If you have heard of Kanban before, the likelihood is that you will also have heard of Scrum. The big debate over Kanban vs scrum board is an ongoing one. Both of these are both workflow systems that have been devised to reduce waste and to increase productivity. People have been known to get confused between the 2 or are a little confused as to which one suits their business needs better – so we thought we’d give you an in-depth explanation of them both, so you can make an educated choice.
The Main Differences Between Kanban and Scrum
There are some differences between Scrum and Kanban that you should be made aware of before opting for which one suits you best such as:
- With Kanban, there aren’t any roles that are predefined – so teams are encouraged to collaborate more and chip in when needed. With Scrum, everyone has a predefined role – and there is one Scrum master that defines the deadlines
- With Kanban, the concept is to use what is known as a pull system, which means new tasks can only be pulled when the previous one is complete. With Scrum, an entire batch is pulled for each task.
- Kanban allows you to make changes to a project when you are mid-way through, which allows you to constantly monitor and update, whereas this is discouraged with Scrum.
- Kanban will give you the cycle time of your project which is how long it takes for you to complete from beginning to end, whereas Scrum does this using “sprints”.
Ideally, you are more likely to use Kanban for projects that have priorities that are wide varying, whereas – Scrum is more suitable for projects that tend not to change much as time goes on. Reading this guide to Kanban vs Scrum software will give you a better idea of the differences between the 2.
Benefits of Using Kanban over Scrum
When it comes to finding areas for improvement, Kanban is a great way of doing this. There are many advantages of using Kanban as part of the scrum board vs Kanban board debate. The main thing is the flexibility. Due to the fact that you don’t need to predetermine any project times, and that you can constantly change things as you progress with your projects. This gives you the scope to change things as requirements are updated.
There is also a massive focus on productivity and efficiency and reducing waste overall when it comes to process and over-producing. You will be able to quickly find out if there is work that’s not required, that’s not correct – as well as the time that has been spent doing the wrong kind of work. Once you have managed to eliminate the waste factor, this is when you will be able to see your productivity levels go up. You can focus on the work that really matters to your business and properly prioritise.
Allowing for these processes and procedures to be visualized on a Kanban board can also boost your staff morale. It can be incredibly stressful working as part of an organisation that isn’t looking to improve upon their procedures, or to work as part of a team when you really don’t know who’s accountable for what. This level of clarity will reduce office stress overall.
How to Implement Kanban Effectively
If you are going down the route of using Kanban boards, then you will of course want to make sure that it’s implemented as effectively as possible. You do need to be careful that you don’t make too many changes at once and go more for evolution as opposed to revolution. You also need to make sure that you have clear priorities, so that you aren’t moving work or tasks in and out of process. You need to make sure that it’s 100% clear as to who should be working on what, otherwise things may fall through the cracks. As with anything, it may take a short while for you to learn how to adjust – but change is good! Implementing Kanban shouldn’t be an overnight change, but something that is introduced to your existing work regiment. If you do struggle with using or implementing Kanban, there are great Kanban coaches out there that can help you make the most of this software. There are also a lot of online video tutorials that you can make use of.
Hopefully you will now have a better idea as to where you are on the scrum vs Kanban debate, and know which one fits the requirements of your business most.