Work That Flows: Kanban for DBAs: Series Contents

Kanban applied to database administration: one board, a limit on work in progress, and work pulled when there is room for it. The series opens with a hot take on agile ceremonies and closes with time for learning.

A woman DBA stands beside a Kanban board while a steady stream carries blank cards through its columns and turns a water wheel beside a database, with an empty meeting room behind her.

The first parts cover how a DBA runs a Kanban board, what goes wrong when the work is spread over several boards or arrives through a ticket system the board does not see, and how to work with teams that never use a board. Then the practical side: Jira set up as a lean board with a cycle-time script, how planning time relates to the DORA delivery metrics, the hidden cost of an unfamiliar tool, and why learning belongs on the board. Parts publish daily from 2026-11-24 to 2026-12-02.

  1. Agility Comes From the Pipeline, Not the Ceremony (available 2026-11-24)
  2. Kanban for DBA Work: Pulling Work Instead of Promising a Quarter (available 2026-11-25)
  3. One DBA, Six Boards: When Kanban Gets Split Across Teams (available 2026-11-26)
  4. One System Should Drive the Work, Not Several Driving You (available 2026-11-27)
  5. Fit the Process to the People: Working With Teams That Never Use a Board (available 2026-11-28)
  6. Setting Up Jira as a Lean Kanban Board for DBA Work (available 2026-11-29)
  7. Planning Time and the Five Delivery Metrics (available 2026-11-30)
  8. Use the Tool You Know, Until It Costs You Later (available 2026-12-01)
  9. Clear Time for Learning, or Pay for It Later (available 2026-12-02)

Questions or corrections are welcome on Bluesky or LinkedIn. See all series on this blog.