METHODOLOGY

Kanban

A flow-based method that visualises work on a board, limits how much is in progress at once, and pulls new work only when there is capacity, with no fixed iterations.

Last reviewed: 2026-06-02 byKevin Riedl wiki β†—

Kanban has two core ideas: make the work visible, and limit work in progress. You put every item on a board with columns for each stage (to do, in progress, review, done), and you cap how many items can sit in each active column at once. When a column is full, nobody starts new work until something moves out. That cap is the whole point: it forces the team to finish things before starting more.

The contrast with Scrum is the cadence. Scrum batches work into fixed sprints and re-plans at each boundary. Kanban has no sprints. Work is pulled continuously as capacity frees up, and you can change priorities at any moment without waiting for a sprint to end. There is no commitment ceremony, no sprint review, no artificial two-week box.

Pick Kanban when work arrives unpredictably and interrupt-driven (support, operations, platform teams), or when a team is mature enough that the sprint scaffolding has become pure overhead. Pick Scrum when a team needs the rhythm and the forced review to build delivery discipline, or when stakeholders need a predictable demo cadence to plan around.

The honest version: WIP limits are where the value is, and they are also the part teams quietly ignore. A Kanban board with no WIP limit is just a to-do list with extra columns. If the team is starting five things and finishing none, the limit is the fix, not a bigger board.

// FAQ

FAQs

FAQs

A flow-based method that visualises work on a board, caps how many items can be in progress at once (the WIP limit), and pulls new work only when capacity frees up. There are no fixed iterations and priorities can change at any time.
Scrum batches work into fixed sprints with a commitment and review at each boundary. Kanban runs a continuous pull with WIP limits and no sprints, so priorities can shift at any moment. Kanban suits unpredictable, interrupt-driven work and mature teams. Scrum suits teams that need a cadence to build discipline.
When the team skips WIP limits. Without a cap on work in progress, a Kanban board is just a to-do list with extra columns and everyone starts more than they finish. The limit is the mechanism that forces work to completion. Drop it and you have lost the method.