Kanban is a visual signaling system, originating in Toyota Production System, picked up in one form or another by all pull production systems. It's role is to control the flow of a product through the production system and to trigger actions once and in the very place they are needed. Kanban is a system providing support for "lean" production principles such as "just-in-time", "just-enough" and information transparency, the very same principles that stay at the core of agile software development ideology. Applied to software development kanban helps to organize work for a single person (personal kanban), a team or, better, can be applied to the whole production system to help stay focus, limit work items being in progress and to boost teamwork.

Scope

The scope of this course covers the following topics, presented in the form of intensive, non-technical exercises conducted in small groups, lecture and discussion:

• An introduction to Lean, Pull Systems and Kanban
• 4 areas to focus to deliver success
• Value Stream Mapping
• Process Flow Tracking
• Implementing different classes of service
• Implementing a culture of continuous improvement (Kaizen)
• Applying established industrial engineering theory to software development process
• Controlling WIP
• Identifying, classifying and managing bottlenecks
• Defining release and input cadence for a kanban system
• Using metrics and reporting to drive continuous improvement
• Establishing policies to prevent abuse and gaming of the kanban system

Purpose

Participants in the workshop will learn how to use the simple process of limiting work-in-progress as a driver of change. Kanban is a change management method and a different approach to striking agreements between IT and the business. Participants will learn how to define the policies that constrain the collaborative game of software development. They will learn how to use those policies to manage risk and to reset negotiations and recast them as collaborative problem solving.

Used effectively Kanban will change you and your organization. If your workplace has been stagnating and you are looking for new ideas to unleash productivity, innovation, collaboration and creativity, take 2 days and come along.

Intended audience

This course is intended for development executives, project managers, development managers, project leaders and developers. Also if you provide agile coaching to development teams this is a course when you can learn how Lean, Pull Systems and Kanban can provide a useful perspective to consider the entire value chain beyond the pure software development.

Venue and date

Course will be held on 25-26 October 2010. Venue will be announced at later time.

Classes begin at 9 AM and end 5 PM daily. Coffee breaks and a lunch is planned and served at the venue.

Instructor

This course is lead by David Anderson. Daniel leads a management consulting firm focused on improving performance of technology companies. He has been in software development for 26 years and has managed teams aon agile software development projects at Sprint, Motorola, Microsoft and Corbis. David is credited with the first implementation of kanban process for software development n 2005. David was a founder of the agile movement through his involvement in the creation of Feature Driven Development. He was also founder of the APLN, a founding signatory of the Declaration of Interdependence, and a founding member of the Lean Software and Systems Consortium. He moderates several on-line communities for lean/agile development. He is the author of the book "Agile Management for Software Engineering - Applying the Theory of Constraints for Business Results". Most recently, David has been focused on creating a synergy of the CMMI model for organizational maturity with Agile and Lean methods through projects with Microsoft and the SEI. He is based in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Training material

Training material will be available at the training session. Training materials are available only in English and include a copy of the slides used by the instructor, additional print papers and case studies as well as other materials extending the course content.

Prices and terms

4000 PLN (USD, EUR)

Above is the final price, as it will be listed on the invoice, as the VAT tax does not apply to this kind of training in Poland. Depending on your country of origin there may be local tax regulations that will force additional taxes.

Prices listed about include:

• training cost,
• cost of printed training material,
• lunch, cold and hot beverages, fruits and snacks.

Reservations and payments

Registration for the training can be done by filling registration form, by sending an e-mail to rejestracja@poddrzewem.pl or simply by calling +48 695 623 668.

To successfully enroll for the course it is required to make full payment prior to commencement of the course. Upon request, within 7 days of the reservation we issue a pro-forma invoice. Reservations will be confirmed as the payments are booked on our account. Due to the limited number of seats, please make timely payments. VAT invoice will be issued for EU customers within 7 days from the date of completion of training.

Cancellation policy

Full refunds are available up to 14 days before the scheduled event date. Cancellations made within 14 days of the event may be credited - depending on organizer decision - toward future events; however, no refunds will be issued. No refunds or credits will be available for "no-shows". Substitutions will be accepted up to 3 days prior to commencement of the course.

Additional information

This course is conducted in English only. No translation services are provided. Training curriculum is available here.