What’s In a Kanban Standup?

First and foremost:

Focus on work items, not people.

Then:

Finishing is more important than starting.

Practical tip: start to the right/ at the end of your board, and identify impediments to finishing tasks as you go upstream on the board.

Only two questions are really necessary in the actual standup if the team’s real process is reflected on the board:

 The team will be asked if the board accurately reflects what is being worked upon. The team will be asked if there is anything that is slowing down or stopping throughput. After these two questions are answered by the team, the stand-up is over.

(Karl Scotland via @dpjoyce.)

Update: a few more reading tips.

• Jason Yip, Thoughtworks: It’s Not Just Standing Up: Patterns for Daily Standup Meetings
• Brad Swanson, Agile42: Revive Your Daily Standup
• Pawel Brodzinski: Effective Standups around Kanban Board