Kanban vs Scrum

In Agile delivery, Kanban and Scrum are two of the most widely used frameworks for managing and improving workflow. Both help teams deliver value iteratively and respond quickly to change—but they differ in structure, cadence, and the way work is visualised and managed.

As a quick guide, you can think of it as the more dynamic cousin of “Waterfall,” the traditional linear development methodology that is used by many large companies.

Understanding the strengths, limitations, and best use cases of each will help you choose the right approach for your team and context.

Agile methods promote sprints instead of strict schedules, short feedback loops instead of long-term planning, and collaboration over individual ownership. They also focus on continuous improvement, using data (like customer surveys) to improve processes.

What is Kanban?

Kanban is a visual workflow management method used to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and optimise the flow of work. Originating in lean manufacturing, Kanban has been adapted for various industries, including software development, to streamline work processes.

The primary focus of Kanban is to visualise the workflow and limit work-in-progress (WIP), allowing teams to improve the flow and make continuous progress. Kanban boards are used to track work as it moves through different stages, such as “To Do,” “In Progress,” and “Done.”

Key Characteristics of Kanban:

• Continuous flow: Kanban allows for a continuous flow of work, with items being pulled into the system as capacity allows, rather than planning work in fixed iterations like Scrum.
• Visual management: Teams use Kanban boards to visualise the flow of work, making it easier to track progress and identify bottlenecks.
• Work-in-progress (WIP) limits: Explicit limits are set for each stage in the workflow to prevent overload and multitasking, which can slow down progress.
• Flow metrics: Kanban focuses on improving flow by tracking metrics such as cycle time (how long it takes to complete a work item) and lead time (how long it takes from the moment a work item enters the system until it’s completed).
• Flexibility: Kanban does not prescribe specific roles like Scrum, allowing teams to define their own roles and workflows based on their needs.

When to Use Kanban:

• When the work process is continuous and unpredictable, such as in support teams or maintenance.
• When you need to optimise existing workflows without enforcing fixed timeframes or rigid ceremonies.
• In environments where you need real-time flexibility and the ability to adapt to changing priorities without significant disruption to ongoing work.

What is Scrum?

Scrum is a time-boxed, iterative framework for managing and completing complex projects. Scrum divides the project into fixed-length iterations called Sprints (typically 1–4 weeks), during which teams plan and deliver a set of work.

Scrum is structured around specific roles, events, and artefacts that ensure work is broken down into manageable tasks and delivered incrementally. It helps teams collaborate effectively and receive regular feedback to adapt and improve.

Core Elements of Scrum:

• Roles: Scrum defines three core roles—Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Development Team—each with specific responsibilities.
• Events: Scrum uses five key events: Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum (Stand-up), Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective.
• Artefacts: Scrum has three key artefacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, and Increment.
• Time-boxed iterations (Sprints): Scrum works in fixed-length iterations, with a clear goal for each Sprint and regular reviews to assess progress.

When to Use Scrum:

• When you have a project with well-defined deliverables that can be broken down into smaller, manageable increments.
• When the team needs structured planning, regular feedback, and the ability to adapt to changing requirements through iterative delivery.
• In projects where collaboration and transparency are key to successful outcomes, such as product development or complex software engineering.

Kanban vs Scrum: The Key Differences

Kanban and Scrum, while similar in many ways, have some fundamental differences that are worth pointing out. They both aim to maximise productivity by limiting time spent in meetings and on projects, and both Scrum and Kanban rely heavily on the concept of self-organising teams that work together efficiently.

Kanban Board vs Scrum Board

One of the most visible differences between Kanban and Scrum is the Kanban Board vs Scrum Board.

Kanban Board:

• Purpose: The Kanban board is used to visualise work items as they move through different stages of the workflow. Common columns include To Do, In Progress, and Done, but these can be customised based on the workflow.
• Continuous flow: The board reflects a continuous flow of work, and new items can be added to the board at any time as long as there is capacity.
• Work in Progress (WIP): Explicit WIP limits are set for each column to prevent the team from overcommitting and to optimise the flow of work.

