Scrum, originally designed for small, cross-functional teams, has become one of the most popular Agile frameworks worldwide. However, as organizations grow and projects become more complex, a single Scrum team may not be sufficient to handle the expanded scope of work. This is where scaling Scrum frameworks come into play, enabling organizations to manage and coordinate multiple Agile teams while remaining true to Scrum’s core principles. Below, we explore some of the most popular frameworks for scaling Scrum.
Why Scaled Scrum?
Scaling Scrum becomes essential when organizations face large projects or complex products that require collaboration across multiple teams. With several teams working together, effective management of dependencies and the sharing of knowledge are crucial. This can be achieved through enhanced collaboration and clear communication. Scaling frameworks provide a structured approach to align team activities with strategic business objectives. When teams unite around a common goal and operate under a shared vision and cadence, the outcome is faster time-to-market and improved delivery.
However, scaling introduces challenges such as managing dependencies, ensuring clear communication, and preventing chaos. To address these issues, various scaling frameworks have been developed, each offering a unique approach to applying Scrum principles across multiple teams.
Several frameworks can help scale Scrum to large and complex projects. Some of the most popular include:
- SAFe(Scaled Agile Framework)
- LeSS(Large Scale Scrum)
- Scrum@Scale
- Nexus
- DA(Disciplined Agile)
SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)
SAFe is a framework or knowledge base that integrates principles, practices, and competencies from Lean, Agile, and DevOps to help organizations achieve business agility. It is typically used by enterprises developing solutions (products, services, systems—often software) at a scale that requires multiple Agile teams to collaborate in order to deliver.SAFe is often represented visually through the SAFe Big Picture, which shows the framework’s roles, artifacts, events, and elements. (see diagram below).
This diagram shows all of the framework’s roles, artifacts, events, and elements.
Key concepts of SAFe (Highlevel)
SAFe employs ARTs (Agile Release Trains), which are “teams of teams” consisting of 50-125 people. These teams deliver shared objectives in recurring 8–12-week timeboxes called Program Increments (PIs). The teams collaboratively plan their work for each PI in a 2-day event called PI Planning, which is attended by all members of the ART.
Overall, SAFe is best suited for large enterprises with multiple teams coordinating complex projects, especially those transitioning from traditional project management to Agile. It provides a well-defined structure and roadmap, making it ideal for organizations seeking guidance on scaling Agile practices.
LeSS(Large Scale Scrum)
Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) is an Agile framework designed to scale Scrum principles and practices to multiple teams working on a single product. LeSS retains the core principles of Scrum, such as self-organizing teams, iterative development, and regular inspection and adaptation, while providing additional guidance and practices for large-scale implementation.
Key concepts of Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS):
- Single Product Owner: LeSS advocates for a single Product Owner responsible for the overall product vision and backlog prioritization, ensuring clarity and consistency in decision-making.
- Scrum of Scrums (SoS): In LeSS, multiple Scrum teams collaborate through a Scrum of Scrums meeting, where representatives from each team synchronize their work, identify dependencies, and address cross-team impediments.
- Feature Teams: LeSS encourages forming cross-functional, self-organizing teams that deliver end-to-end features, reducing handoffs and dependencies between specialized teams.
- Whole-Team Approach: LeSS fosters collaboration, accountability, and a shared responsibility for delivering value, empowering each team to make decisions and take ownership of their work.
- Lean Thinking: LeSS integrates Lean principles, such as minimizing waste and maximizing value delivery, with an emphasis on continuous improvement.
- Continuous Improvement: Like Scrum, LeSS emphasizes regular retrospectives to identify areas for improvement and enhance team effectiveness over time.
LeSS provides a lightweight, flexible framework for scaling Scrum practices to large and complex projects. By focusing on simplicity, transparency, and collaboration, LeSS enables organizations to deliver value iteratively, respond to change effectively, and achieve business agility at scale.
Scrum@Scale
Scrum@scale is an extension of the Scrum framework that empowers organizations to follow a standard structure for their systems and processes to achieve organic growth. This organic growth depends on the unique conditions within the organization that facilitate the delivery of results. This definition by Dr. Jeff Sutherland, the co-creator of Scrum, highlights the significance of Scrum@scale for creating an ecosystem where everyone is responsible for transforming the organizational culture.
When organizations grow, the projects and their deliverables are much larger, and striving for simultaneous management of several Scrum projects is challenging. But having several individual teams working on various Scrum projects does not guarantee success. Managing multiple Scrum teams is easier said than done. Scaling scrum is helpful as it replicates all the critical benefits of Scrum guides in addressing complex adaptive problems while delivering superior quality products.
