Kanban game

[Ralph Hofman]

Hi All,

Any tips for an alround Kanban game? I am looking for a (easy) game that demonstrates all aspects of Kanban.

Thanks, Ralph

[Lucas Videla]

This is the official one, but it's a little bit expensive:

http://www.getkanban.com/

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[Mark Levison]

On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 11:33 AM, Lucas Videla <videla...@gmail.com> wrote:

This is the official one, but it's a little bit expensive:

http://www.getkanban.com/

Official?? That seems like an odd claim.

Tastycupcakes.org has a good selection of games. 

Please help us understand more about your goal:

- Who is the audience?

- Do they understand WIP and the value of small batch size? If not see the lean penny game

- ....

Help us understand more about your goal and your people.

Cheers
Mark Levison

Mark Levison | Agile Pain Relief Consulting | Certified Scrum Trainings: Ottawa, Montreal
Agile Editor @ InfoQ | Blog | Twitter | Office: (613) 862-2538
ScrumMaster Tales: Impediments are holding back the team, Stop Digging New Holes

[Lucas Videla]

Hi! That's not my game, sorry! :)

I just posted an URL to see an example of how is a nice game

to learn kanban concepts.

I don't get any money selling this, of course, but it's the game

with which one I've learned that from David Anderson.

It's a simulation on the production line of a software factory,

with many events during the game so that you should move

your resources and get the most productivity from the team.

I suppose there should be other games too! Just a reference :)

Cheers!

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[Mark Levison]

<soapbox>

I guess my point is that David Anderson is no more the "official" source of Kanban that Jeff and Ken are of Scrum. In all cases they're a good source ideas, but they're not the official source of anything.

This rant is just part of my ongoing campaign, we've had enough of thought leaders and gurus:  http://agilepainrelief.com/notesfromatooluser/2011/05/agile-gurus-or-thought-leaders.html - I think we learn far more when we stop looking for the official sources and start looking for good tools for a given context.

</soapbox>

[Alan Dayley]

The Kanban Pizza Game is a good start: http://www.agile42.com/en/training/kanban-pizza-game/

Alan

[Collin Rogowski]

Hi Ralph,

I use the name game from Henrik Kniberg (http://jonjagger.blogspot.de/2010/03/henrik-knibergs-name-game.html) to introduce the core Kanban concepts. After the very fun (and surprising!) game you can easily explain WIP limits and cycle time....

Best regards,

cr

[Morgan Ahlström]

There are a bunch of nice games showing the virtues of limiting WIP and some other aspects (Dot game, Rows-Columns exercise, GetKanban) but I'm not sure that I've seen any game displaying the lasting effects of Kanban as a tool/method/whatever for process improvement. However, I think that the Bottleneck game (http://www.agilecoach.net/coach-tools/bottleneck-game/) teaching the five focusing steps is a step in the right direction.

BR

Morgan

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[Mark Levison]

On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 12:17 PM, Alan Dayley <ada...@gmail.com> wrote:

The Kanban Pizza Game is a good start: http://www.agile42.com/en/training/kanban-pizza-game/

I've tried but not successfully run the pizza game. That hints it might be worth practicing before running live.

When disaster struck I fell back on the airplane game.

Cheers

Mark

[Eric Willeke]

I'm a recent fan of the pizza game. Definitely worth running through once or twice to get a feel for what you'll say, but the game's pretty effective overall.

E

[Timofey Yevgrashyn]

Hi

On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 7:17 PM, Alan Dayley <ada...@gmail.com> wrote:

The Kanban Pizza Game is a good start: http://www.agile42.com/en/training/kanban-pizza-game/

I'll join the comment about using Kanban Pizza simulation. I've done it several times and with big audience (up to 40 participants).

Of course, results depends on what are you going to teach your group. For me personally this game helped to teach participants following:

1. Show the use of Pull system

2. Point the waste in production and ways to optimize it

3. Practically learn Kanban principles (Visualization, WIP, Optimization based on measurements)

4. Teach people to start with the situation they have have in hands and improve it

Definitely worth playing if you have enough time. 

BTW, there is a good presentation on SlideShare by Ralf Kruse - the author of the game. And I'm sure you can get in touch with him to get some hints on facilitation. Or don't hesitate contacting me also.

Timofey Yevgrashyn,

Author at "The Improved Methods"

http://tim.com.ua
http://www.facebook.com/tim.com.ua 

Skype: spidertim
Phone: +380 67 408 53 30

 

[Maarten Hoppen]

Hi Ralph,

Even though there are a lot of nice games about aspects of Kanban, I
have to go with Lucas.
The GetKanban game is absolutely the game to learn about the Kanban
System. (The Kanban method is more difficult to grasp in a game)
It touches things like: WIP Limits, pull system/behavior, Cycle time
and the impact on value, metrics, variability, time constraint
resources, traditional management, etc.

I have a few at the office (version 2 and version 3).
You can download all the necessary files to play version 2 for free
from the site.
But if you want to play version 3 you'll have to buy it or ask me (or
someone else) for a favor ;-)
Depending on where and when I would love to run the GetKanban game
version 3 with you.
In version 3 there are three play modes:
- quick play (about 60-90 minutes of playtime)
- Standard play (about 120-150 minutes)
- Advanced play (minimum of 180 minutes)
So depending on your audience and the time available you can pick one of them.

If you want to do a workshop about Kanban and highlight specific
things with smaller games than the other suggestions might be better.
(pull,WIP)
If you want to run a a few hours of near-reality Kanban for knowledge
work the GetKanban game is a good choice.

Cheers,
Maarten Hoppen
Agile Coach

[@FredVandaele]

I fully agree with Morgan, the Bottleneck game is great. It focus on the Theory of Constraint (TOC).
You have also the Name game that focus more on multitasking and the Ball point game about iteration and retrospectives.

Fred