HKSM
Scrumban
A management framework that takes Scrum as the delivery approach and overlays Kanban practices and metrics to visualize, analyze, and continuously improve the flow of work.
Key Points
- Combines Scrum's roles, events, and cadence with Kanban's visualization, WIP limits, and pull-based flow.
- Uses Kanban metrics such as cycle time, throughput, and work-in-progress to drive continuous improvement.
- Helps teams handle both planned sprint work and unplanned demand by managing flow explicitly.
- Focuses on making policies visible, reducing bottlenecks, and improving predictability over time.
Example
A product team runs two-week sprints with Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Review, and Retrospective. They also manage all work on a Kanban board with clear workflow columns and strict WIP limits. Each day, the team reviews blockers and flow metrics (cycle time, aging work) to decide what to pull next and where to improve. Over several sprints, they reduce average cycle time and increase throughput without adding headcount.
PMP Example Question
A development team keeps Scrum ceremonies and two-week sprints, but limits WIP on a Kanban board and tracks cycle time to improve predictability. Which approach are they using?
- Scrum
- Kanban
- Scrumban
- Extreme Programming (XP)
Correct Answer: C — Scrumban
Explanation: Scrumban blends Scrum's cadence and roles with Kanban's flow practices (visualization, WIP limits, and flow metrics) to continuously improve how work moves through the system.
