- board structure to aid sorting before a "commitment point", e.g. "Options/New" - Later(6 weeks) - Soon (in the next 7 days)
- Now (usually just the top or highlighted item in "soon") - Done - Closed
- Closed" to place items that are dismissed
- Work in Progress (WIP) - Limits on all columns - maximum number of items
Throughput
- average capacity: number of cards completed or closed in a typical week
- useful to keep track of: when I complete a card, I add a dot somewhere (usually on a "note card") to count it for the week, and add info when blocked by sth
- this number varies, but is a useful indicator how much I can realistically process in a week - for example, 5 items/cards
WIP (Work in progress) limits
- visualize expectations - what can realistically be achieved in this timeframe
- set per column limits - when more cards are in the column, I have to remove some or transfer them to a wishlist
- wip limits determined by average number of cards closed or done per week (throughput); e.g. "Later (WIP 20)"; "Soon" - WIP 5;
Managing Flow / preventing queues
- planning with smaller steps (could each be done in a day) to enable learning
- avoiding a situation when too many things are started but not completed
- understanding the cost of queues: nothing gets done for a long time, and then all at once (unpredictable patterns); or the value diminishes (cost of delay)