Kanban vs Scrum
DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES: SCRUM VS KANBAN
Scrum and Kanban are both flavors of Agile, but they have some distinct differences.
Scrum requires specific roles whereas Kanban has no required roles.
Scrum is based on timeboxed iterations, combining planning, process improvement, and release. In Kanban, you can choose to do these activities on a regular cadence or whenever you need.
Scrum limits work in progress (WIP) in each iteration, whereas Kanban limits WIP in each workflow.
Scrum resists change, whereas Kanban easily accommodates and embraces change. In Scrum, once the team has committed stories to a sprint, you can’t add additional stories later on. In Kanban, you can add or change stories as you please, assuming that it’s within WIP limits.
A Scrum board is reset after each sprint. A Kanban board is continuously used.
A Scrum team is cross-functional and one team owns the Scrum board. In Kanban, teams don’t need to be cross-functional and anyone can own the Kanban board.
Scrum teams require estimation, whereas Kanban doesn’t.
And Scrum and Kanban also have some similarities:
They are empirical. You have to experiment with the process to see what works for you.
Both allow team members to work on multiple products at once.
They are Lean and Agile.
They both limit WIP (although the way they each limit WIP is different)
They use pull scheduling
They focus on delivering software early and often
Both use transparency to improve process
HOW DO KANBAN AND SCRUM RELATE TO EACH OTHER?
Kanban and Scrum are both frameworks for Agile software development. They both take large, complex tasks and break them down into smaller chunks. Kanban and Scrum also work toward continual improvement and optimization of the process, and want to keep work highly visible.
While both Kanban and Scrum are very adaptive, Scrum is more rigid than Kanban. Scrum has more constraints, whereas Kanban is more flexible.
SCRUM BOARD VS KANBAN BOARD
While a Scrum board and Kanban board can look similar visually, they are based on very different principles.
To create a Scrum board, the Scrum team must first create sprints, assign points to user stories, and plan which stories go into which sprint. Then, the Scrum board visualizes the sprint, showing which stories are in plan mode or work mode. The Scrum board is reset between each sprint and is owned by one specific team.
A Kanban board has the same column-based layout as a Scrum board, but it requires no upfront planning. You can start working and moving through the flow of the Kanban board without having a structured plan. The Kanban board can be shared by multiple people and is persistent; you don’t need to reset the board. And, unlike the Scrum board, the Kanban board has a maximum number of stories allowed in each column at one time. This will continue to flow as long as the project continues, with new stories added and completed stories being reevaluated if needed.
WHEN TO USE KANBAN
We recommend using Kanban if:
You need to add stories or change sprints on the fly
You don’t need iterations
Estimation isn’t necessary
You want the ability to release at any time
Continuous improvement is already emphasized
Your team doesn’t respond well to big changes
You want to improve delivery flow
The system needs to be easy to understand
Scrum can be less flexible than Kanban. The timing revolves around sprints, with each sprint lasting two to four weeks. In each sprint, the team has specific roles and follows specific ceremonies.
WHAT IS SCRUMBAN?
Scrumban combines the principles of Scrum and Kanban into a pull-based system. The team plans out the work that was established during initiation and continually grooms the backlog. The same Scrum meetings should take place, but the frequency can change depending on context and need. The most important part of Scrumban is making sure that work in progress limits (WIP limits) are followed.
Scrumban takes bits and pieces from both Scrum and Kanban. For example, it includes the defined roles, daily Scrum, and other meetings from Scrum. And from Kanban, it takes the Kanban board, continuous flow, and ability to add changes as needed to the board.
Scrumban can look more like Scrum on the technical level, but at the cultural level, it will more closely resemble Kanban. Instead of big changes all at once, Scrumban encourages incremental changes. If your team is looking to migrate from Scrum to Kanban, Scrumban can provide a gentle transition.
WHICH ONE IS BEST? KANBAN VS SCRUM
When comparing Kanban versus Scrum, there is no definitive winner. The best framework depends on your project, team, and your goals. Because both Kanban and Scrum are flexible Agile methodologies, you could easily take principles from each and apply them as you see necessary.
It’s important to remember that true Scrum is a much bigger shift than Kanban. The team will have to learn about the ceremonies, the specific roles, and iterations. On the other hand, Kanban encourages incremental improvements. You can apply Kanban principles to any process you already have in place, even Scrum. Nothing needs to change significantly to get started with Kanban.
As a general rule of thumb, if your team or organization is really stuck and needs a big change, Scrum may be more appropriate. If you already have a process in place that you’re happy with, but want to implement some small changes, Kanban might be a better choice.
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