A detailed comparison between Kanban and Scrum
In Agile, there are two primary approaches to helping teams successfully collaborate on complex projects: Kanban and Scrum. Most likely you’ve heard of either or both, but do you know what sets them apart? The Kanban and Scrum frameworks employ an iterative approach to product delivery, relying on speed, agility, and the ability to continually adjust as you go, rather than following a preplanned linear path.
While their overarching philosophies are similar, there are many practical differences between Kanban and Scrum. This guide will explore those differences and help you determine which approach is best for your business or team.
We’ll go over topics like:
- What is Scrum?
- What is Kanban?
- Kanban vs. Scrum
- Similarities between Scrum and Kanban
- Differences between Scrum and Kanban
- Which one is right for you?
What is Scrum?
Scrum is a project management methodology used in sprints that focuses on breaking up projects into small increments called user stories. They’re designed to get feedback from the customer at various points to better inform next steps.
Scrum can be broken down into:
- Cadence — A prioritized list of deliverables or features is tackled in a series of two-week or month-long time periods called sprints. Scrum teams hold sprint planning sessions and daily stand-up meetings to keep sprints on target. They present their work for feedback or approval in a sprint review, and discuss lessons learned in a retrospective meeting before moving on to the next sprint planning session.
- Roles — The Scrum master focuses on the team and its operations, drives the process, and manages team motivation and efficiency for a timely completion of the project. The Scrum product owner focuses on the product, manages the backlog, and determines the priorities and requirements for the project. The team or team members are the development team who do the work assigned within the Scrum sprints.
- Metrics — Teams use data points to improve efficiency and they are set during the planning phase so that progress can be measured during standup meetings. Understanding how much time it takes to complete individual tasks makes it easier to plan future sprints and allows Scrum masters and Scrum product managers to improve velocity along the way.
- Change philosophy — Changes and adaptations can be addressed at the end of each sprint. After the sprint is reviewed, tasks that are not complete will be analyzed and added to the next sprint (or moved back to the backlog). During the sprint retrospective meeting, any changes or improvements that need to be implemented can be noted and introduced to the next sprint. Changes resulting in new work items cannot be made until after a sprint ends.
What is Kanban?
Kanban is a continuous workflow structure that adapts to changing priorities. It’s usually represented by cards on a board that indicate flow from one another. Columns in Kanban can be customized to individual team or project needs.
Kanban can be understood through these workflow stages :
- Cadence —The cadence of getting work done is based on the columns created for workflow stages. Common stages include: to do, in progress, in review, blocked, and done. With the Kanban method, you can customize to your project or team’s needs and see how many tasks are completed in a time frame.
- Release method — Deliverables are released when they are ready and not restricted to a set schedule or predetermined due date. If a deliverable is completed early, it can be released early or even late. No sprint review necessary.
- Roles — Next, a whole team can access a Kanban board, meanwhile, individual contributors can have their own Kanban board to break things down even further. Because there aren’t defined roles, it encourages collaboration and collective ownership over tasks.
- Metrics — Common Kanban metrics include lead time and cycle time. Other cumulative metrics can be used to see the number of items in each state to uncover bottlenecks.
- Change philosophy — In Kanban land, change can happen at any time. Cards can get removed or blocked based on priorities. This offers great flexibility and opportunities for change.
Kanban vs. Scrum
There are a few key differences between Scrum and Kanban methodologies. For one, Scrum has clearly defined roles while Kanban has no required roles. Kanban boards are continuously in flux while Scrum boards reset after each sprint. But the primary difference is that Scrum helps teams structure and manage their work through a shared goal while Kanban relies on visual tasks.
Similarities between Scrum and Kanban
Scrum and Kanban do have many things in common. At their core, they are both Agile frameworks and therefore embrace many of the same core ideas and motivations.
For example, they’re motivated by change and adaptation through learnings, rather than following a strict project management plan. They also similarly use software for comprehensive documentation of projects — which we love. Lastly, they prioritize the continuous delivery of products and services.
