20  Scrum & Kanban simulations

Author
Affiliation

Dr Randy Johnson

Hood College

Published

September 2, 2025

1: Scrum Simulation

Objective

Provide a hands-on experience with the scrum framework by simulating the roles, events, and artifacts.

Scenario

Each team will act as a scrum team with the goal of organizing a class networking event.

Set up

  • In each team pick individuals for the following roles:

    • Product owner (PO): The single person responsible for the “what” of the project
    • Scrum master (SM): The facilitator and coach
    • Development team: The rest of the team members

  • Create 3 sections on the whiteboard for your group:

    • Project backlog
    • Sprint backlog
    • Done

Sprint planning

Prompt: The product owner’s task is to organize a simple, successful class networking event that helps students get to know each other.

  • Create the product backlog: The PO and development team will brainstorm all the tasks required to make this event happen.
    • Each task should be written on a sticky note.
    • Put these tasks in the initial product backlog.
  • Select tasks for the sprint:
    • Review the product backlog and select the most important tasks you believe you can complete in a single, hypothetical 15-minute Sprint.
    • Move these tasks to the sprint backlog section of the whiteboard.

The sprint & daily scrums

Run the Sprint: Works on the tasks in your sprint backlog

  • Daily scrums:

    • Each “day” the Scrum Master will call a daily stand-up meeting.

    • Each team member quickly answers the three questions:

      1. What did I do yesterday?
      2. What will I do today?
      3. Are there any impediments (blockers)?

    • Simulate “Done”: When a task is completed, moved it to the done section on the whiteboard.

Sprint review & retrospective

  • Sprint review:
    • After the Sprint, each team will briefly present their completed tasks to the class.
    • The PO will explain how these completed tasks contribute to the event’s vision.
  • Sprint retrospective: Spend a few minutes with your team discussing:
    • What went well?
    • What could be improved for our next sprint?
    • What one thing will we commit to changing?

2: Personal kanban board

Objective

Apply the principles of visualizing workflow and limiting work in progress to their own academic tasks for this course.

Set up

We will be creating a GitHub project with a Kanban board for this activity.

  • If you don’t have a GitHub account, sign up for one

Visualize your workflow

  • Go to your profile page and navigate to the “Projects” tab
  • Select “New Project” and pick the Kanban board option
  • You should now have a personal Kanban board with three columns:
    • To Do: All known tasks for the term that are not yet started
    • In Progress: The tasks you are currently working on
    • Done: Completed tasks

Populate the “To Do” column

  • List all your known course tasks in the digital to do column.
    • Be specific (e.g., “Read Chapter 3,” “Start research for final paper,” “Complete Week 2 quiz”).

Set a WIP limit and schedule work

  • Limit WIP: Set a limit on the number of tasks you can have in the “In Progress” column (e.g., a limit of 2 or 3). This helps focus and complete work faster.

  • Manage flow: Pull tasks from the “To Do” column into the “In Progress” column only when there is an available slot.

Assignment

Submit a link to your Kanban board on Blackboard under the Kanban Board assignment.

Discussion

  • How did limiting your work feel?
  • Do you see the value of a visual board?
  • We have three columns on this board.
    • Are there other columns you might be interested in adding?
    • What would be some pros and cons of adding additional columns?