Key Points

• Scrum is an Agile approach built upon simplifying complex tasks and keeping open lines of communication.
• Kanban is a visual method of delegating work, best known in Lean circles but perfectly usable in Agile projects.
• Either approach has its core strengths, but you’ll want to consider the drawbacks when deciding on one for your team.

Scrum vs. Kanban: Which is the best for your Agile efforts? Agile comes in a few different flavors, depending on the workflow you’re after. Sometimes, this comes as organized sprints meant to do incremental work. Other teams might benefit from limiting workflow and focusing on the tasks at hand. Both of these approaches are valid ways of embracing the Agile way, but there are some trade-offs for adopting either.

So, with that in mind, let’s take a close look at Scrum vs. Kanban and see what makes each of these approaches tick. Hopefully, by the end of today’s topic, you’ll have a firmer grasp on the sort of workflow you’re looking to engage in.

What Is Scrum?

On the surface, Scrum is a loose collection of ideas for lack of a better term. It guides processes, encourages experimentation, and provides open feedback and reflection on the completion of work. Scrum itself was introduced in 1995, originating with software developers looking to optimize their workflows. Since its introduction, it has ventured out of the tech industry and made it to other key arenas where thinking outside of the box is a net benefit.

Scrum has a few different ways of approaching work, but the emphasis is on bringing value to the work in a collaborative environment. Scrum does differ from Agile in some respects with the introduction of new roles and responsibilities. These aren’t out of scope for the average Agile project, and the added benefit of these roles helps to streamline any project or milestone.

Scrum focuses on the short-term goals that comprise the greater whole. In software development, this can mean getting an MVP out to customers while you flesh out the rest of the feature set and iterate on what works. In the realm of manufacturing, it can also work wonders, provided you’re making the necessary adaptations.

Strengths of Scrum

Like Agile, Scrum is built upon communication. This comes in the form of sprint planning, sprint reviews, and daily Scrum meetings. With such an emphasis on communication, this encourages an environment of collaboration, transparency, and accountability. It also helps to foster an environment of learning, as team members will have to adapt and learn as they go through a sprint.

Work in Scrum is done in the form of sprints. Typically, in Agile, at least, you’ll have milestones for each phase of a given project. These sprints aren’t too dissimilar to the milestones but break complex tasks into far simpler, smaller projects. This has some benefits, as the work itself is getting done expediently.

Additional roles in Scrum help to keep the team on task, which can be a welcome addition when coming from the organized chaos of Agile. All in all, Scrum is a natural fit for the likes of Agile, and has been synonymous with the methodology in the tech industry for years.

Drawbacks of Scrum

Every approach is going to have its shortcomings. One of Scrum‘s biggest drawbacks comes in the form of scope creep, among other considerations. Since there is rarely a defined end date for the deliverable, this can lead to new features and bloat occurring within a project. As such, this is one area where you’ll want your Scrum masters to keep everything on track.

It is also worth mentioning it can be quite challenging to integrate Scrum across larger teams and departments. At its most basic, Scrum works best when utilized by small teams, so the challenges of accommodating a huge team might be insurmountable for some departments.

Finally, one major drawback to consider is the importance of each member of the team. If a member of the team leaves, whether it is due to illness, changing jobs, and so forth, that can have a massive negative impact on the validity of a project that will send any team scrambling to compensate.

Roles and Workflow Considerations

Scrum has three major roles that are added into any workflow. You have your product owners, who act as liaisons and advocates for your customer. These roles typically manage the project’s backlog and prioritize what areas of work need focus next on a project.

Next up, you have your Scrum masters. These individuals are tasked with making sure your team keeps the work within the Scrum approach. This can be as a guiding hand or through gentle remarks.

Finally, you’ve got your development team, who do the bulk of the work. Aside from the work itself, the development team is responsible for prioritizing which increment of work gets done next and exercising accountability over the deliverable.

What Is Kanban?

Kanban might not be a new concept if you’re an ardent reader of iSixSigma. However, this visual approach isn’t just suited for Lean and makes a welcome complement to the Agile way of doing things. Kanban is big on visualization and making sure it gets done. Compared to the looser functionality of Scrum, Kanban seems quite structured and rigid. This isn’t a detriment to the approach by any means, however.

Where Kanban shines is in creating resilient and highly adaptive teams. The flow of the work is rapid and consistent, and you’ve got a steady rhythm of expectations. This results in work getting done faster while making for rich visualization of the work that is already accomplished.

If you’re looking for something a little different for your Agile efforts, Kanban might be what the doctor ordered.

