Effective agile software development calls for seamless integration, communication, and collaboration between various teams such as software development, testing, and operations. Kanban and Scrum are two of the most popular methodologies that provide ways of doing it effectively. Both Scrum and Kanban are iterative work systems based on process flows and aim to reduce waste. They are adaptive, transparent, and reduce project inefficiencies. While Kanban is a continuous and fluid methodology, Scrum is based on short, and structured work Sprints.
Let’s understand these two in more detail.
Scrum – In More Depth
Scrum is more closely associated with Agile methodology, designed to adapt and handle frequent changes in complex projects. It is a tool that lets organizations arrange work into small and manageable pieces so that they can be completed by cross-functional teams within a specified timeline. The precise timeline or period, which is usually 2-4 weeks, is called Sprint. The entire workflow is broken down, and visually represented into smaller parts called Stories, and corresponded on the Scrum Board. Each Story moves on the Board from Backlog or the to-do list to the Work-in-Progress (WIP).
The Scrum process is planned, organized, and optimized by three principle or prescribed roles:
- Product Owner: A person responsible for planning, prioritizing, representing the client, and communicating with the rest of the organization.
- Scrum Master: A person responsible for overseeing process details for a Sprint.
- Team Members: A group of people responsible for the actual design and development coding process.
Scrum is built on the three principles of:
- Adaptation: Accommodate tactical details influencing project directions
- Transparency: Keep everyone involved in the project updated about the current status
- Inspection: Regularly and consistently inspect the development process to help increase the scope of improvement
Scrum has five core values:
- Focus
- Commitment
- Openness
- Courage
- Respect
Each member associated with the Scrum methodology has a sense of ownership of the project that is marked by open, and clear communication.
The Scrum process is:
Stages of the Scrum process are:
- Daily Scrum, a meeting that happens at the same time and place every day, and at the end of the meeting, the team reviews work completed the previous day, and plans work to be completed in the next 24 hours. Members share problems and obstacles that they encounter during the Daily Scrum to facilitate smooth task delivery.
- Sprint planning meetings, a time when each team member sets the target for the Sprint which is 2-4 weeks. At the end of the Sprint, the team produces at least one increment of the task at hand.
- Sprint retrospective comes at the end of a Sprint and is a time for members to reflect on the process and build a new team if necessary. The objective of this phase is continual development operation improvement.
When to use Scrum?
Scrum is best used for feature-driven development work with definitive release goals, and milestones, where priorities may not change as much over time.
Kanban – In More Depth
Kanban is a tool to help organize the Development Operation to achieve greater efficiencies. Kanban also breaks down work into manageable pieces using a Kanban Board letting team members visualize workflow and progress. The visualizing process in Kanban limits Work-in-Progress, and moves quickly from ‘in-progress’ to ‘done’ tags. The process accommodates continual incoming requests of varying sizes, and priorities. The main thrust of using the Kanban tool is to let team members go with the flow rather than take control of the flow as in Scrum.
The Continual workflow structure of Kanban aims at keeping the team nimble, and ready to adapt to changing priorities. Work items here are organized on the Kanban Board, and each work item is represented by Cards. Workflow stages for Kanban are:
- To Do
- In Progress
- In Review
- Blocked, and
- Done
The most effective part of Kanban is that it depicts the way a team works and delivers:
- Backlog to Prioritized
- Planning to Executing
- Reviewing to Shipped
Kanban cadence does not have any fixed task delivery time as in Scrum but releases its work as and when it’s ready, without waiting for any Sprint review milestone.
The key metrics of Kanban are:
- Lead time, and cycle: It deals with the average time to move from task start to finish, as improved cycle time is indicative of team success.
- Cumulative Flow Design (CDF): An analytical tool used to understand the number of work items in each state, identify, and resolve bottlenecks for better output.
- Work-in-Progress: It caps the number of Cards used in a Kanban Board column at any given time. Once the limit is reached, software like Jira caps the column, making team members prioritize those tasks taking them forward to Done.
Unlike Scrum, there is no Kanban master. The tool encourages collective responsibility to keep the development process smoothly operative. The entire team owns the Kanban Board, and jointly shares responsibilities to collaborate and deliver tasks on the Kanban Board.
The Kanban process is:
Kanban aims at gradually improving all processes and operations, from software development to its sales and procurement.
The process follows these principles:
- Visualize work with its visual model of work and workflow to observe it moving through the Kanban system.
- Limit work in progress, decrease the time taken to travel across the system, and reach the final delivery point.
- Focus on flow to optimize workflow through the Kanban system by limiting WIP and initiating team-driven policies.
Continual improvement is at the very core of the Kanban methodology, helping teams measure effectiveness by analyzing, and tracking flow along with quality lead time.
When to use Kanban?
Kanban is best used to accommodate incoming pieces or requests such as changes and enhancements for projects with widely varying priorities.
Summing it up
Scrum provides a great way of completing work with its iterative, and incremental work methods. Scrum team members have defined roles in the process that they are to complete within the Sprint or the set time.
Kanban team members emphasize work-in-progress and are open to customization of work in progress. The process involves continual improvement with every piece of incremental work getting completed. Each member of the team owns collective responsibility towards a project and the overall improvement of the organization as a whole.
The choice between the two depends on the unique business needs and goals.
