Kanban vs Scrum

Kanban is a lean method for managing and improving work flows in production and development processes. It focuses on continuous delivery without overloading the work team, using a visual system to monitor task progress.

Initially developed in the 1940s by Toyota, Kanban is part of the Lean Manufacturing system. Its goal is to optimize production processes by visualizing work and reducing waste.

Originating in manufacturing, Kanban has spread to software development and other fields thanks to the promotion by David J. Anderson. Its focus on efficiency and continuous improvement highlights its adaptability and value across different environments.

Teams use Kanban boards to visualize their work and track progress, often with columns like "To Do", "In Progress", and "Done".

Kanban promotes the identification and resolution of problems in the work process, allowing for continuous and efficient improvement, advocating the Kaizen philosophy.

One of the key practices of Kanban is limiting WIP (Work In Progress) to improve team focus and efficiency, reduce Lead Time, and increase the quality of the delivered work.

The pull system in Kanban encourages finishing tasks before starting new ones, focusing on actual capacity and demand. This approach improves value delivery and efficiency by ensuring that one piece of work is completed before taking on another, simplifying workflow management from right to left.

Some of the most popular digital tools for implementing the Kanban method are: Trello, Asana, and JIRA.

Scrum is an Agile framework designed to develop adaptive solutions to complex problems, emphasizing the delivery of value through iterative and incremental progress, team collaboration, and adaptability to changing requirements.

It is designed to facilitate a team's ability to self-organize and make rapid decisions in response to complex and changing needs.

The solution scope is addressed through 'Sprints', short iterations of up to a month, commonly 2 weeks, where each iteration produces a deliverable product increment.

Scrum prioritizes the delivery of the highest value features to the customer early and regularly, over the Product Owner's ordered Backlog.

Scrum establishes specific roles: the Scrum Master, who ensures adherence to Scrum practices; the Product Owner, who defines the product needs; and the Developers, responsible for materializing the solutions that make up the product.

The main artifacts of Scrum are the Product Backlog, a list of everything that is needed for the product; the Sprint Backlog, the commitment to the solutions that will be developed in the next Sprint; and the Increment, the set of completed items, ready to be delivered.

Scrum determines the following events: Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective.

Scrum is based on Commitment, Courage, Focus, Openness, and Respect. These key values foster an environment of collaboration and shared responsibility within the team.

Scrum rests on the pillars of Transparency, Inspection, and Adaptation. These pillars support the agile process, promoting visibility, continuous evaluation, and flexibility to adapt to changes.

The Scrum Guide offers an essential and practical understanding of the agile framework in an accessible format. Ideal for those looking to implement Scrum, download the Scrum guide for free.