# Kanban and Framework Fit

Compare Scrum's time-based cadence with Kanban's flow limits and choose a starting approach from the shape of the work.

Duration: 10 min

Kanban visualizes work, limits work in progress, and manages flow. It overlays an existing process rather than prescribing new roles. Scrum creates order through time; Kanban creates order through limits.

Plannable batches can benefit from Scrum's cadence. Continuous, interrupt-driven arrivals often fit Kanban. Many teams combine cadence with explicit flow limits; the work should decide the fitting.

## fmap-m2-l4-v1

The local animation draft is not an approved learner-delivery asset. Keep this record in review until final media and human-reviewed captions replace the pending ID. The digest remains the complete equivalent route.

## fmap-m2-l4-digest

### Kanban and the comparison without a winner

Kanban is a flow method: visualize the work, limit work in progress, and manage the flow. It is evolutionary—start where you are, overlay visibility and limits on the existing process, and improve from there. The name is associated with a visual signal that allows work to be pulled when capacity is available rather than pushed regardless of load.

Six practices form the map: visualize work; limit work in progress; manage flow; make policies explicit; build feedback loops; and improve collaboratively. Module 4 develops the flow measures and bottleneck behavior in more depth.

| Comparison                  | Scrum                          | Kanban                                      |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------- |
| Creates order through       | Fixed cycles and event cadence | Continuous flow and WIP limits              |
| Commitment focus            | Sprint Goal                    | Honored WIP limits and service expectations |
| Prescribed accountabilities | Three                          | None; existing roles may remain             |
| Adoption                    | Installs a structure           | Overlays the current process                |
| Learning foundation         | Empirical                      | Empirical                                   |

These are two answers to the same question: how can a team reduce chaos without installing heavy bureaucracy? Scrum boxes the calendar; Kanban caps the load.

Work arriving in plannable batches can benefit from Scrum's drumbeat. Work arriving continuously and unpredictably—support, operations, or patient discharge—often benefits from Kanban's limits and pull. **Scrumban** combines cadence with visible flow and WIP discipline. It is not indecision; it can be a deliberate fitting.

Kanban's fewer prescriptions demand more self-discipline. If limits are ignored and policies stay implicit, a board becomes decoration. Lighter structure does not mean less responsibility.

## fmap-m2-l4-i1

**Phase 1—Scrum lens.** The Sprint Goal is “Launch-ready by the webinar,” with capacity for about five items. Start with the spring blog, webinar slides, and landing-page copy, then justify at most two supporting choices. An unrelated SEO refresh may be useful without serving this Sprint Goal. Seven or eight selections are a wish, not a capacity-aware plan.

**Phase 2—Kanban lens.** Use the board above. When the urgent pricing fix arrives while Drafting is full, advance the ready blog draft before pulling the fix. The limit exists precisely for pressure like this.

Same work, two lenses: Scrum gives it a heartbeat and a why; Kanban gives it limits and flow. Neither changes the work—each changes what the team can see and promise.