Kanban Replenishment Meeting: Prioritizing and Refilling the Kanban Board

The Kanban Replenishment Meeting is a recurring meeting in Kanban teams where the team and stakeholders come together to review the Kanban board and fill it with new tasks.

Purpose of the Kanban Replenishment Meeting

The main goal of this meeting is to ensure that the Kanban board is always filled with the most important and urgent tasks. It serves to continuously maintain the workflow and ensure that the team is always working on the highest priorities.

Sample Agenda for a Kanban Replenishment Meeting

1. Welcome (5 minutes): Brief introduction and overview of the agenda.
2. Review of current workflow (10 minutes): The team reviews the current status of tasks on the Kanban board.
3. Discussion and prioritization of new tasks (20 minutes): The team and stakeholders discuss new tasks and prioritize them according to their urgency and importance.
4. Refilling the Kanban board (15 minutes): Based on the discussion and prioritization, new tasks are added to the Kanban board.
5. Closing (5 minutes): Summary of the meeting and definition of To-Dos until the next Replenishment Meeting.

Practical Example

A marketing team uses Kanban to manage its workflows. During the Replenishment Meeting, the team discusses a new marketing campaign that is scheduled to launch in the coming weeks. The tasks for this campaign are prioritized and added to the Kanban board, allowing the team to start work immediately.

Important Notes

• The Kanban Replenishment Meeting should be held regularly, e.g., weekly or bi-weekly, depending on the workload and the team's requirements.
• It is important that all relevant stakeholders attend this meeting to ensure that the correct priorities are set.
• The meeting should not be used to monitor the team's progress, but rather to continuously maintain the workflow.

Conclusion

The Kanban Replenishment Meeting is a central ritual in the Kanban system. It ensures that the team always works on the most important tasks and helps to make the workflow efficient and effective.