We all know that multitasking is a myth. The truth is, you can only tackle one thing at a time. How do you decide which work item should be prioritized and worked on first, when ten different ones are calling for your attention?
Kanban classes of service aim to solve this problem. According to David Anderson, author of Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business, a class of service (CoS) is a set of policies that describe how an item of work should be treated. Utilizing CoS also means that you’re classifying work based on the customer’s perception of the item’s value and the team’s performance.
In the board example above, we have created a board with the different classes of service (Expedite, Fixed Delivery Date, Standard, and Intangible), with clear explicit agreements under each column to ensure a smooth flow of cards. Each class of service has its own To Do, In Progress, and Done columns.
Just like any Kanban board, you start by creating new cards in your backlog and prioritize them with the highest priority at the top and lowest at the bottom. This backlog will permit you to share all your ideas before agreeing as a team on which ones to start flowing on your board. You will also see that we set the Work-in-Progress (WIP) limit to 1 on the Expedite column, so that you stay focused on the top priority item.
To learn more about CoS and how to do capacity allocation, read this article and you will find helpful tips to take full advantage of this board template.
What’s included in the Kanban Classes of Service Board Template?
This board template includes:
- Four columns: Expedite, Fixed Delivery Date, Standard, and Intangible.
- Two subcolumns in each column: To Do, Doing, and Done.
- Explicit agreements in each column, explaining what kind of work item should go into the column.
- Three labels to help you categorize your work items: Enhancement, Research, and Issue.
- Collaborating with your team in real-time by sharing this board with them.
All of the above can be customized to your needs, using our Board Designer.
We hope that this template can help you prioritize and tackle your work systematically. Start using it and be more productive today!
