Kanban Cadences: The Complete Guide to Meetings and Ceremonies

Kanban cadences puzzle 65% of teams transitioning from Scrum, creating confusion about meetings without prescribed ceremonies.

Unlike Scrum's mandatory five ceremonies, Kanban suggests seven optional cadences that teams adapt to their context.

This flexibility empowers teams but creates uncertainty. Many struggle determining which meetings to hold and how frequently.

This guide provides comprehensive frameworks for Kanban cadences, including meeting purposes, implementation strategies, and frequency optimization for sustainable flow.

You'll learn how to design effective meeting rhythms that support continuous flow without ceremony overhead.

Understanding Kanban Cadences

Kanban cadences create rhythm without rigidity, supporting flow through regular touchpoints.

Understanding cadences vs ceremonies helps teams design appropriate meeting structures.

Cadences vs Ceremonies

Key Philosophical Difference:

Scrum Ceremonies: Prescribed and mandatory. All five ceremonies must occur for "real" Scrum.

Kanban Cadences: Suggested and optional. Teams choose which cadences serve their needs.

Terminology Significance:

"Ceremony" implies ritual that must be performed. "Cadence" suggests rhythm that can be tuned.

This reflects Kanban's evolutionary vs. revolutionary philosophy.

Practical Implications:

Teams can start with no formal meetings and gradually add cadences. Or start with all seven and remove ineffective ones.

No judgment for fewer or more meetings - effectiveness matters, not compliance.

The Seven Kanban Cadences

Kanban suggests seven optional cadences organized by frequency and focus:

Daily Operations:

• Kanban Meeting (Standup): Daily coordination and blocker identification

Regular Planning and Review:

• Replenishment Meeting: Refill work queue (frequency varies)
• Service Delivery Review: Assess service performance (weekly/bi-weekly)
• Operations Review: Evaluate system health (monthly)
• Retrospective: Team improvement discussions (1-4 weeks)

Strategic and System:

• Strategy Review: Strategic direction alignment (quarterly)
• Kanban System Design Workshop: System evolution (as needed)

Frequency Flexibility:

No prescribed schedule. Teams determine based on work characteristics, team size, and stakeholder needs.

Small teams might combine cadences. Large organizations might add coordination meetings.

Cadence Design Principles

Effective Cadence Design:

Purpose Clarity: Each cadence has distinct purpose. No meeting without clear value.

If purpose overlaps, consider combining cadences.

Right Frequency: Based on need, not tradition. Daily standups might be too frequent for some teams.

Monthly retrospectives might work for mature, stable teams.

Appropriate Attendance: Only people who need to attend. Optional attendance for peripheral participants.

Smaller meetings often more effective than large ones.

Time Boxing: Respect scheduled duration. End early if purpose achieved.

Don't extend just to fill time.

Action Orientation: Meetings produce decisions or actions. Pure information sharing happens asynchronously.

Track action items and completion.

Compare these principles with Scrum ceremonies for implementation insights.

Daily Standup (Kanban Meeting)

The Daily Standup provides rapid coordination and blocker visibility, though "daily" is negotiable.

Purpose and Focus

Primary Objectives:

Flow Focus: Where is work flowing? Where is it stuck? How can we optimize today?

Different from Scrum's individual update focus.

Blocker Identification: Surface impediments quickly. Coordinate resolution immediately.

Coordination: Who's working on what? Any collaboration opportunities? Dependencies today?

Work Selection: What work should be pulled next? Based on priorities and capacity.

Structure and Format

Walk the Board Approach:

Start from rightmost column (closest to done). Move left through workflow.

Focus Questions:

• What's blocked and needs swarming?
• What's about to violate WIP limits?
• What's aging beyond target cycle time?
• What's ready to pull?

Time Box: 15 minutes maximum for teams up to 10 people.

Stand or Sit: Whatever keeps it brief and focused.

Facilitation: Rotating team member or dedicated facilitator.

Common Mistakes

Status Report Syndrome:

Mistake: Each person reports what they did yesterday.

Better: Focus on flow state and coordination needs.

Problem Solving in Standup:

Mistake: Detailed technical discussions during standup.