Differences between Scrum and Kanban
While both Kanban and Scrum are Agile approaches, there are a few important distinctions that teams should be aware of. Kanban is centered around visualizing projects while Scrum is centered around processes. Another difference is that Kanban works best with continuous delivery of tasks until a project is complete while Scrum focuses on delivering chunks of items.
Let’s elaborate. Scrum has its own board called a Scrum board that is reset after each sprint. You can think of it as an extension of the backlog of product development tasks. On the other hand, a Kanban board visualizes the state of tasks and doesn’t reset after chunks of work are completed. The goal of a Kanban board is to control the work that enters and leaves a process. In Scrum, work boards are managed by the Scrum master and Scrum product manager to ensure constant visibility into project progress and status. This work board is typically projected in the daily stand-up meetings, so no one on the team is ever confused about where a project stands. Scrum boards are rebuilt before each sprint.
Another core difference is their approach to flexibility versus rigidity. Scrum is a prescriptive framework that requires detailed planning — it has clearly defined processes and roles. Kanban is more flexible with the main goal of limiting work-in-progress bottlenecks.
While both Kanban and Scrum are Agile approaches, there are a few important distinctions that teams should be aware of. Kanban is centered around visualizing projects while Scrum is centered around processes. Another difference is that Kanban works best with continuous delivery of tasks until a project is complete while Scrum focuses on delivering chunks of items.
Let’s elaborate. Scrum has its own board called a Scrum board that is reset after each sprint. You can think of it as an extension of the backlog of product development tasks. On the other hand, a Kanban board visualizes the state of tasks and doesn’t reset after chunks of work are completed. The goal of a Kanban board is to control the work that enters and leaves a process. In Scrum, work boards are managed by the Scrum master and Scrum product manager to ensure constant visibility into project progress and status. This work board is typically projected in the daily stand-up meetings, so no one on the team is ever confused about where a project stands. Scrum boards are rebuilt before each sprint.
Another core difference is their approach to flexibility versus rigidity. Scrum is a prescriptive framework that requires detailed planning — it has clearly defined processes and roles. Kanban is more flexible with the main goal of limiting work-in-progress bottlenecks.
Which one is right for you?
The short answer — it depends. The long answer is that one is not better than the other and you’ll want to carefully consider which one best fits your team’s needs.
If you are focused on higher productivity and a faster delivery, Scrum is your best bet. It’s efficient at tackling complex projects, particularly the ones that will see a lot of change. Scrum allows you to split complex projects into more digestible chunks, setting goals and milestones for your team along the way. It also allows you to adapt your approach after each sprint, so you can remain flexible as feedback comes in and product requirements change.
Conversely, Kanban may be your choice if you’re working on a smaller project or managing an ongoing project composed of small incoming pieces of work, like bug fixes or enhancement requests. Kanban is great for teams who like to visualize projects and is much better if you don’t want to overhaul your entire work process. You can react to changes in small projects, in real time, in a way that would be difficult to do with larger teams. If you’re using a work management platform, you can also share boards with clients, outsourcers, or other collaborators.
Best of both worlds — Scrumban
You may be asking yourself, “What is this charming portmanteau that combines Scrum and Kanban?” Scrumban is a hybrid methodology that was created for teams that couldn’t choose, bringing together the mightiest aspects of both Scrum and Kanban to form one all-powerful project management framework.
They work together like so: Scrumban uses the processes of Scrum, but the visualization tools of Kanban. More often than not it involves Scrum teams using Kanban rather than vice versa. And so Scrumban was born, much like brunch, where the best of both breakfast and lunch live.
Use a project management software for Kanban or Scrum
Knowing the difference between Kanban and Scrum will help you pick the right project management approach for your company. When you’re ready to get started, evaluate your project management platform to see if it is compatible with Kanban or Scrum.
If it isn’t, or you would like to see what other software is out there, check out Adobe Workfront . It’s enterprise work management software that connects work to strategy and drives better collaboration to deliver measurable business outcomes. It integrates people, data, processes, and technology across an organization, so you can manage the entire lifecycle of projects from start to finish. By optimizing and centralizing digital projects, cross-functional teams can connect, collaborate, and execute from anywhere to help them do their best work.
Take a product tour or watch an overview video to better understand how Workfront works well with either Scrum or Kanban frameworks.