What is Scrumban?

Scrumban is a project management methodology that combines the best elements of Scrum and Kanban. In this overview, we will explore the definition of Scrumban, its integration of Scrum and Kanban methodologies, fundamental ideas, working procedures, and when to use this approach.

What Is Scrumban?

Scrumban is a hybrid project management approach that blends Kanban and Scrum ideas. It combines the visual management approach and flexibility of Kanban with the structured framework of Scrum. Teams using it often take advantage of Kanban’s emphasis on continuous delivery and workflow optimization in addition to Scrum rituals like sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and sprint reviews. It gives teams visibility into work progress through Kanban boards and enables them to swiftly adjust to shifting priorities and customer needs.

How Does Scrumban Combine Scrum and Kanban?

Scrumban gets the iterative nature and the time-box approach of Scrum making teams plan work in sprints but it also integrates the visual management and continuous flow principle of Kanban. Utilizing these methodologies, Scrumban provides increased agility and workability for these teams to manage the flow of their work process.

Basics of Scrum:

Scrum is a common Agile approach that is built based on what sprints are usually, it is 2-4 weeks long. The Scrum framework is made up of known roles (Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Development Team), artifacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, and Increment), and events (Sprint planning meeting, daily stand-up meeting, sprint review, and sprint retrospective).

Scrum

Basics of Kanban:

Kanban is a Lean tool that aims to use physical processes to create a visual of the work and limit the number of tasks you’re taking at the same time. It applies a Kanban board to illustrate the process flow and cards as the work items in the team use. Kanban is grounded on the principle of continuous improvement through the rationalization of workflow which is achieved by optimizing the workflow through the system.

Kanban

Basics of Scrumban:

Scrumban combines the basic principles of Scrum and Kanban. It preserves Scrum’s sprint cycle structure and team roles while it merges Kanban’s visual management techniques, limits on WIP, and commitment to the flow. It encourages teams to continuously modify their processes by taking into account changing priorities and feedback.

The Scrumban method is defined by the union of Scrum and Kanban features and acts as a flexible and effective long work-hour guide for project managers.

Scrumban

Scrum Features in Scrumban

• Process Iteration: It is following procedure iterating processes frequently, which usually happens in the final part of sprints in sprint retro and is taken after review and sprint meetings. While this allows teams to see the direction they should be going in, and evaluate the results, they are also able to notice what may need working on and figure out what needs to be done differently.
• Prioritization: In Scrumban, work is arranged into tasks which are sorted based on the level of complexity and product demand. By doing this you ensure that the team concentrates on high-value items and thus better contribute to the overall project’s objectives.
• Definition of Done: The entire team reaches a common agreement on the sense of “done” for all commitments to be sure that the outcomes are apparent and measured. This will bring out a consistent and clear understanding of all the project occurrences.

Kanban Features in Scrumban

• Backlog Management: Scrumban has a backlog of items that require completion with a clear organization. The team gets “pulled” the next tasks that have passed through the backlog directly into their current workflow, thereby providing a steady flow of work.
• Work in Progress Limits: To avoid the unnecessary quantity of tasks and to keep the process of job completion effective, the team meetings are limited by the number of projects allowed to be in progress at each time.
• Visual Representation: Every task is visually represented by a Kanban card and proceeds through the stages of the process on the Kanban board. This visual presentation makes the project process transparent and allows the team members to track the progress of tasks conveniently.

Unique Features of Scrumban

• No Team Hierarchy: In contrast to the uniform hierarchy, Scrumban offers a flatter team structure in which everyone is on the same level and can freely make decisions and suggestions. Such an approach creates a great environment where all team members speak with one voice and do their best to drive the team forward.
• Flexible Timeframes: The schedule for a Scrumban project need not be strict with deadlines. Sprints are very often performed in the scheme of two weeks from the viewpoint of team members. This means that they can focus on some specific tasks which again need to be reviewed and iterated. The flexibility of Scrumban makes it a good fit for long-term projects or those whose goals are not clearly defined.

Step-by-Step Working of Scrumban

The Scrumban process is made up of four steps which are easy to understand. It is not assigned to the Scrum master and everyone must be well informed about these steps in the hard way. So, here is the way to go.

