Who it is for
KG Foundations is the first credential on the Kanban.Global certification ladder. It confirms that you master the essential concepts of the Kanban Method: principles, visualization, WIP limits, flow metrics, classes of service, cadences and evolutionary change.
It is meant for people who work on a team that uses or wants to use Kanban, for managers who need to talk about flow with authority and for anyone who plans to go on to KGCP. There is no prerequisite. The credential is free and is the prerequisite for KGCP.
Exam format
| Item | Rule |
|---|---|
| Questions | 30, multiple choice |
| Duration | 45 minutes |
| Pass mark | 70% (21 correct answers) |
| Price | Free |
| Attempts | Unlimited, with a 24-hour interval between attempts |
| Practical gate | None |
| Validity | Lifetime |
| Language | Portuguese, English or Spanish |
The exam is taken online, with your Kanban.Global account. Questions are drawn from a larger bank following the domain weights in the table below, and the order of the options changes in every exam. Two attempts by the same person share, at most, a small portion of the questions.
Domain weights
| Domain | Weight | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Foundations and principles | 23% | 7 |
| 2. Visualization and system design | 20% | 6 |
| 3. WIP and pull flow | 20% | 6 |
| 4. Metrics and predictability | 17% | 5 |
| 5. Classes of service and prioritization | 10% | 3 |
| 6. Cadences and feedback | 7% | 2 |
| 7. Evolution and change | 3% | 1 |
| Total | 100% | 30 |
Domain 8, flow across teams and portfolio, is not covered in KG Foundations.
What to study
All the content covered is in the KGBOK, the open body of knowledge of Kanban.Global. Each page explains the concepts, the most common mistakes and the kind of decision the exam asks for, and points to hands-on experiences to reinforce the content.
- Foundations and principles: what the Kanban Method is and is not, principles, general practices and pull systems.
- Visualization and system design: stages and queues, commitment point, blockers and policies.
- WIP and pull flow: WIP limits, what to do at the limit, bottlenecks and Little’s Law.
- Metrics and predictability: Lead Time, Cycle Time, Throughput, Work Item Age, percentiles and SLE.
- Classes of service and prioritization: Cost of Delay profiles and policies per class.
- Cadences and feedback: the purpose of each cadence and the daily meeting focused on flow.
- Evolution and change: evolutionary change, STATIK and experiments.
Since domains 1, 2 and 3 add up to 65% of the exam, it pays to start with them. A match of the Kanban Game and the WIP limit experience help turn theory into intuition before you read about metrics.
How the questions are built
KG Foundations questions test understanding, not memorization of phrases. Most describe a short situation on a team and ask which concept applies or which action is most consistent with the method. All the options look plausible at first glance; the correct one is the one that respects the principles and practices of the Kanban Method. There are no wording tricks and no questions about specific software tools.
Sample questions
The three questions below show the style of the exam. They were written for this guide and are not part of the real question bank.
Example 1 (domain 3)
A team’s “Test” stage has a WIP limit of 3 and currently holds 3 items. A developer has just finished her item, which should now move to Test. What is the action most consistent with the Kanban Method?
- A) Pull a new item from the queue into Development, so as not to sit idle.
- B) Move the item to Test even above the limit, because development is done.
- C) Help finish or unblock one of the items in Test.
- D) Wait for the next daily meeting to decide what to do.
Answer: C. A full stage is a signal to stop starting and help finish. Option A increases total WIP and lengthens the queue in front of Test. Option B ignores the limit, which then loses its purpose. Option D wastes capacity when a useful action is available right now.
Example 2 (domain 4)
Over the last three months, a team’s Lead Time averaged 7 days, with an 85th percentile of 12 days. A customer asks how long a new request should take and wants an answer they can rely on. Which answer is the most appropriate?
- A) “Seven days, which is our average time.”
- B) “In 85% of cases, requests like yours are done within 12 days.”
- C) “Between 7 and 12 days, for sure.”
- D) “We need to estimate your request before we can answer.”
Answer: B. The answer gives a time frame and the associated probability, based on the system’s own data. The average (A) is exceeded by a large share of items and says nothing about risk. Option C turns a distribution into a guarantee, which the data does not support. Option D ignores that the history already answers the question with good confidence, without an individual estimate.
Example 3 (domain 1)
A director decides to roll out Kanban in her area. On the first day, she announces new roles, switches the management tool and changes the way requests come in. Which principle of the Kanban Method does this approach most directly contradict?
- A) Manage the work and let people self-organize around it.
- B) Start with what you do now, respecting current roles and responsibilities.
- C) Understand the customer’s needs and expectations.
- D) Regularly review the network of services and its policies.
Answer: B. The Kanban Method starts from the current process and changes through evolutionary steps. Restructuring roles, the tool and request intake all at once is exactly the opposite. The other options are also principles of the method, but the situation described does not contradict them as directly.
Result and retakes
Grading is done on the server as soon as you submit the exam or time runs out. If you score 70% or more, the credential is issued immediately, with its own page in the public registry and a badge to share. If you do not, the result shows your performance by domain to guide your study.
You can retake the exam as many times as you like, always with a minimum interval of 24 hours between one attempt and the next. Use that interval to review the domains where you missed the most, instead of trying again right away.
Frequently asked questions
Is KG Foundations really free?
Yes. The exam, the credential and retakes are free, and the credential does not expire. It is part of the list of items Kanban.Global commits to keeping free.
Do I need KG Foundations to take KGCP?
Yes. An active KG Foundations is a prerequisite for KGCP. Since it is free and does not expire, you only need to take it once.
Can someone help me during the exam?
No. The exam is individual: consulting other people, letting someone answer for you or sharing the questions are prohibited. The full conduct rules are in the Candidate Handbook.
