks supporting
• 00:36 those deliverables based upon the columns in which they are located.
• 00:40 The second is a matrix normally set up so that all the items or
• 00:44 tasks are listed down the side, creating a row in the matrix.
• 00:48 And the types of project activities are listed across the top creating
• 00:51 the columns.
• 00:52 Then the date plan for each item to complete the activity is inserted into
• 00:56 the appropriate cell in the matrix.
• 00:58 The color of the cell of the matrix is what then shows flow status.
• 01:02 These schedules create a focus on the item or activity that may be causing delays.
• 01:08 Any delay or bottleneck in the flow will become immediately apparent, and
• 01:12 the project manager and core team can take necessary action to complete that task.
• 01:17 This tool can simplify the overall project planning and tracking.
• 01:21 For adaptive or iterative projects,
• 01:23 just list the deliverable items and let the Kanban manage it.
• 01:27 And particularly if you have a batch of items that must go through the same steps,
• 01:32 show that batch on a summary task and let the Kanban track the details.
• 01:36 Let's look at the flow board view of a Kanban schedule.
• 01:39 First, decompose the deliverables into the sub tasks that must be completed.
• 01:44 These are often referred to as stories.
• 01:47 Each of these sub tasks is then individually listed so
• 01:50 it can be individually tracked.
• 01:52 Place all the sub task items in the first column that is the project plan, or
• 01:57 on an Agile scrum project it would be called the sprint backlog column.
• 02:02 Once one of the team members actually starts to work on the item,
• 02:06 then move it to the work in process column.
• 02:09 When the item is finished, move it to the finished or done column.
• 02:14 As a project leader, watch the work in process column closely.
• 02:18 If something seems to be stuck there, dig in and find out what's happening.
• 02:22 If there's a problem, move it to the at risk column and
• 02:26 put extra attention and resources on it to get it done.
• 02:30 Now, let's take a look at the matrix view of the Kanban schedule.
• 02:33 Start by creating the overall project schedule based upon the project
• 02:37 requirements and constraints.
• 02:38 I normally use a milestone chart or a high level Gantt chart or
• 02:42 network diagram for this.
• 02:44 Identify items that follow the same set of activities and can be treated as a batch.
• 02:50 Depending upon the nature of your work,
• 02:52 you may not have any items that fit this criteria.
• 02:55 In that case, don't use this tool.
• 02:58 List the items in the first column of the matrix, and
• 03:01 the activities are then listed column headings for the remaining columns.
• 03:05 Then place the plan date for when each of those items will finish each of those
• 03:09 activities in the appropriate cell of the matrix.
• 03:11 Then change the background color of the cells.
• 03:14 I use one color for those that are finished, a different color for
• 03:18 those that are late, and yet a third color for those that are in work.
• 03:21 In this example, the obvious problem is module four, and
• 03:25 it looks like coding is becoming a bottleneck.
• 03:28 I then show the batch as a single summary task on my network diagram or Gantt chart.
• 03:32 I keep the details in the matrix to simplify the other scheduling techniques.
• 03:37 There are some hints and tips we can provide for
• 03:39 using this project scheduling tool.
• 03:41 This approach will save a lot of planning time over other techniques.
• 03:46 I had a project that had approximately 80 parts that were being purchased for
• 03:50 a new product.
• 03:51 For each of those parts we had to create drawings, find a supplier,
• 03:55 qualify the supplier, set up the purchase order, conduct the first piece inspection,
• 03:59 receive the initial shipment, and initialize the inventory tracking system.
• 04:04 That's 7 steps with over 80 parts, that was more than 500 tasks.
• 04:10 But all I put into my project management software program was one summary
• 04:15 task that was several months long.
• 04:18 I managed the details with a Kanban schedule and a simple Excel spreadsheet.
• 04:23 This technique will highlight when you have an item that has fallen behind
• 04:27 schedule, the visual cue makes it easy to find and focus your attention.
• 04:31 The technique also highlights an activity that is causing problems.
• 04:35 When you see that, you know you need to focus on the bottleneck and
• 04:39 manage it closely.
• 04:40 It's easy to calculate a percent complete for the summary task.
• 04:43 In the example I just mentioned, count the number of items and
• 04:47 activities that have completed and divide this by the total number of cells,
• 04:51 in this case 560, that's the percent complete.
• 04:54 In the flow board, I use the percent of items in the done column.
• 04:58 Finally, this tool will keep the project team focused on getting things done.
• 05:04 Asking at each team meeting,
• 05:05 what has moved to the done column or which cells can be shaded in as complete,
• 05:10 emphasizes the need to keep things moving on the project.
• 05:14 >> The right project management tools are a tremendous help in the project.
• 05:18 If Kanban fits your project, then use it.

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