Better: Identify issues, schedule separate discussions after standup.

Absent Attendance:

Mistake: People attend physically but engage mentally elsewhere.

Better: Keep it brief, engaging, and valuable. Drop if not useful.

Individual Focus:

Mistake: "What did I do?" instead of "What's the system doing?"

Better: Team flow over individual activity.

Advanced Techniques

Blocker Aging Visualization:

Add visual indicators showing how long items blocked. Creates urgency.

WIP Limit Monitoring:

Explicitly state current WIP vs. limits. Prevent violations proactively.

Cycle Time Alerts:

Highlight items approaching or exceeding target cycle time.

Dependency Mapping:

Visual indication of items with external dependencies today.

Learn more about managing flow in daily operations.

Replenishment Meeting

The Replenishment Meeting fills the work queue, replacing Scrum's Sprint Planning with continuous approach.

Purpose and Timing

Meeting Purpose:

Pull new work items from backlog into ready queue. Ensure team always has appropriately prioritized work available.

Maintain flow without overfilling queue.

Timing Triggers:

Queue Threshold: When ready queue drops below defined minimum (e.g., 5 days of work).

Time-Based: Weekly or bi-weekly regardless of queue level.

Hybrid: Both triggers—whichever comes first.

Common Patterns:

Team Context	Trigger	Frequency
Stable flow, predictable work	Queue threshold	Every 1-2 weeks
Variable flow, mixed priorities	Time-based	Weekly
New team, learning	Time-based	Weekly
Mature team, consistent	Queue threshold	Every 2-3 weeks

Meeting Structure

Typical Agenda:

Review Metrics (5 minutes): Current throughput, cycle time trends, upcoming capacity.

Backlog Review (15 minutes): Top priority items, dependencies, preparation status.

Selection Discussion (30 minutes): Which items to pull into ready queue? Size, dependencies, skills required.

Commitment Setting (10 minutes): Team confirms selected work is ready. Product Manager confirms priorities.

Total Duration: 60 minutes for teams of 5-8 people.

Selection Criteria

Work Selection Factors:

Priority and Value: Business value, cost of delay, strategic alignment.

Dependencies: External dependencies resolved? Related items available?

Skills Required: Team has necessary skills? Capacity for this work type?

Size and Complexity: Mix of sizes for flow smoothness? Appropriate for current capacity?

Service Level Expectations: Work type aligns with SLA commitments?

Selection Amount:

Pull enough work to maintain flow until next replenishment. Not too much to create pressure.

Guideline: 1-2 weeks of work for weekly replenishment.

Frequency Optimization

Too Frequent Indicators:

• Queue never drops below threshold
• Priorities rarely change between meetings
• Meeting feels routine rather than valuable
• Team satisfaction with meeting decreases

Too Infrequent Indicators:

• Queue empties, team waits for work
• Priorities changed but can't adjust
• Urgent work can't enter flow
• Thrashing due to stale priorities

Optimization Approach: Start with weekly cadence. Track how often queue drops below threshold.

Adjust frequency based on actual data and team feedback.

Kanban System Design Workshop

The Kanban System Design Workshop evolves the Kanban system itself based on learning.

When to Hold

Initial Implementation: During Kanban adoption to design initial system. Map workflow, set WIP limits, define policies.

Major Changes: When work significantly changes (new product, team restructure, process shift).

Improvement Initiatives: When data shows systemic problems requiring design changes.

Quarterly Reviews: Regular health checks even when no major issues.

Typical Frequency: Quarterly or as-needed for mature teams.

Workshop Agenda

Half-Day Workshop Structure:

Current State Analysis (60 minutes):

• Review flow metrics and trends
• Identify pain points and bottlenecks
• Gather team and stakeholder feedback
• Document current workflow and policies

Future State Design (90 minutes):

• Propose workflow changes
• Adjust WIP limits based on data
• Update policies and definitions
• Design new visualizations

Implementation Planning (60 minutes):

• Prioritize changes
• Create implementation timeline
• Assign responsibilities
• Define success metrics

Documentation and Communication (30 minutes):

• Document decisions
• Create communication plan
• Schedule follow-up reviews

Participants and Facilitation

Required Participants:

• Entire team
• Product Manager or Product Owner
• Key stakeholders
• Flow Master or facilitator

Facilitation: External facilitator often valuable for significant changes. Provides objective perspective and facilitation expertise.

