Agile frameworks are popular approaches to software development that emphasize flexibility, collaboration, and customer feedback. Scrum and Kanban are two of the most widely used agile frameworks, but they have some key differences and similarities. In this article, you will learn how to compare Scrum and Kanban based on their principles, roles, processes, and benefits.
Scrum is based on the idea of delivering software in small, iterative, and incremental batches called sprints. Each sprint has a fixed duration, usually between one and four weeks, and a specific goal and scope. Scrum also relies on self-organizing and cross-functional teams that work together to deliver value to the customer. Scrum values include commitment, courage, focus, openness, and respect.
Scrum is a delivery framework, Kanban is an improvement or support framework. Scrum is designed to gain continuous delivery and learning within a short time to have feedbacks and deal with risk and confront uncertainties, Kanban is designed to improve the work cycle and eliminate bottle necks by limiting the work in progress.
In addition to these values above, one of the goals of scrum is to deliver working software by the end of the sprint, otherwise the framework breaks down.
Unless a developer is working in their own private branch of a source tree, they should only be checking in working code. This is extremely important when multiple developers are working on a given branch because checking in broken code will just break your teammates source trees and everyone gets stuck until a fix gets checked in.
Kanban is based on the idea of visualizing and optimizing the flow of work through a system. Kanban uses a board with columns that represent different stages of the work, such as backlog, in progress, and done. Kanban also limits the amount of work in progress (WIP) in each column to avoid bottlenecks and waste. Kanban principles include transparency, feedback, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Kanban is typically used in environments like DevOps tasks that are related to day to day operations while Scrum is better suited to development, including DevOps related development. Day to day tasks would include things like investigating the cause of a production problem or upgrading a server or COtS software. These tasks are relatively short tasks that can be handled over a few days, as opposed to building out a new release of software which typically takes much longer.
Kanban also has Work In Progress (WIP) Limits, where a certain number of tasks cannot happen in the same state. This encourages storming on the current problems to move them to the next desired state.
Key comparison that I believe is visualisation of work in Kanban which helps focusing on the ones nearest to the completion and identifying bottlenecks if any
Kanban und Scrum zu vergleichen, ist wie ?pfel und Birnen vergleichen. Kanban ist ein flow-orientierter Ansatz für Regelarbeit. Scrum ist iterativ und kann auch für Projekte genutzt werden. Was beide verbindet, sind einige Agile Grunds?tze, aber auch nicht alle. Der Umgang mit Metriken ist v?llig unterschiedlich, dafür nutzen beide Systeme zur Visualisierung von Arbeit Spalten und Post Its.
One of the main Difference Between Kanban and Scrum is: + Kanban Delivers Tasks continously until the project is finished, but Scrum has Sprint and the Tasks will be reviewed at the end of the Sprint ( Max 4 Weeks). + In Kanban we have the WIP ( Work in Progress) limitation, but in Scrum we don't ( But Team can commit to put a limitation on their work). P.S: In my Personal Opinion Scrum is more Structured than Kanban
Scrum defines three main roles for the team: the product owner, the scrum master, and the developers. The product owner is responsible for defining and prioritizing the product backlog, which is a list of features and requirements for the software. The scrum master is responsible for facilitating and coaching the team, removing impediments, and ensuring that the scrum process is followed. The developers are responsible for designing, building, testing, and delivering the software according to the product backlog and the sprint goal.
There is an additional main Scrum role that is very important but is often treated as an afterthought, namely testing. A Scrum team is not complete without good testers.
Kanban does not prescribe any specific roles for the team, but rather allows the team to define their own roles and responsibilities based on their skills and needs. However, some common roles that can be found in Kanban teams are the service request manager, the service delivery manager, and the team members. The service request manager is responsible for managing the backlog and prioritizing the work requests. The service delivery manager is responsible for overseeing the flow of work and ensuring that quality standards are met. The team members are responsible for performing the work and collaborating with each other and the customers.
