Set a pace for the input

Kanban - Chapter 9

The price of coordinating prioritization• maintenance team (5 devs, 1/2 PM, 1 build

expert)• requests coming from 6 different parties• prioritization meetings with > 12 people

then estimates then new prioritization meeting

• round of two weeks of discussions for a 2 week sprint.

The price of coordinating prioritization• introduction to KANBAN

• focus on workflow, input queue and pull-mechanism

• 2 tasks after each other. have to be done under 30 days

• prioritization meeting 1 x 60minutes / week

Agreement on a prioritization pace• meetings with a lot of participants, but

regular• regularity offers a clear tempo: meetings

may be prepared• more communication, more collaboration,

more trust, more transparency in decision making

• more trust between the team and the other parties

Efficient prioritization• the pace and the length of the meetings

depends on the project and its constellation

• “as often as possible”: less input, less work-in-progress, shorter lead time, better company culture

The costs of transactions

• preparation time has to be counted as part (and cost) of the process

• estimations, business plan preparation and task selection are normal

• those costs should be monitored• optional estimations spare costs and

accelerate the process

More frequent prioritization through

better efficiency• cost estimations:• are imprecise or too expensive (think

about planing poker)• only works with small teams with a

small scope• costs may be reduced by abolishing some

of the estimations.

Conduct prioritization spontaneously or when

needed

• possibility of abolishing systematic estimations for experienced teams

• estimations may be conducted only when wanted or needed

Conclusion• decouple prioritization cycles from

development cycles• prioritization and its related activities have

a cost• “as often as possible”• in the end, those meeting may become

optional