Developing and Delivering Products Professionally [P3]: Optimizing Flow - Understanding the Kanban Guide for Scrum Teams

Question 1

Where are some of the core Kanban practices?

Answer 1

• these practices actually complement what a professional Scrum team is already doing :· Visualization of the workflow· Limiting WIP· Active management of work items in progress· Inspecting and adapting their definition of “Workflow”
• While we agree with the importance of “Improve Collaboratively (Using models and the scientific method” and “Implement feedback loops” we think they are redundant in a professional Scrum context.

Question 2

Where are some advanced Kanban concepts like Classes of Service, Cost of Delay, Flow Efficiency?

Answer 2

• don’t consider them part of the “Minimally viable set of practices” a Scrum team should focus on when trying to improve their flow
• Some of them might be useful in some Scrum contexts, some less so

Question 3

Is this an application of the Kanban Method or not?

Answer 3

• it is pretty close, as long as you assume professional scrum is your starting point
• WIP can be seen as a disruptive revolution (instead of evolutionary change) but ideally should help teams improve your performance and satisfaction with your process beyond what you’re currently achieving with Scrum

Question 4

Is this ScrumBan?

Answer 4

• Def (1) - “A way to help teams transition from Scrum to Kanban” → not this in this author’s context
• (2) Another def:
  
  • way to introduce Lean/Kanban flow into a Scrum context – while keeping the core Scrum process intact
• (3) preferred
  
  • Scrum+Kanban combination itself, without worrying about your starting point and journey

Question 5

Why/When should you add Kanban to Scrum?

Answer 5

• most teams achieve an even healthier smoother flow by adding Kanban
• accelerate their pace of improvement by adding cadence/rhythm and clarity
• ASK: think about how hard it is for them to Sprint and whether they feel like they have good flow during the Sprint → most Scrum teams struggle to achieve good sustainable healthy flow and Kanban tends to help them with that

Question 6

When is Kanban with Scrum a bad idea?

Answer 6

• If they understand Kanban and do it well, there’s really little that can go wrong
• team isn’t looking to improve
• problems start when they don’t understand Kanban or use it as an escape from the challenges of Scrum → Kanban done well adds discipline to your Scrum
• Need clear agreed on pains/motivations before you move forward to implementing something like Kanban

Question 7

Kanban - A way back to Scrum! -Why?

Answer 7

helps these teams/companies finally understand what Scrum really is about and shed a lot of the unnecessary and even harmful baggage and instead refocus on the transparency, inspection, and adaptation brought to life by the core Scrum events, roles, and artifacts