In my experience, comparing Scrum and Kanban, I've found that Kanban's flexibility in roles allows teams to adapt to their unique needs. For instance, in a software development team, we empowered team members to choose tasks they felt most comfortable with, enhancing productivity. Kanban's adaptability encourages self-organization.
Scrum follows a cyclical process that consists of five events: sprint planning, daily scrum, sprint review, sprint retrospective, and sprint. Sprint planning is a meeting where the team decides what to work on and how to do it in the next sprint. Daily scrum is a short meeting where the team updates each other on their progress, challenges, and plans for the day. Sprint review is a meeting where the team demonstrates what they have done in the sprint and collects feedback from the customer. Sprint retrospective is a meeting where the team reflects on what went well and what can be improved in the sprint. Sprint is the time-boxed period where the team works on delivering a potentially releasable product increment.
- Provides a structured framework with defined roles, ceremonies, and artifacts. - Emphasizes fixed-length iterations (sprints) and a focus on delivering a potentially shippable product at the end of each sprint. - Enables predictable planning and release schedules. - Scrum ensures that features are regularly delivered at the end of each sprint, facilitating reliable release planning.
Kanban follows a continuous process that consists of four steps: visualize, limit WIP, manage flow, and improve. Visualize is the step where the team creates a Kanban board and maps out the workflow. Limit WIP is the step where the team sets the maximum number of work items that can be in each column of the board. Manage flow is the step where the team monitors and measures the performance of the system, such as cycle time, throughput, and lead time. Improve is the step where the team identifies and implements opportunities for improvement, such as reducing waste, increasing quality, and enhancing customer satisfaction.
- Offers a more flexible, continuous flow approach. - Doesn't prescribe specific roles or ceremonies; it adapts to the team's existing processes. - Focuses on visualizing work, limiting work in progress, and optimizing flow. - For Example, A customer support team can use Kanban to manage incoming requests, ensuring quick response times and efficient issue resolution.
Scrum offers numerous advantages for software development, including improved customer satisfaction, increased team productivity and creativity, reduced risks and uncertainties, as well as heightened quality and reliability. This is achieved by delivering value frequently and incorporating feedback, fostering collaboration and empowerment, adapting to changing requirements and market conditions, and testing and validating the software regularly and continuously.
Kanban can provide several advantages for software development, such as boosting visibility and transparency by displaying the status and progress of the work. Additionally, it can optimize efficiency and effectiveness by eliminating waste and maximizing value. Moreover, it can increase flexibility and responsiveness by permitting changes and prioritization at any time. Furthermore, it can promote a culture of learning and improvement by promoting feedback and experimentation.
Kanban is an excellent framework for Operations and Technical Ops based teams where the work is interrupt driven and procedural in nature.
From a leadership perspective, my experience has shown that Kanban's visual boards enhance transparency, enabling quick decision-making. For instance, in a project, we used Kanban to track tasks, and when a bottleneck emerged, we swiftly allocated resources to clear it, preventing delays. Kanban's flexibility allows us to adapt to shifting priorities. Furthermore, Kanban fosters a culture of continuous improvement. We encouraged team members to suggest process enhancements. One such suggestion led to a streamlined code review process, reducing review times and enhancing code quality.
What really matters is how the people doing the work think. If their thinking is right, the outcomes will be good irrespective of the framework. They may, for instance, do Kanban within the Scrum framework where that suits ("Scrumban"), or add things on to Kanban from Scrum if there are specific needs to be met (say in the form of mid-term (sprint-length) goals. It's the people that make the difference, not the framework.
The choice between Scrum and Kanban depends on the specific needs of the project and team dynamics. Scrum provides structure and predictability, while Kanban offers flexibility and visual management, both valuable in different contexts.
We should also consider the complexity of the work. In my experience Scrum prevails for teams working on more complex initiatives, where Kanban may help to maximize flow for faster moving items.