Upstream Kanban is designed to uncover new knowledge and assess delivery options in a creative, collaborative, and unpredictable manner.
Specific metrics are essential for Upstream Kanban to guide agile decision-making, portfolio management, and product development.
This article outlines seven essential metrics for Upstream Kanban usage in different contexts.
Upstream Kanban is the research phase where ideas are brainstormed, evaluated, and prioritised before committing to them.
It helps in managing the flow of incoming requests, prioritising work effectively before execution.
Metrics in Upstream Kanban focus on maintaining a healthy variety and quality of options, preventing overburdening, and guiding investment between upstream and downstream work.
Tracking metrics over time in Upstream Kanban reveals trends, patterns, and helps in making evidence-based decisions for continuous improvement.
The choice and evaluation of metrics may vary across organizations, with room for enhancement and adoption.
Upstream Kanban emphasizes managing options to ensure the most valuable initiatives are focused on before committing to execution.
Metrics are crucial in guiding decision-making in Upstream Kanban, and a set of seven essential metrics is recommended for empirical decisions.