Every day more attorneys and legal teams are turning to Lean and Agile methodologies to improve their delivery of legal services. This webinar will introduce you to Kanban, one of the easiest Agile tools to adopt but one of the most powerful for improving project management and driving process improvement. Kanban, which translates to “card” from Japanese, provides an intuitive method for visualizing and prioritizing your work. Using little more than a patch of wall and some sticky notes, Kanban will help you gain a deeper understanding of the bottlenecks that constrict your workflow so that you can break them down, leading to more satisfied clients, improved revenue, and better peace of mind for you. This presentation covers the basics of Kanban, starting with Personal Kanban (suitable for both sole practitioners and individuals within larger teams) and moving on to team-based systems. We will highlight the importance of making work visible, limiting work in progress (or WIP), and the importance of policies such as the “Definition of Ready” and the “Definition of Done.” You will leave this session with all of the tools necessary to build your own Kanban board and start improving your workflows immediately. Speaker, John E. Grant is an attorney and Agile Certified Scrum Master with a passion for helping lawyers and legal teams improve their practices and have fun doing it. John has spent most of his career at the intersection of the legal, business, and technology worlds where he has studied established techniques like Lean and Agile that have revolutionized countless industries. John has adapted these techniques for the Legal profession, helping lawyers and their teams get more done in less time, deliver greater client value, and feel more in control of their professional and personal lives. John is the principal of Agile Attorney Consulting, he blogs at LegalValueTheory.com

1. Using Kanban to
Become a More
Agile Attorney
John E. Grant, J.D., CSM
www.agileattorney.net
blog: legalvaluetheory.com
john@agileattorney.net
@JEGrant3
© 2015 John E. Grant
℠

2. Goals for this class:
Convince you
to build a
kanban board
Discuss the
nature of
efficiency
Divulge the
single step to
improved
operations

3. WARNING:
This is not a how-
to class, it is a
why-to class.

4. To-Do Doing Done
Convince you
to build a
kanban board
Discuss the
nature of
efficiency
Divulge the
single step to
improved
operations

5. Who wants to make
their practice more
efficient?

6. Efficiency is a
terrible goal.

7. It’s not about
getting more things
done. It’s about
getting the
right things done.

8. Customer
Value is THE
ONLY GOAL.

9. (Efficiency is
a desirable
side-effect)

10. Who wants to
deliver outstanding
client value?
Do you know what
Value is?

11. value
/ˈvalyo ͞o/
noun
1. Benefit – Investment

12. value
/ˈvalyo ͞o/
noun
1. Benefit –
Time +
Energy +
Effort +
Resources +
Opportunity

13. value
/ˈvalyo ͞o/
noun
1.
Time +
Energy +
Effort +
Resources +
Opportunity
Time +
Energy +
Effort +
Resources +
Opportunity
–

14. value
/ˈvalyo ͞o/
noun
1.
Time +
Energy +
Effort +
Resources +
Opportunity
Time +
Energy +
Effort +
Resources +
Opportunity
–

15. value
/ˈvalyo ͞o/
noun
1. Benefit – Investment
2. The satisfaction of a person’s
values.

16. Seek to understand
what your
customers value.

17. As a _________, I
need to be able to
_______________,
so that I can _____
_______________.

18. As a <user role>, I
need to be able to
<need or outcome>,
so that I can
<goal or objective>.

19. Finish the activities
that deliver the
most value.

20. It’s not about
getting more things
done. It’s about
getting the
right things done.

21. Finish the activities
that solve your
customer’s most
critical user
stories.

22. Reduce or
eliminate activity
that does not add
customer value.

23. The Seven Wastes of Lawyers:
1. Overproduction
2. Defects
3. Transfer
4. Over Processing
5. Waiting
6. Pre-Processing
7. Movement
© 2014 John E. Grant. http://legalvaluetheory.com

24. waste
/wāst/
noun
1. A material or activity that does
not add customer value.

25. waste
/wāst/
noun
1. A material or activity that does
not add customer value.
2. The absence of customer value.
3. Investment without customer
benefit.

