Kanban Glossary: Key Terms You Should Know
- Michelle M
- Sep 6
- 10 min read
Kanban is a visual workflow management system that has revolutionized how teams approach work, productivity, and project management. Originating from lean manufacturing, it has since been adopted across software development, financial services, service delivery, and enterprise operations.
The methodology emphasizes visualizing work, limiting work in progress (WIP), and optimizing flow to deliver value continuously. Understanding Kanban terminology is essential for any professional seeking to implement it effectively. This Kanban Glossary contains 100 critical terms and concepts, providing insights for team members, managers, and organizational leaders.
It explains how Kanban principles, metrics, and practices work together to ensure efficient delivery and sustainable productivity.
1. Kanban Board
A visual tool used to depict workflow stages and track tasks from start to finish. Kanban boards provide clarity, transparency, and accountability. They allow teams to see bottlenecks, progress, and completed tasks at a glance, enabling better planning and execution.
2. Kanban Card
Represents a single work item on the Kanban board. Each card typically contains information such as task description, owner, priority, and deadlines. Cards facilitate visualization of work and help monitor progress across the team.
3. Work in Progress (WIP) Limit
Defines the maximum number of tasks allowed in a workflow stage simultaneously. WIP limits prevent overloading, reduce multitasking, and improve focus, helping teams maintain steady, predictable workflow.
4. Flow Efficiency
Measures how much of a task’s total time is spent actively being worked on versus waiting. High flow efficiency indicates minimal delays, while low efficiency highlights bottlenecks or inefficiencies in the workflow.
5. Cycle Time
The duration it takes for a task to move from the start of active work to completion. Monitoring cycle time helps teams identify delays, improve predictability, and forecast delivery timelines accurately.
6. Lead Time
The total time taken from when a task is requested to when it is delivered. Lead time includes both active and waiting periods, making it a broader metric than cycle time for assessing responsiveness.
7. Backlog
A collection of work items waiting to be processed. Kanban backlogs help prioritize tasks, provide clarity on upcoming work, and prevent teams from becoming overloaded with unplanned tasks.
8. Pull System
A workflow approach where tasks are “pulled” into a stage only when capacity is available. Pull systems ensure that teams work within their limits and maintain continuous, balanced flow.
9. Push System
A system where tasks are assigned regardless of capacity, often causing bottlenecks. Kanban discourages push systems in favor of pull to ensure sustainable workload management.
10. Bottleneck
A point in the workflow where tasks accumulate due to slower progress than other stages. Identifying and resolving bottlenecks is crucial to maintaining smooth flow and improving overall efficiency.
11. Swimlanes
Horizontal rows on the Kanban board that categorize tasks by criteria such as priority, team, or work type. Swimlanes provide clarity on parallel streams of work and enhance workflow visualization.
12. Throughput
The number of tasks completed over a defined period. Tracking throughput helps teams measure productivity trends, evaluate performance, and forecast project delivery rates.
13. Service Level Expectation (SLE)
A probabilistic expectation of how long it takes to complete work items. SLEs help teams communicate delivery expectations with stakeholders and measure performance against realistic timelines.
14. Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD)
A chart showing the number of tasks in each workflow stage over time. CFDs visualize workflow stability, highlight bottlenecks, and help teams monitor progress toward consistent delivery.
15. Expedited Lane
A special Kanban lane for high-priority tasks that need faster delivery. While useful for urgent work, excessive use can disrupt regular workflow and compromise predictability.
16. Blocked Work Item
A task unable to progress due to dependencies or constraints. Blocked items are usually visually marked to signal immediate attention and prompt resolution to maintain flow.
17. Kanban Token
A visual marker representing work capacity or WIP limits. Tokens help enforce limits and control task movement within the workflow, ensuring teams operate within capacity.
18. Commitment Point
The moment when a task officially enters active workflow. Before this point, items remain in backlog or idea stages, and the team has no obligation to deliver them immediately.
