Streamlining Team Workflows for Efficiency

Kanban: We Should Be "Done" With "In-Progress" One of the best ways to use Kanban is by visualizing meaningful work states on your board. Thoughtfully designed boards can transform how teams deliver value, spot inefficiencies, and improve collaboration. Unfortunately, many teams miss these opportunities by relying on vague, catch-all columns like “In-Progress.” Let’s talk about why “In-Progress” is practically useless, and how breaking it into clearer work states is a smarter strategy. Why “In-Progress” Fails The term “In-Progress” might seem harmless, but it’s so broad that it adds little value. “In-Progress” doesn’t explain what’s actually happening. Is a task being coded, reviewed, or tested? Without specifics, delays and inefficiencies stay hidden. A generic column hides bottlenecks. For example, slow code reviews go unnoticed when everything sits under “In-Progress.” Vague statuses make it harder to know who should act next. Confusion leads to reduced accountability, delays, and misaligned expectations. Without data showing where tasks spend the most time, teams can’t identify trends or resolve inefficiencies. The Case for Clarity Replacing “In-Progress” with specific work states turns a Kanban board into a powerful tool for managing flow and driving improvement. For example, a software development team might use: Backlog: Items awaiting prioritization. Ready for Development: Work ready to start. In Development: Developers are actively working. Ready for Code Review: Development is complete, awaiting review. In Code Review: Review process underway. Ready for Testing: Code is ready for QA. In Testing: QA is actively testing. Ready for Deployment: Testing is complete, awaiting release. Done: Work is completed. Each state reflects a clear step in the workflow (not necessarily a handoff). This improves visibility, accountability, and makes bottlenecks easier to spot. Your team’s context might call for different states, but the goal stays the same: clarity. Spotting Bottlenecks Granular states make delays visible. If tasks sit too long in “Ready for Code Review,” reviewers may be overloaded or not prioritizing reviews. A backlog in “Ready for Deployment” could mean release processes need work. Tasks stuck “In Testing” might point to unclear requirements or a stretched QA team. Tracking time-in-state reveals where delays occur, helping teams reallocate resources or refine processes. Collaboration Benefits Meaningful work states improve collaboration. When a task moves to “Ready for Testing,” testers know it’s their turn to act. This reduces idle time and makes transitions smoother. Be Done With “In-Progress” Create columns for key steps in your workflow. Don’t overcomplicate things. Aim for enough granularity to reveal bottlenecks without overwhelming your team with administrivia. Set clear entry and exit criteria for each column. Kanban isn’t just about making work visible; it’s about making the right work visible.

Let's be honest: extensive cross-team coordination is often a symptom of a larger problem, not an inevitable challenge that needs solving. When teams spend more time in alignment than on building, it's time to reconsider your organizational design. Conway's Law tells us that our systems inevitably mirror our communication structures. When I see teams drowning in coordination overhead, I look at these structural factors: - Team boundaries that cut across frequent workflows: If a single user journey requires six different teams to coordinate, your org structure might be optimized for technical specialization at the expense of delivery flow. - Mismatched team autonomy and system architecture: Microservices architecture with monolithic teams (or vice versa) creates natural friction points that no amount of coordination rituals can fully resolve. - Implicit dependencies that become visible too late: Teams discover they're blocking each other only during integration, indicating boundaries were drawn without understanding the full system dynamics. Rather than adding more coordination mechanisms, consider these structural approaches: - Domain-oriented teams over technology-oriented teams: Align team boundaries with business domains rather than technical layers to reduce cross-team handoffs. - Team topologies that acknowledge different types of teams: Platform teams, enabling teams, stream-aligned teams, and complicated subsystem teams each have different alignment needs. - Deliberate discovery of dependencies: Map the invisible structures in your organization before drawing team boundaries, not after. Dependencies are inevitable and systems are increasingly interconnected, so some cross-team alignment will always be necessary. When structural changes aren't immediately possible, here's what I've learned works to keep things on the right track: 1️⃣ Shared mental models matter more than shared documentation. When teams understand not just what other teams are building, but why and how it fits into the bigger picture, collaboration becomes fluid rather than forced. 2️⃣ Interface-first development creates clear contracts between systems, allowing teams to work autonomously while maintaining confidence in integration. 3️⃣ Regular alignment rituals prevent drift. Monthly tech radar sessions, quarterly architecture reviews, and cross-team demonstrations create the rhythm of alignment. 4️⃣ Technical decisions need business context. When engineers understand user and business outcomes, they make better architectural choices that transcend team boundaries. 5️⃣ Optimize for psychological safety across teams. The ability to raise concerns outside your immediate team hierarchy is what prevents organizational blind spots. The best engineering leaders recognize that excessive coordination is a tax on productivity. You can work to improve coordination, or you can work to reduce the need for coordination in the first place.

