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Kanban Fundamentals: Managing Your Workflow

2 DaysBeginnerDates TBC

About This Course

Most delivery problems are not caused by a lack of effort or skill. They arise from how work flows through a system - too much started at once, unclear priorities, poor visibility, and no reliable way to say when anything will be done.

This two-day course introduces Kanban as a strategy for understanding and improving how knowledge work flows. It is grounded in the AgileKM Handbook and covers not just what a Kanban board looks like, but why the underlying principles matter and how they connect as a system.

Day 1 covers the foundations: what Kanban is and is not, the three practices, how to define and visualise a workflow, and the distinctions between commitment, starting work, and finishing work.

Day 2 goes deeper: replenishment and pull, managing work in progress, flow metrics, and the failure modes that derail most implementations. You will finish with a clear picture of how Kanban works as a complete system and the foundations you need to start applying it with discipline.

What You'll Learn

Explain Kanban as a strategy for optimising the flow of value through a system, and distinguish it from task management tools and delivery frameworks
Describe the three Kanban practices - defining and visualising the workflow, actively managing items, and improving the workflow - and explain why they must work together as an integrated whole
Define the components of a Definition of Workflow, including work items, start and finish points, workflow states, queues, and explicit policies
Explain the distinction between commitment, starting work, and finishing work, and describe why separating these decisions reduces overcommitment and improves predictability
Describe how work items function as options before the start point and why deferring the start until the last responsible moment reduces rework and unnecessary WIP
Explain how replenishment, pull, and work-in-progress limits regulate intake and protect system capacity, and contrast pull systems with push systems
Describe the four core flow metrics - WIP, cycle time, throughput, and work item age - and explain what each reveals about system behaviour
Explain why flow metrics are descriptive signals rather than targets, and describe the distortions that arise when they are treated as goals
Identify common Kanban failure modes - including treating Kanban as a task board, overriding WIP limits, confusing activity with progress, and treating the system as static - and explain what each reveals about underlying discipline

Why This Course

Grounded in the AgileKM Handbook - consistent, principled, and not watered-down
Covers the full scope over two days, giving space for concepts to land and questions to surface
Practical focus throughout - every concept is connected to real workflow problems you will recognise
Delivered personally by Alun - small group, full attention, genuine discussion

Who Is This For

Anyone who works with or leads teams that struggle with delivery predictability, overload, or unclear priorities. Relevant across roles - project managers, team leads, operations managers, product owners, business analysts, and anyone in a governance or coordination function. No prior Kanban experience is needed. The course suits people who are new to Kanban as well as those who have used a board informally and want to understand the discipline behind it.

Prerequisites

  • None - no prior knowledge of Kanban is required. Familiarity with any delivery or project context is sufficient.

Want to run this course privately for your team?

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