The Agile methodology has led to the creation of numerous other methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban.
These different methodologies are used by numerous development teams around the world and have led to improved product development.
But what if the development team thinks that they have chosen the wrong agile methodology, can they switch from one type of methodology to another ?
For example, a development team might start using Scrum because that is the methodology that is commonly used by development team but then they could realize that it might not be the best fit for them so what should they do ?
They could try switching to another methodology such as Kanban which might be a better fit for the team but this might not be so easy due to numerous factors such as:
- How long they have been using the Scrum methodology.
- The pending work items on the Scrum board.
- The teams agile maturity level.
It is always easier to switch methodologies if all the pending work on the Scrum board have been completed because then the team can start off on a clean slate. So it would be best to complete all pending work before changing methodologies.
There might also be the need to train the team on the new methodology because even though the Scrum and Kanban methodologies share some similarities, they also have their differences which the team might not be aware of.
What are some of the differences between the Scrum and Kanban methodologies ?
While both the Scrum and Kanban methodologies are derive from the Agile methodology they do have some differences which include the following:
| Scrum | Kanban | |
| Definition | The Scrum methodology depends on cross-functionality, accountability and self-organization within the development team. | The Kanban methodology is simple and adaptable and allows organizations to improve business value delivery without changing their current development team structure. |
| Team’s work | The team’s work is split into small, manageable pieces that can be completed in a short time period called sprints which are usually 2-4 weeks long. | Kanban also breaks the team’s work into manageable chunks that can be completed in a short time period called sprints which are usually 2-4 weeks long. |
| Team’s roles | The Product Owner is responsible for planning, prioritizing, and communicating the progress of the team’s work. The Scrum Master is responsible for organizing the work in a sprint. While the team members are responsible for performing the work that is assigned in the sprint. | The Kanban team also has the Product owner, Scrum master and team members roles but these roles are flexible and interchangeable. So while in one project a team member might be the Scrum Master, in the next project they can be a team member. |
| Board | The Scrum team uses a Scrum Board to represent the work flow in a project or initiative. They break their work into stories which are manageable chunks of work. As the work progresses, each story is moved along the board from the “Backlog” which is the to-do list, into the “Active” column and into the “Done” column which is when it is completed. | A Kanban Board which is very similar to a Scrum Board is also used to manage their work and it has estimated stories but they are more flexible and can be changed if needed. |
The development team might want to change methodological types if they realize that the guidelines of the methodology are too restrictive.
But they should ensure that they plan the transition well to prevent work delays, confusion and inefficiency.