Starting Is Easy, Finishing Is Hard
DerekHuether | Oct 15, 2009 | Comments 5
A wise man once told me, “starting is easy, finishing is hard.”
This has been my struggle my entire professional career, but I would argue it started as far back as grade school. I’ve always had projects and tasks to complete and deadlines to meet. I’ve tried multitasking. I’ve tried listing A, B, C tasks in a Franklin Covey Day Planner. It has been a lifelong struggle to find a tool or process that provides clarity to my chaotic, goal-driven life.
As the manager of software engineering and project management teams, I’ve used kanbans in the past. In those applications, I referred to kanbans as “information radiators.” Large billboards were strategically placed around the office so anyone could passively see the status of the current project. Anyone could see what the highest priority was, what was currently being completed, and what was being delayed. I believe the key to our successes was the ability to visualize our work. Everyone knew exactly what they needed to complete and everyone else knew if it was getting done. People were not allowed to go on to ancillary activities until their assigned tasks were completed. This constant feedback loop was very powerful.
You would think if it worked so well for my teams, for business purposes, I would use it for myself for personal purposes. It took some time but I finally started using a personal kanban and I kick myself for not doing it earlier.
In order to communicate my kanban to collocated teammates, I use a product called Zen by Enkari, Ltd. It is a web-based kanban and does an excellent job. It’s simple, clean, affordable, and very scalable. Having a web-based tool like this also allows me to review my kanban at home and not upset my wife by having a large whiteboard covered with post-it notes in the sitting room. The other step I’ve taken is having a physical kanban at work. It looks exactly like my web-based kanban, right down to the color of the post-it notes. Anyone can see what work I have on my backlog, what I’m currently working on, or what I have recently completed.
Despite my best intentions, I’ve always made managing personal tasks WAY too complicated. To the contrary, using a kanban is simple and it allows me to focus on what is important. I no longer multitask and get nothing done. I now limit my work in progress, focus on the task at hand, and finish.
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I’m curious – do you actually have an exact physical copy of the Zen based kanban – or are you talking about two different kanban boards covering different subjects?
If it’s the same – how long time are you spending updating? And which one has you chosen as your primary?
My main problem at the moment is that I truly believe in the huge advantage of a large physical information radiator – and at the same time need to be able to move the information easily. I agree Zen is a wonderful product.
Michael, the answer is my Zen based kanban have everything. The only difference is my physical board at the office does not contain the stories from my Backlog nor does it have items completed more than a week ago. The stories only appear on my (physical) board when they’ve been vetted and refined enough to be considered for prioritization and work. Yes, that includes acceptance criteria and everything. This process does a few things. First, it saves me a lot of time updating post-it notes on the physical board. Second, it keeps everyone reviewing the board informed. Since this is my personal kanban and not a department kanban, it just lets everyone know what I’m working on. I only go back to the backlog when I’ve completed the work at hand (WIP). I only go to the archive if someone has a question about previous work completed.
I completely agree about the desire to use the large radiators. Again, I capture the details in Zen and just have the story ID and brief description on the post-it notes. If budget was no option, I would port Zen to a flat panel on the wall for all to see. Until then, this is my solution. I hope I answered your questions.
Regards,
Derek
Just the answer I needed. Thanks.
This is exactly my hesitation. I want the benefits of having a kanban board in electronic form, but also the benefits of transparency having a big physical board at a work wall.
I’m seriously thinking about mounting a projector canon and project Zen or other software as big as it gets. The issue here is noice and lamp cost as it will be (must be) turned on at all times (not during nites of course).
Maybe I can have a smaller (like 40′) flat screen for each apartment in the company…
You comments on this would be much appreciated (plz send a mail as well).
/T
Hey Tommy,
Yes! A permanent screen is extremely important.
I would do the flat screen for all the reasons you mentioned.
The best of all worlds would be a large touch screen.
If your value stream isn’t too long, I think you should be able to get along with a smaller screen.
The always-on is really important. It’s awesome that you appreciate how important it is. People need to be confronted with the Personal Kanban in a group setting or they lose sight of the goals and what other people are doing.
Jim