
Ask HN: Recommended Kanban books - memborg
I’m interested i learning about Kanban. I know agile and Scrum. Which books about Kanban do you recommend?
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segmondy
You have 3 lanes, TODO, DOING, DONE.

Have a max of Work In progress that can be in the DOING lane based on size of
team. Once that limit is hit, nothing else can move into the DOING lane, if
other's are finished, they go help others until work starts moving into the
DONE lane.

DONE means DONE, if it needs QA, Documentation, install script, whatever, it
stays in DOING until it's truly DONE.

~~~
Jtsummers
> DONE means DONE, if it needs QA, Documentation, install script, whatever, it
> stays in DOING until it's truly DONE.

Once you have this, you can expand the DOING with additional columns to
represent those other stages.

If you implement a new (particularly user-facing) feature, you need to update
your manuals. That may be a technical writer, it may be the developer or the
tester, may be a team effort, doesn't matter really. So your columns (if this
is a requirement for your business) become:

    
    
      | TODO | PROGRAM | UPDATE MANUAL | REVIEW | DONE
    

This is one of the nice things about kanban. It's very fluid, really nothing
is set in stone. Allow the board to represent the real process as you discover
it.

~~~
memborg
This is no different than agile. I have to define DONE. And I will probaly end
of with several degrees of done

~~~
Jtsummers
To be clear, kanban cannot be directly compared to agile. Kanban is a tool,
not a process, framework, or manifesto.

In all work, you have Done, and done. Capital-D done is when something is
ready to be shipped (note: doesn't mean error free, just means it's as far as
you're getting). Lower-d done is intermediate states. The kanban board allows
you to capture those and relate it to your workforce and workload.

If I have 5 developers, practically speaking we cannot be working on more than
5 development tasks at a time. The kanban board visualizes how much we have
going on and allows us to see when we've overreached. If I have 2 tech
writers, again we can practically only work on up to two changes to the manual
at a time. The kanban board visualizes this, and makes a useful tool within
any production or development workflow.

Capital-D Done is that final column (integrated into the master branch,
sitting on the loading dock, whatever). Lower-d done is captured by movement
between states (Dev -> Test -> Review -> Manual Update -> Done). Of course, it
also should be noted that movement can be backwards. This isn't Waterfall, we
know that something may move back to dev or test from test or review.

The particular utility with agile is that it helps address the agile manifesto
preference for people over processes. A process expressed on a kanban board is
not set in stone (as a formally signed off Capital-P Process document would be
in a typical enterprise shop). It's much more fluid, and can be redefined to
capture the level of information needed by the team and those they work with
(partner teams, or management).

------
arayh
I assume you've briefed yourself about Kanban by reading its Wikipedia article
or something similar. "Kanban in Action" by Marcus Hammarberg and Joakim
Sunden is a very good read if you're just starting to learn about Kanban.

~~~
memborg
Thanks for the book recommendation. What about a intermediate level? Any
recommendations?

~~~
arayh
I might recommend reading "Kanban from the Inside" by Mike Burrows. Where
"Kanban in Action" is a very practical explanation, "Kanban from the Inside"
focuses on the core values.

Afterward, assuming you have the basics of Kanban under your belt, I would
recommend reading "Kanban Maturity Model" by David J. Anderson and Teodora
Bozheva. It goes into great detail on specific Kanban practices, but it's hard
to recommend this book unless you already have a good grasp of the basic
concepts.

------
dawidw
Here you can find lot of materials regarding Kanban, including (e-)books:

[https://www.infoq.com/lean?utm_source=infoq&utm_medium=heade...](https://www.infoq.com/lean?utm_source=infoq&utm_medium=header_graybar&utm_campaign=topic_clk)

I personally recommend free e-book:

"Kanban and Scrum - Making the Most of Both" by Mattias Skarin , Henrik
Kniberg:

[https://www.infoq.com/minibooks/kanban-scrum-
minibook?utm_so...](https://www.infoq.com/minibooks/kanban-scrum-
minibook?utm_source=infoq&utm_campaign=user_page&utm_medium=link)

------
somethingtester
I personally liked “Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology
Business”, by David J. Anderson.

------
pieterr
Essential Kanban Condensed.

[https://leankanban.com/guide/](https://leankanban.com/guide/)

~~~
memborg
Thanks

