View methods side by side.
Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.
| Criterion |  Engineering Kanban |  Facilitation Consensus Workshop |  Operations 5 Whys |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When work sits in too many parallel streams, throughput suffers and no one sees the bottlenecks. Kanban makes the flow of work visible and limits overload so a system becomes calmer and more predictable. | When a group needs a solid decision without outvoting individual factions, a Consensus Workshop creates a negotiable common ground. It makes agreement, reservations, and open tensions discussable at the same time. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. | When delivery work dissolves into wait times, handoffs, and hidden effort, Value Stream Mapping makes the actual flow visible. The method exposes bottlenecks, idle time, and feedback loops so lead time and improvement levers become tangible. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | Ongoing | 1-3 h | 15-30 min | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-12 | 5-30 | 2-6 | 4-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics | Consensus Clusters, Theme Titles, Priority Areas | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list |
Tagsno overlap | FlowVisual managementDelivery | FacilitationConsensusWorkshopAlignment | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | LeanFlowWasteDelivery |