What It Means
Scrumban is a way of organizing team work that mixes ScrumScrumA lightweight framework, defined in the Scrum Guide, in which a small team delivers work in fixed-length Sprints of one month or less and adjusts after each one. See more with the KanbanKanban boardA board split into columns for each stage of work, such as To Do, In Progress and Done, with a card for every task that moves across as the work advances. See more Method. In its original sense, from Corey Ladas, it describes a team that already runs Scrum applying Kanban practices step by step, such as a board that shows the flow of work and limits on how much is in progress. Today, as Atlassian describes it, the word usually means a hybrid that keeps some of Scrum's structure and adds Kanban's visual board and WIP limitsWork in progress limitA cap on how many tasks can sit in one stage of work, such as In Progress, at the same time, so new work starts only when something finishes. See more.
Try It: Scrum Practice or Kanban Practice?
Scrumban borrows from both sides. For each practice, guess where it comes from.
1. Work is planned in Sprints of one month or less.
Right. The 2020 Scrum Guide sets Sprints at one month or less.
That one is Scrum. Kanban works in a continuous flow.
2. Each column has a limit on how many cards can sit in it.
Right. Limiting work in progress is a core Kanban practice.
That one is Kanban: a work in progress (WIP) limit.
3. New work starts only when something finishes and there's room.
Right. Kanban calls this a pull system.
That one is Kanban. In Scrum, work is chosen at Sprint Planning.
4. The Developers meet for 15 minutes each day.
Right. That's the Daily Scrum.
That one is Scrum: the 15-minute Daily Scrum.
A Scrumban team usually keeps a board with WIP limits and decides which Scrum events to keep.
How People Say It
- "We dropped Sprints but kept the retro, so I guess we're Scrumban now."
- "Put a WIP limit on the doing column and see what happens."
- "Is this still Scrum or have we drifted into Scrumban?"
The Breakdown
How a team can try it (Buhata's own suggestion)
- Start from what you already do. If the team runs Scrum, keep its events for now.
- Put every piece of current work on a board, with a column for each real stage, such as To Do, In Progress, Review and Done.
- Set a limit on the In Progress column. Buhata's WIP limit page suggests about one task per person, plus one, as a starting point.
- When the column is full, finish or unblock something before pulling in new work.
- At each retrospectiveSprint retrospectiveThe last Scrum event of each Sprint, where the Scrum Team looks at how it worked and picks the changes most likely to make it more effective. See more, ask which parts of the board and which Scrum events are helping, and change one thing at a time.
- After a few weeks, decide together whether fixed Sprints still earn their place or whether a continuous flow suits the work better.
Short version to try today. Draw a three-column board for this week's work and allow no more than two cards in progress at once.
Where it sits between the two
| Scrum | Scrumban | Kanban | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhythm | Sprints of one month or less | Starts from the team's Scrum rhythm | Continuous flow |
| How work enters | Chosen at Sprint PlanningSprint planningThe Scrum event that starts each Sprint, where the whole Scrum Team agrees why the Sprint is valuable, what can be done in it and how the work will get done. See more | Pulled in under a WIP limit | Pulled in when there's room under a WIP limit |
| Starting point | The Scrum Guide | A team already using Scrum | The way the team works now |
Where It Comes From
David J. Anderson's school credits Corey Ladas with the word. Ladas framed Scrumban as a route for teams already using Scrum to adopt the Kanban Method, and later collected his writing in the book "Scrumban: Essays on Kanban Systems for Lean Software Development". Anderson's history stresses that Ladas meant a path from Scrum to Kanban rather than a hybrid, while Atlassian and many teams now use the word for the hybrid.
Good to Know
Two meanings travel under the same name. When someone says their team runs Scrumban, ask whether they mean Ladas's gradual move from Scrum toward Kanban or the broader hybrid Atlassian describes, because the two can look quite different in practice. For the rules of each parent method, Buhata's Scrum and Kanban board pages point to the Scrum Guide and to Kanban University's official guide.
FAQ
What is the difference between Scrumban and Kanban?
Kanban is a full method of its own, built on a visible board, WIP limits and managing flow. Scrumban starts from Scrum and adds those Kanban practices, so a Scrumban team may still keep Sprints or some Scrum events.
Who created Scrumban?
Corey Ladas, according to David J. Anderson's school, which describes his Scrumban as a path for Scrum teamsScrum teamThe small, self-managing group that does the work in Scrum: one Product Owner, one Scrum Master and the Developers, typically 10 or fewer people. See more toward Kanban, worked out while he coached a Scrum project at Corbis. He later published a book of essays called "Scrumban".
Is Scrumban a hybrid of Scrum and Kanban?
In everyday use, yes. Atlassian describes it as combining Scrum's structure with Kanban's board and WIP limits. In Ladas's original sense, it's a path from Scrum toward Kanban.
Do It in Buhata
Tasks and Focus
List the team's current work in Buhata Tasks, keep no more than your WIP limit in progress at once, and run each work session as a Focus countdown.
Open BuhataRelated Terms and Categories
- Kanban vs Scrum
A comparison of two agile approaches: Scrum works in fixed-length Sprints with set accountabilities, and Kanban manages a continuous flow of work with limits on work in progress.
- Kanban board
A board split into columns for each stage of work, such as To Do, In Progress and Done, with a card for every task that moves across as the work advances.
- Scrum
A lightweight framework, defined in the Scrum Guide, in which a small team delivers work in fixed-length Sprints of one month or less and adjusts after each one.
- Work in progress limit
A cap on how many tasks can sit in one stage of work, such as In Progress, at the same time, so new work starts only when something finishes.
- Agile
A way of working, set out in the 2001 Agile Manifesto, that delivers in small pieces, gets feedback early and adjusts the plan as it learns.
- Sprint planning
The Scrum event that starts each Sprint, where the whole Scrum Team agrees why the Sprint is valuable, what can be done in it and how the work will get done.
Sources
David J. Anderson School of Management, "A Brief History of Kanban for Knowledge Work"; Atlassian, "Scrumban: Mastering Two Agile Methodologies"
Last updated .