I am confused about when the exam expects me to choose Kanban over Scrum. Both are major parts of the PMI-ACP syllabus, but the situational questions make it hard to distinguish which is better for a high-change environment with continuous flow versus one with fixed timeboxes.
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Scrum is built on Sprints (timeboxes), while Kanban is built on continuous flow. For the PMI-ACP exam, look for keywords like "WIP limits" and "lead time" to identify Kanban scenarios. Scrum will mention "Product Owners," "Scrum Masters," and "Sprint Planning." If a question describes a production support team where priorities change hourly, Kanban is usually the answer. If it describes a product development team needing a stable cadence to deliver increments, Scrum is the way to go. I used this logic to pass my exam in late 2023 and it was very effective.
Heather, that makes sense, but how does the exam treat "Scrumban"? Is it considered a separate framework or just a hybrid approach we should be aware of?
Just remember: Scrum has roles; Kanban has rules about flow. Scrum is a revolution; Kanban is an evolution. This helps me keep the philosophies straight.
That's a great way to put it, Sarah. Kanban doesn't require you to change your existing team roles, which is a major point PMI emphasizes in organizational
Michael, the PMI-ACP views Scrumban as a hybrid. It’s often the answer when a team wants the structure of Scrum ceremonies but the flow-based execution of Kanban. You might see a question where a team uses Sprints but also implements WIP limits on their board to manage bottlenecks. The exam is less about the "name" of the hybrid and more about why you would combine them—usually to improve flow while maintaining a feedback loop.