I find scaling with Scrum very exciting and it is also often requested: organizations are usually larger than just one or two teams. These constructs now need to work together to create products and deliver value.
The most important factors and drivers of agile scaling are the number of teams and the products the development is about.
Companies like to scale quickly without questioning whether it’s just right!
The drivers of agile scaling
You can get a good overview of Scrum scaling or agile scaling in general with a simple 2×2 matrix. In companies you find the situation that a number of teams develop a number of products. This is unsurprising, but it helps you a lot for scaling your own situation.
One team, one product
Here the world is quite simple – you have one team and also one product. But you don’t need scaling at all. This is almost always a Scrum team and they develop one product.
Multiple teams, one product
If your organization wants to scale and has multiple teams with one product, this is a typical approach for which a lot of agile scaling has been developed.
One team, multiple products
Agile scaling with one team and multiple products is – similar to one team and one product – basically simple.
Multiple teams, multiple products
Most companies often see themselves in the realm of multiple teams and multiple products.
What kind of scaling is right now?
There is always a suitable solution or a first model with which you can approach your way. You have to find out what is right in your context. Of course you can find this out in the Scrum Toolbox, the Scrum Coaching Community or in a training with me.
Finding a right way that works for you is as important in scaling as it is in a Scrum implementation. You wouldn’t be in the first company to take on SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), then later realize – wait a minute, that’s not what we’re looking for at all.
We always talk about agile scaling when multiple teams develop one or more products with an agile framework.
Does it need a scaling framework?
Agile principles and people with motivation – do you actually need more? The question is not easy to answer, because agile scaling frameworks are no longer just about pure principles, but simply about the money and reach of the companies behind the frameworks.
While SAFe has the strictest policy with training, courses and reuse, a LeSS explicitly states that training doesn’t have to be from LeSS, and a Nexus can also be used quite freely and exams can be taken online – and Scrum at Scale is in there as well.
If your company wants to scale Scrum, it doesn’t necessarily need a framework. Scaling frameworks all work in a certain context – whether this context is also valid for you needs to be analyzed carefully!
Not only a question of the framework
If you choose a framework at the beginning, you also buy into the dependencies on scaled agile. You should always keep in mind with agile that you should never fall into the trap of the predefined process. The more you look for structure and clarity in these models, the more you will be subject to changes.
How mature are you?
Whether large companies or smaller, medium-sized companies – it always goes and the maturity of the company. If you have little or no idea about Scrum and scaling in your organization, you’ll most likely reach for something that has helped other organizations.
Many companies use studies for this, like the one from Version One. For example, the Scaled Agile Framework is the best in terms of dissemination.
Going your own way – with principles
Even in agile scaling, companies are free to go their own way. Unsurprisingly, but nevertheless not so often encountered. Very few companies – and it often doesn’t matter which framework they use – argue on the basis of principles or values. And this although it is the basis for Scrum and Co. Usually such a discussion starts with the names of the frameworks. An initiative has taken up the topic of scaled principles, providing a path that challenges the organization along with its management: Principles must be implemented and interpreted!
When does the question arise?
If we follow the scaled principles or even look at a Scrum @ Scale, we find a lot of organic growth. But when do we ask ourselves the question about scaling? Usually when we’ve looked the other way for a long time and now all of a sudden have to deal with the issue.
Then it is mostly exactly the point in which organizations look for Scrum Coaching – but this is often exactly not the right time. Agile scaling doesn’t happen overnight. You always have the possibility to deal with it in advance in a calm way. And exactly this is a luxury you should not squander.