The Kanban Method: Key Features and Practices

You've probably heard the word Kanban before — but what does it really mean?

In Japanese, Kanban means “visual card,” and its origin lies in the Lean system developed at Toyota factories. It emerged as a way to sustain the level of improvements that had been achieved, and it's also considered a just-in-time sub-system.

In this article, we’ll explore the relevance of the Kanban method and why properly visualizing and managing workflow is so important.

The Six Core Practices of Kanban

Whether you realize it or not, chances are you've already used Kanban in some way. Its application has spread widely — not just in software teams, but also across many industries and work environments.

But Kanban is much more than a visual tool. It’s a complete work system, grounded in principles and practices that promote continuous improvement based on data, not assumptions. Its main goal is to remove the blockers that slow down delivery and to optimize the flow of work.

Kanban is built around six foundational practices:

• Visualize the workflow
• Limit work in progress (WIP)
• Manage flow
• Make process policies explicit
• Implement feedback loops
• Improve collaboratively and evolve experimentally

You’re Visualizing… But Are You Managing?

The most widely adopted practice is probably the first one: visualizing the workflow. But are we actually managing that workflow?

Kanban helps us identify bottlenecks — the places where work gets stuck — and shows us where we need to focus our efforts to resolve them. This process also encourages team members to support each other in keeping the flow moving.

Understanding this leads us to an important realization: it’s better to stop adding new work if that work is just going to get stuck and remain unfinished.

The Real Focus: Managing Work

The primary goal of Kanban is to manage the work being done.

That’s why the method encourages teams to limit the number of tasks in progress at any one time. This makes it easier to spot which tasks require more attention or are taking longer than expected.

The Kanban Board: Your Visual Ally

One of the most useful tools to manage workflow is the Kanban board. It can be physical or digital, and it allows teams to plan and track work in a clear and fast way.

A Kanban board typically includes:

• Work items (cards)
• Columns and/or swimlanes
• WIP limits (limits on work in progress)
• Lead time or delivery time indicators
• Clearly defined process policies
• Work item types (e.g., bugs, features, support tasks)
• Information on who is executing the task

Spot Bottlenecks — and Act

The board's components make it easier to quickly visualize pending tasks and the status of each one.

By paying attention to each part, we can identify where bottlenecks are forming. To help resolve these issues, Kanban encourages us to limit WIP — that is, to reduce the number of tasks in progress so that the team can focus on finishing existing work before starting new items.