Scrum vs Kanban is a discussion about two different strategies used to implement an agile development or project management system. Kanban methodologies are continuous and more fluid, whereas scrum is based on short, structured work sprints.
In this blog, we will look into this discussion of Scrum vs Kanban in more detail and look at the major points of dissimilarities with respect to performance indicators, planning, work commitment, etc.
Scrum Overview
Scrum is a framework that enables people to address complex adaptive problems. It aims to productively and creatively deliver products of the highest possible value through iterations and increments in a time-boxed setting.
The Scrum framework is based on 3 pillars:
- Transparency
- Inspection
- Adaptation
In Scrum, the work is divided into smaller tasks that have to be completed in a predefined period of time (sprint). Also, adding new work items during a sprint is highly discouraged, making new work waiting for a new sprint and reducing the team’s ability to react to change.
How does scrum work?
There are main 6 steps that make the complete scrum lifecycle:
1. ) Product Backlog
It is used to draw up a list of tasks that a team must complete to successfully achieve the stakeholders’ goals.
2.) Sprint Planning
Sprint is the heart of the scrum. Selected tasks from the product backlog are chosen for teams to focus and work on, then ultimately be delivered during the sprint.
3.) Sprint Backlog
Tasks discussed in the sprint planning phase are added to the sprint backlog.
4.) Scrum Team
A scrum team is usually a team of five to nine members that work on the tasks mentioned in the sprint backlog.
Step 4.1: Daily scrum
The team has daily scrum meetings, 15 minute long sessions during which thye synchronize their activities with each other, report on the bottlenecks they are facing, and plan on what they aim to achieve in the next 24 hours.
5.) Sprint Review
After the sprint is completed, it’s time for a sprint review. The product owner, scrum master, stakeholders, and the scrum team attend the meeting. During this stage, the team discusses what they accomplished in the previous sprint. The session also opens up opportunities to ask questions, make observations, and provide feedback and suggestions.
Step 5.1: Sprint review – product backlog
The product owner presents the backlog’s top to the stakeholders. This lets the former receive feedback for upcoming sprints and other things related to the backlog.
Step 5.2: Sprint review – Sprint retrospective
The sprint retrospective meeting follows the sprint review. Here, the team identifies potential mistakes and issues, as well as ways to handle them. Data from this stage is incorporated while planning the next sprint.
6.) Increment
This is the final phase where the stakeholders receive a workable and usable output.
Also Read: Our blog post on Agile SDLC.
Kanban Overview
Kanban is a method for optimizing and managing workflows, which lets users visualize processes on a Kanban board and continuously process work items. The work in progress (WIP) limits at each stage of the workflow that allows their team to optimally use its capacity. In other words, Kanban helps users optimize their existing processes with a set of principles.
Practices:
- Visualize the workflow
- Limit work in progress
- Manage flow
- Make process policies explicit
- Establish feedback loops
- Improve collaboratively
How does Kanban work?
The Kanban board consists of three major components:
To-do: These represent items that need to be completed
Ongoing/Doing: These represent items that are being currently worked on by the team
Done: These are the tasks and items that have already been completed
Now that we know the fundamental differences between the two concepts, let’s dig in a little bit deeper and see the similarities and the differences between Kanban and Scrum software solutions. Or can we say Scrum vs Kanban?
Also Read: Agile vs Scrum, to know the major differences between them.
Scrum vs Kanban: Similarities
- Both Scrum and Kanban are based on the principles of lean and agile methodologies.
- Both the processes aim to reduce the amount of work-in-progress (WIP).
- In both the frameworks work is divided into smaller manageable pieces.
- Both of them use pull scheduling, meaning that products are built based on demand rather than on forecasts.
- They both emphasize transparency and use it to drive process improvement.
- Their release plans are continuously optimized.
- Both the frameworks are designed to help deliver software often and ahead of schedule.
Scrum vs Kanban: Differences
To best differentiate between the two approaches, we need to use a well-defined set of criteria, shown below:
- Roles & Accountabilities
- Product Planning
- Commitment
- Key Performance Indicators
- Kanban & Scrum Board
- Stakeholders/Customers
- Iterations
1.) Roles & Accountabilities
Scrum: Scrum implies that users introduce or rather assign the following accountabilities:
- Product Owner
- Scrum Master
- Development Team
where the Product Owner is in charge of the backlog and gives direction to the team, the Scrum Master dictates the timelines, and the development team processes the work that is agreed on during the Sprint planning.
