Q8 of 14 · JIRA
What is the difference between a Sprint (Scrum) board and a Kanban board in JIRA?
JIRAJuniorjirascrumkanbanagilesprint
Short answer
Short answer: Sprint boards are for time-boxed Scrum sprints — work is planned into a fixed iteration with a defined end date and sprint goal. Kanban boards are continuous flow — no sprints, work moves through columns as capacity allows, with WIP limits controlling throughput.
Detail
Sprint (Scrum) board:
- Work is pulled into a sprint from the backlog during sprint planning.
- Fixed duration (usually 1–2 weeks).
- Sprint goal defines what "Done" means for that sprint.
- At sprint end, incomplete items are returned to the backlog.
- Metrics: velocity (story points completed per sprint), sprint burndown.
- QA timing: stories are tested within the sprint; ideally, no story moves to Done without QA sign-off.
Kanban board:
- No fixed sprints — issues flow continuously from To Do → In Progress → Done.
- WIP limits — columns have a maximum number of in-progress items. When a column is full, the team must finish existing work before pulling new work in.
- Work items are reprioritised continuously rather than at sprint-planning ceremonies.
- Metrics: cycle time (how long an issue takes from start to done), throughput (issues completed per week).
- QA timing: testing happens as work completes; no sprint-end pressure but also no natural batch for release.
Which to use:
- Scrum/Sprint: feature development teams with regular releases and sprint-based planning.
- Kanban: support, ops, bug-fix teams, or teams with unpredictable work that doesn't fit time-boxes.
QA engineers often encounter both — a feature team on Scrum with a bug-triage team on Kanban.
// WHAT INTERVIEWERS LOOK FOR
Sprint = time-boxed with planning ceremonies; Kanban = continuous flow with WIP limits. Velocity vs cycle time. Practical context for when each is used.
// Related questions