Tempo logotype

Scrum vs Kanban: Which should you choose for your business team?

From Team '23

Tempo Team

So, you’re looking to introduce agile working to your team. You may be a marketing, operations, HR, or finance team. To be honest, it doesn’t matter what you are because anybody can be agile. Thing is, there’s lots of ways to be agile, so which approach should you ascribe to?

The two most popular approaches are Scrum and Kanban and, to be honest, most teams choose one or the other. You can’t really choose wrong, because Scrum and Kanban are just two different rides to the same destination, that destination being: delivering value to customers faster. The approach you choose depends on how your team would like to work.

Let’s start with a high-level overview of the differences between Scrum and Kanban.

Scrum vs Kanban at a glance

Scrum

Kanban

Scheduling

Work is divided into fixed-length sprints of 1 – 4 weeks

Work is scheduled continuously as needed until the project is finished

Delivery methodology

Delivery at the end of each sprint

Continuous delivery

When to make changes

After the current sprint based on retrospective review; no changes in the middle of the sprint

Any time

Roles

Product Owner, Scrum Master, Agile Team

No predefined roles; team members can take on a number of roles to get the work done

Primary metrics

Velocity (the amount of estimated work completed in a sprint)

Amount of work in progress, cycle time, lead time, flow

Popular tools

Jira Software Trello nTask Zepel Sprintly

Jira Software Jira Work Management Trello Kanbanize KanbanFlow

What is Scrum?

Scrum offers a more rigid structure for working than Kanban. Projects are broken down into smaller increments, and each of these increments is completed over a predetermined block of time called an iteration or sprint. So, the goal of a Scrum team is to deliver something at the end of each sprint. This could be a feature, part of a feature, or some other kind of deliverable. At the end of each sprint, a retrospective takes place, looking at what was and wasn’t done during the sprint, and what should be improved for the next one.

How does Scrum work in Jira? Well, you will typically create a project, e.g. a marketing team will create a project called “Marketing”. Everything related to marketing will live here, including your backlog of tasks. You might then choose to create epics. Epics are used for features/deliverables that are quite large and would take multiple sprints to complete, e.g. a marketing campaign for a new product. From there, your epics get broken down into tasks, e.g. creating a brochure for your marketing campaign. When planning an upcoming sprint, your team will choose which tasks from the backlog to add to it.

You will then visualize your work on a Scrum board that shows your sprint, with columns for “To Do”, “In Progress”, and “Done”. You can also add other custom states such as “In Review” and “Ready to Publish”.

You will agree prior to the sprint which issues from the backlog to commit to completing during it, and then you’ll work on moving those issues through the columns over the course of the sprint. Not making changes in the middle of the sprint means not adding any more “To Do” items from the backlog. This would change the scope of the sprint and might mean that you’re not able to complete all the work in the allocated time.

What is Kanban?

Kanban has some similarities with Scrum in that you visualize your work on a board, in this case a Kanban board. On the face of it, a Kanban board looks much the same as a Scrum board and will typically have columns for “To Do”, “In Progress”, and “Done” through which you move your tasks. As with Scrum, you can also create more specific custom columns such as “Writing”, “Designing”, “Technical Review”, “Published”, and “Shipped”, depending on what your project or product actually is.

The difference with Kanban is that the board leads the process, whereas with Scrum, the sprint leads the process. You could argue that the board is more important in Kanban because visualization of your workflow is so fundamental. In Kanban, it’s all about looking at your board and making sure work items are moving through it at a steady pace and not getting stuck in the “In Progress” state. Kanban teams use their board to see what needs to be done and prioritize accordingly. By contrast, the work to be done in Scrum has already been decided, before you even get to the board. You could say that in Scrum, the board is used to monitor what’s happening, whereas in Kanban, the board is used to control what’s happening.

In Kanban, there are no time-boxed sprints and changes can be made according to the team’s needs. Kanban teams prioritize work by placing items at the top of the backlog and giving them due dates. While Scrum requires high control over what’s in your team’s scope, Kanban lets you change the scope as long as you don’t disrupt the continuous flow of work. Kanban teams keep control by looking at Cumulative Flow Diagrams, which help understand the number of work items in each state and identify specific bottlenecks. They might also use work-in-progress limits to cap the number of items that can be moved to the “In Progress” column. This stops tasks from getting stuck, because the limit will encourage everyone to swarm on the items that are there and get them done so that they can move forward with other work.

You can still use the same issue types in Jira, e.g. epics for larger bodies of work. It’s just that the way you work on those epics is less structured and more fluid.

Which is best for YOU?

Scrum is the better fit if:

  • Your team works better with more stringent rules and processes in place

  • Detailed planning is required

  • There are dependencies on individuals and teams outside of your team

  • Certain tasks depend on others being completed

  • You want your team to be protected from scope changes while they are executing work

Kanban is the better fit if:

  • You’d prefer a more flexible approach to deciding what work to do and when

  • You can’t or don’t need to plan work very far ahead of time

  • All of the work can be completed by your team

  • Each task can be completed in isolation of others

  • You want to be able to adapt to change quickly, course-correcting as necessary

You might think that your team’s philosophy sits somewhere between the two, or that neither seems like the right fit. However, there are pitfalls in trying to combine elements of Scrum and Kanban; most teams end up not really getting the benefits of either and, as such, they end up agile-in-name-only. In a future article, we’ll discuss these mixed methodologies and other agile approaches you might want to try.

