We all heard about scrum of scrums and probably we get some idea on the same from name itself. Yes, it is a scrum formed with one ambassador from different scrum teams interdependent on each other.

Scrum of scrums is an agile scaling technique where a scrum is formed with one member from different scrum teams to meet on periodic basis to exchange information required to achieve a common goal.

Purpose of Scrum of Scrums #

• Achieve a bigger common goal.
• To have the necessary interaction between interdependent teams in order to progress further.
• Manage risks effectively.
• Achieve complex deliveries with ease.
• Attain transparency.
• To efficiently utilise resource

Who Facilitates Scrum of Scrums #

Any member of scrum of scrums can facilitate it. In many teams we have seen the facilitation part being done on rotational basis among the ambassadors of different teams participating. Functional mangers or senior management has a keen interest in scrum of scrums. Participation criteria is not to be a scrum master or a technical specialist. Any one who has the overall knowledge of sprint goals and a why behind them can join it.

Agenda of Scrum of Scrums #

As the scrum meeting has an agenda comprising of three questions similarly the scrum of scrums agenda comprises of: 
1. What was accomplished since the last meeting?
2. Are there any obstacles ?
3. What are the next targets ?

Frequency of Scrum of Scrums #

These meetings are not mandated to meet on daily basis as scrum meetings. They can be done once in two days, twice a week or may be once a week as well. However, it is not recommended to have a gap of more that one week.

Size of Scrum of Scrums #

The size of this team depends on how many teams are participating into it. Generally it is seen as three to seven. If the size tends to be bigger than that then probably it is the time to scale up even higher and go for the formation of scrum of scrum of scrums.

Example of a Scrum of Scrums scenario #

Now let us take an example of a scenario where scrum of scrums can be used. This is a very small example consisting of only three teams for keeping it simple.

Let’s assume that the task has to fulfilled which says that any kind of reports prepared in clinical labs should be received by the doctors automatically for the patients they register. Three teams strive to obtain this common goal.

TeamA: The source end , the clinical laboratory which will be sending the report (e.g. blood sugar ). They should send the message in a particular format with accepted healthcare standards of laboratory. TeamB: The team in between acting as a message bus to receive from source and send to destination. This team has to understand the source format of message and convert to the format understood by the destination. TeamC: The receiving end, the doctor’s desktop.The results in the message should be seen as a form on his machine.

Now all these teams need to meet on frequent basis to achieve this use case and not only make sure that their part is done but also ensure that the overall flow of the message is smooth. They meet on periodic basis and make sure to share their achievements and ask questions such as what is needed by other teams and working on what next will be most beneficial.

Summary #

Scrum of Scrum is a very powerful mythology for building complex requirements vast spread into multiple teams. It has proven to be an effective mechanism to reduce issues and increase productivity among teams.