Scrumban
Goal-oriented planning with a pull system and explicit flow controls.
Scrumban combines Scrum's goal-oriented planning with Kanban's pull-based flow and WIP controls. You can set a delivery goal without batching all work into a sprint. Work is pulled based on capacity, not pushed into a fixed-length timebox. Flow metrics sit alongside goal progress, so the team can see whether the system is healthy while moving toward an outcome.
What it's for
Scrumban works well for Scrum teams moving toward continuous flow, or teams that need to balance planned work against unplanned demand — teams that want the accountability of a goal without the overhead of strict sprint boundaries.
Work item types
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Epic | A larger product outcome |
| Story | A valuable product slice |
| Bug | A defect to correct |
| Task | Supporting work |
| Spike | Timeboxed learning work |
Epics sit at the root. Stories, bugs, tasks, and spikes roll up into epics.
Workflow
The board uses five columns:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Backlog | Work waiting to be pulled |
| To Do | Work committed for the current period |
| In Progress | Active work (WIP limit: 5) |
| In Review | Work awaiting feedback (WIP limit: 3) |
| Done | Completed work meeting the Definition of Done |
Work is pulled only when capacity opens up. WIP limits signal when the team should finish rather than start.
Cadences
Skopo calls these Rituals in the sidebar for Scrumban projects.
| Cadence | When | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Goal planning | Optional cadence | Set a timeboxed delivery goal without batching all work into a sprint |
| Replenishment | As needed | Pull ready work based on capacity |
| Daily flow sync | Daily or as needed | Inspect blockers, aging work, and WIP without status-reporting theater |
| Flow review | Weekly | Inspect aging, blocking, and WIP trends |
| Service delivery review | Biweekly | Review throughput, cycle time, and service-level expectations |
| Retrospective | Regularly | Improve the delivery system |
Artifacts
- Delivery goal — a shared outcome the team is working toward, set during goal planning without forcing all work into a single sprint.
- Definition of Done — the shared quality checklist every item must meet before moving to Done.
- Service-level expectation — the target elapsed time from commitment to delivery, configured in Project Settings.
Metrics
| Metric | What it measures |
|---|---|
| Throughput | Items completed per period |
| Cycle time | Elapsed delivery time from when work starts to when it finishes |
| Goal completion | Progress against the current delivery goal |