Internal facilitator works for minor adjustments.

Pre-Work: Share current metrics and analysis before workshop. Saves time, enables better preparation.

Outcomes and Documentation

Workshop Outputs:

• Updated workflow design
• Modified WIP limits with rationale
• Revised process policies
• Action items with owners
• Success metrics and review date

Documentation Location: Visible to entire team. Updated as system evolves.

Many teams use wiki or shared document.

Follow-Up: 30-day review of changes. 90-day effectiveness assessment.

Service Delivery Review

The Service Delivery Review examines service performance and customer satisfaction.

Review Purpose

Primary Focus:

Assess how well the team is delivering against service level expectations. Identify service quality trends and improvement areas.

Different from product increment review - focuses on service characteristics.

Key Questions:

• Are we meeting SLAs?
• How predictable is our delivery?
• What's customer satisfaction?
• Where are service gaps?

Typical Attendees: Team, Product Manager, key customers or representatives, stakeholders.

Frequency: Weekly to monthly depending on service complexity and stakeholder needs.

Metrics and Analysis

Core Service Metrics:

Throughput: Items delivered per period. Trending up, down, or stable?

Cycle Time Distribution: The 50th, 85th, 95th percentiles. Improving predictability?

SLA Performance: Percentage meeting commitments. Any deteriorating service classes?

Customer Satisfaction: NPS, satisfaction scores, qualitative feedback.

Quality Indicators: Defect rates, rework percentage, escaped defects.

Visualization: Use cumulative flow diagrams, cycle time scatterplots, throughput run charts.

Visual data tells stories better than tables.

Stakeholder Engagement

Communication Approach:

Transparency: Share both positive and negative trends. Build trust through honesty.

Context: Explain what metrics mean. Not everyone understands flow metrics.

Action Orientation: Don't just report problems - present improvement plans.

Feedback Collection: Ask stakeholders about service satisfaction. What would improve their experience?

Meeting Format:

Brief metrics review (10 minutes). Deep dive on 1-2 areas (20 minutes).

Customer feedback discussion (15 minutes). Action items (10 minutes).

Total: 45-60 minutes.

Action Planning

Improvement Actions:

Based on service review insights, identify specific improvements. Not vague "we'll try harder" commitments.

Action Item Template:

• Specific improvement: What exactly will change?
• Owner: Who's responsible?
• Timeline: When completed?
• Success measure: How verify improvement?

Follow-Up: Track action items to completion. Review effectiveness in next service delivery review.

Explore feedback loops for deeper service improvement integration.

Operations Review

The Operations Review evaluates operational health at system level, higher altitude than service delivery review.

Operational Focus

System Health Assessment:

Flow Metrics Trends: Multi-week or multi-month trends. Are we improving over time?

Capacity Utilization: Are we sustainable? Under or over capacity?

Blocker Patterns: What impediments recur? Root cause analysis.

Work Type Distribution: Balanced mix across service classes? Too much unplanned work?

Typical Frequency: Monthly for most teams. Quarterly for very stable teams.

Risk Assessment

Risk Identification:

Capacity Risks: Upcoming absences, skill gaps, attrition concerns.

Dependency Risks: External dependencies becoming unreliable. New dependencies emerging.

Quality Risks: Technical debt accumulation. Testing coverage gaps.

Process Risks: Workflow changes not working. Policy violations increasing.

Risk Response Planning: For significant risks, create mitigation plans. Don't just identify - act.

Capability Analysis

Team Capability Review:

Skill Matrix: Current skills vs. needed skills. Training needs identification.

Improvement Progress: Actions from previous reviews - completed? Effective?

Tool Effectiveness: Are current tools supporting flow? New tools needed?

Process Maturity: How well are Kanban practices embedded?

Strategic Alignment

Strategy Connection:

Deliverables Alignment: Does recent work align with strategic priorities?

Capacity Allocation: Are we investing in right areas?

