Iterative Project Management Processes

There are various ways for you to visualize your Portfolio Kanban in Jira, but before we dive into them, let's first define what a Portfolio Kanban is. 🏔️ What is Portfolio Kanban? In a very simple and straightforward version, it is having a view of all projects, their respective status, progress, and ideally (cost and return). Among other things, it can be used to: - Prioritize one or more projects; - Track the development of projects; and - Provide visibility over the ongoing work. It is not necessary to have this visualization on boards; you can have it in lists, graphs, but the most common is to apply them on boards. 🏆 3 Ways to Create a Portfolio Kanban in Jira [1] Creating an Epic Board with Percentage Columns This is the simplest and most practical way. Follow the steps below and watch the video in the comment explaining how to do it. 1. Create a new Kanban board in your project; 2. Adjust the filter to display only epics; 3. Create a workflow with the following statuses (you can adjust it to your context): Backlog -> Discovery -> Refinement -> Ready to Start -> In Delivery (0% - 19%) -> In Delivery (20% - 39%) -> In Delivery (40% - 59%) -> In Delivery (60% - 79%) -> In Delivery (80% - 99%) -> Done 4. Organize the columns to visualize the statuses You can update the statuses manually or automatically based on the number of tasks completed. 🚨 I won't enter the debate on which method is better. Each team should evaluate what makes the most sense for their context. [2] Use the Epic Maps App Simple, practical, and free. Install the Epic Maps in your Jira, and you'll have a view of the Epics with the delivery percentages. There is no configuration effort; enjoy what the view has to offer. [3] Using JXL Sheets This plugin allows you to have a spreadsheet view within Jira. Here are the steps: Option 3.1: 1. Install JXL Sheets; 2. Adjust the sheet to display only epics; 3. Use the same workflow described above; 4. Insert a Summary of Situation column (text type) and update it every week. Option 3.2: 1. Install JXL Sheets; 2. Adjust the hierarchy to display the Epics and their child issues below them; 3. Add a sum feature to the status field; 🔔 Use the workflow without the percentages, as the JXL sheets calculate for you based on the tasks delivered. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further explanations on implementing Portfolio Kanban using Jira. And if you're looking to enhance your project management processes with effective Kanban practices, stay tuned for more insights; I will share the videos about how to set up each one soon. #kanban #jira #AtlassianCreator

So what columns should you have on your kanban board? I believe the columns should -not- be based on: - Teams - Roles - Asynchronous handoffs - Server environments - A single specific activity Whether your organization has a single team take a work item straight from concept to delivery or has multiple silos and handoffs, there is Stuff That Needs to Happen to transform a story that a user tells you into software running in production. When you're talking to your users, and they say something like, "We get emailed a PDF of the invoice, and then Ann and I compare the invoice against the claim to approve it for final payout," some things have to happen before that capability becomes working software. - Discussions around what that process entails - Breaking the initial story down into the smallest deliverables - Deciding if we're even going to do this and, if so, where does it fit in the priorities? - Coming up with some idea of what this will look like in software - Coding and testing - Deployment - Verification with the users that this is valuable And much more. Depending on the way you work, these may be discrete, sequential activities, or some of them may be done simultaneously, or some may happen so quickly it's not even worth calling them out. So, even an individual developer doing all these activities themselves, there are things that have to happen to the user the story before it transforms into working, valuable software, and usually these are not all done simultaneously - there is a flow. Columns should reflect the transformational journey of the request. What has to happen to it before it can provide value to the user? As mentioned in the last post, trying to get too granular about this at best gives us a lot of column overhead with no value and at worst institutionalizes things that we may want to change as we improve. But the exact way you slice them up depends heavily on your workflow and what representation has value to you. For example, you might bundle up all those initial conversations around what the user needs, whether we're going to do it or not, and a high level thought of how we'll go about it under "Analysis," and that's good enough for you. Other teams may want to see time spent in each of those things and control the flow so we're not considering too many items at once or spending too much time getting information about items we might never even do. But in that one stage, multiple roles are doing multiple activities. Information from the user is being gathered. Other people may be aware of the business aspects of this request who need to be in on it. Developers need to be participating in these conversations and thinking about technical impact. If you have a specific role for testing, they'll want to be understanding this capability and maybe get started on some automated tests. And this why we don't tie columns to roles or specific activities. We tie them to stages of transformation of the work item.

