Kanban method

Kanban is a project management method designed around building a continuous workflow, also called a flow-based system. When working with Kanban, the team strives to achieve maximum efficiency, and the process is made transparent through visualization.

There is no single consensus on whether Kanban fully belongs to the Agile family of methodologies.

• Some practitioners believe that Kanban teams are even more adaptable to change than Scrum teams.

• Others argue that Kanban does not implement all the principles of Agile and therefore should not be classified as a fully Agile methodology.

Origins of Kanban

Kanban was developed at Toyota in the 1940s as a production management system. It was originally used to organize automobile manufacturing. Managers knew exactly how many cars had to be produced and how many parts were required. This planning enabled shops to follow the “just-in-time” principle, while workers gradually refined their skills to near-automatic precision.

In the 2000s, Microsoft engineers adapted key Kanban principles for software development. Teams building operating systems started creating products in a continuous flow. Over time, Kanban evolved into its modern form and spread widely in IT and services — from technical support to food delivery.

Strengths and Limitations

Kanban’s main drawback stems from its greatest strength — continuous flow. While this model supports efficiency, team members may find it difficult to accurately assess their workload within a project. Estimating intellectual effort is inherently challenging, which can sometimes result in overwork and employee burnout.