Scrum vs Kanban vs Scrumban: Which agile methodology best fits my needs?

Quiz Questions

• 1.
  Which one best describes your company?

  • A.
    Marketing Agency
  • B.
    Software Development
  • C.
    Design Agency
  • D.
    Support Team
  • E.
    Startup
  • F.
    Enterprise
  • G.
    Personal Project
• 2.
  How many team members would work on the project?

  • A.
    1 member
  • B.
    2-4 members
  • C.
    5-10 members
  • D.
    11-100 members
  • E.
    100+ members
• 3.
  What’s the estimated length of the project?

  • A.
    Less than a month
  • B.
    Between 1 and 3 months
  • C.
    Between 4 and 12 months
  • D.
    Between 1 and 3 years
  • E.
    More than 3 years
• 4.
  Is it required the team to react immediately to critical situations in production while developing the project?

  • A.
    Yes
  • B.
    No
• 5.
  Are there any team members shared between multiple projects?

  • A.
    Yes
  • B.
    No
• 6.
  Do you plan to manage multiple products in the same project?

  • A.
    Yes
  • B.
    No
• 7.
  Is there a dedicated product manager role for the project?

  • A.
    Yes
  • B.
    No
• 8.
  Would you rather?

  • A.
    Having clear deadlines, goals and assigned tasks BUT spending 12 man-hours in operational meetings with the whole team every month.
  • B.
    Saving 12 man-hours in operational meetings with the whole team monthly BUT having no assigned tasks, optional deadlines and optional estimates.
• 9.
  Would you rather?

  • A.
    Have happier team members with the freedom to choose BUT you lack the ability to choose their tasks and track their individual contribution.
  • B.
    You have full-project control BUT introducing bureaucracy that might frustrate team members and you spend 3 hours in operational meetings with your team whole team attending every week.
• 10.
  Do you consider your team experienced enough to estimate their work, willing to accept new roles and hierarchy while obeying strict rules?

  • A.
    Yes
  • B.
    No

Quiz Outcomes

• 1.
  Scrum

  Image Source

  Based on your answers for your situation we would recommend using Scrum. Scrum is the most complex, strict and hardest to adopt out of the 3 methodologies. At its core are the Scrum sprints (1-4 weeks long iterations) which set clear goals and deadlines, gives full-control to the project manager and works well for fast-moving and large projects. However, the Scope Creep can become a monster and Scrum requires an experienced team holding a lot of meetings that might be a bit time-consuming. The Scrum framework is a good fit for enterprise or experienced teams working on a product or especially project which is longer than a year. Pros Set clear goals and deadlines Handle large projects Works well for fast-moving development projects The individual effort of each team member is clearly visible Enhances team communication Cons Scope Creep Cannot react to sudden changes Scrum is hard to adopt Scrum can be time expensive Do you want to see how Scrum works in practice?
• 2.
  Kanban

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  Based on your answers for your situation we recommend using Kanban. Kanban is the most simple and easiest to adopt method. It visualizes the work and the work process on a Kanban board which ensures that everyone in the team is on the same page and reveals bottlenecks in the workflow while remaining flexible in production. However, Kanban is less effective in shared-resource situations, inflexible for handling multiple products or large projects and is hard to track the individual contribution of the team. Also, an outdated Kanban board can cause trouble. Kanban is a good fit for support and maintenance teams, continuous product manufacturing and delivery teams of product or service with a stable workflow. Pros Everyone is on the same page Flexible in production Reveals bottlenecks in your workflow Easy to adopt Cons Less effective in shared resource situations Inflexible in product mix and delivery flow changes Outdated Kanban board can cause trouble Do you want to know how Kanban works in practice?
• 3.
  Scrumban

  Image Source

  Based on your answers for your situation we recommend using Scrumban. Scrumban is a hybrid version of Scrum and Kanban. It combines the benefits of both methodologies by using the visualization of Kanban and the systematization of Scrum while not introducing extra complexity and being easy to adopt. Scrumban is flexible in production and works well in large projects. However, it reduces the control the project manager has in Scrum and as in Kanban it’s hard to track individual team member effort, and outdated Scrumban board can cause issues.Scrumban is a good fit for Startups, fast-paced projects, continuous product manufacturing, and loyal teams sacrificing strict rules and hierarchy for extra time efficiency and freedom. Pros Saving time Helps you handle large projects Reveals bottlenecks in your workflow Everyone is on the same page Easy to adopt and simple process Bring equality and less stress in the team Cons Can turn into methodology mish-mash Hard to track individual team member effort Less control for the project manager Outdated Scrumban board can cause issues Do you want to see how Scrum works in practice?