Scrum Board:

• Purpose: The Scrum board is used to track work items within a Sprint. It typically includes columns like Sprint Backlog, In Progress, Ready for Testing, and Done.
• Time-boxed: Unlike Kanban, the Scrum board is tied to the fixed-length iterations (Sprints), and work is planned and committed to at the start of each Sprint.
• Sprint focus: The Scrum board is focused on the current Sprint’s work, with no new work entering until the next Sprint begins.

Key Differences:

Scrum boards are structured around a specific Sprint, and work is planned and committed to before the Sprint starts.

Kanban boards allow continuous work flow, and items can be added at any time.

What is Scrum?

Scrum, also known as the Scrum Framework, is a popular framework for Agile software development. It defines specific roles, rules, and processes for managing the development lifecycle of a product. Scrum is focused on delivering incremental value through collaboration, transparency, and regular reflection, making it ideal for dynamic and evolving projects.

Scrum Process

Scrum is built around two simple yet powerful concepts: the sprint and the backlog. The sprint is a fixed-length iteration where work is broken down into manageable chunks, often referred to as user stories. The backlog is a list of all the potential tasks and features that may be required for the product in the future. Prioritising, maintaining, and refining this backlog is a critical part of Scrum.

Key Elements:

• Backlog management: The backlog is dynamic and prioritised, allowing for continuous refinement.
• Sprints: Time-boxed work cycles (typically 1–4 weeks) that focus on delivering a subset of the backlog’s items.

The Waterfall method and other traditional project management techniques usually don’t include such flexible, iterative planning, making Scrum a more responsive approach to handling changes.

Scrum Team Roles

Scrum relies on clearly defined roles to ensure the framework functions effectively. These roles bring clarity, foster collaboration, and guide the team through their work.

Product Owner:

The Product Owner is the voice of the customer and represents the stakeholders. This role is responsible for:

• Creating and prioritising the Product Backlog.
• Ensuring the team understands the backlog items and their value.
• Managing expectations and providing feedback.

The Product Owner can be one person (such as a manager) or a group (such as a project management office (PMO) or a cross-functional team).

Scrum Master:

The Scrum Master acts as a coach and facilitator for the team. The role is focused on helping the team deliver value continuously by:

• Removing bottlenecks or impediments during the Daily Stand-up.
• Ensuring that Scrum principles and practices are being followed.
• Coaching the team on Scrum practices.
• Facilitating meetings such as Sprint Planning, Sprint Reviews, and Retrospectives.
• Identifying and managing risks.

If you wish to become a Scrum Master yourself, take a look at the Institute’s PSM Scrum Master course.

Development Team:

The Development Team consists of professionals who are responsible for building the product during the Sprint. Their key responsibilities include:

• Working collaboratively to complete tasks from the Sprint Backlog.
• Organising their work and managing their time without micromanagement.
• Delivering a potentially shippable product increment at the end of each Sprint.

A key benefit of Scrum is that team members self-organise and decide how best to complete the work based on their skills and experience.

Key Metrics

1. Sprint Burndown: This chart tracks how many hours remain in the Sprint, showing the team’s progress toward completion. It helps with planning and ensures there are no surprises at the end of a project. The chart visually demonstrates whether the team is on track to complete the Sprint on time.

2. Actual vs. Completed Story Points: A project manager will use actual story point estimates at the end of each sprint meeting (or iteration planning meeting) along with completed story points from previous meetings in order to calculate percentage completion towards overall release goals (or product backlog items). This will help identify if each release or product backlog item has been over-scoped and whether additional resources are needed or if scope needs to be reduced in order to achieve original objectives on time.

3. Team Velocity: Velocity measures how much work the team completes per Sprint, usually represented in story points. The velocity is calculated by dividing the total number of completed story points by the number of people on the team. This helps teams understand their capacity and predict how much work they can handle in future Sprints.

