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 pr