Simple as a Whiteboard…    Challenge and Selection

Have you ever thought what would happen if everything you do doesn't work correctly? To  be honest, this is not about that (but it is not far away either). One day talking to a coworker  we realized that the biggest problem of our team was the disorder in our tasks, and that, at  the same time, nobody knew we did it (does it sound coherent?... I would say no), because  of that, we begin to investigate with the rest of the team, and the more information we  obtained, more confused we were.  As time went by, we came across unforeseen events that were adding to the long list of  problems that we already had, but of course, as they would say in my work "everything is  for yesterday", which ended up leaving us in a bad position for the company. Given what  happened, we had to make drastic (desperate) decisions, in order to deliver solutions and  answers to all those who required us, we began to write everything down on paper, which  as the days passed only ended up using a space, and that did not solve the problem at the  root.  After a week we had everything in turmoil, pending, incidents and meetings, in addition to  problems within the same team, as well as outside of it.  Full of problems at work, I got home, opened the fridge and had a cold beer, while looking  at the door of the fridge the earrings for the weekend, shopping ?, family outing ?, time at  vet ?, I realized that I had too much to do on my days off, but everything well planned (would  it be a light to my problem? ... maybe), in the middle of the beer I decided to call my boss,  she didn’t answer, but I left him a message so that we could meet first thing Monday  morning, and thus tell him what had occurred to me.    Application    On Monday we met for a coffee, I told him what happened in front of the refrigerator and I  indicated him that having something physical would help us sort all our activities  (considering that we are computer scientists and that we have already used various  softwares to do this without success). His first impression was of resistance, but after  explaining the advantages of using my home, he agreed.  After a week two people were installing a whiteboard at the end of our office with a lot of  pencils and post-it, the first impression of all was "what do we do with all these?" ... there  arose our first problem with the whiteboard, but also our first opportunity, we began to  find out about the Kanban model and its applicability, which allowed us to learn about a  new methodology and secondly and most important, allowed us to apply it on all the  problems that we already had in progress, which opened up a world of possibilities and  would give  us to improve the core of a work team, effective communication to carry out  tasks, as a cohesive team….

Insight    After the arrived of the board, our personal and group metrics began to improve  dramatically, we began to evangelize the rest of the IT department about the use of Kanban,  and we even expanded it to other departments with problems similar to ours. Initially we  thought that the solution to all our problems was based on having a tool that let us see  information online so that we all saw the same thing, but we were wrong, we understood  that the tangible was more than a system, it allowed us to empower ourselves from the  activities that were pending, to see in which part of the process they were and to know  what activity each one had (a marvel), and most important, we improve communication  and teamwork.    Approach    Post-It? whiteboard? whiteboard marker? ideas? The technology often forgets the simple,  the tangible. Computer scientists, always think in new ideas to improve all processes, but  with a technological contribution. This story bring us a solution applied outside the  workplace to said world, opening a sea of possibilities that one is frequently not willing to  navigate, now with this I understand that the solution can be on a simple whiteboard, but  not always in the expected place, sometimes a daily refrigerator story can help even more  than what you think.


Simple as a Whiteboard … Challenge and Selection Have you ever thought what would happen if everything you do does n't work correctly ? To be honest , this is not about that ( but it is not far away either ) . One day talking to a coworker we realized that the biggest problem of our team was the disorder in our tasks , and that , at the same time , nobody knew we did it ( does it sound coherent ? ... I would say no ) , because of that , we begin to investigate with the rest of the team , and the more information we obtained , more confused we were . As time went by , we came across unforeseen events that were adding to the long list of problems that we already had , but of course , as they would say in my work " everything is for yesterday " , which ended up leaving us in a bad position for the company . Given what happened , we had to make drastic ( desperate ) decisions , in order to deliver solutions and answers to all those who required us , we began to write everything down on paper , which as the days passed only ended up using a space , and that did not solve the problem at the root . After a week we had everything in turmoil , pending , incidents and meetings , in addition to problems within the same team , as well as outside of it . Full of problems at work , I got home , opened the fridge and had a cold beer , while looking at the door of the fridge the earrings for the weekend , shopping ? , family outing ? , time at vet ? , I realized that I had too much to do on my days off , but everything well planned ( would it be a light to my problem ? ... maybe ) , in the middle of the beer I decided to call my boss , she did n’t answer , but I left him a message so that we could meet first thing Monday morning , and thus tell him what had occurred to me . Application On Monday we met for a coffee , I told him what happened in front of the refrigerator and I indicated him that having something physical would help us sort all our activities ( considering that we are computer scientists and that we have already used various softwares to do this without success ) . His first impression was of resistance , but after explaining the advantages of using my home , he agreed . After a week two people were installing a whiteboard at the end of our office with a lot of pencils and post - it , the first impression of all was " what do we do with all these ? " ... there arose our first problem with the whiteboard , but also our first opportunity , we began to find out about the Kanban model and its applicability , which allowed us to learn about a new methodology and secondly and most important , allowed us to apply it on all the problems that we already had in progress , which opened up a world of possibilities and would give us to improve the core of a work team , effective communication to carry out tasks , as a cohesive team … . Insight After the arrived of the board , our personal and group metrics began to improve dramatically , we began to evangelize the rest of the IT department about the use of Kanban , and we even expanded it to other departments with problems similar to ours . Initially we thought that the solution to all our problems was based on having a tool that let us see information online so that we all saw the same thing , but we were wrong , we understood that the tangible was more than a system , it allowed us to empower ourselves from the activities that were pending , to see in which part of the process they were and to know what activity each one had ( a marvel ) , and most important , we improve communication and teamwork . Approach Post - It ? whiteboard ? whiteboard marker ? ideas ? The technology often forgets the simple , the tangible . Computer scientists , always think in new ideas to improve all processes , but with a technological contribution . This story bring us a solution applied outside the workplace to said world , opening a sea of possibilities that one is frequently not willing to navigate , now with this I understand that the solution can be on a simple whiteboard , but not always in the expected place , sometimes a daily refrigerator story can help even more than what you think .