Your Kanban board looks great on the wall. But if you ask your team how they decided on the number of cards, the whole system falls apart. The bins are labeled. The cards are color-coded. The layout is clean. But when you ask, "Why do we have exactly six bins?" The answer is usually: "Because that is what fits on the shelf" or "We have always had six." That is not a Pull System. That is just organized guessing. Here is what happens when you run Kanban without the math: 1. Too Many Cards (The Hidden Waste) The Reality: You are sitting on piles of overproduction that you just dressed up as "inventory." The Result: Tied-up cash and wasted floor space. 2. Too Few Cards (The Starving Line)  The Reality: The buffer isn't built for actual variation. The Result: The line starves every other shift, creating chaos and firefighting. 3. Calculated Pull (The Math)  The Reality: You use the actual 4-variable formula: Daily Demand, Lead Time, Safety Factor, and Bin Quantity. The Result: You hold exactly what you need. Nothing more. Nothing less. Kanban is supposed to be precise math. It is not a gut feeling. Go pick one Kanban loop on your floor today. Run the numbers. If the math doesn't match what is sitting on the shelf right now, that is your next improvement project.

A Kanban board will not fix broken work. But it will instantly expose where work is getting stuck. Kanban boards make work visible. And visible work is easier to manage. Instead of guessing status, teams can see flow in real time. A good Kanban board helps you: → See where work gets stuck → Limit work in progress → Reduce overload and multitasking → Move tasks step by step → Finish more before starting more Each column shows a stage: → Backlog → To Do → In Progress → Approval → Done Each card is one task. It shows one unit of work. The biggest warning sign? A full column. That usually means a bottleneck. Work is piling up too fast. WIP limits matter too. They protect the team from overload. When teams pull work by capacity, flow gets smoother. When cycle time is tracked, delays become easier to spot. This is why Kanban works: → Clear view of work → Better focus → Less chaos → Faster problem solving → Daily improvement A board should not be decoration. It should drive action every day. *** 🔖 Save this post for later. ♻️ Share to help others spot bottlenecks before they grow. ➕ Follow Sergio D’Amico for more on continuous improvement. P.S. The real question is not what moved. It is what stayed stuck.

Kanban boards are usually laid out the way people write — or how they picture time passing: left to right. (With respect that not all languages follow that pattern, of course.) But here’s the paradox: we visualise work left to right, yet any seasoned Kanban practitioner will tell you to walk the board right to left. My good friend Mike Burrows even wrote the book -Right to Left-, applying this principle far beyond delivery — into strategy, change, and decision-making. Why? Because delivery itself flows right to left. You finish work before you start new work. And Kanban began as replenishment signals, not wall art. You replenish when the system is empty — everything aligns around that. So I flipped my boards. And it works a treat. Now I start with: Done — is it really done? Then In Progress — how much space do we actually have in our WIP limit? Have we created capacity? If yes: What’s next? The conversation suddenly becomes clearer, calmer, more focused. And instead of an endless, shapeless backlog, I can extend the board into Next 2 weeks → Next month → Next quarter… A roadmap that actually flows into the Kanban system — not a separate universe where push clashes with pull. Here’s the beauty of reversing it: - It turns Kanban back into a replenishment system, not a wish-list. - It reinforces pull, not push. - It forces teams to finish work to create space, not start work to look busy. - And it creates a rolling roadmap to the right — not a backlog where priorities quietly go to die. A tiny shift in orientation. A big shift in behaviour. So here’s the question: 👉 Should more teams reverse their Kanban boards?

Process Kanban: The Visual Backbone of Lean Production Continuing posts about "Establish Pull" and Heijunka, let's explore another key pillar of Lean manufacturing: #Kanban. Kanban, which means "signboard" in Japanese, is a system to manage and improve workflow. It limits the amount of work in progress (#WIP), helping teams complete tasks efficiently. The main idea is to control the number of tasks being worked on simultaneously, ensuring a balanced and manageable workflow. This prevents system overload and allows employees to focus on each task effectively. It's like juggling fewer balls at once so you can concentrate better on each one. WIP principle is being implemented using Kanban cards and boards. Each card represents a task and includes details like a description and who is assigned. These cards are placed on a Kanban board, which is divided into columns that show different stages of the process. By setting a limit on the number of cards allowed in each column, we avoid overloading the system. When the limit is reached, the team focuses on finishing current tasks before starting new ones. This approach helps prevent bottlenecks and keeps the workflow smooth. Kanban Boards could be implemented in various areas. Here are several common examples (board divided into columns): 1. Software Development board: (1) Idea -> (2) Design -> (3) Development -> (4) Testing -> (5) Deployment 2. Manufacturing board: Raw Material order -> (2) Work in Progress -> (3) Quality Control -> (4) Finished Good Formulation -> (5) Shipping 3. Social media campaign board: (1) Planning -> (2) Creation -> (3) Promotion -> (4) Analysis 4. Customer Support inquiry board: (1) Received -> (2) Assigned -> (3) In Progress -> (4) Resolved 5. HR recruitment board: (1) Sourcing -> (2) Interviewing -> (3) Offer -> (4) Onboarding Kanban system is also efficiently applied for inventory managing. I will write a follow-up post on that. Process Kanban and #Heijunka tools are interconnected pillars of #Lean production. Heijunka helps to react to actual demand and spread out the tasks evenly through the particular timeframe. Kanban, in turn, helps you to visualize and manage implementation of these tasks. By limiting the number of task that are made at the same time (WIP) Kanban helps to finish them better and faster. Both tools combined allow to ensure stable production flow. #leanproducton #ci #establishpull #wastereduction #operationalexcellence

