Critical Comparison of Agile Methods1

Critical Comparison of Agile Methods

Name

Course

Date

Critical review
Project management is essential when people are working together towards a common goal. This essay will provide
an analysis of an agile project management approach known as KANBAN. It is a popular project management
system. Project management has played a role in the technological and industrial revolutions that have occurred over
the years. Project management can be applied to a variety of contexts. It does not matter even I case where the
project has simple goals and use fewer resources. Essentially, the approach of agile provides a means of completing
tasks in complex projects.

The agile project management approach is an iterative approach. The approach involves breaking down the project
into smaller projects. These smaller projects are then shipped individually as steps towards the achievement of the
overall goals of the project. The overall goals of the project are initially determined. Thy are then divided up,
designed, build and tested individually. It allows the project to be shipped faster, and makes it possible to
accommodate updated needs before shipping the final project. Agile is basically an idea of how projects should be
managed. Furthermore, Kanban emerges from agile and provides a more structured approach in project
management.

Kanban can be compared to a factory floor. It means that a part could begin as a pice of metal. This part is
thenturend into a finished product through several steps. Essnetily, in the case of aban, several activities occur that
intend to achieve a specific goal. A specifi task is done towards a project, and it is then shped down the lin to the
next station where something diferne tocucrs. In Kanban, insetad of going ahead to ship a complete project, the
various atsks are left at eech satge until they are required.

In Kanban, each satge of th wokflow is first defined. They are then setup ina way that each task is moved form one
sateg to another. For insace, a factor can have difernt shelves or boxes for each satge. The raw materiasl are in the
first. The half-made materials are then placed in the second. The comleted aprts are then palced in the third. On the
tehr hand, other projects can have a card. The card can contain a note of a program, or a physical price of paper
palced on a board. The card lists information about a given task,a d the card is moved to difefrnet lists as the task
progresses.

The Kanban system is very flexible. It acts as a emans to visualize the Agile idea. Kanban is charcaterised with four
philosophies.

Continous flow It entails moving down the list of backlogs based on ranking of importance, and ensures that
activities r tasks or alwys being dealt with.

Cards This is a visual card that detaisl the task at hand. It contaisn all the information necessary about the task. T
ensures that the task is complted.

Cap on activitie in progress It creates a limitation of ho many activitivies or cards that are at play at any given
instance. It revents the etams from over-commiting.
 Critical Comparison of Agile Methods2

Constant improvements This is an analysis of the flow to ascertain the efficnecy and how to make improvements.

Comparison

Scrum is also an approach to project management. It is the most structured framework among the Agile methods.
Scrum provides a basis where teams work together towards a single goal. Scrum is influenced by both Agile and
traditional project management ideas. It then combines them for a flexible and structured process in the
management of projects. Scrum breaks up projects into simpler tasks that can be accomplished individually. It then
assigns each task a sprint. Specifically, it is a time slot dedicated to the accomplishment of a project, and it takes
between seven to twenty-eight days. It is the period in which the project is expected to be finished. Moreover, daily
sprints occur when some parts of the phase are finished. Essentially, it creates more structure in project
management.

Figure 1: Scrum

Scrum differs greatly from Kanban due to greater focus on team performance. In Scrum, performance is often
determined through reassessment. This ensures that the project is progressing as required and also adopts to the
changes suggested along the way. The assessment occurs at the end of every sprint. The responsibilities are also
divided into three. These are the Product Owner (PO), Team and Scrum Master.

The PO is the individual who is completely aware on all aspects of the development. Specifically, they ensure that all
activities concur with customer needs and business goals. They have a keen understanding on the progress of the
project. On the other hand, the Scrum master acts as a link between the PO and the rest of the team. This
individual is involved in encouraging the team to work together, and ensure that their performance is at the expected
level. Furthermore, the Scrum Master ensures that the team is progressing well in each part of the individual sprint.
Finally, the team is comprised of the individuals who are working on the project. They are involved in dividing the
tasks and ensuring that all the requirements of the project have been met.

Scrums main strategy entails several activities. The first is a backlog grooming. This is an event that occurs during
the first day if every sprint. It entails looking at the tasks not completed in the project and what the focus of the
project. The PO details how the tasks will be allocated, and also determines the efficiency of the sprints. The second
activity involves sprint planning. It occurs after the PO has established what to focus on. It is an opportunity to
establish what the teams are building and the reason behind it. Moreover, the individuals would share past
experiences, detailing features from the customers specific needs. It can also entail dividing tasks for each team to
deal with during the sprint. In Kanban, no roles are prescribed. Esnetily, it does not mean that roles cannot be
prescribed. In this regar,d roles are not necessary in Kanban.

