Flow over sprint. When WIP limits and pull systems are more productive than fixed iterations.
Category · Project Management
Flow, not sprint.
Kanban visualises work on a board and steers it with two levers: a pull system, in which new tasks are only pulled when capacity is free, and WIP limits, which cap how much can be in progress at once.
There are no fixed iterations. The focus is on throughput and cycle time: finishing work, not starting as much as possible at once.
When it's more productive.
Kanban plays to its strength where work comes in continuously and is hard to plan — operations, support, maintenance, platform teams. We use it for products we operate: prioritise tickets, make bottlenecks visible, slot in urgent matters without blowing up a sprint.
The flip side.
Kanban sets no rhythm. Without discipline on WIP limits and without regular reflection, the board degenerates into a plain to-do list. For plannable feature development with clear target dates, it lacks the binding cadence a sprint provides.