To what extent can you combine Scrum, Kanban and Lean Startup for sales pilot projects?

Submitted by Andreas Schliep on 01/13/2014

"To what extent can you combine the various agile methodologies like Scrum, Kanban and Lean Startup for sales pilot projects? I would be delighted if you could give me some helpful tips or comments in this respect. Optionally, also tips for some literature, magazine articles or brochures."

We are pleased to hear that you want to take up the issue of agility in the context of distribution. A combination of the various approaches is quite possible, as Scrum, Kanban and Lean Startup are distinguishable categorically:

  • Scrum is a framework for developing complex products by self-organized teams.
  • Kanban is an approach to methodical visualization and optimization of workflows.
  • Lean Startup is a model for business development, which wants to find out as much as possible about the needs of the  target groups and the matching product features with a minimum on investment.

For an introduction to Scrum, you will find some references on our website: DasScrumTeam.com/scrum. To expand the knowledge I would advise to take a not too extensive Scrum book, such as  "Essential Scrum: A Practical Guide to the Most Popular Agile Process" by Kenny Rubin or the entry level book "Scrum" by Roman Pichler. The basis for Kanban can be found in David Anderson's Book, a wider outlook creates the book by Dr. Siegfried Kaltenecker and Klaus Leopold.

Once the basics of the respective approaches are understood, one can start with the crossover issues, such as the "from the Trenches" by Henrik Kniberg books that can be found at InfoQ.  Thereby "Lean from the Trenches" should be emphasized as it compresses the respective concepts and displays them in a practical and workable way.

Andreas Schliep

About the author

Andreas Schliep

Andreas Schliep is a founding member and executive partner of DasScrumTeam. He is a Scrum coach and trainer. He studied at the technical university of Bremerhaven, and worked as a software developer, project manager, team lead and group lead. Andreas has worked with Scrum since 2003. He became a full-time Scrummer in 2006.

Since then, he has helped to introduce and improve Scrum and agile practices in numerous companies all over the world. His favorite topics are quality management and scaling.

  • Experienced ScrumMaster, Product Owner, Coach and Trainer
  • Introduced Scrum at WEB.DE
  • Coaching of internationally distributed teams
  • Transition from RUP to Scrum at UOL Brazil
  • Scrum Trainings and Coaching in Germany, Switzerland and Austria

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