Portfolio Balance: Right mix of innovation vs. operations?

Long-term Planning: Preparation for known future changes?

Retrospective

The Retrospective drives continuous improvement through team learning and adaptation.

Continuous Improvement Focus

Retrospective Purpose:

Unlike Scrum's sprint-focused retrospective, Kanban retrospectives examine longer time periods and system patterns.

Focus on flow optimization, not just team dynamics.

What to Inspect:

Flow Patterns: What helped or hindered flow? Where did work get stuck?

Collaboration: How well did we work together? Communication effectiveness?

Practices and Policies: Which practices helped? Which need adjustment?

Experiments: If we ran improvement experiments, did they work?

Frequency Options:

Frequency	Best For	Duration
Weekly	New teams, rapidly changing context	30 minutes
Bi-weekly	Most teams, moderate stability	60 minutes
Monthly	Mature teams, stable processes	90 minutes

Retrospective Formats

Format Variety:

Don't use same format every time. Variety maintains engagement.

Start-Stop-Continue: Classic format. What should we start doing, stop doing, continue doing?

Timeline Retrospective: Map significant events over period. Identify patterns.

Sailboat Retrospective: What moves us forward (wind)? What holds us back (anchor)?

Four Ls Retrospective: Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed for.

Data-Driven Retrospective: Start with flow metrics. Let data guide discussion.

Action Item Tracking

Action Management:

Specific and Measurable: Not "communicate better" but "add dependency notes to all cards."

Owner Assignment: One person accountable for each action.

Due Dates: Realistic completion timelines.

Visibility: Track actions on board or in shared location.

Follow-Up: Review action completion at next retrospective. What impact did completed actions have?

Common Pattern: Only 30-40% of retrospective actions get completed. Better to commit to fewer, high-impact actions.

Frequency Considerations

More Frequent Retrospectives: New teams learning Kanban. Rapidly changing environment.

High-change initiatives. Team struggling with flow.

Less Frequent Retrospectives: Mature, stable teams. Slow-changing environment.

Small improvements accumulate before review.

Mixed Approach: Quick weekly check-ins plus deeper monthly retrospectives. Balance agility with depth.

Learn about continuous improvement practices beyond retrospectives.

Strategy Review

The Strategy Review aligns tactical flow with strategic direction at highest level.

Strategic Planning Integration

Strategy Review Purpose:

Ensure team work aligns with organizational strategy. Adjust priorities based on market and competitive changes.

Plan long-term capability development.

Typical Frequency: Quarterly for most organizations. Some do semi-annually.

Participants: Leadership team, portfolio managers, product managers, key technical leads.

Portfolio Alignment

Portfolio Review:

Initiative Progress: Status of strategic initiatives. On track? Blocked?

Resource Allocation: Are resources distributed according to strategic priorities?

Portfolio Balance: Right mix of incremental improvement vs. innovation?

Value Delivery: Are we delivering expected business outcomes?

Adjustment Decisions: Based on strategic review, what shifts are needed in priorities or resource allocation?

Market and Customer Analysis

External Factors:

Market Trends: How is market evolving? New competitors or threats?

Customer Needs: Changing customer expectations? New opportunities?

Regulatory Environment: Upcoming compliance requirements? Policy changes?

Technology Landscape: Emerging technologies requiring investment?

Strategic Implications: How do external factors affect our priorities and capabilities?

Long-term Capacity Planning

Capacity Strategy:

Future Demand: Expected work volume in next 6-12 months.

Skill Gaps: Skills needed that we don't have. Training vs. hiring decisions.

Tool Investment: Technology or tooling needs for future capability.

Process Evolution: How might our Kanban system need to evolve?

Outcome: Updated strategic priorities. Resource allocation decisions.

Long-term improvement roadmap.

Cadence Comparison with Scrum

Understanding how Kanban cadences differ from Scrum ceremonies helps teams transition effectively.

Daily Meeting Differences

Scrum Daily Scrum:

• Three questions: What did I do? What will I do? Any impediments?
• Individual focus
• Sprint goal context
• Mandatory 15-minute timebox

Kanban Daily Standup:

• Walk the board from right to left
• Flow and system focus
• No sprint context
• Optional cadence, flexible timing

Key Difference: Scrum focuses on individual commitment to sprint goal. Kanban focuses on system flow and coordination.