Case Study: Coaching a Team to Streamline #DigitalMarketing and #Fundraising with Value Stream Mapping Over the last few years, I have had the privilege of working as an Agile Coach with a talented team of students, developers, and marketing professionals to consult with an organization that delivers unique programming for disabled veterans. It is located in a fairly remote area, and the team was not sure how to create value through digital marketing and an enhanced social media presence. Our focus? Improving digital marketing and fundraising initiatives through #ValueStreamMapping (VSM) and #Agile practices. We used techniques like #Kanban, Work-in-Progress (WIP) limits, Gemba walks, and other strategies to identify bottlenecks, blockers, and inefficiencies in our workflows. By mapping out the entire process from start to finish, we were able to pinpoint areas that were slowing us down or adding no value. From there, we worked together to streamline processes, reduce waste, and improve communication across teams. The results? Faster feedback, more effective campaigns, and a smoother flow of work. The key takeaway: Value Stream Mapping isn’t just a tool for developers—it’s a game changer for any team looking to improve their processes, eliminate blockers, and deliver more value to customers and stakeholders. This tool helped the team visualize where things were getting stuck and gave us a clear picture of what needed to change. Here are some key takeaways from this case study that can be applied to any organization working on similar initiatives: Seeing the Whole Process: By mapping out the full value stream, the team gained a better understanding of how each step in the process was interconnected. This visibility allowed us to pinpoint bottlenecks and inefficiencies that were previously invisible, making it easier to prioritize changes that would have the greatest impact. Iterating and Experimenting: The process of iterating quickly was critical to improving fundraising outcomes. We worked in short cycles, testing different fundraising campaigns and marketing strategies, and using feedback to adjust in real time. This approach, rooted in Agile, allowed the team to quickly learn what worked and what didn’t, without wasting time on ineffective tactics. Improving Communication: One of the biggest roadblocks we identified was poor communication. The visual nature of VSM allowed us to break down silos between teams. Eliminating Waste: We discovered several steps in our processes that weren’t adding value or were simply redundant . For example, some digital marketing campaigns were delayed because they relied on outdated information or required multiple rounds of approval. Using VSM, we could quickly eliminate those bottlenecks and streamline the process, making our efforts more efficient. Check it Out 👇 Have you use value stream mapping and management techniques in your work? Tell us about them!!👂 #Lean #DA

You have no doubt heard of DOGE by now - Dept of Govt Efficiency. Imagine this: DOPE - a new department in your company—The Department of People Efficiency. A team that’s all about making your workplace leaner, smarter, and more productive. (Yes, it’s a play on “dope”—because this idea is just that cool.) Efficiency isn’t about running faster on the hamster wheel. It’s about trimming the fat and letting your people focus on what really moves the needle. If the DOPE team walked into your office tomorrow, here’s what they’d cut first: 1️⃣ Useless Meetings. We all know them—meetings with no agenda, no purpose, and no outcomes. Atlassian reports employees waste 31 hours a month in unproductive meetings. Fix it: “No agenda, no meeting” rule. Replace status updates with a quick dashboard. Default to focused, 15-minute standups. 2️⃣ Communication Overload. Slack, email, Teams, DMs—too many tools lead to noise, not clarity. Streamline to a couple of platforms and set boundaries. Less pinging, more doing. 3️⃣ Busywork That Goes Nowhere. Reports no one reads. Processes no one understands. Tasks that feel important but achieve nothing. Automate it, delegate it, or delete it. 4️⃣ The “Always-On” Mentality. Productivity doesn’t come from burning the candle at both ends. It comes from focused work, intentional breaks, and clear priorities. Hustle culture without purpose is just burnout in disguise. 5️⃣ Legacy Processes. If you ever hear “We’ve always done it this way,” it’s time to audit. Outdated processes cost time, energy, and morale. Innovation starts by challenging the status quo. Here’s the truth: Time is the one resource we can’t get back. If your people’s time is wasted, so is their talent, creativity, and energy. The DOPE team wouldn’t let that happen. As businesses, we need to stop overcomplicating work and start respecting the value of time. That’s how you boost efficiency, build trust, and unlock results. So, if you had a DOPE Department at your company, what’s the first thing you’d cut? Drop your thoughts below. Bam!💥