🚀 Kanban in SAP PP: Small Containers, Big Manufacturing Impact! 📦🏭 One of the most powerful lean manufacturing concepts in SAP PP is Kanban. Many professionals think Kanban is just about moving containers from Full → Empty, but in reality, it's a demand-driven replenishment system that helps manufacturers reduce inventory, eliminate waste, and ensure uninterrupted production. To make this concept easier to understand, I created this visual with a real-world pharmaceutical example. 💡 What is Kanban in SAP PP? Kanban is a Lean Manufacturing technique where materials are replenished automatically based on actual consumption rather than forecasts. Instead of asking: ❌ "How much stock should I keep?" Kanban asks: ✅ "How quickly can I replenish what has actually been consumed?" 🔄 How Kanban Works in SAP PP 📦 Container Full → Material is available. ⬇️ 🟡 Container In Use → Production consumes the material. ⬇️ 🔴 Container Empty → Kanban status changes to EMPTY. ⬇️ ⚙️ SAP automatically triggers replenishment: Production Order Purchase Requisition Stock Transfer ⬇️ 🟢 Container is replenished and production continues without interruption. 🏭 Real-Time Business Example Imagine a Paracetamol Tablet 500 mg manufacturing plant. The packing line continuously consumes: ✔️ Blister Foils ✔️ Cartons ✔️ Labels When the Kanban container becomes EMPTY, SAP automatically creates the replenishment signal. This ensures the next container is ready before production stops. Result? ✅ No material shortages ✅ Lower inventory costs ✅ Continuous production flow ✅ Better shop floor efficiency 📌 Key SAP Transactions PK01 – Create Control Cycle PK02 – Change Control Cycle PK03 – Display Control Cycle PK13N – Kanban Board (Monitor) PKMC – Kanban Calculation PKBC – Kanban Status Change MD04 – Stock/Requirements List CO01 – Create Production Order ME21N – Create Purchase Order 🌟 Business Benefits of Kanban ✔️ Lower Inventory Holding Cost ✔️ Prevents Overproduction ✔️ Improves On-Time Delivery ✔️ Faster Material Replenishment ✔️ Better Shop Floor Visibility ✔️ Supports Lean Manufacturing ✔️ Increases Productivity ✔️ Reduces Manual Planning 🎯 Interview Question Can you explain the complete Kanban process in SAP PP with a real-time business example? If you can confidently answer this question with both business flow and SAP transactions, you'll stand out in SAP PP interviews and client discussions. 👉 Follow Bhawani Sankar Swain for daily SAP PP & QM updates, practical implementation knowledge, and manufacturing best practices. #SAP #SAPS4HANA #SAPPP #Kanban #LeanManufacturing #RepetitiveManufacturing #ProductionPlanning #MRP #Manufacturing #SupplyChain #SAPConsultant #SAPLearning #SAPTraining #ERP #DigitalManufacturing #Industry40 #ContinuousImprovement #SAPQM #BusinessTransformation #OperationsExcellence

