SAFe and Scrum of Scrum

“High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectations.”- Charles Kettering

Every organization’s higher expectation after implementing and deriving benefits from agile is to aim for scaling the organization. SAFe is always a well-known and most popular option for scaling agile. But other than SAFe there are three other ways to obtain this scaling but the objectives are different with every framework.

SAFe is most popular all because it can handle delivering agile at a full enterprise level. But implementation of SAFe is a complicated thing all because of the reason why it's popular which means it is not easy to implement, needs dedication, and requires a company that is an experience in agile. This makes it for new agile organizations harder to accomplish it.

To understand better about scrum of scrum let's first see how SAFe the most popular and used framework works. In SAFe teams are created including a maximum of 11 team members in each which work in a kanban or scrum manner. That is they hold meetings, plan iterations, and work to deliver value. They are guided by the scrum master and product owners in the process. The multiple numbers teams work together in a group to achieve the results as one team is not enough this group of teams are agile release trains. The process of releasing trains is facilitated by the release train engineer. In SAFe all teams participate in planning, training, and retrospectives and product managers are responsible for providing vision and backlog to the team. When cases, where one release train is not sufficient multiple trains, are created naming solution trains that are managed by solution management for what is built, whereas solution train events are monitored by solution train engineers. In such training strategic themes and portfolio, vision helps in aligning the solution development with enterprise strategy which further helps in bringing the product that provides most of the value.

But as said before SAFe is more beneficial to people with previous experience in agile, for newcomers it is a bit challenging. Even with challenges, if you prefer to go with SAFe then be clear that it will take some time to implement but will be worth it as it will provide the required benefit.

If you prefer the simpler way to scale the agile enterprise then the best solution is a scrum of scrum, which is also the second most popular for agile scaling.

Scrum of scrum is a framework used to scale the agile organization with a technique of integrating the work of multiple teams who are working on the same project or towards the same goal. The teams created in a scrum of scrums are of five to nine members each. Scrum of scrum working is simple as it adds things to make the scrum teams works when more teams are involved in working for the same goal, instead of changing the operations of the team. To ensure coordination of all operations scrum of scrum is held which is attended by ambassadors. This ambassador is chosen by each team delegate in daily stand-ups. The ambassadors are responsible for reporting the team's progress. Scrum of scrum consists of a separate backlog for tracking changes. Scrum of scrum is aimed at unraveling the coordination challenges of teams. The scrum of scrum meeting is similar to daily scrum but is not framed in a time box of 15 minutes. The scrum of scrum can be held daily, twice a week, or even once a week. These meetings ensure the integration and coordination of various teams' output by removing impediments. To ensure track of everything and teams working it has a product backlog which is maintained by the chief scrum master.

While implementing scrum of scrum in scaling ensures to have the right team composition and makes team available with more time and space to grow.

Scrum of scrum is best suited for small organizations but with the proper setting, it also works effectively for larger ones.

In business, there are no higher and lower techniques, So SAFe and a scrum of scrum are not high or low, the best that suits your requirement and brings you the most benefits is the best for your organization. So I will always advise you to know your organization well and its requirements along with the timeline you can provide.

In scaling keep in mind that growing and scaling are different things as only adding several people to the teams or organization is not scaling but finding the most effective way to grow is what actual scaling means. 

We, at Advance Agility, are the new-age Agile Coaching, Consulting and IT services company. We enable end-to-end Digital Transformation. Agile execution is integral to our being. We are doing SAFe implementation with small, medium and large organization across the globe. Our vision is to be the leading Agile execution player globally. To keep adding value at every process stage. We are on a mission to empower our clients, move from concept to cash in the shortest sustainable lead time by adopting human centric approach to business agility. Embracing the change is in our DNA. Things that keep us apart are Quicker and Seamless execution with End-to-end gamut of services. Our Global presence and Stellar Track Record give us an edge over our competitor.

Connect with us at advanceagility.com to learn about SAFe and SAFe Implementation. We provide various SAFe certification courses along with DevOps, Scrum, Agile Coaching and more trainings. Write to us at contact@advanceagilty.com for any agile training or consulting needs. We are always looking for competent agile trainers as well. So if you are a good trainer or want to become one, do get in touch with us to that we can learn, grow and achieve together.