19. Delivery Point
The stage where tasks are completed and delivered to customers or stakeholders. It marks the end of the workflow for a work item and is used to calculate cycle and lead times.
20. Service Class
Categories that define different task types, such as standard, expedited, or fixed-date. Service classes guide prioritization, resource allocation, and handling rules in Kanban workflows.
21. Work Item Type
Defines the nature of the work, such as feature, bug, or task. Identifying types ensures appropriate prioritization, handling, and allocation across the team.
22. Visual Management
Using visual cues to manage workflow, highlight priorities, and signal issues. Visual management is central to Kanban’s philosophy of transparency and immediate insight.
23. Kanban Principles
The foundational guidelines for implementing Kanban: visualize work, limit WIP, manage flow, make policies explicit, implement feedback loops, and improve collaboratively.
24. Policies
Explicit rules that govern how work progresses through the Kanban system. Policies clarify priorities, workflow behavior, and decision-making criteria for team members.
25. Feedback Loops
Structured moments for reflection and improvement, such as daily standups, retrospectives, or review meetings. Feedback loops enable continuous learning and workflow optimization.
26. Pull Request
A software development term integrated into Kanban, referring to a request for code changes to be reviewed before merging. It ensures quality control in development workflows.
27. Kanban Metrics
Quantitative measures used to monitor Kanban performance, including cycle time, lead time, throughput, WIP, and flow efficiency. Metrics enable informed decision-making and continuous improvement.
28. Work Item Aging
The duration a task has spent in the workflow without completion. Tracking aging helps identify delayed tasks and potential risks to overall flow.
29. Inventory
Tasks waiting in the system to be processed. In Kanban, minimizing inventory reduces lead time, prevents stagnation, and optimizes flow.
30. Pull-Based Planning
Planning method where work items are introduced into the system only when there is capacity. It contrasts with traditional push-based planning and supports sustainable workflow.
31. Kanban Cadence
The rhythm or frequency of Kanban meetings, reviews, or updates. Maintaining a consistent cadence supports transparency, coordination, and continuous improvement.
32. Continuous Delivery
A practice in which work items are delivered incrementally as soon as they are ready. Continuous delivery aligns with Kanban’s focus on flow and rapid value realization.
33. Continuous Improvement
The ongoing process of analyzing workflow, identifying inefficiencies, and implementing refinements. Kanban fosters continuous improvement as a core principle.
34. Limiting Work in Progress
Actively controlling the number of tasks in progress to maintain focus, prevent overburdening, and improve throughput. This is central to achieving sustainable flow.
35. Lead Time Distribution
Analyzing the variation in lead time across tasks. Understanding distribution helps teams predict delivery times and manage expectations with stakeholders.
36. Commitment Point Policies
Rules that define when tasks officially enter active workflow. These policies help manage priorities, maintain WIP limits, and ensure capacity alignment.
37. Definition of Done
Criteria specifying when a work item is considered complete. This ensures consistent quality, prevents rework, and clarifies team expectations.
38. Iteration-less Flow
Kanban does not require fixed-length iterations, allowing continuous work movement. Teams can adapt priorities dynamically without being constrained by sprints.
39. Kanban System Evolutionary Change
Kanban supports gradual, evolutionary improvements to workflow and processes. Changes are tested, evaluated, and refined iteratively.
40. Work Item Class
Categorizes work items based on priority, urgency, or type. Classifying tasks supports tailored handling and resource allocation.
41. Risk Buffers
Reserved capacity or slack in workflow to accommodate high-priority or unpredictable tasks. Risk buffers prevent disruption of regular work flow.
42. Bottleneck Analysis
Identifying and analyzing workflow constraints to optimize throughput. Continuous monitoring ensures bottlenecks are addressed promptly.
43. Blocker Clustering
Grouping blocked tasks by common causes to identify systemic issues. This supports root cause analysis and long-term improvements.
44. Service Delivery Review
Periodic review of workflow performance, delivery metrics, and stakeholder satisfaction. These reviews help maintain alignment and continuous improvement.