Planning Meeting Evolution

Scrum Sprint Planning:

• Fixed cadence (every sprint start)
• Time-boxed to 8 hours for month sprint
• Team commits to sprint backlog
• Sprint goal created

Kanban Replenishment:

• Trigger-based frequency (queue threshold or time)
• Typically 60 minutes
• Work selected, not committed to timeframe
• No sprint goal, ongoing priorities

Key Difference: Scrum plans for fixed timebox. Kanban replenishes based on flow needs.

Compare these in detail at Kanban vs Scrum.

Review Meeting Changes

Scrum Sprint Review:

• End of every sprint
• Demonstrate completed increment
• Stakeholder feedback
• Product Backlog adjustment

Kanban Service Delivery Review:

• Flexible frequency (weekly to monthly)
• Review service metrics and trends
• Continuous stakeholder engagement
• Ongoing priority adjustment

Key Difference: Scrum demonstrates working product. Kanban reviews service performance.

Retrospective Similarities

Both Frameworks:

• Regular team improvement meetings
• Inspect and adapt approach
• Action item generation
• Team ownership of process

Kanban Differences:

• Flexible frequency (not tied to sprints)
• May focus more on flow metrics
• Often examines longer time periods
• Can be combined with other cadences

Similarity: Both prioritize continuous improvement through team reflection.

Designing Your Cadence System

Creating an effective cadence system requires thoughtful design based on team context.

Context Assessment

Key Factors:

Team Size: Smaller teams need fewer meetings. Larger teams benefit from more structure.

Work Characteristics: Unpredictable work may need more frequent replenishment. Stable work allows longer intervals.

Stakeholder Needs: High-touch stakeholders may want frequent reviews. Others satisfied with monthly updates.

Team Maturity: New teams benefit from more frequent touchpoints. Mature teams need less cadence.

Organizational Culture: Some cultures prefer more meetings. Others value minimal ceremony.

Frequency Selection

Starting Points:

Cadence	New Team	Mature Team	Complex Environment	Simple Environment
Daily Standup	Daily	2-3 times/week	Daily	3 times/week
Replenishment	Weekly	Bi-weekly	Weekly	Bi-weekly
Service Review	Bi-weekly	Monthly	Weekly	Monthly
Operations Review	Monthly	Quarterly	Monthly	Quarterly
Retrospective	Bi-weekly	Monthly	Weekly	Monthly
Strategy Review	Quarterly	Quarterly	Quarterly	Semi-annual

Adjust based on experience: Track meeting effectiveness. Adjust frequencies accordingly.

Integration Strategy

Combining Cadences:

Small teams often combine meetings for efficiency:

• Service Delivery + Operations Review: Combined monthly review
• Replenishment + Retrospective: Back-to-back weekly meetings
• Daily Standup + Quick Review: Brief metrics check daily

Separation Rationale: Keep cadences separate when participants differ or focuses conflict.

Evolution Over Time

Cadence Maturity:

Phase 1: Adoption (Months 1-3)

• Start with core cadences (daily standup, replenishment, retrospective)
• Frequent cadences for learning
• Gradually add others as needed

Phase 2: Optimization (Months 4-6)

• Adjust frequencies based on data
• Experiment with formats
• Combine or separate as appropriate

Phase 3: Maturity (Months 7+)

• Stable cadence system
• Continuous minor adjustments
• Natural team rhythm established

Never Final: Even mature teams adjust cadences when context changes.

Remote and Distributed Team Cadences

Remote teams require adapted cadences for effective collaboration across distance.

Asynchronous Adaptations

Async-First Approach:

Not All Synchronous: Consider which meetings truly need synchronous attendance. Many updates can be asynchronous.

Hybrid Cadences:

• Asynchronous preparation: Team reviews metrics before meeting
• Synchronous discussion: Focus on decisions and complex topics
• Asynchronous follow-up: Document decisions, track actions

Examples:

Async Service Review: Post metrics dashboard weekly. Team comments asynchronously.

