Advanced Lean-Kanban Practitioner

Course Number:

N/A

Moving beyond the basics of Kanban, this advanced course examines some of the more challenging Lean and Kanban topics facing teams and organizations today. Picking up where nTier Training’s entry level Kanban course stops, this course takes a deeper dive into relevant Lean theories, practices, organizational and team dynamics, offering pragmatic approaches to keeping Lean practices fresh and relevant through the process of continuous improvement. Attendees will take their Kanban skills to the next level while developing potential solutions to the challenges that their teams are facing by collaborating with like-minded individuals in this highly-interactive course. Participants start by brainstorming many of the real world challenges they face daily as members of a Lean organization. The course then explores a multitude of topics surrounding the implementation of Lean and Kanban practices, providing ample time to discuss potential solutions for the listed challenges as the course progresses. Integration with Scrum, scaling Kanban, and the Lean waterfall will also be addressed. The course concludes with a retrospective, outlining the next steps Lean team members and leaders should take in guiding their lean practices to higher levels of performance.

Audience:

This is not an entry level Kanban fundamentals course. This workshop is for experienced Kanban team leaders, project managers, program managers and team members desiring to improve their ability to implement and optimize Lean Kanban practices as well as integrate them with Scrum and traditional waterfall development practices.
Course Duration:
3 to 4 days

Prerequisites:

Participants should complete the Kanban Fundamentals course (or an equivalent course) or possess corresponding Kanban knowledge.

Course Objectives:
  • Learn how to more effectively and efficiently find and remove waste through value stream mapping
  • Explore Lean tools and techniques, such as Kaizen Blitzes, that help guide teams to higher levels of performance
  • Understand the science behind Little’s Law, optimizing WIP, queues and service levels
  • Learn to apply the theory of constraints (TOC) to effectively manage product flow
  • Gain insight into implementing Lean practices in traditional waterfall environments
  • Understand how to scale Kanban across multiple teams throughout an organization
  • Discover and examine potential solutions to your most challenging impediments
  • Learn how to kick-start a Kanban initiative in one day
Course Outline:

Section One: Lean Concepts

  • The What and Why of Lean
  • The House of Lean
  • Seven Principles of Lean
  • The Seven Deadly Wastes
    • Related to software development
    • Related to business and operations
  • Visualizing the Workflow
    • Systems Thinking
    • SIPOC
    • Value Stream Mapping (VSM) – Advanced Concepts
    • Spaghetti Diagrams – Physical and Virtual
  • Identifying Constraints, Wastes and Other Impediments
    • Analyzing the VSM
    • Applying the Theory of Constraints
    • Defect Counts and Process Variability
    • Root Cause Analysis
    • Identifying the CTQ (Critical to Quality) Factors
    • Organizational Impediments
  • Reengineering your processes
    • 5S
    • Standard Work
    • Drive Quality Upstream
    • Theory of Constraints
    • Application of SMED to Software Development
    • Kaizen Blitzes
  • Organizational Social Engineering and Establishing a Lean Leadership Mindset
    • Executive Level
    • Middle-Management Level
    • Team Level
  • Continuous Improvement and Evolutionary Change with Kaikaku
    • What is Kaikaku?
    • Why Evolutionary Change is Superior to Big-Bang Change
    • Team Retrospectives
    • Start Delivering Continuous Value with Your Current Team and Project
      • Kanban Principles Revisited
      • Proto-Kanban
      • Evolving a Traditional Waterfall to Kanban

Section Two: Advanced Kanban

  • Building an Information Flow: The Seven Cadences
    • How to Use “Cadence” in Workflow Management
    • Feedback Loops to Improve Service Delivery
    • Strategy Review
    • Operations Review
    • Risk Review
    • Service Delivery Review
    • Delivery Planning Meeting
    • Replenishment – Commitment Meeting
    • Kanban Daily Standup
  • WIP and Queues
    • Fine-tuning WIP Limits and Queues
    • Dealing with Resistance to WIP Limits
  • Service Classes, SLA’s and the Silver Bullet
  • Metrics
  • Scaling Kanban
    • The Challenges
    • Synchronization
    • Cadence
  • When to Use Kanban
    • Kanban Weaknesses
    • AntiPatterns
  • Kanban Kick-Start: How to Implement Kanban in A Day
    • Understand the Team
    • Plan the Workshop
    • The Workshop
    • Post-Kick-start
  • Optional Fourth Day: Lean Kanban Kick-Start Coaching

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