Scrum is a lightweight framework that helps people, teams and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems.
Kanban is a workflow management method for defining, managing and improving services that deliver knowledge work.
Here is the comparison:
| Category | Scrum | Kanban |
| Origin | Software Development | Lean Manufacturing (set of principles that can be applied to software development to decrease programming effort, budgeting, and defect rates by one third) |
| Ideology | Solve complex problems while delivering valuable products | Use visuals to improve workflows & processes |
| Practices | Sprint Planning Daily Scrum Sprint Review Sprint Retrospective | Visualize Workflow Limit work in progress Manage flow Make process policies explicit Implement feedback loop Improve, experiment |
| Key Pillars | Transparency, adaptation, inspection | Effective, efficient, predictable |
| Roles | Scrum Master: accountable for establishing Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide Product Owner: accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team Developers: committed to creating any aspect of a usable Increment each Sprint | No predefined roles. Although Service Delivery Manager & Service Request Manager are optional roles. |
| Timelines | Deliverables are determined by sprints | Products and processes are delivered continuously on an as-needed basis (with due dates determined by the business as needed) |
| Prioritization | Pull during Sprint planning meeting. In Scrum, prioritization is a must. | Pull system once previous task is completed. Probabilistic Planning. |
| Artifacts | Product backlog, sprint backlog, product increments | Kanban board |
| Commitment | Sprint forecasting to define the amount of work & try to meet the goal | Based on capacity of team |
| Change Policy | Generally not made during sprint | Can be incorporated any time |
| Cadence | The process is split into time-boxed iterations | The process is event-driven |
| Release Methodology | End of each Sprint | Continuous as & when ready |
| Core KPI’s | Velocity – Burndown Chart Projected Capacity – Team Velocity Chart | Lead Time – Cumulative Flow Diagram Cycle Time – Cycle Time Histogram |
| Tools Used | Jira Software, Axosoft, VivifyScrum, Targetprocess, Zoho Sprints | Jira Software, Kanbanize, SwiftKanban, Trello, Asana, Monday.com, |
| Which to pick | If preference to make changes after completing a sprint rather than adapting in real time. If story points for estimation instead of date and time-based deadlines. If clearly defined roles for team members and cross-functional capabilities required. If one care about customer feedback and wish to make improvements accordingly | If one is looking for a method that allows to visualize everything from beginning to end. If one want to be able to adapt to change quickly and course-correct as necessary. If one is not interested in cross-collaboration or having purely defined team roles. If creation of feedback loops that contribute to long-term efficiency and streamlining is the ask. |
Written for information purpose.
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