What is Scrum@Scale?

Scrum@Scale: A Comprehensive Overview

Scrum@Scale seamlessly extends the foundational Scrum framework to increase results across the organization. Across industries and sectors, Scrum@Scale has helped teams tackle complex challenges, all while delivering extreme value in terms of innovative products and services.

Scrum@Scale is a lightweight framework to scale Scrum principles and practices in organizations. It was developed by Jeff Sutherland, one of the co-creators of Scrum, to address the challenges of using Scrum in complex multiteam environments. In this post, we will explore what Scrum@Scale is, its principles, phases, and how it enables organizations to achieve agility at scale.

Scrum@Scale is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, it provides a lightweight  framework that can be customized to fit the unique context of different companies. This flexibility allows organizations to tailor their Agile practices to their specific needs, ensuring a successful transformation.

One of the key benefits of Scrum@Scale is its ability to create high-performing teams of teams. By implementing this framework, organizations can effectively coordinate and align multiple Scrum teams, enabling them to deliver integrated value to the customer. Team of teams in other words scrum of scrums approach ensures that teams are working together towards a common goal to maximize productivity.

Moreover, Scrum@Scale emphasizes the importance of sustainability. This focus on sustainability ultimately leads to better outcomes and higher employee satisfaction and happiness.

When it comes to scaling Agile, Scrum@Scale is the logical choice. Its adaptable framework and emphasis on high-performing teams make it a powerful tool for organizations seeking to achieve business agility.  Implementing Scrum@Scale will unlock the full potential of your organization.

What is Scrum@Scale?

Scrum@Scale is designed to extend the benefits of Scrum to entire organizations. It provides principles, and components for scaling Scrum beyond individual teams, allowing large enterprises to adopt Agile practices, improve collaboration, and deliver value more efficiently.

Scrum@Scale aligns multiple Scrum teams, each operating independently yet in sync, to deliver an integrated product. It retains the fundamental principles of Scrum, such as transparency, inspection, and adaptation, while introducing additional components to manage interdependencies and coordination at scale.

Key Concepts and Principles

  • Scrum of Scrums: Scrum@Scale introduces the concept of a “Scrum of Scrums” (SoS), which is the team of teams -not an event-, to foster coordination, collaboration, delivery and helps teams identify and address cross-team challenges. A Scrum of Scrums operates as if it were a Scrum Team, satisfying the Team Process component with scaled versions of the Scrum accountabilities, events, and artifacts. The optimal number of teams in a Scrum of Scrums is 4 or 5 similarly as it is optimum for Scrum teams. To coordinate the “how” in every Sprint, a SoS needs to hold scaled versions of the Daily Scrum and Sprint Retrospective. To coordinate the “what” in every Sprint, a SoS needs to hold scaled versions of Sprint Planning and a Sprint Review. And also it will be better to do Backlog Refinement at scale.
A loop describes Scrum@Scale Framework
  • Scrum Master Cycle: Scrum@Scale emphasizes a “Scrum Master Cycle,” where Scrum Masters operate at both the team level and the meta-level. They support teams in their daily Scrum activities while also collaborating in a Scrum of Scrums to facilitate cross-team coordination and improvement.
  • Product Owner Cycle: Product Owners are responsible for aligning the product vision with organizational goals and ensuring that each team’s work contributes to the overall product value.
  • The Executive Action Team (EAT): : The Executive Action Team (EAT) fulfills the Scrum Master accountabilities for an entire agile organization. The Executive Action Team is accountable for removing impediments that cannot be removed by members of the Scrum of Scrums (or wider network).
  • The Executive MetaScrum (EMS): : To fulfill the Product Owner role for the entire agile organization, the Chief Product Owners meet with executives and key stakeholders at an Executive MetaScrum event.

Benefits of Scrum@Scale

Scrum@Scale offers several advantages for organizations:

  • Efficient Scalability: It allows organizations to grow and adapt Agile practices as they expand, without compromising on efficiency or quality.
  • Improved Calibration: The Scrum of Scrums fosters collaboration and visibility across teams, reducing duplication of efforts and facilitating better decision-making.
  • Alignment with Organizational Goals: By aligning individual teams with the overarching organizational objectives, Scrum@Scale ensures that work is driven by value and strategic vision.
  • Enhanced Agility: Large organizations can respond more effectively to changing market conditions and customer needs, thanks to the flexibility and adaptability of Scrum@Scale.

Conclusion

Scrum@Scale is a powerful framework for scaling Scrum principles and practices in large, complex organizations. It promotes collaboration, transparency, and alignment with organizational goals, enabling enterprises to achieve agility at scale. By implementing Scrum@Scale, organizations can navigate the challenges of today’s dynamic business landscape and deliver value to customers more efficiently and effectively.

Scrum@Scale aims to boost efficiency throughout an organization, striving to double the value output while halving the costs. By introducing a more efficient workflow and better decision-making processes, it not only enhances the workplace ambiance but also amplifies business agility, benefiting all involved parties.

Scrum@Scale’s goal is to fully immerse an organization in Scrum practices. When Scrum is executed effectively, it can serve as the foundational operating system for the entire organization using Scrum@Scale.

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