Kanban or Scrum?
Whether you are in product management or software development, people love to argue about which of the above approaches is better. The debate isn’t new, as it has been in the limelight for quite a few years.
Various companies and organizations are using both Agile and Scrum to streamline projects and increase efficiency. Both project management methodologies have proven to deliver results, yet they come with a lot of similarities and differences. Before we discuss them in detail, let’s take a moment to understand the basics of Scrum and Kanban.
What is Scrum?
Scrum is a simple framework that facilitates team collaboration on complex projects. The name is derived from the sport of rugby, in which scrum is a formation where everyone plays a specific role, but everyone works towards a quick adoption of strategies. It intends to deliver results in the shortest possible time with a lot of emphasis on iterative progress and teamwork.
The Scrum process
In the Scrum framework, a team works in a series of iterations, often called sprints, where they evaluate what is working and what is not. Effective communication plays an important role in such short sprints and iterations.
Usually, a sprint or an iteration consists of the following:
- Sprint planning: A team meeting where team members plan to decide what to complete in the next sprint.
- Daily stand-up: A short huddle, also known as a daily scrum, to sync and know the latest updates.
- Sprint demo: An activity of a sprint review where the completed (done) product backlog items are demonstrated.
- Sprint retrospective: A review of what went well and what didn’t to improve upcoming sprints.
What is Kanban?
Kanban is a popular framework used to implement agile software development that focuses on continual delivery while not overburdening the development team. In Kanban, work items are represented visually on a Kanban board so that team members can see the state of work at any time. Much like Scrum, it is designed to help teams work together more effectively.
The Kanban process
Kanban is a visual system where you get to visualize both the process and the actual tasks in that process. The main purpose of Kanban is to visualize progress and cost-effectively manage work at a steady speed. It follows a set of principles to improve the flow of work and streamline tasks.
Six basic principles of the Kanban method are as follows:
- Visualize the flow of work
Understanding and observing the current flow of work will help you visualize how tasks are progressing through the workflow.
Limit work in progress (WIP)
When you limit work in progress, it helps teams to complete the job at hand before moving to the next one. Thus, the work in progress needs to be marked as done so new tasks can be pulled in by the team.
- Manage the flow of work
The whole point of using the Kanban methodology is to manage and improve the flow of work. So, the focus in Kanban is to have a thorough understanding of the process to get work done quicker and faster.
- Make explicit process policies
When you are working as a team, each member needs to be well aware of the policies, process rules, and guidelines. It encourages them to work their way forward with cooperation and harmony.
- Implement feedback loops
Feedback loops are an integral part of the Kanban project management system, where members tell others what they did the previous day and what’s on their list for today. Such short meetings provide a great opportunity for team members to update and sync with the team.
- Continuous improvement
As Kanban provides a shared vision of a better future, it acts as a foundation for continuous evaluation and improvement. It is helpful in making teams more effective and productive.
Kanban vs Scrum
The main difference between Kanban and Scrum is that Kanban is a flexible, continuous workflow management method that focuses on visualizing tasks. Scrum is a structured framework that divides work into small iterations called sprints, with specific roles and goals.
Kanban is suitable for teams needing an incremental delivery approach. Whereas, Scrum is ideal for teams that prefer a more prescriptive, iterative process for managing and delivering work.
Here is a side-by-side comparison of Kanban and Scrum.
| Kanban | Scrum |
| Focuses on extensive planning | Open to making changes on the go |
| Every individual is assigned to various roles and responsibilities | No set roles. Flexible responsibilities |
| Best for projects with changing priorities | Ideal for teams with stable priorities |
| Every individual is assigned various roles and responsibilities | Works well with small teams |
| Possible to create specialized teams | Cross-functional teams are necessary |
| Every iteration comes with a different duration of time | Based on time-based iterations |
| Changes can be made mid-stream | Changes during the sprint are strongly discouraged |
| Teams work to achieve goals and reduce the time to complete the entire process | In Scrum, the focus is on collaboration and completing the task to provide quality development work |
| Consists of a board only | Consists of Board, Backlogs, Burn-downs |
| Bottlenecks are revealed quickly through visualization | Bottlenecks aren’t always obvious unless a review is done |
| Do not use prioritization but considers project planning using probabilistic forecasting | Prioritization is a must in Scrum |
| Its primary metric is a Lead time | Uses velocity as the primary metric |
Kanban vs Scrum vs Agility: Which framework to choose?
Choosing Kanban or Scrum framework could either be an entirely personal choice or depend upon project requirements. Whatever it is, make sure it’s a well-thought decision. If you’re confused, try both frameworks and ask what went well and what went poorly in both cases.
Keep the following points in mind before making the final decision:
- Choose Kanban if you’re looking for project flexibility
- Choose Scrum if you’re up for continuous devotion to projects
- Go for Kanban if you prefer visualization of workflow through metrics
- Scrum is recommended in case of intense human collaboration and rapid feedback
Select the right tool for your framework
Choosing the right project management software along with the right methodology or framework can transform your project handling and management. Since we are talking about tools, ProofHub workflows and Kanban boards not only make the process quick and flexible but also streamline your task management.
For all the Kanban users, ProofHub allows them to:
- Integrate workflows with a task list for better transparency
- Move tasks into stages to streamline work
- Bring more flexibility with custom workflows
- Choose to view tasks in either of the two forms, i.e. list view or board view
- Add labels, attach files, and track time
Moving on, ProofHub is equipped with all the necessary tools that make project management easier, faster, and better. Features like online proofing, Gantt charts, reports, custom roles, time tracking, and file management make ProofHub an all-in-one project management software. So, choose a better framework and a project management tool.
All the best!
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