26. To-Do Doing Done
Convince you
to build a
kanban board
Discuss the
nature of
efficiency
Divulge the
single step to
improved
operations

27. To-Do Doing Done
Convince you
to build a
kanban board
Discuss the
nature of
efficiency
Divulge the
single step to
improved
operations

29. In any system, there is
only one* constraint that
limits the flow of the
entire system.
*Occasionally, but rarely, there are two.

30. Any changes made to
improve flow at the
constraint will improve
the flow of the entire
system.

31. Any changes made to
improve the flow at a
part of the workflow that
is not the constraint
cannot improve the
overall system.

33. waste
/wāst/
noun
1. A material or activity that does
not add customer value.
2. The absence of customer value.
3. Investment without customer
benefit.

34. The Seven Wastes of Lawyers:
1. Overproduction
2. Defects
3. Transfer
4. Over Processing
5. Waiting
6. Pre-Processing
7. Movement
© 2014 John E. Grant. http://legalvaluetheory.com

35. (Localized)
Efficiency is a
terrible goal.

36. System-wide
flow is THE
ONLY GOAL.

39. To-Do Doing Done
Convince you
to build a
kanban board
Discuss the
nature of
efficiency
Divulge the
single step to
improved
operations

40. To-Do Doing Done
Convince you
to build a
kanban board
Discuss the
nature of
efficiency
Divulge the
single step to
improved
operations

41. To-Do
Convince you
to build a
kanban board
Discuss the
nature of
efficiency
Divulge the
single step to
improved
operations
Doing Done!WaitingQueueBacklog

42. To-Do
Convince you
to build a
kanban board
Discuss the
nature of
efficiency
Divulge the
single step to
improved
operations
Doing Done!WaitingQueueBacklog
(Brain-Dump) (This Week) (Today) On What?
Since when?
Max = ? (Done done!)

43. To-Do
Convince you
to build a
kanban board
Discuss the
nature of
efficiency
Divulge the
single step to
improved
operations
Doing Done!WaitingQueueBacklog
(Brain-Dump) (This Week) (Today) On What?
Since when?
Max = ? (Done done!)
Reminder to
use scotch
tape w/
stickies
Discuss
expanding
the “doing”
column
Introduce
WIP limits
Personal
Kanban vs
Workflow
Kanban
Tracking cycle
time & other
metrics
Tracking cycle
time & other
metrics
Mention color
as a visual
indicator
Physical
Boards vs
Software
Tools

46. To-Do
Convince you
to build a
kanban board
Discuss the
nature of
efficiency
Divulge the
single step to
improved
operations
Doing Done!WaitingQueueBacklog
(Brain-Dump) (This Week) (Today) On What?
Since when?
Max = ? (Done done!)
Reminder to
use tape w/
stickies
Discuss
expanding
the “doing”
column
Introduce
WIP limits
Personal
Kanban vs
Workflow
Kanban
Tracking cycle
time & other
metrics
Tracking cycle
time & other
metrics
Mention color
as a visual
indicator
Physical
Boards vs
Software
Tools

47. Research
J. Adams
Doing
SigningReviewGatherIntake Drafting
WashingtonJefferson
J.Q. Adams
Madison
Monroe
Jackson
Van Buren
Tyler
Polk
Tayler

49. Research
J. Adams
Doing
SigningReviewGatherIntake Drafting
WashingtonJefferson
J.Q. Adams
Madison
Monroe
Jackson
Van Buren
Tyler
Polk
Tayler

50. Kanban in the wild photos…

51. 1. Visualize your current workflow.
2. Apply Work-in-Process (WIP) limits.
3. Make policies explicit.
4. Manage and measure flow.
5. Optimize iteratively with data.
Five Steps of Kanban

52. Want to learn more?
Kanban for Lawyers Book:
https://leanpub.com/kanbanforlawyers
Legal Value Theory Blog & Newsletter:
http://agileattorney.net/blog/
RocketMatter Legal Productivity Blog:
http://www.legalproductivity.com/
Schedule a call with me:
https://www.sohelpful.me/johngrant

53. Kanban Basics
for Lawyers
John E. Grant, J.D., CSM
www.agileattorney.net
blog: legalvaluetheory.com
john@agileattorney.net
@JEGrant3
© 2015 John E. Grant
℠