Sign up for a demo

Register

Explore More Content

Get the data you need to succeed

Time Tracker

Extend your Jira with prebuilt and highly configurable reports for straightforward time tracking.

Learn more

Roadmapping software for teams of all sizes

Strategic Roadmaps (Roadmunk)

The roadmapping tool designed for high-performing teams delivering boardroom-ready strategic roadmaps.

Learn more

Align your organization with proactive portfolio management

Portfolio Manager (LiquidPlanner)

Predictive scheduling and the ability to forecast project timelines and spot risks so you can meet deadlines with confidence.

Learn more

Jira Time Tracking

Timesheets by Tempo

#1 Jira Time Tracking & AI Apps: Log Tempo Timesheets for Planning, Project Management & Billing. Plugin Office365, Google & Slack

Go to marketplace

For planning leaders looking to add a big-picture roadmap view to their structured Jira data, this integration is essential. Improve visibility to leadership, reduce reporting admin, and keep your team aligned.

Learn more

No-code Tableau Jira integration

Tableau Connector for Jira

Effortlessly bridge Jira with Tableau, unlocking unparalleled insights and enhancing decision-making

Learn more

Unified time and team management

Integration: Timesheets and Structure

Combining Tempo Timesheets and Structure PPM provides a unified view of time tracking and project progress, enabling more accurate reporting and effective portfolio management. Simplify workflows, enhance collaboration, and ensure projects stay on time and within budget.

Learn more

Powered by Structure’s custom hierarchies, visualize your roadmap, project plans, timeline & dependencies within Jira Gantt charts

Go to marketplace

Project and program management for Jira

Structure PPM

Visualize all your Jira data & manage portfolios of projects in real-time.

Learn more

Jira Portfolio Management PPM

Structure by Tempo

Jira Project Portfolio Management (PPM): Visualize data and manage projects within spreadsheet-like tables — in less than a minute

Go to marketplace
Colleagues interacting around a desk

No-Code Power BI Jira Integration

Power BI Connector for Jira

Effortlessly bridge Jira with your preferred BI tool, unlocking unparalleled insights and enhancing decision-making

Learn more

Jira Team & Resource Management

Capacity Planner

#1 Jira Resource Management App: Optimize team allocation, skillset utilization, capacity planning & project management

Go to marketplace

Jira ITSM Solutions with Tempo

ITSM

Build and scale a custom ITSM solution at your own pace with Tempo's modular suite of integrated tools. Enhance Jira's capabilities and take control of your entire IT portfolio.

Learn more

Never lose track of a brilliant idea again

Idea Manager for Strategic Roadmaps

Never lose a brilliant idea again. Idea Manager for Strategic Roadmaps has built-in best practices to help.

Learn more

Unified time and team management

Integration: Timesheets and Capacity Planner

Seamlessly manage project timelines and resources while accurately tracking time spent on tasks. This integration enhances visibility, improves planning accuracy, and supports data-driven decision-making for better overall project outcomes.

Learn more

Time Tracking Software for Jira

Timesheets

Tempo’s intuitive automation and Jira-native design make it the most trusted time tracking tool for enterprise organization.

Learn more

Take control of your projects

Integration: Portfolio Manager and Jira

Portfolio Manager integrates seamlessly with Jira to give you predictive scheduling, real-time scenario modeling, and advanced resource management – ensuring you stay on track, no matter what challenges arise.

Learn more

No more reporting limitations

Custom Charts for Confluence

Create and share all kinds of highly visual and customizable charts directly on your Confluence pages.

Learn more

Real-time collaboration and capacity planning in Jira

Capacity Planner

A powerful team resource management tool designed to optimize capacity planning and project management in Jira

Learn more

Industry-leading project plan and roadmap visualizations with a Gantt chart extension

Gantt Charts for Structure PPM

Visualize project plans and roadmaps with a Gantt chart extension for Jira

Learn more

Custom charts and dashboards for Jira

Custom Charts for Jira

See how work is progressing and where blockers are with the most flexible reporting app in Jira.

Learn more

Centralize real-time plans in one view

Integration: Structure and Gantt Charts

Gain a more complete project management solution, simplifying project reporting, improving collaboration, and ensuring projects stay on time and within budget.

Learn more

Strategic Portfolio Management

Strategic Portfolio Management

Modern modular PPM solutions that scale with your business. Align your teams with the integrated platform that bridges the gap between strategy and execution.

Learn more

Jira Project Cost Tracking

Financial Manager

Project financial management for Jira & Timesheets. Monitor project costs, expenses, revenue, billing & budgets. Track Capex/Opex

Go to marketplace

Monitor financial health at every level

Financial Manager for Timesheets

Monitor projects and portfolios to get simple, clear, and real-time views of your costs, budgets, and profits that can be shared throughout your entire organization.

Learn more

Agile at Scale Software

Agile at Scale

Adapt to changing business needs, rapidly adjust plans, and reallocate investment.

Learn more

AI-enabled capacity visualization

Capacity Insights - Open Beta

Deliver visibility into how your team's time and efforts align with business objectives and project ROI - without the manual effort

Learn more