Agile Kanban Principles and Practices Questions and Answers 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of implementing Work in Progress (WIP) limits in a Kanban system?
- To ensure every team member is 100% utilized at all times.
- To create a pull system and improve the flow of value by preventing bottlenecks. (Correct answer)
- To provide senior management with precise delivery date forecasts for all items.
- To eliminate the need for a prioritized backlog of work.
Correct answer: To create a pull system and improve the flow of value by preventing bottlenecks.
WIP limits are a core practice of Kanban designed to improve the flow of work. By limiting the number of tasks in any given state, they prevent the system from being overloaded, expose bottlenecks, and force the team to finish work before starting new work. This creates a 'pull system' where new work is only pulled in when there is capacity, leading to a smoother, more predictable delivery of value.
Question 2: A team observes on their Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) that the band for the 'In Progress' stage is widening significantly over time, while the 'Done' band is growing very slowly. What does this pattern most likely indicate?
- The team's overall throughput is increasing rapidly.
- The policies for entering the 'Done' state are too lenient.
- The team needs to immediately add more people to the 'In Progress' stage.
- Work is arriving into the 'In Progress' stage much faster than it is being completed, indicating a bottleneck. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Work is arriving into the 'In Progress' stage much faster than it is being completed, indicating a bottleneck.
On a Cumulative Flow Diagram, the vertical width of a band represents the amount of Work in Progress (WIP) for that stage. A widening band for 'In Progress' means that the number of items in that stage is increasing. This happens when the arrival rate into the stage is greater than the departure rate, which is a classic indicator of a bottleneck in the workflow.
Question 3: Which of the following statements best describes the Kanban principle of 'Start with what you do now'?
- It requires a complete reorganization of teams and roles before implementation.
- It mandates the immediate adoption of specific roles like Product Owner and Scrum Master.
- It encourages understanding the current process and respecting existing roles as the initial step for evolutionary change. (Correct answer)
- It suggests that the current process is perfect and should not be changed.
Correct answer: It encourages understanding the current process and respecting existing roles as the initial step for evolutionary change.
This foundational principle emphasizes an evolutionary, non-disruptive approach. Instead of a radical, revolutionary shift, Kanban implementation begins by first understanding and visualizing the current workflow and respecting the existing structure and roles. Improvements are then made incrementally over time.
Question 4: A Kanban team notices that work items are frequently getting stuck waiting for code review. According to Kanban practices for managing flow, what would be the most effective first action to take?
- Make the entry and exit policies for the 'Code Review' stage explicit and consider applying a specific WIP limit to it. (Correct answer)
- Ask the developers to work faster to produce more code for the reviewers.
- Cancel the code review step entirely to speed up the process.
- Immediately hire more code reviewers to handle the increased load.
Correct answer: Make the entry and exit policies for the 'Code Review' stage explicit and consider applying a specific WIP limit to it.
Kanban's core practices include 'Make Policies Explicit' and 'Limit WIP'. When a bottleneck appears, the first step is to make the process around that stage clear to everyone. Applying a WIP limit to the 'Code Review' column would make the bottleneck's impact visible and encourage the entire team to collaborate on clearing it (e.g., by having developers help with reviews) before pulling new work into the system.
Question 5: In the context of Kanban flow metrics, what is the key difference between Lead Time and Cycle Time?
- Lead Time measures the time from when work is completed to when it is delivered, while Cycle Time is the time from start to finish.
- There is no practical difference; the terms are used interchangeably.
- Cycle Time measures the total calendar days a task takes, while Lead Time only measures the working days.
- Lead Time is the total time from a customer request to delivery, while Cycle Time is the time from when work actively begins on that request until it is completed. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Lead Time is the total time from a customer request to delivery, while Cycle Time is the time from when work actively begins on that request until it is completed.
This is the standard definition used in Kanban. Lead Time represents the entire customer experience, from the moment they make a request to the moment they receive the value. Cycle Time is a subset of Lead Time that measures the internal process efficiency—the time the team is actively working on the item.
Question 6: Which of the following is NOT a primary goal of implementing feedback loops (Kanban cadences)?
- To compare individual team member performance for annual reviews and compensation. (Correct answer)
- To review and adapt the workflow and policies at regular intervals.
- To provide opportunities for the customer to give input and steer the product.
- To coordinate dependencies and manage the flow of work between different process stages.
Correct answer: To compare individual team member performance for annual reviews and compensation.
Kanban feedback loops, such as the daily stand-up, service delivery review, and retrospectives, are designed to improve the system, the process, and the flow of value. Using metrics and discussions from these meetings for individual performance reviews is counterproductive, as it can discourage transparency and create a culture of fear, undermining the goal of collaborative process improvement.
Agile Kanban Principles and Practices Questions and Answers 1
What is the primary purpose of implementing Work in Progress (WIP) limits in a Kanban system?