Scrum@Scale key Concepts
Scrum@scale comprises three core concepts:
- Working with small teams to help reduce complexity in the process.
- Focusing on linear scalability to determine successful scaling across the entire organization and increase the likelihood of success.
- Applying minimum viable bureaucracy to ensure less time in decision-making and execution.
Scrum@Scale Roles
Bearing that Scrum@Scale follows the Scrum guide, the roles of the Product Owner and the Scrum Master have similar competencies. At the same time, the Scrum Master manages the Daily Scrum and Retrospective when scaling Scrum. Likewise, the Product Owner is responsible for all the Sprint Reviews and Backlog Refinements under the Chief Product Owner’s (CPO) guidance. However, regarding Sprint planning, the Product Owner and the Scrum Masters work together to create the Sprint goals.
Key Features:
- Scrum of Scrums (SoS): A scalable mechanism to connect multiple Scrum teams for coordination.
- MetaScrum: Aligns product vision and strategy, involving key stakeholders in decision-making.
- Modular Approach: Allows organizations to scale in a customized way, adopting only what they need.
Overall, adopting the Scrum@scale framework allows an organization greater agility to deliver high-impact products to the market. Scrum@scale creates well-functioning Scrum teams that focus on building sustainable complex products by practicing Scrum values. While Scrum is applicable at a team level, it is also effective for the entire organization across various departments. However implementing Scrum@scale requires good Scrum practices and developing the mindset before scaling. As a result, frameworks like Scrum@Scale are practical options that enable enterprises to stay on the course of the organizational vision and grow at an organic pace with effective communication and coordination between various Scrum teams to achieve business objectives.
Nexus
Nexus framework consists of roles, events, artifacts, and techniques that bind and weave together the work of approximately three to nine Scrum Teams working on a single Product Backlog to build an Integrated Increment that meets a goal.
Nexus is an exoskeleton that rests on top of multiple Scrum Teams when they are combined to create an Integrated Increment. Nexus is consistent with Scrum and its parts are similar to Scrum. The difference is that more attention is paid to dependencies and interoperation between Scrum Teams, delivering one “Done” Integrated Increment at least every Sprint.
Nexus consists of:
- Roles: A new role, the Nexus Integration Team, exists to coordinate, coach, and supervise the application of Nexus and the operation of Scrum so that best outcomes are derived. The Nexus Integration Team consists of a Product Owner, a Scrum Master, and Nexus Integration Team Members.
- Artifacts: All Scrum Teams use the same, single Product Backlog. As the Product Backlog items are refined and made ready, indicators of which team will do the work inside a Sprint are made visual. A new artifact, the Nexus Sprint Backlog, exists to assist with transparency during the Sprint. All Scrum Teams maintain their individual Sprint Backlogs.
- Events: Events are appended to, placed around, or replace (in the case of the Sprint Review) regular Scrum events to augment them. As modified, they serve both the overall effort of all Scrum Teams in the Nexus, and each individual team.
All work in a Nexus may be done by all members of the Scrum Teams, as cross-functional members of the Nexus. Based on dependencies, the teams may select the most appropriate members to do specific work.
- Refine the Product Backlog: The Product Backlog needs to be decomposed so that dependencies are identified and removed or minimized. Product Backlog items are refined into thinly sliced pieces of functionality and the team likely to do the work should be identified as early as possible.
- Nexus Sprint Planning: Appropriate representatives from each Scrum Team meet to discuss and review the refined Product Backlog. They select Product Backlog items for each team. Each Scrum Team then plans its own Sprint, interacting with other teams as appropriate. The outcome is a set of Sprint Goals that align with the overarching Nexus Goal, each Scrum Team’s Sprint Backlog and a single Nexus Sprint Backlog. The Nexus Sprint Backlog makes the Scrum Team’s selected Product Backlog items and any dependencies transparent.
- Development work: All teams develop software, frequently integrating their work into a common environment that can be tested to ensure that the integration is done.
- Nexus Daily Scrum: Appropriate representatives from each Scrum Development Team meet daily to identify if any integration issues exist. If identified, this information is transferred back to each Scrum Team’s Daily Scrum. Scrum Teams then use their Daily Scrum to create a plan for the day, being sure to address the integration issues raised during the Nexus Daily Scrum.
- Nexus Sprint Review: All teams meet with the Product Owner to review the Integrated Increment. Adjustments may be made to the Product Backlog.
- Nexus Sprint Retrospective: Appropriate representatives from each Scrum Team meet to identify shared challenges. Then, each Scrum Team holds individual Sprint Retrospectives. Appropriate representatives from each team meet again to discuss any actions needed based on shared challenges to provide bottom-up intelligence.
