Fairway Sessions | Agile & Project Management Consulting

About This Workshop

Kanban is one of the most misunderstood practices in modern software delivery. Most teams use a Kanban board as a visual to-do list. The actual Kanban method is a system for managing and improving the flow of work through a value-creating process — with specific practices for visualisation, WIP management, flow measurement, and continuous improvement that go far beyond columns and cards.

This one-day workshop teaches the Kanban method as a complete discipline, covering the four foundational practices, the six core principles, and the operational mechanics of running a Kanban system that actually improves throughput over time.

Participants work through hands-on exercises including board design, WIP limit calibration, and a flow simulation that makes the relationship between WIP, cycle time, and throughput tangible in a way that no theory session can match.

Best For

For teams running or planning to run Kanban, for teams using Jira or Linear boards but not applying flow principles, for teams that have tried Scrum but need a more flow-oriented approach, or for support and maintenance teams where work arrives unpredictably.

Learning Objectives

Apply the six core Kanban principles to your team's specific work context

Design a Kanban system that accurately reflects how work flows through your team

Set and manage WIP limits using empirical data rather than intuition

Measure and interpret cycle time, lead time, and throughput

Use the Cumulative Flow Diagram to identify and resolve flow issues proactively

Conduct a Kanban review (throughput retrospective) that drives genuine improvement

Differentiate between Kanban as a tool and Kanban as a method

Common Challenges This Addresses

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Teams using Kanban boards as visual backlog lists without any flow management

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WIP unlimited by default, causing everything to be in progress and nothing to be done

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Cycle time measured informally or not at all

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Work being pulled before capacity exists, creating invisible queuing and context switching

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Metrics dashboards that show activity volume rather than flow performance

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No mechanism for identifying systemic bottlenecks that repeat across periods

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Kanban and Scrum teams at the same organisation using incompatible process vocabularies

Workshop Agenda

The Kanban Method: Core Principles

We start with the theory, evidence base, and the six practices of the Kanban method. This is not a "Kanban board tutorial" — it is the complete method, including change management principles that most teams never encounter.

Flow Simulation Exercise

A hands-on simulation where teams experience the direct relationship between WIP, cycle time, and throughput. This is the most memorable part of the workshop and the evidence base for everything that follows.

Board Design Workshop

Participants design or redesign their team's Kanban system, making explicit decisions about column definitions, WIP limits, classes of service, and how to handle different work types.

Flow Metrics & CFD Interpretation

How to read and act on the Cumulative Flow Diagram, Little's Law in practice, and the specific CFD patterns that indicate the most common flow problems.

Cadences & Continuous Improvement

The Kanban meeting cadences — daily standup, replenishment meeting, and throughput retrospective — and how to run a Kanban review that produces actionable improvement decisions rather than status reporting.