45. Kanban Maturity Model
A framework for assessing the maturity and effectiveness of Kanban practices. Higher maturity levels indicate better flow, collaboration, and value delivery.
46. Workflow Policies
Documented rules describing how work progresses through each stage. Policies clarify responsibilities, prioritization, and handling of exceptions.
47. Work Item Dependencies
Relationships between tasks that require one to be completed before another can proceed. Managing dependencies is critical for smooth flow and realistic planning.
48. Task Prioritization
Determining the order of tasks based on urgency, value, or stakeholder need. Effective prioritization ensures that the most impactful work is addressed first.
49. Escalation Protocol
Defined steps for handling blocked or high-priority work that requires immediate attention. Protocols maintain flow while managing exceptions.
50. Lead Time Variance
The difference between expected and actual lead times. Monitoring variance identifies opportunities for improvement in predictability.
51. Flow State
A condition where work moves smoothly through the Kanban system without delays. Achieving flow is a primary goal of Kanban implementation.
52. Task Aging Analysis
Reviewing how long tasks remain in specific stages to detect delays. Aging analysis supports proactive problem-solving.
53. Bottleneck Mitigation
Strategies to alleviate or remove workflow constraints. Common methods include reallocating resources, reducing WIP, or process redesign.
54. Value Stream Mapping
Visual representation of the workflow and the value delivered at each step. Value stream mapping helps teams identify waste and optimize flow.
55. Agile Kanban
Integration of Kanban principles within Agile frameworks. Teams benefit from visual management, flow optimization, and continuous delivery while remaining Agile.
56. Pull Request Flow
In software, the workflow where code changes are reviewed and integrated into production. Kanban visualizes the flow from coding to deployment.
57. Work Segmentation
Breaking down larger work items into smaller, manageable tasks. Segmentation improves tracking, clarity, and flow.
58. Lead Time Tracking
Measuring the duration from task request to delivery. Tracking enables prediction, stakeholder communication, and process improvement.
59. Cycle Time Trend
Analysis of cycle time data over time. Trends help detect improvements or regressions in workflow efficiency.
60. Bottleneck Heat Map
Visual tool highlighting workflow stages with high task accumulation. Heat maps facilitate quick identification of constraints.
61. Kanban Metrics Dashboard
Centralized visual representation of key metrics such as WIP, throughput, and lead time. Dashboards aid decision-making and continuous monitoring.
62. Task Escalation
Raising the priority of delayed or blocked tasks. Escalation ensures critical work moves forward without disrupting overall flow.
63. Work Prioritization Matrix
A framework for ranking tasks based on urgency and value. It supports strategic decision-making and efficient resource allocation.
64. Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Contractual or internal agreement specifying expected delivery times. SLAs provide accountability and guide prioritization.
65. Kanban Simulation
Testing workflow changes virtually to evaluate potential impact. Simulations help teams experiment safely before implementation.
66. Visual Signals
Markers such as colors or tags on Kanban cards. Visual signals communicate priority, status, or dependencies instantly.
67. Lead Time Funnel
Visualization showing cumulative lead times for multiple tasks. Helps analyze trends and predict future delivery timelines.
68. Flow Bottleneck Analysis
Identifying stages where work consistently slows down. Analysis guides process improvement initiatives.
69. Work Completion Rate
The rate at which tasks are finished in a given period. This metric tracks productivity and efficiency over time.
70. Kanban Maturity Assessment
Evaluation of team adoption, flow stability, and process optimization. Assessment supports targeted improvement efforts.
71. Continuous Flow
A system in which work items move steadily without interruptions. Continuous flow increases efficiency and predictability.
72. Kanban Principles Adoption
The extent to which teams follow core Kanban practices: visualize, limit WIP, manage flow, make policies explicit, and improve collaboratively.
73. Bottleneck Resolution Techniques
Methods used to alleviate bottlenecks, including resource reallocation, workflow redesign, or reducing WIP.
74. Queue Management
Organizing tasks waiting for processing to optimize throughput. Effective queue management reduces delays and improves predictability.
