Leading the conversation on digital connected work
What do you do when urgent work constantly interrupts planned project work? Time after time, you put down the project work so you can put out the fire. But then what happens to the prioritized work? It gets delayed. With the unpredictable nature of IT Operations work, it can feel impossible to hit deadlines for...
As a project manager, you probably spend a lot of your time trying to get a clear picture of the current status of your projects. Between spreadsheets, email, and meetings, you’re constantly deciphering and relaying back information to various stakeholders and team members. Kanban project management is a highly visual method that gives project managers...
When practicing continuous improvement, the only constant is change. For teams that have achieved moderate, predictable success by following the status quo, embracing this change can require a major paradigm shift. Resistance to change can come in the form of foot-dragging, sabotage, and even rebellion, and can have a toxic influence on your Lean implementation. As...
One of the reasons I love Kanban so much is that it’s so ubiquitous: The principles and practices are very easily portable between domains. While the Agile Manifesto, for example, is very development-oriented, if you look at Kanban and the Kanban Method you will not find such domain-specific language — making it much easier to apply in other value streams....
Officially coined in 2009, the term “DevOps” has become a business buzzword in recent years. But what is it exactly? DevOps describes a cultural movement in IT focused on collaboration and innovation through systems thinking. The term is often incorrectly used to describe a development methodology or a new type of team. Luckily, there are...
In the Lean Business Survey, we learned that even teams just getting started with Lean were seeing results — 88% of respondents who self-identified as “beginner” reported moderate to significant improvement in project success. But what happens when teams hit their stride? High-performing Lean teams differentiate themselves through their focus, communication, and sustainably fast pace....
To the uninitiated, Kanban might sound more like an appetizer you’d order at a sushi restaurant than a method of project management. Kanban may not be edible, but it is a Japanese export. It was created by a Japanese engineer at Toyota in the 1940s as a way to organize work and address inefficiencies in the company’s...
What is Lean Flow? Companies of all sizes are using Lean as the catalyst to improve flow, and thereby increase speed. In Lean, flow refers to the manner in which work progresses through a system: “Good” flow describes a system where work moves through steadily and predictably, whereas “bad” flow describes a system in which work stops...
You’ve probably heard the big news: multitasking is a myth. And yet, virtually everyone is guilty of switching between several projects at once — all while responding to emails, drive-by conversations, phone calls, and more. When pressed to deliver faster, we often overwhelm ourselves by attempting to take on more tasks, inadvertently diluting our focus...
Practicing Lean depends upon fostering a student mentality — recognizing what you don’t know, and approaching the unknown with a curious, humble mind. Whether you’re new to Lean or a seasoned expert, reading about the experiences and practices of others is an excellent way to practice a key Lean concept: continuous improvement. At Planview AgilePlace, when...
