Scrum vs KanbanIvan Trofymenko

Software Testing Engineer

<Epam Systems>

Intro Scrum

Split your organization into small, cross-functional, self-organizing teams;

Split your whole work into small items; Split time into short fixed-length iterations; Optimize the release plan; Optimize the process.

Intro Kanban

Visualize the workflow; Limit WIP; Measure the lead time.

Scrum and Kanban are both process tools

Compare tools for understanding, not judgement; No tool is complete, no tool is perfect; Don’t limit yourself to one tool!

Scrum and Kanban are both process tools

Scrum is more prescriptive than Kanban

Scrum and Kanban are both process tools

Less is more!

Scrum limits WIP per iteration Kanban limits WIP per workflow state

Roles Scrum:• PO, Team, Master.

Roles Kanban:• Not necessary;

Scrum and Kanban are both process tools

Both are empirical

Changes within the iteration

Scrum resists change within an iteration Kanban is not. Each new task moves into WIP according to policy.

Board

Scrum board is reset between each iteration. Scrum backlog items must fit in a sprint.

Kanban-board is always displays current project state. Kanban teams try to minimize lead time and level the flow.

Productivity

Scrum prescribes estimation and velocity. FF, Burndown, Costs, etc.

In Kanban, estimation is not prescribed.

Both allow working on multiple products simultaneously Both are Lean & Agile

Prioritization Scrum prescribes prioritized product backlog. Daily meetings. Burn-down chart.

In Kanban you can choose any prioritization scheme.

Common

Both are Lean and Agile. Both use pull scheduling. Both limit WIP. Both use transparency to drive process improvement. Both focus on delivering releasable software early and often. Both are based on self-organizing teams. Both require breaking the work into pieces. In both, release plan is continuously optimized based on

empirical data.

Differences

Scrum Kanban

Timeboxed iterations prescribed. Timeboxed iterations optional

Team commits to a specific amount of work for this iteration. Commitment optional.

Uses Velocity as default metric for planning and process improvement.

Uses Lead time as default metric for planning and process improvement.

Cross-functional teams prescribed. Cross-functional teams optional. Specialist teams allowed.

Items must be broken down so they can be completed within 1 sprint. No particular item size is prescribed.

Burndown chart prescribed No particular type of diagram is prescribed

WIP limited indirectly (per sprint) WIP limited directly (per workflow state)

Estimation prescribed Estimation optional

Cannot add items to ongoing iteration. Can add new items whenever capacity is available

A sprint backlog is owned by one specific team A kanban board may be shared by multiple teams or individuals

Prescribes 3 roles (PO/SM/Team) Doesn’t prescribe any roles

A Scrum board is reset between each sprint A kanban board is persistent

Prescribes a prioritized product backlog Prioritization is optional.

Questions

Как ‘продать’ Kanban заказчику? …

Links

Kanban vs Scrum – how to make the best of both (Henrik Kniberg)

Agile Management - May 2004 - Using Cumulative Flow Diagrams by David J. Anderson

Lean Kanban Central Europe - Munich 2011