Kanban: It allows keeping the current structure without making drastic changes still, there are two Kanban roles that can be implemented but are not mandatory:
- Service Delivery Manager
- Service Request Manager
where the Service Delivery Manager is responsible for ensuring that work items pass efficiently through the process by keeping an eye on the board and assisting team members when there’s a problem and the Service Request Manager is usually a secondary role of the team manager who is responsible for managing the process policies and consistency, improving corporate governance, and reducing the risk associated with a single individual.
2.) Product Planning
Scrum: Planning in Scrum happens iteratively at the beginning of each Sprint. A dedicated meeting facilitates it where the Dev team, Product Owner, and Scrum Master gather to break down user stories into tasks. There are Specific events for planning the sprint and the day — sprint planning and daily scrum.
Kanban: The Kanban method relies on a probabilistic approach to planning, which is basically a prognosis based on past workflow data. So there is no provision for planning the work. Teams adopt their own cadence and approach to planning.
3.) Scrum vs Kanban: Commitment
Scrum: In Scrum, the commitment for a Sprint is in the form of forecasting. When the team doesn’t anticipate their capacity accurately, or unexpected problems arise, either the sprint fails, or personal heroics are required to finish everything on time.
Kanban: Kanban preaches deferring commitment as long as possible to ensure agility and deliver value frequently and at the right time. As work-in-progress (WIP) limits prevent team members from working on multiple tasks, everybody commits to finishing what they have started before engaging in new work.
4.) Key Performance Indicators
When looking at the argument Scrum vs Kanban, you can’t ignore the key performance indicators (KPI) that will become part of the work-life while making a choice.
Scrum KPI: Scrum has two specific KPIs that you should focus on:
- Velocity
- Planned capacity
Velocity is based on actual story points completed, which is typically an average of all previous sprints. It is used to plan how many product backlog items the team should bring into the next sprint. Capacity is how much availability the team has for the sprint.
Kanban KPI: In Kanban, the most important metrics are:
- Lead time
- Cycle time
Lead time is the period between a new task’s appearance in your workflow and its final departure from the system. Cycle time begins when the new arrival enters the “in progress” stage, and somebody is actually working on it.
5.) Kanban Board vs Scrum Board
Scrum Board: It is an extension of the product backlog. When the team commits to a given amount of work, it is added to the Scrum backlog on the board, and then the team starts putting work in progress at their will. The goal is to get everything done by the end of the Sprint. Logically, the board is reset after each iteration.
Kanban Board: It is a continuous map of the team’s process. When building it, your goal is to create a sustainable Kanban system that could stand the test of time. A proper Kanban board has WIP limits visualized on it. The goal is to control the amount of work that enters and leaves the process so you can improve delivery speed.
6.) Stakeholder/Customers
Scrum: Scrum has active stakeholder and customer involvement — at least once a sprint during a sprint review event.
Kanban: Kanban does not provide a way to engage stakeholders or customers. Many teams adopt a once-a-month “sprint review” approach.
7.) Scrum vs Kanban: Iterations
Scrum: Since Scrum places heavy emphasis on schedule, one cannot add new items to ongoing iterations. Only when the current sprint is completed can a scrum team take on another sprint. In time, teams get adept at estimating and scheduling sprints accordingly.
Kanban: It is more iterative in nature due to a lack of time-frames and so new items can be continuously added whenever additional capacity is available or when the project demands. When any task moves from the in-progress stage to the completed stage, a new task can be taken up immediately.
8.) Ownership
Scrum: Only one team at a time owns the backlog, as Scrum encourages cross-functional teams. Each team has all the necessary skills to successfully complete any task during the sprint.
Kanban: Kanban boards have no ownership. Multiple teams can share them as everyone has their own dedicated tasks.
Conclusion
Both Kanban and Scrum were created to help teams to increase their efficiency and productivity. Kanban and Scrum have their fans and success stories. When translated into software, the main differences that Scrum vs Kanban comparisons make are still there.
Scrum is helpful for teams that decide to undergo a full Scrum transformation, with the adoption of practices, frameworks, and the accountabilities (roles) it implies whereas, Kanban is significantly easier to adopt and get started with. With no process requirements or team structure changes needed, Kanban software lets you start with what you have right now and build on top.
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- Scrum Master: Roles & Responsibilities
- Agile Software Development Lifecycle
- Agile vs Scrum
- Scrum Framework: Roles, Events & Artifacts
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