The team members also attend daily scrum meetings. These are simple meetings that last for a few minutes. T
provides an opportunity for the tem members to update each other on the current progress of the project. The team
member are not expected to air out their problems and issues during the meeting. Instead, it is an opportunity to
 Critical Comparison of Agile Methods3

ensure that the project is continuous. The issues and problems arising can be directed to the Scrum master at any
other moment and not during the meetings.

The team members also meet for sprint reviews. It is important to review the sprint since it is expected that the team
produce a shippable item at the end. The team members will detail what they have done to the stakeholders. Even
though the review meeting encourages accountability, its goal is to ensure that the completed item in the sprint
concur with the user and business goals. A sprint retrospective also occurs after the sprint review meeting. This is
where the team members share information and collaborate. Specifically, they look at the limitations and successes.
Moreover, the individuals can then make a resolution on what they should continue doing and what they should
avoid. The sprint retrospective will inspire the focus of the next sprint.

Scrum seems for complicated than Kanban. While Kanban tries to simplify projects and make them manageable,
Scrum can at the first instant look complex. Scrum is characterized with more meetings, and responsibilities have to
be delegated. This ensures that the projects stay on track, and are successful. Specifically, Scrum is a structured
technique to ensure that everything gets accomplished. Furthermore, Scrum prscribes cross-functional teams. This is
not the case with knban. Instead,, spcialist teams are allowed. Moroever, only a singe team owns the spritn backlog
in Scrum. On the other hand, th ekanban board is shared by multiple teams ot indidivusls. The Scrum borard is also
reste at the end of eah sprint. On the oter hand, the Kanban board s ysysliy persisnetn during the entre project.

Advantages for team members

Scrum is beneficial for projects that require smaller parts of the projects to be shipped quickly. It also makes it easier
to respond to changes quickly. The numerous meetings and task delegation make scrum the best alternative for
team members who are not familiar with the context of the project. This can occur in cases where the team
members are form varying industrial backgrounds who are working on a system such as the communication sector.
There is always an individual who oversees the project. In this regard, is a member of the team does not understand
the project, then it is not a problem. In the context of scrum, the team members will implement changes or new
functionalities. The team members can make changes easily, and this would prove beneficial in the incremental
process of project management. Kanban can aslo be a risk to team work in comaorion to Scrum. For insace, if one of
the team members lacks the necessary skkills, the the entire prject will be negatively affected. Kanban is often the
best choice for team sthta have individuals with overlapping skills. This is esneitil so that everyone can make an inout
and ensure that the backlog list is moved to zer. It is not the case wth Scrum where the tema memebrs can have
differing skills. The lack of specifi skills will not be a setback to the achievement of the overall project goals.

In comarsion, there are n assigned roles, time linutes and focus ona single task in Kanban. Meetings can be carrioud
f th team memebrs want it. It is not comlusory s is the case with scrum. In this regard, Kanban is designed for team
memebers that are self-motivated. It does not rquire any deadlines or managenet, and woud prove benefitial in
cases where the team memmbers are highly skiled. Kanban is the best in cases where team memebrs are leaning
towards seeing the overall project at a glance.

Kanban does not follow the time rules like Scrum. Instead, it focuses on efficnecy and projects can the hoever long
that they intend. It is imperative to encourage efficnecy as it enures that the resources are used well. If the Kanban
rules ae followed well, then it is possible to assing the temas as much work as they can handle. Moroever, the tema
memebrs will not b distracted, and the projcts will not go byond the deadline. The system also allows for flexibility. It
arises rom the fact that the prjetc wner can change tasks that are not being currently worked on.

Kanban is the best system where time rewuired to accomlishthe oevral project is not crucial. It allows all tem
memebrs to wor in their own pace. However, Scrum is the best alternative in cases where the roject must ship based
on certain deadlines.

Every team and prject hs unique attributes. The prject management system that is aplciable for each tea differs
greatly. In many cases, many teams use heir own version of a syste in prject management. Essntily, it enatisl using
the best pars of difefrnet etams to meet their needs. Kanban and Scrum and popular Agile prject management
systems. However, they have differing charcaterisits that would prove bnefitial in diferent scenratios. Kanban uses
cards, and it not time contious. O the other hand, Scrum is time constiosu, an dprojetchave to be shipped withint he
 Critical Comparison of Agile Methods4

required timelines. Bth systems use teams that have difefrig arbutus. It is imorant to cisnder the demand sof a rejct
befre choosing the project management system to be sued.