For example, if a team completes 20 story points in a Sprint and the team has 5 members, their velocity is 4 story points per person.

4. Scrum Retrospective Process Improvement: Retrospectives are key in Scrum because they provide teams the opportunity to inspect their processes and make improvements. Regular retrospectives allow teams to identify what’s working and what needs adjustment, enabling continuous improvement.

Change Philosophy

In Scrum, once the process begins, any changes to the product or scope are avoided unless agreed upon during the Sprint Retrospective. This ensures that disruptions are minimized during a Sprint, and the team can focus on delivering value.

While this might seem rigid, it’s a deliberate choice to minimise risks and maintain a steady pace. When a change occurs in the middle of a Sprint, it often leads to delays and increased risk, which is why Scrum promotes sticking to the plan within the Sprint and addressing changes only after its completion.

What is a Kanban?

Kanban is another Agile methodology that focuses on incremental change and continuous improvement. Kanban was originally developed for lean manufacturing, but it has proven effective in many other fields, particularly in software development, operations, and even creative industries.

Kanban Process

The Kanban methodology focuses on managing work through a pull system. Teams work by pulling tasks into the system as they are ready, instead of pushing tasks based on a pre-defined schedule. This method allows for continuous delivery, optimising efficiency and ensuring that resources are not overburdened.

Kanban works by setting relevant metrics and goals to ensure that production is under control and tasks are completed efficiently.

Three Key Components of Kanban:

• Pull System: Work items are only started when a team member pulls a card from the board, ensuring work is done only when there’s capacity to do so.
• Kanban Board: The visual representation of the workflow, typically displayed on a wall or a digital tool, where each task is represented by a card.
• Kanban Cards: Each task is represented by a card that moves through various stages (such as To Do, In Progress, and Done).

Kanban Team roles

Kanban differs from Scrum in that it doesn’t prescribe specific roles such as Scrum Master or Product Owner. Instead, teams are expected to self-organise based on their needs and responsibilities.

One of Kanban’s principles is empowering teams to define their roles, fostering self-organisation and autonomy. Teams in Kanban can have roles based on their function, but there are no fixed guidelines.

Key Metrics

Like Scrum, Kanban relies on metrics to measure progress and ensure work flows smoothly.

1. Burndown Chart: This chart is used to track the amount of work completed over a specific time period (usually day-by-day). It helps teams monitor progress and manage work expectations.

2. Lead and Cycle Time Chart:

• Lead time refers to how long it takes to finish an item after it has been requested.
• Cycle time refers to the time it takes to complete an item once it is in progress. Both of these metrics help gauge overall team efficiency and highlight areas where processes could be improved.

3. Cumulative Flow Chart: The Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) tracks the number of tasks completed at different stages of the workflow. This chart helps teams identify bottlenecks and understand how work is distributed across the various stages.

Change Philosophy

Kanban thrives on flexibility, allowing teams to adapt quickly as new obstacles arise and priorities shift. The ability to make small adjustments to the system while maintaining the overall workflow is a key feature of Kanban.

As new challenges present themselves, Kanban encourages teams to evolve the process and tweak the workflow to respond to changing circumstances, ensuring that improvements are continuous.

Kanban vs Scrum: Pros and Cons

Kanban and Scrum are two of the most widely used Agile methodologies. Both share the same overarching goal: helping teams deliver value faster and more effectively. However, each approach has distinct strengths and limitations that should be carefully considered before deciding which methodology to adopt.

Understanding the pros and cons of Kanban and Scrum helps teams choose the approach that best fits their work type, team maturity, and organisational context.

Kanban

Pros

• Clear visual overview of work, making it easier to identify bottlenecks, delays, and inefficiencies in the workflow.
• Greater visibility into project status and progress, enabling teams and stakeholders to see exactly where work stands at any given time.
• Supports rapid iteration in fast-paced environments where priorities may change frequently.
• Easy to implement, as it does not require a complete overhaul of existing processes or team structures. Kanban can often be introduced incrementally.

