The document summarizes the experience of a company that adopted the Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) framework for product development over several years. It started with two teams using basic Scrum practices and grew to include multiple offsite teams. Key lessons included: transitioning from common planning to representatives as teams grew; introducing requirement areas but realizing areas were too small; and the importance of training, coaching, and management support for sustainable agile adoption. Overall, LeSS enabled faster development and release cycles through improved collaboration.

1. © GOSEI
LeSS in Action
Ran Nyman
Scrum Gathering BLR 5.6.2015

2. Gosei Oy all rights reserved.
Session
Product development started in 2007
Two teams and management cultures
Waterfall
Agile
The product
High capacity GGSN and SAE Gateway
What did we learn about LeSS
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3. Gosei Oy all rights reserved.
Who am I
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Ran Nyman
Worked with LeSS in 2005
Worked with many large SAFe
implementations for several years
between 2008 and 2011
MSc in Computer Science
Since in 1995 professional SW
development

4. Starting Development
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5. Gosei Oy all rights reserved.
Starting Phase
Two teams
Mixing teams
Component or Feature teams?
No legacy code
How often can you start from scratch?
First steps
Build initial architecture
Create Producut Backlog
Decide tooling and development practices
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Setting up Teams
Where to get ScrumMasters?
What do with managers?
Mixing teams a good approach?
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Deciding Development Practices
Programming Language
Continuous Integration
Automated Acceptance Testing
Tools Robotframwork.org with Catapult driver
Unit testing
Fast feedback!
Even with prototype Hardware is essential
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8. Initial LeSS with 2 Teams
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LeSS with 2 Teams
Initial Product Backlog Creation
Initial Architecture
Common Sprint Planning 1 & 2
Scrum of Scrum coordination during Sprint
Joint Sprint Review
Team Retrospectives
Overall Sprint Retrospective
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Initial Product
Backlog
Creation

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Initial
Architecture

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Common
Sprint
Planning
1 and 2
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Initial Team
Room

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Better Team
Rooms
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Common Sprint
Review
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Common Sprint
Retrospective
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Remarks
Arguments between teams
Do not separate teams in opposite end of building
Common planning and workshops are not enough
Create shared space with teams that create initial architecture
Technical challenges
Planning vs Doing balance was hard to find
Improvements!
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Analysis
Managers as ScrumMaster does not work
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19. Growing Phase 1
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Growing Phase 1
Adding 4 more teams to existing site
Non agile background
Resistance to new ways of
Coaching helped
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LeSS with up to 6 Teams
Common Sprint Planning 1 and 2 did not work anymore
Common Product Backlog Refinement did not work
Sprint Planning 1 and Product Backlog Refinement with Team Representatives
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22. Less.Works - Ran Nyman
Sprint Planning
TR SM
PO
TR TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
1
2
Time-­‐box 2h
Sprint planning PO + Team representatives
Time-­‐box 2h
Team
PO
Team
PO + Teams
More than few teams

23. Less.Works - Ran Nyman
Sprint Planning
Team
TR SM
PO
TR TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
1
2
Time-­‐box 2h
Sprint planning PO + Team representatives
Time-­‐box 2h
Team
PO
Team
PO + Teams
More than few teams

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Sprint Planning
Team
SM
TR SM
PO
TR TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
1
2
Time-­‐box 2h
Sprint planning PO + Team representatives
Time-­‐box 2h
Team
PO
Team
PO + Teams
More than few teams

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Sprint Planning
Team
SM
TR SM
PO
TR TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
1
2
Time-­‐box 2h
Sprint planning PO + Team representatives
Time-­‐box 2h
Team
PO
Team
PO + Teams
More than few teams

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Sprint Planning
Team
SM
TR SM
PO
TR TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
1
2
Time-­‐box 2h
Sprint planning PO + Team representatives
Time-­‐box 2h
Team
PO
Team
PO + Teams
More than few teams

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Sprint Planning
Team
SM
TR SM
PO
TR TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
1
2
Time-­‐box 2h
Sprint planning PO + Team representatives
Time-­‐box 2h
Sprint backlog
Team
PO
Team
PO + Teams
More than few teams

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Sprint Planning
Team
SMSM
TR SM
PO
TR TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
TR
Team Team Team
SM
Team Team
1
2
Time-­‐box 2h
Sprint planning PO + Team representatives
Time-­‐box 2h
Sprint backlog
Team
PO
Team
PO + Teams
More than few teams

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Product Backlog Refinement
With few teams

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Product Backlog Refinement
With few teams
With many teams

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Product Backlog Refinement
With few teams
With many teams
Refined Items

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Introduction
of Bug
Tracking
System
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Remarks
Growing from 2 to 6 teams was easy
Coaching helps
Do not underestimate resistance
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34. Growing Phase 2
From LeSS to LeSS Huge
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Offsite Teams
Adding offsite subcontractor
Training
Visit to main site
Same rules as for local teams
Product Owner proxy
Offsite technical helpers
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LeSS Huge
Introduced requirement areas
Team working mainly in one requirement area
1-2 Teams per area
Area Product Owners?
From Product Management
Feature experts
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38. LeSS Huge
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LeSS Huge in Action
Common cadence to all teams
Sprint Review to Sequential
PO + Feature Experts visiting each team
Product Backlog refinement per Requirement Area
Separate Sprint Review for offsite teams
Offsite Proxy Product Owner key person
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Moving to LeSS Huge

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Moving to LeSS Huge
Adds:
Requirement Areas
Area Product Owner
Area Product Backlog

42. Less.Works - Ran Nyman
Moving to LeSS Huge
Adds:
Requirement Areas
Area Product Owner
Area Product Backlog

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Observations
Overall Retrospective
How to get improvements done and keep people motivated
What do with project mangers?
Performance testing?
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Analysis
Impediment service
Training
Managers as development team worked fabulously
Requirement Areas too Small -> No Area Product Owners
Real Area Product Owners not Feature Experts
Feedback and motivation for teams
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45. Keeping Things on Track
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Continuous Integration
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Tooling
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Tracking Progress
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Better View
on Status
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50. Conclusions
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Achievement
Capability to release in 2 week cadence
Fast reaction to changing requirements from customer
“As a result of our Agility in developing products, we have been able
to demonstrate the product capabilities at an early stage of the
development cycle itself, helping us to win new customers cases.”
Head of Business-line
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Employee Feedback
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We would have not succeeded without LeSS
This is the only way of building products. We do not want to go back
to sequential development.
More collaboration, freedom, discussions, impacts on product
Seeing the results with fast feedback
Challenges
How to keep architecture in good shape
Seeing the whole difficult

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Conclusions
LeSS was only viable option
We focused too much on
developing product
Focus on process is important also
Coaching is not enough
Offer training
Involve higher management
Having support only from product
group is not enough
Sustainable agile organization needs
changes in organizational structure
Customer visit!
Moving from LeSS to LeSS Huge
needs effort
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Key Insight about Teams
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55. Questions
Upcoming LeSS Trainings in India:
http://bit.ly/LeSS-BLR
http://bit.ly/LeSS-PUNE
More with LeSS: http://less.works
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56. Thank You
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