Strengths of Kanban

Kanban focuses heavily on a continuous and consistent workflow. Rather than taking on milestones or sprints, tasks get accomplished, and you move to the next bit of work. Despite its somewhat rigid approach, it does invite communication, with feedback loops built into all processes of the work.

Further, this is an approach where things get done and get done quickly. You might find yourself pondering works in progress with Scrum, but Kanban circumvents that entirely.

Drawbacks of Kanban

Scope creep is a major consideration with Kanban, just like with Scrum. Further, there aren’t concrete due dates and deadlines associated with your work in Kanban. As such, this can lead to projects not shipping in a timely fashion if the workflow keeps changing.

That leads directly to my next point: workflow consistency. Workflows can change on a whim in Kanban, and teams will have to adapt alongside it. For resiliency’s sake, this is a boon, but for keeping on track, this can hamstring any project.

Roles and Workflow Considerations

Kanban doesn’t add any new roles to an Agile team. We’ve covered the workflow changes in some depth in my previous points. If you’re worried about hiring new employees to manage your Kanban projects, don’t fret. You can maintain your current team as is with minimal impact while adopting this new approach for Agile.

Scrum vs. Kanban: Which Is Best for You?

Now that we’ve highlighted these two approaches a little more, it’s time to make a few more pointed distinctions so you can make a choice. Every organization or even team has different needs and considerations before adopting a new approach. However, you don’t have to worry; we’ve got what you need for picking the right approach for your team.

Workflow Rhythm

The rhythm of work is something that should be focused on when picking out an approach. Kanban is far more consistent in moving from one task to another. However, Scrum is a bit different in how it approaches work. The need for sprints and taking work on an incremental basis means there can be a lot of stop and go when it comes to getting things done.

While consistent communication is a net benefit for any team, Scrum does focus heavily on consistent lines of communication, which can break up the workday quite a bit. Daily standup meetings are one thing, but when you’re dissecting things in the aftermath, that could be time spent elsewhere. This drastically different approach to workflow might be a key factor when it comes to your decision for Scrum vs. Kanban.

The Need for Improvement

Either of these approaches embrace the iterative nature of Agile. This doesn’t mean you’re going to single out processes for improvement cycles. However, this does mean that you’ll have to keep a close eye on what exactly your processes are doing when attending to your work. Scrum and Kanban alike don’t have the mechanisms in place to refine and hone in on areas of waste. However, that iterative approach does have some strengths all its own.

When things aren’t working or result in waste, you can readily adapt to a better means of accomplishing the same work. This is the major selling point of any Agile approach and one you’ll want to keep in mind when figuring out which approach is the right one for you.

Best Practices of These Approaches

Scrum is best utilized by smaller teams. It can be deployed across whole departments, but you’re going to run into the limitations of the approach as a result. As such, it might be best suited for focused groups within a larger Agile project at your organization.

Contrast this with Kanban, which doesn’t have the same sort of restrictions on the size of the team behind it. As long as you’re updating your job boards regularly, Kanban is more than ready to take on any project. However, you’ll want to keep those tasks and jobs rather simple. When you start getting into complex tasks, you’ll run against the limitations of Kanban pretty quickly.

Depending on the team size, this might be a huge consideration when it comes to debating Scrum vs. Kanban.

Key Metrics for Both Approaches

Scrum comes with its own set of metrics, which can be a benefit. The data points gathered generally help teams hone in on areas where efficiency can be fine tuned and the effectiveness of the work can be further refined. Metrics might include sprint goals, work types, team capacity, and even team velocity.

Kanban has two major metrics you’ll want to keep in mind when undertaking any project. You’ll be focusing heavily on lead time and cycle time, which should be familiar concepts if you’ve worked with Lean in any capacity. Kanban utilizes one handy tool called the Cumulative Flow Diagram, which allows any team to see the status of work and where bottlenecks might be in the current project.

Other Useful Tools and Concepts

Ready for a little more? You’ve come to the right place. Cybersecurity and Six Sigma seem like odd concepts to stack against one another. However, you’ll find that when properly implemented, Six Sigma can be a driving force toward increasing your overall security posture.

Moving from Waterfall to Scrum can seem daunting at first glance, given the sheer disparity between both approaches. Thankfully, our guide well help you get on the right track when it comes to navigating this transition while keeping your team agile.

Conclusion

So, is there a clear winner in Scrum vs. Kanban? Not necessarily, as both approaches have their strengths and weaknesses. The main determining factor in picking one of these approaches is understanding the needs of your team and how either of these approaches will benefit your Agile projects.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Ground Picture/Shutterstock.com.