Cons

• The principles of Kanban can be difficult to grasp initially, meaning teams may need time and coaching to fully understand and apply them effectively.
• Kanban relies heavily on visual management, which may require investment in tools such as software platforms, whiteboards, or physical boards.
• The process can sometimes take longer than expected, particularly if WIP limits are poorly defined or not respected.
• Kanban does not provide a built-in framework or milestones, meaning teams must define their own structure for measuring progress. Without this discipline, it can be difficult to assess whether the project is on track or falling behind schedule.

Scrum

Pros

• Empowers development teams, giving them a level of autonomy and ownership that is often missing in traditional project management approaches.
• Frequent communication within the team and with stakeholders reduces surprises at the end of the project and improves alignment throughout delivery.
• Iterative delivery allows changes to be made after each Sprint, enabling teams to adapt to feedback and evolving requirements.
• Scrum encourages continuous inspection and adaptation, not only of the product but also of processes, tools, and team behaviours.

Cons

• The overhead of new roles, events, and processes can be challenging, particularly for small teams or organisations new to Agile.
• Daily Scrum meetings and constant communication can sometimes feel disruptive and may reduce productivity if not well facilitated.
• Scrum is a single framework, and while effective in many contexts, it does not always scale easily beyond its core assumptions without additional frameworks.
• Key project decisions are often made outside the development cycle, which can limit developers’ ability to make fully informed decisions about their work.

When to use Kanban?

Kanban is ideal when you want to introduce Agile values and practices without committing to a completely new system. It offers flexibility in how and when people work, making it well suited to environments with ongoing or unpredictable workloads.

Kanban’s approach is centred around a visual board that tracks work-in-progress (WIP). By limiting the amount of work being actively handled at any one time, Kanban helps:

• reduce distractions,
• improve focus,
• prevent premature handoffs that often cause delays.

This makes Kanban particularly effective for support teams, operational work, and environments where priorities shift frequently.

When to use Scrum?

The Scrum Framework was designed to manage complex and complicated projects. It emphasises flexibility, collaboration, and strong feedback loops to help teams identify problems early and adapt quickly.

Scrum is especially effective in environments where:

• requirements are uncertain or evolving,
• frequent inspection and adaptation are required,
• teamwork and shared ownership are critical.

Scrum is commonly used in software development, as digital products tend to be multifaceted and continuously evolving. New features, enhancements, and bug fixes require teams to work quickly while maintaining quality. Scrum’s iterative nature supports this balance—but only when applied with discipline and care.         

Kanban vs Scrum: Which method is best for you?

If your team needs a simple, visual system for managing work, Kanban may be the right choice. It is easy to implement, highly adaptable, and suitable for almost any type of work—from manufacturing and operations to writing and creative projects. Because it is non-prescriptive, teams often adapt Kanban in ways that feel natural and effective for their context.

Scrum, by contrast, is more structured and introduces its own terminology and practices—such as Sprints, Scrum Teams, Backlogs, Velocity, and Stand-ups. It requires a higher level of discipline and commitment from everyone involved and tends to work best with small, dedicated teams delivering complex products.

If you are looking for a balance between flexibility and structure, Scrumban is worth exploring. This hybrid approach combines:

• the simplicity and flow-focus of Kanban, with
• the structured cadence and feedback loops of Scrum.

Scrumban is increasingly popular in modern organisations that want Agile benefits without rigid constraints.

Conclusion

Scrum and Kanban are both effective frameworks for managing Agile projects, but they serve different needs. Scrum provides a structured, time-boxed approach that works well for projects that require regular feedback, iterative planning, and defined roles. Kanban, on the other hand, is more flexible, focusing on continuous improvement and flow without strict timeboxes or roles.

The choice between Kanban and Scrum depends on your team’s needs, the nature of your projects, and how your team prefers to work. By understanding the differences and benefits of each framework, you can choose the approach that will best help your team deliver value efficiently and sustainably.