1. Agile Teams at Scale:
Beyond Scrum of Scrums
Esther Derby
www.estherderby.com
612.724.8114
@estherderby
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2. One team or a handful of teams may be able to deliver
small systems. Large complex systems require teams of
teams to deliver significant features.
How can companies benefit from “the team effect” at
scale?
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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3. Teams share...
a compelling work goal
responsibility and accountability
an approach to work
teams have...
complementary skills
five-seven members
history
Teams are one sort of goal-oriented social unit.
Teams can form the building blocks for larger goal-oriented social units.
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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4. Teams offer possibilities that functional or component
work groups do not.
flexibility
learning
engagement
responsibility
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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5. But, when we have many teams, we need coordination.
What are the goals of our coordinating structures?
maintaining technical integrity of the system
coordinating work across teams
integrating work across teams
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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9. Principles: Guide stars for scaling team-based work.
Practices: Social and technical practices that enable team-
based work.
Pathways: Steps to get from here to there.
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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10. Principles
• Manage dependencies in the backlog as much as possible
• Aim for long-lived cross-functional teams
• Go as far down the technology stack as feasible
• Organize teams around context boundaries rather than
component boundaries were ever possible
• Make cross-context communication explicit
• Avoid late learning
• Build in (some) redundancy
• Central AND local, depending
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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11. Technical Practices
Continuous integration (CI) within context
Integration across contexts at some other interval (keeping in
mind “avoid late learning”)
Mutually agreed upon and developed automated test across
context boundaries
Architectural, UI & coding standards
Technical reviews
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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12. Social Practices
Scrum of Scrums within context to surface impediments
Integrating teams (keeping in mind “avoid late learning”)
Decision boundaries
Component shepherds or teams
Tech councils
Product councils
Planning
Central AND Local
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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13. Scrum of Scrums can work with a small number of teams working
within the same context.
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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14. But a large system may have several contexts. (Think of context as a
feature group, for example “Student Financial Aid” in a system to track
financial aspects of students registered at a university.)
Form cross-functional teams within contexts.
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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16. Make communication across context boundaries explicit. Use
integrating teams to agree how to handle the interface and integration
between systems. Integrating teams should also agree on and write
acceptances tests that confirm integration across boundaries.
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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17. When several teams touch the code for services or component, add
Component Shepherds or Component Shepherd Teams.
Component Shepherds work to maintain the integrity of components. They
review code, coach, mentor, develop standards and provide guidance to teams.
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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18. Large systems usually need both integrating teams and Component
Shepherds.
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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19. Tech Councils, made up of integrating team members, component
shepherds, and test experts attend to the integrity of the whole system.
Product Councils look after product integrity.
Define decision boundaries for each sort of group.
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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20. • Lateral structures handle coordination and integration.
People close to the issues have both the knowledge and
means to make decisions.
• Scrum of scrums handles impediments.
• Information flows across and through, rather than up and
down.
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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21. Pathways
How do we get there?
Mid-level planning
Demand analysis
Removing technical dependencies
Smaller chunks
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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26. It’s not simple
It’s not easy
There is no one right way
There is no prescriptive plan
You won’t get there in one giant leap
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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27. It is possible
You will get there by adapting, iterating, learning
You will create a more flexible organization
You will increase the speed and ease of communication
You will unleash potential
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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28. Resources and References
Some useful resources from within the software domain:
Domain Driven Design by Eric Evans
Practices for Scaling Lean & Agile Development by Craig Larman and Bas Vodde
...and from the field of Organization Development and Design
Images of Organization by Gareth Morgan
Designing Team-Based Organizations by Mohrman, Cohen, and Mohrman
Creating Strategic Change by William Pasmore
Leadership and the New Science by Meg Wheatley
(c) 2012 esther derby || www.estherderby.com || 612.724.8114
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