Scrum of Scrums

What is Scrum of Scrums?

Introduced by two founders of the scrum framework, Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber, Scrum of Scrums is a method used to coordinate multiple scrum teams working on the same product goals. As the number of teams increases, so does the potential for dependencies and obstacles that can slow down progress. Each team designates a representative to join a regular cross-team meeting—this might be the scrum master, a technical lead, or another team member, depending on who is best positioned to understand and address the dependencies involved.

As with the daily scrum, the Scrum of Scrums provides a structured way to share updates, discuss progress, and identify issues that require collaboration between teams. This event helps maintain transparency across teams while supporting self-management at scale.

Why is Scrum of Scrums important?

When multiple scrum teams work together, dependencies and shared work can create bottlenecks. Scrum of Scrums provides a space to identify and address these challenges early, helping teams align and deliver value more effectively. Scrum of Scrums helps reduce delays, improve coordination, and keep work moving smoothly by bringing teams together to share updates. 

How Scrum of Scrums helps teams

Scrum of Scrums helps teams stay in sync by keeping them up to date about each other's progress and their mutual dependencies. Because teams are able to find out about and remove blockers early, one team's slowdown won't necessarily bring the whole project to a halt. By improving communication and alignment between teams, Scrum of Scrums helps teams work more effectively toward a shared goal.

How does the Scrum of Scrums work?

After each team's daily scrum, a representative joins the Scrum of Scrums to share updates. Scrum of Scrums focuses on team-level progress instead of individual tasks and may be structured to answer these three questions:

1. What has our team finished since the last Scrum of Scrums?
2. What is our team working on next?
3. What challenges or dependencies are affecting our progress?

The group keeps track of issues that require coordination across teams and works together to resolve them. Some teams even maintain a separate backlog for these cross-team challenges to make sure decisions made during the meeting lead to real action.

Frequently asked questions

Who needs to attend the Scrum of Scrums?

Each scrum team selects a representative, often the scrum master or a technical leader, to share updates and bring back relevant information to their team.

How often should we hold a Scrum of Scrums?

Most teams do it daily, right after their own daily scrums. But if a daily meeting isn't necessary, teams can adjust the frequency to fit their needs.

Is Scrum of Scrums required in scrum?

No, it's not a core part of the scrum framework. It's an additional tool to scale scrum and help multiple teams stay aligned. If it helps, use it. If not, there's no need to force it.

How is Scrum of Scrums different from a regular daily scrum?

A daily scrum focuses on what's happening within a single team. The Scrum of Scrums looks at the bigger picture, including how teams are working together, where they're running into issues, and what needs coordination.