How to Run Effective Standups and Retrospectives

Kanban is a systems-thinking methodology that encourages teams to take collective responsibility for team priorities, with standups and retrospectives serving as powerful tools for teams seeking transparency and collaboration. For more efficient standups, team members should update the status of their work items before the meeting, favor finishing tasks over starting new ones, and evaluate the physical environment to improve visibility and transparency. During retrospectives, teams should observe the flow of work and add new questions each week to identify hidden work, impediments to flow, tracking at the right level of granularity, and queues or buffers in the workflow. By embracing a team culture of continuous improvement, teams can achieve a sustainable Kanban system.