Starting point
An airline’s enterprise solutions team handled requests for the company’s SAP-based ERP processes. Requests came in through several channels, and some of them depended on suppliers and other teams. As the backlog grew, it became impossible to see which work was waiting and why, and which work was actually moving.
What we did
- Made the work visible. All requests were brought together on a single Kanban board, so everyone started looking at the same picture.
- Started a weekly flow review. Every week, the team and its stakeholders reviewed incoming and finished work, ageing items, work blocked by external dependencies, and delivery times.
- Named the waiting. Work waiting on a supplier or another team was flagged separately, and responsibility for following it up became clear.
- Decided with data. Prioritisation was based on the real data on the board, not on assumptions.
Result
The backlog fell by 50%. The team and its stakeholders now see where each piece of work is waiting on the same screen, with the same data, and reviews run on facts rather than estimates.