**Course Title:** Agile Methodologies: Principles and Practices **Section Title:** Kanban Methodology **Topic:** Set up a Kanban board for a sample project and manage workflow.(Lab topic) **Objective:** By the end of this lab, you will be able to set up a Kanban board for a sample project and manage workflow using Kanban principles and practices. **Introduction:** In this lab, we will apply the Kanban principles and practices learned in previous topics to set up a Kanban board for a sample project. We will use a real-world example to demonstrate how to manage workflow and visualize work using a Kanban board. **Prerequisites:** * Understanding of Kanban principles and practices (covered in previous topics) * Familiarity with the concept of workflow and work-in-progress (WIP) limits **Case Study:** Let's consider a sample project for a software development team that develops a mobile app for ordering food online. The project involves the following stages: 1. Requirements gathering 2. Design 3. Development 4. Testing 5. Deployment **Setting up the Kanban Board:** To set up the Kanban board, we will identify the columns that represent the different stages of the workflow. We will also define the WIP limits for each column to manage the flow of work. 1. Columns: * **To-Do:** This column represents the backlog of work items (features, user stories, or tasks). * **In Progress:** This column represents the work items that are currently being worked on by the team. * **In Review:** This column represents the work items that are ready for review by the team or stakeholders. * **Done:** This column represents the work items that are completed and deployed to production. 2. WIP Limits: * **To-Do:** 10 * **In Progress:** 5 * **In Review:** 3 * **Done:** unlimited **Visualizing the Workflow:** We can use a physical board or a digital tool such as Trello (https://trello.com/) or Asana (https://asana.com/) to visualize the workflow. **Managing the Workflow:** To manage the workflow, we need to follow these steps: 1. **Prioritize the Work Items:** The team prioritizes the work items in the To-Do column based on their business value and complexity. 2. **Pull the Work Items:** The team pulls the work items from the To-Do column to the In Progress column based on their WIP limit. 3. **Work on the Work Items:** The team works on the work items in the In Progress column. 4. **Review and Deploy:** The team reviews the work items in the In Review column and deploys them to production once they are done. 5. **Retrospect and Improve:** The team retrospects on their workflow and identifies opportunities for improvement. **Key Takeaways:** * Kanban boards help visualize the workflow and manage WIP. * Defining WIP limits helps regulate the flow of work. * Prioritizing work items based on business value and complexity ensures that the team is working on the most important tasks. **Practical Exercise:** Create a Kanban board for the sample project using a digital tool such as Trello or Asana. Prioritize the work items, pull them to the In Progress column, and deploy them to production. Reflect on the workflow and identify opportunities for improvement. **Conclusion:** In this lab, we applied the Kanban principles and practices to set up a Kanban board for a sample project and manage workflow. We learned how to visualize the workflow, manage WIP, and prioritize work items based on business value and complexity. **Leave a Comment/Ask for Help:** If you have any questions or need help with setting up a Kanban board for your project, please leave a comment below. **Next Topic:** Introduction to Lean methodologies and their origins (from Lean Principles and Practices)