Currently we’re facing two huge problems in my Kanban team: 1. Long cycle time and 2. not really keeping the WIP-Limits (yep, then it’s not Kanban, anymore… and the 1st problem might well be the result of the 2nd one). Luckily I stumbled across counter-measures that I’d like to try out:
- Magnets visualizing story age
Sure, you notice that a story has been on the board for a while, but you’re not really aware, for how shockingly long. In a source I can’t remember, they used magnets with different images to visualize a story’s age. Each story starts out with a “Baby”-magnet. The next day the “Baby” becomes a “Teenager” and so on. The goal is never to let a story die. - Represent WIPs with physical tokens
You can only pull a story into a column if there’s a token left, e.g. a certain type of post-it or magnet. (Source)
Let’s hope for some improvement!
PS: I need to brag 
-> Last week I was retweeted by David “Inventor of Kanban” Anderson himself. What an honor! *swoon*