Overall, Nexus is a practical choice for those who need to scale Scrum without losing its core simplicity and values. By maintaining a minimalistic approach and focusing on integration, it helps teams handle the complexities of multi-team development without overwhelming them with additional roles and processes. It’s a straightforward and effective framework that stays true to Scrum’s agile principles, making it a popular choice among organizations that prioritize lean scaling.
DA(Disciplined Agile)
Disciplined Agile (DA) is a comprehensive process-decision toolkit that combines Agile, Lean, and traditional project management practices to help organizations choose the most effective way to work. Rather than being a prescriptive framework, DA offers a hybrid approach, allowing teams to tailor their Agile practices based on their unique context and needs. DA provides guidance for delivering value, managing complexity, and navigating organizational challenges, making it suitable for a wide range of industries and projects.
Implementing Disciplined Agile involves assessing your organization’s context, selecting the appropriate DA lifecycles, and tailoring the practices and processes to fit your specific needs. DA provides guidance for different life cycles, including Agile, Lean, Continuous Delivery, and Exploratory. Organizations can also choose a combination of these life cycles based on their requirements.
Key Components of Disciplined Agile
1.DA Lifecycle Options
DA offers multiple life cycles to cater to different team needs, project types, and organizational contexts:
- Agile Lifecycle: Similar to Scrum, it follows an iterative and incremental approach.
- Lean Lifecycle: Focuses on continuous flow with Kanban-style practices, limiting work in progress to improve throughput.
- Continuous Delivery: Supports Agile or Lean lifecycles with a focus on delivering working solutions continuously.
- Exploratory Lifecycle: Ideal for research and prototyping, with a focus on experimentation.
- Program Lifecycle: Designed for coordinating multiple teams working together on larger initiatives.
2.Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD):
- DAD is a core component of DA, covering the entire delivery cycle from inception to transition. It addresses key areas like requirements, architecture, quality, and governance to ensure a comprehensive approach to Agile delivery.
- DAD provides guidance on six phases: Inception, Construction, Transition, Production, Retirement, and Continuous Improvement, offering a full project lifecycle perspective.
3.Process Goals and Decision Points:
- DA introduces the concept of process goals, which are decision points that guide teams to make informed choices. Each goal (e.g., producing a potentially shippable product, enhancing quality) includes a list of options, strategies, and trade-offs.
- This allows teams to tailor their approach based on factors like team skills, organizational culture, and project complexity.
4.DA Roles:
DA includes roles that go beyond the traditional Scrum roles to cover a wider organizational context:
- Team Lead (similar to a Scrum Master)
- Product Owner
- Architecture Owner
- Stakeholders
It also includes higher-level roles for scaling Agile, such as Program Manager, Portfolio Manager, and Enterprise Architect, which provides guidance at the organizational level.
5.Enterprise Awareness:
- A key aspect of DA is its focus on enterprise awareness, ensuring that Agile teams consider organizational constraints, compliance, and governance while making decisions.
- This is particularly useful for large organizations that need to balance agility with control, regulatory requirements, and risk management.
Overall, disciplined Agile is a versatile and comprehensive framework that stands out for its ability to adapt to various organizational needs. It encourages a pragmatic approach to Agile by providing guidance instead of strict rules, allowing teams to choose the best practices based on their context. Whether you’re a small team looking for a more flexible Agile approach or a large organization needing to coordinate complex projects across multiple teams, DA offers the tools and guidance to navigate Agile in a structured yet adaptable way.
Key Considerations When Scaling Scrum
- Transparency: Ensure visibility across all levels, using metrics, dashboards, and regular reviews.
- Communication and Coordination: Larger projects need effective communication channels between teams to manage dependencies.
- Consistent Cadence: Align sprints across teams for synchronization (e.g., all teams work on a two-week sprint).
- Cross-Team Collaboration: Establish practices like Scrum of Scrums to handle dependencies and foster communication.
- Product Ownership: Either a single Product Owner or a team of Product Owners who coordinate to keep the product vision aligned.
- Integration: Regular integration of work from all teams to ensure continuous delivery.
Conclusion: Choosing the Right Scaling Scrum Framework
Scrum is invaluable for organizations managing increased complexity, multiple teams, and large projects while maintaining Agile principles of flexibility, collaboration, and iterative delivery. The right scaling framework depends on your organization’s size, culture, specific needs, and Agile maturity.For large enterprises, SAFe provides a comprehensive and structured approach, aligning business strategy with Agile delivery across teams. For smaller or mid-sized organizations, frameworks like LeSS or Nexus offer a simpler, more lightweight alternative, staying closer to Scrum’s core philosophy. Disciplined Agile (DA) is ideal for organizations seeking a high degree of customization, while Scrum@Scale
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