Synchronous meeting only for issues requiring discussion.

Async Retrospective: Team adds retrospective items to shared board throughout week.

Brief synchronous meeting to prioritize and commit to actions.

Time Zone Considerations

Global Team Challenges:

Fair Scheduling: Rotate meeting times so no one always has inconvenient timing.

Month 1: Asia-friendly time. Month 2: Europe-friendly. Month 3: Americas-friendly.

Recording Meetings: Record for those who cannot attend live. Share recordings promptly.

Core Hours: Establish minimal overlap hours when synchronous meetings scheduled.

Written Summaries: Always document key decisions and actions. Not everyone can watch recordings.

Tool Selection

Essential Remote Tools:

Digital Board: Real-time Kanban board (Jira, Trello, Miro, etc.). Always visible and updated.

Video Conferencing: Stable platform with screen sharing and recording. Zoom, Teams, Meet, etc.

Async Collaboration: Slack, Teams, or similar for asynchronous updates and discussions.

Documentation: Shared space for decisions, policies, and meeting notes. Confluence, Notion, etc.

Metrics Dashboard: Automated visualization of flow metrics. Reduces manual reporting.

Engagement Strategies

Remote Engagement:

Active Facilitation: Facilitator explicitly invites input from quiet participants. Don't let vocal members dominate.

Breakout Rooms: For larger teams, use breakouts for focused discussions.

Visual Collaboration: Use digital whiteboards. Virtual Post-its for brainstorming.

Camera Expectations: Establish team norms about camera usage. Balance connection with flexibility.

Regular Check-ins: One-on-ones maintain personal connection. Don't rely solely on team meetings.

Scaling Cadences Across Teams

Multi-team environments require additional cadences for coordination.

Coordination Cadences

Inter-Team Coordination:

Scrum of Scrums Pattern: Representatives from each team meet regularly. Discuss dependencies and coordination needs.

Frequency: 2-3 times per week for closely coupled teams.

Flow Coordination: Portfolio-level flow review. Where are dependencies causing delays?

Frequency: Weekly or bi-weekly.

Shared Service Review: When teams share specialists or services. Coordinate capacity allocation.

Frequency: Weekly.

Cross-Team Synchronization

Dependency Management:

Dependency Mapping: Regular sessions to visualize and manage cross-team dependencies.

Integration Planning: Coordinate work sequencing across teams. Minimize integration problems.

Blocker Resolution: Escalation path for cross-team blockers. Rapid resolution process.

Communication Protocol: Clear channels for cross-team coordination. Reduce interruption noise.

Portfolio Cadences

Portfolio-Level Meetings:

Portfolio Sync: Leadership reviews portfolio health. Strategic alignment across initiatives.

Frequency: Weekly or bi-weekly.

Investment Review: Assess resource allocation across portfolio. Shift investments based on outcomes.

Frequency: Monthly or quarterly.

Portfolio Strategy: Strategic planning across portfolio. Long-term direction and capability.

Frequency: Quarterly.

Dependency Management

Dependency Cadences:

Dependency Review: Regular review of cross-team dependencies. Status, blockers, risks.

Integration Coordination: Plan and coordinate integration points. Reduce integration friction.

Capacity Coordination: Shared resource capacity planning. Prevent overallocation.

Escalation Process: Clear path for unresolved dependencies. Rapid decision-making.

Common Cadence Mistakes

Teams make predictable cadence mistakes that reduce meeting effectiveness.

Too Many Meetings

Over-Meeting Syndrome:

Problem: Teams adopt all cadences without assessing value. Meeting overload reduces productivity.

Symptoms:

• Meetings consume more than 30% of team time
• Team complains about meeting fatigue
• Preparation suffers due to meeting density
• Actions from meetings don't get completed

Solution: Audit meeting value. Cancel meetings providing insufficient value.

Combine meetings where appropriate. Try fewer meetings, assess impact.

Wrong Frequency

Frequency Misalignment:

Too Frequent: Daily standups for very stable work. Weekly replenishment when monthly sufficient.

Wastes time, reduces engagement.

