Section 1.1: The Case for Kanban

Historically, my experience has been predominantly with Scrum, which has been effective for my teams. Initially, I viewed Kanban as a rival to Scrum. Given my title of Scrum Master, it was challenging to allocate time to explore something that might render my role obsolete. Do Scrum Masters have a place in a Kanban environment? Likely not.

From my observations, Kanban was typically employed by teams that:

• Lacked a Scrum Master and felt incapable of executing Scrum properly, or were uncertain about the framework and concerned about missteps.
• Did not see the necessity for Scrum in their line of work.
• Were already utilizing Scrum but struggled to transition from a command-and-control mindset to a more empowered team approach. This often resulted in a lead or manager directing the team, dictating tasks, methodologies, and responsibilities. When autonomy was introduced, these teams would often claim, “Scrum doesn’t work,” leading to a shift towards Kanban.
• Preferred to minimize “unproductive meetings” and focus instead on completing more tasks.

Typically, these teams visualized their workflows using sticky notes arranged in columns, with some occasionally adopting WIP (Work In Progress) limits on certain columns.

However, I always felt a desire to better understand Kanban, as it felt like a gap in my knowledge. I feared that someone could challenge our Scrum practices with concepts I didn’t fully grasp. This uncertainty was a weakness I needed to address, as I sought to discover if there were any Kanban practices we could adapt to enhance our collaborative efforts.

There was a possibility I might even favor Kanban over Scrum, making this exploration feel like an exciting journey. If this resonates with you, I invite you to continue exploring Kanban alongside me.

Section 1.2: Understanding Work Item Ageing

An introduction to Kanban in the context of Scrum begins with work item ageing.

When a product backlog item (a specific value item) is initiated, we start a timer. Once that item is completed and exits our workflow, we stop the timer. The work item age represents the duration for any item still in progress, calculated from the moment the timer starts until the present. When the work is completed, we stop the timer and document the work item age as cycle time.

The concept is straightforward. But why is it beneficial?

Section 1.3: Importance of Tracking Work Item Ageing

If all work items are roughly the same size and can be completed within a single sprint, the team can establish a service level expectation (SLE) for completing a typical item — the anticipated time required for a standard work item to finish, along with a level of confidence in that expectation.

For illustrative purposes, let’s assume an SLE of 6 days with an 85% confidence level. Consider this simplified scenario:

• On the first day of the sprint, you begin work on a new item — the timer starts.
• On the second day, during the daily scrum, you note that the item isn’t finished yet; its age is now 1 day.
• By the fifth day, the work item is still incomplete; its age is now 5 days. Based on our SLE, we would expect it to be done by the sixth day.
• On the sixth and seventh days, the work remains unfinished.
• Finally, on the eighth day, the item is completed, albeit a few days late.

Reflecting on this, could we have taken steps to improve the situation using the work item ageing data? Absolutely. By discussing the age of each work item during the daily scrum, the team could decide on actionable steps based on the SLE.

Tracking work item ageing enables proactive discussions before issues arise.

Section 2.1: Anticipated Changes in Team Dynamics

By increasing the visibility of work item ages, we can begin discussing how to advance each item towards completion before the set service level expectation expires. You should expect to hear or initiate conversations like:

• “I’ve noticed this task is 5 days old, and we aim to complete items in 6 days. What’s the holdup?”
• “I need to finalize this item through code review today; can someone assist me to ensure we meet our SLE?”
• “Who can help with testing so we can wrap this up today? We’re nearing our SLE.”

During a sprint retrospective, discussions may also evolve to include:

• “What is our service level expectation (SLE), and is it accurate? How might we enhance it?”
• “How many items exceeded our SLE this sprint? Do we need to adjust our processes to improve?”
• “What agreements do we have to ensure we meet our SLE for each sprint? Should we introduce new ones or amend existing ones?”

Section 2.2: Organizational Benefits of Work Item Ageing

Ultimately, tracking work item ageing enhances predictability, which allows for better forecasting of completion dates for larger tasks. Delivering substantial work on schedule fosters trust between teams and their stakeholders.

By actively managing work item ageing and addressing issues before they escalate, we can meet customer expectations through the early and consistent delivery of valuable software. Setting our own service level expectations encourages sustainable development, facilitating a steady workflow.

Being attentive to the age of each work item will enhance your team's effectiveness, resulting in happier and more motivated members who are empowered to perform at their best.

Section 3: Conclusion

I hope you found this exploration of how work item ageing from Kanban can be integrated into the Scrum framework valuable. This introduction to Kanban represents a potent combination that can significantly enhance your team's agility and effectiveness.

For those interested in understanding how focusing on work item age can improve team performance, I encourage you to read my article on throughput.

Follow me for more insights on my journey into Kanban within the Scrum framework.

The first video titled "Digging Deeper into the Lean Metric Item Aging" explores the nuances of work item ageing in a lean context, showcasing its relevance to Scrum practices.

The second video titled "The Most Important Metric in Scrum! Ageing WIP Chart | How to Create with Free Excel Template" provides practical guidance on implementing and utilizing ageing metrics within Scrum, emphasizing its importance.