Scrum with Kanban

5 minutes 5 Questions

Scrum with Kanban merges the structured framework of Scrum with the visual management capabilities provided by Kanban. This helps to enhance transparency and deliver products of high quality efficiently. This approach retains the benefits of Scrum's iterative approach while harnessing the benefits of continuous delivery driven by Kanban. It includes features like digital Kanban boards, cumulative flow diagrams and so forth. It is absolutely possible to maintain Scrum Events, Roles and Artifacts, and add the transparency of workflow that Kanban provides.

Guide: Scrum with Kanban

What is Scrum with Kanban?
Kanban is a visual system for managing work as it moves through a process. Scrum with Kanban, therefore, is a marriage of the Scrum framework with Kanban principles. Scrum offers structure for teams and projects, while Kanban brings visualization and limit to Work-In-Progress (WIP) from the process. Using Scrum and Kanban together provides the capability of viewing work on a board and limits WIP to improve focus, clarity, and efficiency.

Why is it important?
Scrum with Kanban provides transparency and allows teams to visually track progress, manage work flow and reduce bottlenecks. This helps in managing workload, and improving productivity and efficiency. It provides a great control over the lifecycle processes. The Kanban board displays what needs doing, what is in progress and what is completed, offering a real-time snapshot of the project status.

How does it work?
Tasks are visually represented on a Kanban board, allowing team members to see the state of every piece of work at any time. This board divides work into columns such as To Do, In Progress, and Done. Work items are pulled from left to right with the goal of reaching the Done column. WIP limits are set for each state of work, preventing overloading of team members and helping identify inefficiencies in the workflow. A Scrum team would then apply its regular events, roles, and artifacts to this workflow.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Scrum with Kanban
1. Understand the basic principles of Scrum and Kanban.
2. Know how the Kanban board works and how work flows across the board.
3. Be able to explain how Work-In-Progress limits improve workflow efficiency.
4. Understand the benefit of a visual workflow in terms of transparency and identifying bottlenecks.
5. Be comfortable with how Scrum roles, events, and artifacts apply when using a Kanban system.
Remember, Scrum with Kanban isn’t about choosing one over the other, but about understanding how the two can work together to improve project management and team productivity.
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PSM I - Scrum with Kanban Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Scrum with Kanban

Question 1

You have a mature team using Scrum with Kanban. However, during the sprint retrospective, some team members express frustration towards the length of the sprint review. As the Scrum Master, how might you address this concern?

Correct Answer: Streamline the sprint review process by working with the team to identify key stakeholders and ensure that only the most relevant feedback is solicited.

To address concerns about the length of the sprint review, the focus should be on making the process more efficient and engaging without compromising its purpose. Streamlining the session to involve relevant stakeholders and feedback optimizes the review's value. Introducing a rotating facilitator might make the meetings more engaging but doesn't directly address the issue of length. Adjusting the Sprint Backlog prioritization doesn't necessarily shorten the sprint review; it's more about focusing on efficiency in sprint work. Providing pre-meeting reports could inadvertently extend the duration by encouraging more detailed pre-discussions, which misaligns with the goal of having an interactive and collaborative sprint review.

Question 2

During a Scrum with Kanban, your team is complaining about the constantly shifting priorities, leading to unfinished tasks in every sprint. How as a Scrum Master could you address this issue?

Correct Answer: Engage with the Product Owner to refine and stabilize the product backlog, ensuring a more predictable flow of work for the team.

The correct answer focuses on working with the Product Owner to create a more stable workflow, which addresses the root cause of the issue: constantly changing priorities. Suggesting a more flexible definition of 'Done' could lead to quality issues and does not address the issue of shifting priorities. Implementing a buffer for unforeseen changes might treat the symptom by providing flexibility, but it doesn't address the stability of the backlog. Advocating for a continuous flow model disregards the principles of Scrum, which include sprints as a core element, and may not be feasible for every team or product.

Question 3

As a Scrum Master, you realize that the lead time is increasing each sprint. Additionally, the team comments that they feel overwhelmed by the amount of work. How should you solve the problem using principles of Scrum and Kanban?

Correct Answer: Implement a Kanban system to visualize work, limit Work In Progress (WIP), and ensure flow efficiency by adjusting based on team capacity.

Although all options aim to manage workload and improve efficiency, implementing a Kanban system alongside Scrum practices (sometimes referred to as Scrumban) is the most effective way to address the issue of increasing lead time and team overwhelm. It allows for continuous work flow, visualization of work, and limiting work in progress, which can help balance the workload more effectively than merely redefining goals, simplifying tasks without considering team capacity, or pushing for increased velocity without sustainable practices.

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