Kanban uses a visual board (often referred to as a Kanban board) with columns representing different stages of the development process, such as "To Do", "In Progress", and "Done“.

Each work item, typically represented as a card, is placed on the board, moving from left to right as it progresses through stages.

Team members can quickly see the status of all tasks and identify bottlenecks or work overload.

One of the key principles of Kanban is limiting the number of tasks that can be in progress at any given time.

WIP limits help prevent overloading team members and ensure that work is completed before new tasks are started.

WIP limits are set for each column on the Kanban board, and team members must adhere to them.

Kanban follows a "pull" system, where team members pull work items from the "To Do" column when they have capacity, rather than having work pushed onto them.

This approach promotes a more balanced workflow and reduces the likelihood of overloading team members.

Kanban encourages continuous improvement through regular team meetings (e.g., daily stand-ups or Kanban cadences) where the team discusses bottlenecks, blockers, and ways to optimize their workflow.

Teams can make incremental changes to their process based on data and feedback.

Kanban relies on flow metrics to measure and improve the efficiency of the development process.

Common flow metrics include lead time (time from task creation to completion) and cycle time (time taken to complete a task once it enters active development).

These metrics help teams identify areas for improvement and track their progress.

Kanban is highly adaptable and can be applied to various software development methodologies, such as Agile, Scrum, or Waterfall.

It can be used for both maintenance work and new feature development.