Personal Kanban Books

6 personal Kanban Books You Have to Read in 2018

Personal Kanban Books for Productivity and Project Management

Whether you are a Kanban enthusiast, evangelist, or you’re a Kanban expert, it’s always smart to strengthen and freshen your Kanban knowledge by reading recent work of some of the leading influencers in the Kanban industry.

For the enthusiast that just begin with Kanban, learning about the principles from the experiences of influential practitioners can offer inspiration and guidance to maintain new working habit with Kanban.

For the evangelists and experts, reading Kanban materials can be an excellent way to preserve and further develop your enthusiasm for continuous improvement. Gaining new knowledge could also help to analyze your practices from a new perspective.

The following six personal Kanban books are some of Flow-e team favorite books. We recommend them to anyone who would like to expand their practice of Lean, Agile, and Kanban.

1) Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life by Jim Benson

From the Author

“Personal Kanban is all about understanding and effectiveness. People are so busy they can’t see past their daily to-dos. They let options slide by while working on tasks of little value. At any given time, we want to know what we are doing, be able to communicate that to others, and see what our true options are. Other personal and team management systems are top-heavy, requiring significant work to update and maintain. Personal Kanban runs in the background, always providing you with information and not adding additional work or pain.”

This personal Kanban book dives into two Kanban principles. These two principles are applicable for managing work and balance in your personal life: limiting work in progress (WIP) and visualizing work.

Aside from the practice, the book is clear with some smooth elements of philosophy blended in with the practicality.

The book shows real examples of application and lean principles expressed reasonably. The techniques in this personal Kanban book are easy to try and definitely worth a read.

2) Real World Kanban: Do Less, Accomplish More with Lean Thinking by Mattias Skarin

From the Author

“One of the strengths of Kanban is that it’s easy to apply to a range of different contexts. The book contains four in-depth case studies where Kanban was used. In one case, Kanban was applied across the full value stream. In another case, Kanban was used in a back office team outside IT. Being able to see the full picture, and getting focus, better collaboration, and teamwork were some of the benefits reported by our teams in all four cases. Kanban won’t solve problems for you. That’s up to you. In the book, you’ll find plenty of tips and tricks our teams used to do just that.”

This personal Kanban book is ideal for people and teams practicing basic Kanban. You will benefit from the real-world examples of continuous improvement.

Four case studies illustrate how the Kanban methodology helps many organizations deliver faster an on time.

You will read about cross-functional scenarios in software development – how to improve existing processes with Kanban and how to get moving projects which are off-track.

3) How Can Portfolio Kanban Help Your Business | Free E-Book by Kanbanize

From the Author

“The Portfolio Kanban is a holistic method that aims to improve your organization’s ability to deliver by applying the principles of visualization, limiting work in progress and flow management on a system level.”

This book comes with the purpose to shed light on what Portfolio Kanban is, how it is different from team Kanban, how to use it, and what benefits it brings to your business.

The value of Portfolio Kanban is that it allows you to get a clear picture across multiple complex projects and improves your organization’s ability to deliver.

You will be able to expand your team’s potential, enhance communication between management and operations, and execute sophisticated projects with ease.

4) Stop Starting, Start Finishing by Arne Roock

From the Author

“This booklet tells the story of Justin – a project manager who achieved remarkable results with his team by doing very simple things! This guide covers the core concepts of Kanban for knowledge work, and shows how limiting your amount of work-in-progress can lead to getting things done better and faster.”

Easy to read, this personal Kanban book walks through the base case of Kanban and Lean for software development.

The key points are illustrated by cartoons and stories which are highly engaging.

The main principle examined in this book is how to eliminate waste and how to get things done better and faster by limiting work in progress (WIP).

5) Kanban from the Inside by Mike Burrows

From the Author

“I set myself the task of describing the ‘humane, start with what you do now approach to change’ not as a productivity tool, but as a management method built around a strong framework of values—a way to help organizations work better for their people, their customers, and other stakeholders.”

This personal Kanban book expresses the author’s first-hand examples of how to take your organization along the path towards Kanban.

Mike Burrows describes four principles and six core practices that any organization or a team can adopt while implementing Kanban.

This book is excellent at explaining why Kanban works.

6) Kanban Change Leadership: Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement by Klaus Leopold and Siegfried Kaltenecker

From the Author

“Authors Doug Dockery and Laureen Knudsen share their years of experience in transforming corporations and organizations to successfully compete and win in today’s fast-paced markets. Using proven techniques and stories of actual experiences in a multitude of organizations, Doug and Laureen relate what it takes to successfully transform your organization, as well as how to tell if your transformation is working.”

The topic in this Kanban book is more advanced, and the book is excellent for leaders looking to consolidate a culture of agility and continuous improvement.

Kanban establishes a culture of continuous improvement. Although the authors briefly discuss Kanban principles, the focus of the book is centered on the aspects of change and leadership that lead to a culture of continuous improvement.

Moreover, this book is based on many real-life customer conversations and business transformations.