Going “agile” can be overwhelming. Even harder: finding a methodology that’s right for your team. There are so many choices when it comes to agile frameworks and each comes with its own set of roles and workflows. There are two frameworks, however, that crop up most often: Scrum and Kanban.
In many ways, these approaches are very similar. They both require work to move through a flow to ensure focus on a certain milestone or goal, they emphasis self-organization and autonomy among the team, and they both work best with regular and open communication. Where Scrum and Kanban differ is in how they put these shared principles into practice.
How These Frameworks Differ
In practice, Scrum relies heavily on prescribed roles within a team and uses a time-boxed sprint as the vehicle to define what work will get worked on. There are strict rules around who is responsible for adding or removing work items to the sprint. The use of these defined sprints and roles is meant to favor predictability and limit friction that might derail work progress. Scrum places a high value on frequent communication, like daily stand up meetings, which promote transparency and alignment among the team.
Kanban, on the other hand, is defined by its flexibility. Without a defined time-box, work items are started and completed as needed and do not need a certain person to sanction what gets worked on and when. These items are moved, one by one, through a flow with at least these three definitions: not started, in progress, and done. By limiting the number of work items in progress at one time, teams can stay focused and make progress until the work item has been completed.
Weighing Your Options
There are lots of opinions on agile frameworks within the tech and project management communities— and there is no right answer. It’s important to remember that what works for one team or project may not work for another. While some basic research and understanding of these approaches will help in the evaluation process, personal anecdotes are super helpful too. I recently contributed to a podcast called if/else to discuss this very debate. In this episode of if/else, industry experts (including yours truly!) help a development professional decide what framework is best for his team.
Still undecided? Here are some helpful resources and tools to explore and learn more.
- What Is Scrum? - scrum.org
- How Kanban Methodology Can Improve Your Team - lucidchart.com
- The Complete Guide to Agile, Kanban, Scrum and Beyond - Zapier (Matthew Guay)
- Ditching Scrum for Kanban - Grant Ammons (featured on if/else)
- Scrum vs. Kanban - if/else