Too Infrequent: Monthly replenishment when queue frequently empties. Quarterly retrospectives for rapidly changing context.

Creates flow gaps and missed improvement opportunities.

Solution: Track indicators of wrong frequency. Adjust based on actual needs, not assumptions.

Poor Facilitation

Facilitation Failures:

No Clear Facilitator: Meetings meander without direction. Time wasted, outcomes unclear.

Dominating Facilitator: Facilitator talks more than facilitates. Team disengages.

No Time Management: Meetings run long, topics unresolved. Respect for meetings declines.

Solution: Train facilitators. Rotate facilitation for skill development.

Use visible timers. Get feedback on facilitation effectiveness.

No Clear Purpose

Purpose Confusion:

Generic Meetings: "Team meeting" with no specific purpose. Becomes catch-all for any topic.

Overlapping Purposes: Multiple meetings covering same ground. Confusion about where to discuss what.

Solution: Document purpose for each cadence. Review regularly whether meeting achieves purpose.

Combine or eliminate meetings with overlapping purposes.

Cadence Metrics and Optimization

Measuring cadence effectiveness enables continuous optimization.

Meeting Effectiveness Metrics

Quantitative Metrics:

Meeting Time Percentage: Total meeting time / total working time. Target: less than 20-25%.

Action Completion Rate: Actions completed / actions committed. Target: >70%.

Attendance Consistency: Required participants attending. Target: >90%.

Meeting Duration: Actual vs. planned duration. Target: Within 10%.

Qualitative Metrics:

Team Satisfaction: Regular survey on meeting value. "This meeting is worth my time" 1-5 scale.

Engagement Level: Facilitator assessment of participation. All voices heard?

Decision Quality: Do meetings produce good decisions? Are decisions acted upon?

Continuous Improvement

Meeting Retrospectives:

Quarterly, retrospect on cadence effectiveness. What's working? What needs adjustment?

Format Experimentation: Try different formats. Assess engagement and outcomes.

Frequency Tuning: Track indicators. Adjust frequencies based on data.

Technology Improvement: Better tools for remote collaboration. Experiment with new platforms.

Feedback Collection

Regular Pulse Checks:

Quick Surveys: After meetings, quick 2-3 question survey. Anonymous feedback.

Retrospective Discussion: Dedicate retrospective time to meeting effectiveness.

One-on-one Conversations: Ask about meetings in regular one-on-ones. Some feedback surfaces better privately.

Action Tracking: Monitor action completion rates. Low completion indicates meeting problems.

Adjustment Triggers

When to Adjust:

Satisfaction Below Threshold: If meeting value ratings drop below 3.5/5 consistently.

Low Attendance: Optional meetings with declining attendance.

Action Completion Issues: Consistently less than 60% action completion.

Team Feedback: Explicit requests for cadence changes.

Context Changes: Team size, work type, or organizational changes.

Conclusion

Kanban cadences succeed when teams thoughtfully design meeting rhythms matching their context rather than adopting prescribed ceremonies.

The seven optional Kanban cadences - Daily Standup, Replenishment Meeting, Service Delivery Review, Operations Review, Retrospective, Strategy Review, and System Design Workshop - provide frameworks teams adapt to their needs.

Unlike Scrum's mandatory ceremonies, Kanban empowers teams to choose appropriate cadence frequency and format. This flexibility enables optimization but requires intentional design.

Start with core cadences: daily standups for coordination, replenishment meetings for work selection, and retrospectives for improvement. Add other cadences based on actual needs, not perceived best practices.

Remote and distributed teams benefit from asynchronous adaptations and fair time zone rotation. Scaled environments require additional coordination cadences while preserving team autonomy.

Avoid common mistakes like too many meetings, wrong frequencies, poor facilitation, or unclear purposes. Measure meeting effectiveness through both quantitative metrics and qualitative feedback.

Your cadence system should continuously evolve. What works for a new team differs from mature team needs. What works for stable work differs from rapidly changing contexts.

The goal isn't perfect cadences - it's effective coordination rhythms that support sustainable flow without ceremony overhead.

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Frequently Asked Questions on Kanban Cadences

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) / People Also Ask (PAA)