1. Set up the Scrumban board:

The Scrumban board is the type of Kanban board that incorporates all the features that include, and not limited to a product backlog, a sprint backlog, and workflow stages (not started, in progress, reviewing). These stages shown on the Kanban board will comply with the set preference of your team. In cases like this selected teams may probably prefer to omit the product backlog from their Scrumban board and only concentrate on the sprint backlog.

Scrumban is adjusted to be aligned with the bug-tracking nature of the iterative process of sprints. If the remaining cards ran out while team members were solving them, they could quickly pick up more cards from the product backlog. The team should look at the story cards about the board every week, which should help add cards to the product backlog. It will also aid in meeting the sprint’s aim.

2. Decide work-in-progress Limits and Apply the Accepted Ones:

In Scrumban, story points are not involved. In this way, the team avoids work-in-process limits to prevent overloading the organization with too much work. Thus, the members of the team will be able to cope with their responsibilities wisely and not experience the burden of many tasks.

More flexibility in adapting the process to the existing workflow is the second advantage of Scrumban. For instance, if the team assesses that the board is crowded with a lot of cards, then they are allowed to postpone the addition of new tasks until more cards are moved from the “Todo” category to the “Done” one.

Scrumban Process

3. Work with your Team to Prioritize Tasks:

Scrumban in particular has demonstrated its superiority in offering a tailored Agile approach. The scrumban approach lacks a predetermined hierarchy in the team, therefore furnishing flexibility, members get the opportunity to select tasks for them. The uncomplicated way to go about similar task prioritization is to browse the product’s biggest pain points.

Team members have the opportunity to assign the top priorities for the product and make their own decisions whenever they view something as important. A Scrum master/product manager expecting these independent teams to make decisions does not exist, as such, teams make decisions on their own.

4. Workers should Hold Daily stand-up Meetings:

The stand-up meetings with the team, which happen every day, are helpful for all the team members since they present a clear schedule for all the current tasks. For starters, the teammates can glance at the cards on the board and select a task that works best for them. The development team can use agile meetings to prioritize tasks by knowing the workload of every member of the team because the members are always active in these meetings. When the Scrumban method is employed, no assigned manager then takes on the responsibility of organizing the daily stand-up meetings. The team members can thereby support each other by taking turns to lead through the sessions.

When Should a Team Use Scrumban?

• Intermediate Step in Agile: Teams taking the process of Scrum to Kanban can successfully use Scrumban as an intermediate step as they migrate towards Agile through a smooth change process and adjustment to a new approach.
• Adaptability to Changing Requirements: In cases of imminent variations or long-term evolution of the project needs, the adaptability provided by Scrum’s nature is invaluable, giving the team a chance to cope with new demands promptly, following the changing priorities and facilitating alignment with the changing business situation.
• Flow and Continuous Delivery: Working with different workloads or reoccurring requests requires the use of Scrumban, which focuses on balance and continuous delivery. It helps to avoid unnecessary work piles as the new task can easily be added to the workflow without interfering with already ongoing processes.
• Structure and Adaptability: Scrumban is a very useful approach that can be employed by teams that need the security of Scrum and at the same time require the flexibility that a flow-based approach can offer, making it suitable for organizations when project needs are getting more and more complex.
• Unpredictable Workloads and Priorities: Scrumban can be beneficial for teams in the cases of undetermined volumes or sudden shifting priorities recurrently. Its flexibility permits teams to amend the workflow smoothly in case of different demand management.
• Structure and Flexibility: For Teams requiring a greater level of flexibility in their development process, Scrumbans comes in as an excellent solution to Scrum by offering a structured approach and a flexible workflow to ensure efficiency in task completion.

Conclusion: Scrumban

Scrumban is regarded as a mediator between Scrum and Kanban methodologies, providing an intermediary and agile approach to task list prioritization and management. Through a blend of the pros of these two approaches, it presents a method where teams can easily adapt to changing desires while keeping a predictable delivery pattern. As companies choose to integrate agility and innovation, scrumban comes to be a handy framework for managing the complications of sophisticated software development.