Kanban for Vendor Management: My Go-To Productivity Hack Yesterday, I talked about how Agile can transform vendor management. Today, I’m sharing one of my favorite productivity tools: the Kanban board. Too many vendor teams rely on spreadsheets & emails to track actions. By the time an issue is flagged, it’s already a problem. Kanban fixes this. ✅ Visualize key actions: Track renewals, risks, and improvements in one place. ✅ Spot bottlenecks early: No more surprises in quarterly reviews. ✅ Keep vendors accountable: Assign tasks & track progress in real-time. How I use Kanban for Vendor Management: 🔹 To Do – Contract renewals, SLA reviews, compliance checks. 🔹 In Progress – Supplier improvement plans, risk mitigations. 🔹 Blocked – Pending approvals, vendor delays. 🔹 Done – Closed escalations, finalized contracts. I use Planner by Microsoft, it lets me assign tasks to stakeholders and sends automatic reminders. Other great tools: 📌 Trello VN – Simple & visual. 📌 Jira by Atlassian – Great for complex workflows. 📌 monday.com – Customizable dashboards & automation. I’ve created a Kanban template with color-coded areas for easier tracking. Check the image! What tool do you use for vendor management? Drop it in the comments! *************************** Hi! I'm Celia SGAR. Follow me for more content on productivity and Vendor Management.

Let’s be honest, most Scrum Masters make Kanban way harder than it needs to be. I’ve seen it happen time and again Someone decides their team “needs” Kanban, so they throw up a new board, add a few columns, and maybe talk about WIP limits once. 🤔 Then they wonder why nothing changes. ⚠️ The problem? Kanban isn’t just a set of tools—it’s a mindset shift. And when we try to force it on top of Scrum without intention, it’s like patching a leaky tire with duct tape. Here’s where most of us go wrong: 🩹 𝘜𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 🚦 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘐𝘗 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦-𝘵𝘰-𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴. 📊 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. When used thoughtfully, Kanban can be a game-changer for Scrum teams. It’s not about replacing sprints or diluting Scrum. It’s about solving flow problems that any single framework doesn’t always address on its own. What worked for my team? 📜 𝘞𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺. ⚖️ 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘞𝘐𝘗 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 🎯 𝘞𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥-𝘩𝘰𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘴. ✅ And it worked. Not because we “did Kanban.” But because we used it to solve problems we actually had. How are you using (or struggling to use) Kanban with Scrum?

Kanban: We Should Be "Done" With "In-Progress" One of the best ways to use Kanban is by visualizing meaningful work states on your board. Thoughtfully designed boards can transform how teams deliver value, spot inefficiencies, and improve collaboration. Unfortunately, many teams miss these opportunities by relying on vague, catch-all columns like “In-Progress.” Let’s talk about why “In-Progress” is practically useless, and how breaking it into clearer work states is a smarter strategy. Why “In-Progress” Fails The term “In-Progress” might seem harmless, but it’s so broad that it adds little value. “In-Progress” doesn’t explain what’s actually happening. Is a task being coded, reviewed, or tested? Without specifics, delays and inefficiencies stay hidden. A generic column hides bottlenecks. For example, slow code reviews go unnoticed when everything sits under “In-Progress.” Vague statuses make it harder to know who should act next. Confusion leads to reduced accountability, delays, and misaligned expectations. Without data showing where tasks spend the most time, teams can’t identify trends or resolve inefficiencies. The Case for Clarity Replacing “In-Progress” with specific work states turns a Kanban board into a powerful tool for managing flow and driving improvement. For example, a software development team might use: Backlog: Items awaiting prioritization. Ready for Development: Work ready to start. In Development: Developers are actively working. Ready for Code Review: Development is complete, awaiting review. In Code Review: Review process underway. Ready for Testing: Code is ready for QA. In Testing: QA is actively testing. Ready for Deployment: Testing is complete, awaiting release. Done: Work is completed. Each state reflects a clear step in the workflow (not necessarily a handoff). This improves visibility, accountability, and makes bottlenecks easier to spot. Your team’s context might call for different states, but the goal stays the same: clarity. Spotting Bottlenecks Granular states make delays visible. If tasks sit too long in “Ready for Code Review,” reviewers may be overloaded or not prioritizing reviews. A backlog in “Ready for Deployment” could mean release processes need work. Tasks stuck “In Testing” might point to unclear requirements or a stretched QA team. Tracking time-in-state reveals where delays occur, helping teams reallocate resources or refine processes. Collaboration Benefits Meaningful work states improve collaboration. When a task moves to “Ready for Testing,” testers know it’s their turn to act. This reduces idle time and makes transitions smoother. Be Done With “In-Progress” Create columns for key steps in your workflow. Don’t overcomplicate things. Aim for enough granularity to reveal bottlenecks without overwhelming your team with administrivia. Set clear entry and exit criteria for each column. Kanban isn’t just about making work visible; it’s about making the right work visible.