What is Scrum@scale?

What is Scrum@scale?

Scrum@Scale is a framework for scaling Scrum, a popular Agile framework. It was developed by Jeff Sutherland, one of the co-founders of Scrum. Scrum@Scale is designed to help organizations implement and scale Scrum across multiple teams, departments, and even entire organizations.

The framework is based on the core principles of Scrum, including iterative and incremental development, self-managing teams, and continuous improvement. Scrum@Scale emphasizes a “scale-free” approach and can be customized to fit the unique needs and context of each organization.

Scrum@Scale consists of a set of components serving a specific purpose required for success at scale. Those components help organizations achieve their goals. Examples of such components are backlog prioritization, product & release feedback, continuous improvement and cross team coordination.

Key components and features of Scrum@Scale

In comparison to other Agile scaling frameworks (Nexus, LeSS, SAFe…), Scrum@scale provides little guidance on how to do things e.g. practices and concentrate on what needs to be in place for successfully deploying Scrum at large in an organization.  In that sense, Scrum@scale can be seen as a meta scaling framework, a framework which encompass other scaling frameworks in its path.

Scrum@scale actually share many aspects with other Agile scaling frameworks. In addition to being a meta framework, below components can be seen as the trademarks of Scrum@scale:

The Scrum of Scrum (SoS)

One of the key component of Scrum@Scale is the Scrum of Scrums which is a way of coordinating multiple Scrum teams working on a shared product or project. A Scrum of Scrum is a team of teams responsible for a fully integrated set of potentially shippable increments of product at the end of every Sprint. Optimally, a Scrum of Scrum carry out all of the functions required to release value directly to customers. 

The SoS is actually not an event but a team of teams working on a shared product.

The Scaled Daily Scrum

The scaled Daily Scrum is an elegant synchronization mechanism against team to ensure progress towards the Sprint goal of a Scrum of Scrum. This pattern can be repeated indefinitely depending on the Scrum of Scrum network layers present in the organization.

The Scaled Daily Scrum (SDS) ensure synchronization between teams, teams of teams and beyond.

The Executive Action Team (EAT)

The Executive Action Team is a small group of key leaders from an organization who are responsible for overseeing and driving the implementation of Scrum@Scale within their organization. This team is usually comprised of senior executives or high-level managers who have decision-making authority and are committed to making Scrum@Scale a success.

The EAT is responsible for setting the vision and strategy for the Scrum@Scale implementation, as well as ensuring that the necessary resources are available to support the initiative. They also act as a liaison between the Scrum teams and the broader organization, helping to communicate the benefits of Scrum@Scale and facilitating the adoption of agile principles throughout the organization.

The EAT ensure the success of an Agile transformation based on Scrum in the organization.

The Executive Meta Scrum (EMS)

At the Executive MetaScrum a dynamic group of leaders sets the organizational vision and the strategic priorities of the organization, aligning all of the teams around common goals.

It is the forum for Leadership and other stakeholders to express their preferences to the PO Team, negotiate priorities, alter budgets, or realign teams to maximize the delivery of value. This event occurs as often as needed- at least once per Sprint- to ensure an aligned backlog within the various Scrum of Scrums in the organization.

The EMS ensure that its Agile teams are working on the top key priorities for the entire organization