Kanban Guides

Kanban Guides

Learn what Kanban is and how to apply it to optimise the flow of value through a process. This is your comprehensive resource for Kanban knowledge and practices. Kanban Guides is the home of the The Kanban Guide, adn the Open Guide to Kanban. It is a free, community-driven reference for applying Kanban in knowledge work. The guides define the core practices, and metrics necessary to improve flow, optimise value delivery, and enhance team sustainability. These guides support scalable Kanban adoptions across diverse industries and complement other agile, lean, and flow-based approaches.

The Kanban Guide

Choose The Kanban Guide if you’re new to Kanban or need a stable, minimal reference. It’s ideal for Kanban system members who want to start simple and build understanding.

At a Glance
Purpose:
Minimal, official reference
Approach:
Focused, stable, canonical
Best for:
Kanban system members wanting a clear baseline
Content:
Clear, lightweight, and essential
Open Guide to Kanban

Choose the Open Guide to Kanban if you’re working across approaches or want more context and flexibility. It’s well-suited to those with Lean, Agile, Scrum, or Product Management experience who want to adapt Kanban to their environment.

At a Glance
Purpose:
Community-expanded handbook
Approach:
Inclusive, evolving, collaborative
Best for:
Teams blending Kanban with other approaches
Content:
Rich with examples and extensions

Not Sure Which to Use?

New to Kanban? Start with The Kanban Guide .

Need more examples or working in a hybrid setup? Try the Open Guide to Kanban .

Trainer or Consultant? Use both. One for structure, one for nuance.

What are the Kanban Guides?

Learn how to apply Kanban to optimise flow and value delivery. Home of the Open Guide to Kanban and The Kanban Guide

Open Source & Community Driven

The Open Guide to Kanban is an open source project that thrives on community collaboration. Whether you want to suggest improvements, report issues, or contribute content, we welcome your participation. The Kanban Guide is not open to contributions here, but is included here for reference. Together, we can make these resources even more valuable for the Kanban community worldwide and anyone wishing to improve the flow of value (potential and actual realized value).

Contributors

The contributors listed below are a collection of all contributors across all guides and versions.

The Kanban Guide
Open Guide to Kanban