What is Scrumban?

An evolution of the Scrum and Agile methodologies was born out of a quest to help teams move between Kanban and Scrum and vice versa. In the same vein where words like brunch for breakfast and lunch and malware for malicious software were coined, Scrumban emerged. As it is a combination of Scrum and Kanban, it is meant to offer more flexible and efficient workflows. Let’s take a look at how it works, how it compares to Scrum and Kanban, and when to use this hybrid approach.

What is Scrumban?

Scrumban is simply a combination of Scrum and Kanban. Scrum shines for its structured and iterative framework, while Kanban is best represented by its visual workflows and focus on continuous improvement. Scrumban is a hybrid project management methodology born from a combination of these prominent principles of Scrum and Kanban. This gives Scrumban users greater flexibility and streamlined workflows and allows them to quickly adapt to changes.

How does Scrumban work?

Scrumban leverages Scrum features such as daily standups and retrospectives to ensure regular progress assessment and team alignment. At the same time, it uses Kanban's visual task management and WIP limits (a set number of cards on a board to prevent overwork) to streamline workflow and maintain consistent productivity. Teams use visual boards to track tasks throughout the various stages of the project.

Instead of fixed-duration sprints, Scrumban uses on-demand scheduling, where new tasks are scheduled based on current needs and workload. The result is a more agile and adaptable planning process. Additionally, it incorporates tiered planning, which involves managing long-term goals and breaking down larger goals into smaller, more manageable tasks that can be prioritized dynamically.

This approach also dilutes the importance of deadlines, as on-demand planning and the use of large-scale goals mean that sprint tasks can come and go based on long-term goals, with review and iteration stages in between. With this hybrid approach, you get a balanced and flexible framework that adapts to a variety of project environments and promotes continuous improvement and adaptability.

Scrum vs Kanban vs Scrumban

To better understand the differences and similarities between Scrum, Kanban, and Scrumban, let's start with a comparison table that summarizes their key aspects:

Scrum

Scrum is a well-defined framework that promotes structured roles and time-bound iterations called sprints. The Scrum Master accelerates the process, the Product Owner manages the project backlog, and the Development Team works on the sprint goals. Scrum ceremonies, which include daily meetings, sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives, ensure continuous improvement and alignment. Scrum is best for projects with evolving requirements, as it provides a clear structure for iterative development and incremental delivery.

Kanban

Kanban emphasizes visualizing the entire workflow and putting boundaries on work in progress to improve project efficiency. There are no fixed roles or time-bound iterations; instead, you have tasks pulled from a backlog as capacity allows. This continuous delivery model helps teams maintain a steady workflow and adapt quickly to changes. Kanban software is particularly useful for projects that need flexibility and a steady workflow, such as maintenance and support tasks.

scrumban

As mentioned above, Scrumban merges the structured planning of Scrum with the visual workflow management of Kanban. It allows teams to balance planning and flow, making it ideal for projects with fluctuating requirements. Scrumban is especially beneficial for teams transitioning from Scrum to Kanban and vice versa, as it offers the flexibility to adapt to changing priorities while maintaining structured tracking of progress.

Benefits and disadvantages of Scrumban

As a fusion of two agile methodologies, Scrumban introduces a variety of benefits and limitations to project management.

Scrumban Benefits

• No team hierarchy: Since there is no hierarchy, there is no clear leader of a group and each team member has equal opportunities to make decisions.
• Flexibility: Scrumban is suitable for projects with changing priorities, as it allows teams to adjust workflows dynamically.
• Improved display: With Scrumban, users get more effective visual boards to better track progress, identify bottlenecks, and improve transparency and accountability.
• Continuous improvement: Scrumban encourages regular evaluation and improvement of processes, increasing efficiency.
• Lower planning overhead: Eliminates the need for fixed-length sprints and minimizes the planning overhead associated with Scrum.

Disadvantages of Scrumban

• No team hierarchy: The absence of hierarchy in the team is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Depending on the use case, lacking a clear leader and having a self-managed team can bottleneck your team's performance.
• Learning curve: If your team is not familiar with Scrum or Kanban, you may need training to implement Scrumban effectively.
• Complexity: Combining elements of both methodologies can introduce complexity into process management.
• Many resources: Continuous monitoring and improvement can be resource intensive.
• Overmodification potential: Teams run the risk of over-modifying the framework and ultimately losing the benefits of structured processes.

Project management tools that support Scrumban

Tour

Jira by Atlassian is a robust project management software solution that supports both Scrum and Kanban frameworks, making it perfect for implementing Scrumban. It offers features like customizable workflows, advanced reporting tools, and detailed issue tracking, giving teams the right tools to visualize their work and manage tasks across sprints with WIP limits.

Jira has pricing tiers ranging from a free plan that covers 10 users to enterprise-level plans and an entry-level premium plan that starts at $8.15 per user per month.

Click above

ClickUp is a versatile project management platform suitable for small and medium-sized businesses. It supports Scrumban with its visual task boards, goal tracking, and detailed task dependencies, allowing teams to manage workflows flexibly. ClickUp's extensive integration capabilities with various third-party applications enhance its usefulness in streamlining project management processes.

Pricing options include a free tier and paid plans starting at $7 per user per month.

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Miro is known for its interactive online whiteboards that facilitate visual project management and qualify you to implement Scrumban. It allows collaborative teams of different company sizes to create customizable boards to visualize workflows, set WIP limits, and collaborate in real-time.

Miro's flexibility and ease of use are complemented by pricing tiers that start with a free option and extend to premium plans priced at $8 per member per month.

When to use Scrumban

Scrumban is ideal for organizations looking for a balanced approach to project management that combines the strengths of Scrum and Kanban. If your team needs a method that adapts to changing priorities and improves collaboration, Scrumban is the ideal solution.

Consider Scrumban when faced with any of the following scenarios:

• Transition between methodologies: Since Scrumban was initially designed to help teams transition from Scrum to Kanban, you can gradually adopt Kanban practices while maintaining familiar elements of Scrum for a smooth transition without abrupt changes.
• You have long-term projects with changing requirements: Scrumban's combination of iterative planning and continuous flow supports long-term planning while allowing small changes to be made in large increments of time.
• Continuous flow projects: If you have projects with a continuous flow of work and no definitive deadlines, unlike Scrum which resets your board after each sprint, Scrumban is a good choice as it maintains a continuous flow of tasks.
• Teams looking for more flexibility than Scrum: If you find Scrum too rigid but still need some structure, you may want to consider Scrumban for its more flexible planning and execution compared to the strict frameworks of Scrum.
• When on-demand scheduling is preferred: Scrumban supports on-demand planning instead of fixed sprint planning, which benefits teams that need to quickly adapt to changing priorities and demands.
• Teams looking to reduce meeting overhead: Scrumban requires fewer formal meetings than Scrum, which is good if Scrum's meeting schedule seems too demanding for you. Additionally, fewer meetings can help maintain focus on productive work while allowing for necessary communication and alignment.

To explore more about Kanban and Scrum, check out our best open source Kanban boards and explore the best Scrum certifications of 2024.