What a Kanban Board Looks Like
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The board above shows a healthy Kanban flow: work moves left to right. The blocked item in "In Progress" is flagged immediately — the team focuses on unblocking it before starting anything new.
Step-by-Step Board Setup
Map your actual workflow
Before creating columns, walk through how work actually moves in your team — from "someone requests it" to "it is delivered." Every stage work passes through becomes a column. Start simple: Backlog → In Progress → Done. Add columns only when the team identifies a need.
Set WIP limits per column
Start with 1–2 items per team member per column as a starting point. Example: team of 4 → WIP limit of 6 for "In Progress." Observe for 2–3 weeks and adjust based on where bottlenecks form. Never start with no limits — it defeats the purpose.
Define your classes of service
Not all work is equal. Define how different types of work are handled:
🚨 Expedite — critical emergency, bypasses WIP limits (rare!)
📅 Fixed Date — must be done by a specific date
📋 Standard — normal work, first-in-first-out
🔧 Intangible — tech debt, improvements, low urgency
Start tracking metrics from Day 1
Record the date each item enters "In Progress" and the date it reaches "Done." This gives you Cycle Time data from the very beginning. After 2–3 weeks you will have enough data to identify patterns and forecast delivery.
Run a daily 15-minute board review
The team gathers at the board daily. Walk items from right to left (Done → Backlog). Focus on: What needs to move? What is blocked? Is any column at its WIP limit? The goal is flow — not status updates.
WIP Limit Quick Reference
| Team Size | Suggested WIP (In Progress) | Rationale | Review After |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–2 people | 2–3 items | Allows some parallelism without overwhelming individuals | 2 weeks |
| 3–5 people | 4–6 items | 1–1.5 items per person — encourages pairing and collaboration | 3 weeks |
| 6–8 people | 6–10 items | Allows specialization while preventing overload | 3–4 weeks |
| Mixed skills | Per discipline | Set WIP limits per swimlane based on specialty capacity | 4 weeks |
When a column hits its WIP limit — STOP starting new work. This is intentional. The team should swarm on finishing the blocked column's items before pulling anything new in. "Stop starting, start finishing."
Essential Kanban Flow Metrics
⏱️ Cycle Time
How long it takes from when work STARTS to when it is DONE. This is what the team directly controls and should continuously improve.
📬 Lead Time
How long from when a customer REQUESTS something to when they RECEIVE it. Includes all wait time before work even starts.
📦 Throughput
How many items the team completes per week or per month. Used for forecasting — "At this rate, how many items will we complete in 3 months?"
💧 Flow Efficiency
The percentage of total cycle time that items are actively being worked on vs. sitting and waiting. Most teams start at 5–15%.
Common Kanban Mistakes
❌ Boards That Don't Work
- No WIP limits — just a to-do list with columns
- Items stay In Progress for weeks without moving
- Board not updated daily — stale data
- Blocked items not flagged visually
- Expedite class used for everything urgent
- No metrics tracked — flying blind
- Too many columns — complexity without value
✅ Signs Your Kanban Is Working
- Cycle time is trending down Sprint over Sprint
- WIP limits are respected — team pulls, not pushes
- Blocked items are resolved within 24 hours
- Team can forecast delivery with confidence
- Board is updated before each daily meeting
- Flow efficiency improving above 20%
- Stakeholders trust your delivery estimates