A little over a month ago, Agile Zen started following me on Twitter. They are creators of a very clean web-based kanban solution. Around the same time, I connected with Jim Benson. Jim is a collaborative management consultant. He is the CEO of Modus Cooperandi, a consultancy which combines Lean, Agile Management and Social Media principles to develop sustainable teams.

Though I’ve used information radiators like kanbans in the past, I’ve been working in a non-Agile PMO for the last six months and it’s all very foreign to them. Thanks to reading the works of David Anderson, Jim Benson, and AgileZen, I’m back in the game. I’m using AgileZen on a daily basis for everything from business deliverables, to an entrepreneurial project, to my wife’s honey-do list.

My actual task completion velocity has noticeably increased in the last month. I attribute that to AgileZen having a very easy to use product, Jim musing on a daily basis on the topic, and most importantly limiting what I’m working or focused on.

You can read one of Jim’s recent postings [here]
You can check out AgileZen [here]

I wish I could thank all of the kanban supporters out there that I follow on a daily basis. These 3 really have to be mentioned. If you’re interested in Kanban, look them up.

3 for the price of 1!

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About Derek Huether

Enterprise Agile Coach and Trainer at LitheSpeed. Co-Lead of the PMI ACP Support Team. Lover of Agile, Scrum, & Kanban. Lawfulgood PMP Level 15. Chaotic Good Agilist Level 5. Author of Zombie Project Management (available on Amazon)

http://ourfounder.typepad.com Jim Benson

Awesome Derek,

are the colors a function of types of tasks or different projects?
http://ourfounder.typepad.com Jim Benson

Awesome Derek,

are the colors a function of types of tasks or different projects?
Derek

Jim, they are actually different projects. It’s really my summary kanban.
Green = start-up effort
Orange = client 1 tasks
Blue = book I’m working on
Purple = blog post ideas
Yellow = client 2 tasks
Gray = wife honey-do tasks

I used to use a Product Backlog (Agile Scrum) list but the visual queues of the kanban are much more effective.

Thanks for the feedback!
Derek
Derek

Jim, they are actually different projects. It’s really my summary kanban.
Green = start-up effort
Orange = client 1 tasks
Blue = book I’m working on
Purple = blog post ideas
Yellow = client 2 tasks
Gray = wife honey-do tasks

I used to use a Product Backlog (Agile Scrum) list but the visual queues of the kanban are much more effective.

Thanks for the feedback!
Derek
topsurf

This is awesome. I began following Jim’s series on Personal Kanban and it has literally turned my work day around 190 degrees. It has now spilled over into my personal life as well. I love seeing how others work Personal Kanban, thanks for sharing.
topsurf

This is awesome. I began following Jim’s series on Personal Kanban and it has literally turned my work day around 190 degrees. It has now spilled over into my personal life as well. I love seeing how others work Personal Kanban, thanks for sharing.
http://ourfounder.typepad.com Jim Benson

I like the “focus” column. What did you think of the priority filter idea? It seems that with that many work source types you may need to visualize more of your backlog.

And I love the fact that “macro for excel” is a honey-do.
http://ourfounder.typepad.com Jim Benson

I like the “focus” column. What did you think of the priority filter idea? It seems that with that many work source types you may need to visualize more of your backlog.

And I love the fact that “macro for excel” is a honey-do.
Derek

I love the priority filter. One of my greatest weaknesses is knowing the tasks with greatest priority and then limit what I’m working or focusing on. Until the task is vetted, I keep it out of sight on the Backlog and not on the Ready list. Unfortunately, I’m either going to add another column to split out Ready tasks or I’m going to add a task limit of 10. Prioritized or not, I think anything longer then 10 is too long. The colors are critical for me to locate and ID project tasks at a glance.

Yes, with a geeky wife, macro for excel was on the list. Now, if we could only view the kanban from a touchscreen tv in the kitchen… Will add as a task later.
Derek

I love the priority filter. One of my greatest weaknesses is knowing the tasks with greatest priority and then limit what I’m working or focusing on. Until the task is vetted, I keep it out of sight on the Backlog and not on the Ready list. Unfortunately, I’m either going to add another column to split out Ready tasks or I’m going to add a task limit of 10. Prioritized or not, I think anything longer then 10 is too long. The colors are critical for me to locate and ID project tasks at a glance.

Yes, with a geeky wife, macro for excel was on the list. Now, if we could only view the kanban from a touchscreen tv in the kitchen… Will add as a task later.

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