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| Criterion |  Engineering Kanban |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Operations Process Mapping |  Operations After-Action Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 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. | With a confusing workflow that has many handoffs, the method makes the actual process visible. It shows where work is passed on, delayed, or duplicated, so improvement targets the right spots. | After missions or project phases with unclear outcomes, the method makes visible what actually happened and what can be learned from it. It separates course, effect, and causes so experience turns into solid improvement. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | Ongoing | 1-3 h | 1-3 h | 20-45 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-12 | 4-10 | 3-10 | 3-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Process Map, Handoff List, Improvement Backlog | Lessons learned, Action items, Event summary |
Tagsno overlap | FlowVisual managementDelivery | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | ProcessOperationsImprovement | LearningOperationsImprovement |