Scrumban, originally developed by Corey Ladas in 2003, is a combination of Scrum and Kanban, combining the structured process model of Scrum with the flow-based view of Kanban to create an adaptable process for agile teams. The idea behind Scrumban is to create an agile methodology that offers greater flexibility than Scrum, while providing greater predictability and planning certainty than Kanban.
Scrum and Kanban in comparison
Scrum and Kanban are both agile methods for increasing the efficiency of processes in product development and have their origins in software development. Scrum is based on flexible planning, a clear distribution of roles and an iterative way of working. Kanban, on the other hand, is an approach to process optimization and workflow management that focuses on visualizing work processes, reducing waste and bottlenecks, and limiting work in progress (WIP).
Advantages of Scrumban
Scrumban enables teams to react quickly and flexibly to changes in the project by combining the approach from Scrum and the clarity from Kanban, and to adapt accordingly. For example, the team can quickly incorporate new tasks from the Kanban backlog into the work process or adjust WIP limits to avoid bottlenecks and maintain high productivity.
Continuous Improvement is another benefit of Scrumban, based on the Lean principle of "Kaizen" and the use of a Kanban board. "Kaizen" is a continuous improvement process that aims to constantly optimize the quality and efficiency of the work process.
Increased efficiency is also a significant advantage of Scrumban, which is achieved by applying the pull principle and other methods. In practice, this means that a work step or task is not started until the previous work step is completed and there is a "request" for the next task. Scrumban also provides waste reduction through methods such as value stream mapping and standardization. Last, Scrumban enables better planning and forecasting using planning elements from Scrum and Kanban, as well as through the use of metrics and key performance indicators.
Scrumban Best Practices
To realize the full potential of Scrumban, organizations should adopt some best practices. An important starting point here is the visualization of the work process and the recording of tasks in a Kanban board. In addition, WIP limits are essential to avoid overloading the team. Regular reviews and retrospectives help to evaluate and optimize the team's work and monitor compliance with WIP limits to avoid overloading the team. Collaboration and communication within the team and with other teams should also be encouraged to ensure effective and efficient collaboration.
There are also some other methods and practices that can be used in Scrumban teams to improve the agility and effectiveness of the team. For example, the use of user stories can help the team better consider the user perspective during production.
In software development, the use of pair programming, where two developers work together on code, can help improve the quality of the code and foster team collaboration. In addition, using Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment can help speed up the deployment of code changes and ensure that all changes are thoroughly tested before they go into production.