75. Work Item Escalation
Process for moving delayed tasks to higher priority or management attention. Ensures critical issues are addressed promptly.
76. Flow Analysis
Systematic examination of task movement through the workflow. Flow analysis identifies constraints and areas for optimization.
77. Lead Time Forecasting
Predicting how long future tasks will take based on historical data. Forecasting supports planning and stakeholder communication.
78. Cycle Time Histogram
Graphical representation of cycle times for multiple tasks. Histograms reveal patterns, variances, and potential improvements.
79. Bottleneck Identification
Process of spotting workflow stages with excessive accumulation or delays. Identifying bottlenecks is the first step to resolution.
80. Task Aging Dashboard
Visual tool highlighting aging tasks. Helps teams proactively manage delays and maintain smooth workflow.
81. Flow Management
Active monitoring and controlling of workflow to maintain efficiency. Flow management ensures balanced workload distribution and predictable delivery.
82. Kanban Coaching
Guidance provided by experienced practitioners to help teams adopt Kanban effectively. Coaching covers principles, metrics, and process improvement.
83. Workflow Analysis
Detailed examination of task progression and interactions. Analysis supports optimization and removal of inefficiencies.
84. Kanban Metrics Review
Periodic evaluation of key performance indicators. Reviews guide continuous improvement and strategic decision-making.
85. Pull System Discipline
Adherence to pull principles, ensuring tasks are only started when capacity is available. Discipline prevents overload and maintains flow.
86. Task Reprioritization
Adjusting task order based on changing business needs. Reprioritization ensures the team focuses on high-value work.
87. Kanban Implementation
The process of adopting Kanban principles, tools, and practices in a team or organization. Implementation includes training, board setup, and process adaptation.
88. Visual Workflow Mapping
Creating diagrams to represent task movement and dependencies. Supports understanding, communication, and process improvement.
89. Lead Time Optimization
Techniques to reduce delays and accelerate task completion. Optimization improves predictability and stakeholder satisfaction.
90. Bottleneck Prevention
Proactive measures to avoid workflow constraints. Prevention includes WIP limits, resource allocation, and process improvements.
91. Workflow Transparency
Ensuring all team members can see task status, ownership, and priorities. Transparency improves communication and accountability.
92. Kanban Work Policies
Rules for task progression, handling blocked items, and prioritization. Explicit policies reduce confusion and standardize workflow behavior.
93. Task Visualization
Representing work items visually to enhance clarity and collaboration. Visualization allows teams to quickly assess workload and progress.
94. Continuous Delivery Pipeline
End-to-end workflow enabling frequent, incremental delivery of value. Supports Kanban’s focus on flow and responsiveness.
95. Bottleneck Root Cause Analysis
Investigating underlying reasons for workflow constraints. Root cause analysis ensures sustainable resolution rather than temporary fixes.
96. Task Segmentation Strategy
Dividing large tasks into smaller, manageable units. Improves clarity, progress tracking, and throughput.
97. Flow Metrics Analysis
Examining cycle time, lead time, throughput, and WIP data. Helps identify performance trends and areas for improvement.
98. Kanban Training
Structured education for teams to understand principles, practices, and metrics. Training enhances adoption and effective use of Kanban.
99. Continuous Improvement Culture
Organizational mindset focused on iterative enhancement of workflow, processes, and team practices. Central to Kanban philosophy.
100. Workflow Stabilization
Efforts to create predictable, smooth flow through consistent policies, WIP limits, and continuous improvement. Stabilization ensures efficiency and reliable delivery.
Conclusion - Kanban Glossary: Key Terms You Should Know
Kanban is more than just a visual board; it is a holistic system for managing work, optimizing flow, and delivering value efficiently. By understanding the terminology and principles outlined in this glossary, teams and organizations can adopt Kanban effectively, identify bottlenecks, improve predictability, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. Mastery of these 100 terms equips teams to implement Kanban with clarity, accountability, and sustained success.
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