Any phase · Ways of working

Manage flow with a Kanban board

Kanban helps a team finish work rather than start more of it. By limiting work in progress and watching a few simple flow measures, you spot bottlenecks early and deliver more predictably.

About 2-4 hoursEvergreenLast reviewed 4 November 2026

Who this applies to

Skills it builds: Delivery and execution
PM types: All
Product types: All
Starting points: All
Ways of working: Kanban
Experience: All
Size of organisation: All

Steps, by experience

Beginner (under 1 year)

Agree with the team what a 'work item' is, and exactly when one counts as started and when it counts as finished.
Set up board columns that match how work really moves, for example: Ready, In progress, In review, Testing, Done.
Watch for a couple of weeks how many items usually sit in each column. Then agree a work-in-progress (WIP) limit for each, often a bit below the number of people who work that column.
Make the rule clear: when a column is at its limit, nobody starts new work. Instead, help finish what is already there.
Track four simple measures: how many items are in progress, how many get finished each week, how old each in-progress item is, and how long items take from start to finish.
Review the board regularly, starting with the oldest items. Every few weeks, look at the measures together and agree one change to try.

Intermediate (1 to 4 years)

Agree a definition of workflow: work item types, start and finish points, columns and policies.
Set WIP limits from observed data and enforce a pull-only rule.
Track WIP, throughput, work item age and cycle time.
Review flow regularly, unblock aged items first, and adjust policies when the data shows a problem.

Experienced (5+ years)

Make the definition of workflow explicit and visible on the board.
Control WIP, and pull work only when there is capacity.
Track the four flow metrics, and set a service level expectation from cycle time history.
Use regular flow reviews to drive one improvement at a time.

Who can do this

Owner: Product manager

Can be delegated to

Delivery Manager: Set up the board, agree WIP limits with the team and report flow measures
Scrum Master or Delivery Manager: Facilitate flow reviews and help remove blockers
Tech Lead or Architect or Backend Engineer or Frontend Engineer: Agree where engineering columns and limits should sit

Reviewed by: Delivery Manager, Tech Lead

Tool examples

Jira: In the board settings, open Columns and set a maximum for each column. The column header turns red when the limit is broken.
Azure DevOps: Use the Kanban board's column settings to set WIP limits, and the cumulative flow chart to spot bottlenecks.
Trello: Use a list limits feature (Power-Up) so a list is highlighted when it has too many cards.
Linear: Use workflow states as columns and check cycle time in the insights view.
Claude: Paste a week of board history (item, start date, finish date) and ask it to work out cycle times and point out which items have been in progress far longer than the rest.