Large Scale Scrum (LeSS) is a framework for scaling Scrum to multiple teams, helping organizations apply Scrum principles to complex, large-scale projects. It promotes simplicity and adherence to Scrum principles while scaling to multiple teams. LeSS provides a valuable approach for multi-team coaching, emphasizing transparency, empiricism, and minimizing unnecessary roles and artifacts. Here’s a summary of LeSS, its benefits for multi-team coaching, and the key LeSS events, agendas, and expected outcomes:
Summary of LeSS: LeSS is based on the fundamental principles of Scrum, and its core tenets include:
- Simplicity: LeSS keeps the framework simple by eliminating unnecessary roles, artifacts, and ceremonies. It is designed to enhance collaboration and alignment while scaling Scrum.
- Empiricism: LeSS promotes transparency, inspection, and adaptation. It encourages teams to learn from experience and adapt their practices.
- Customer-Centric: LeSS maintains a strong customer-centric focus, delivering value to customers through potentially shippable product increments.
- Whole-Team Approach: LeSS encourages cross-functional, self-organizing teams. It eliminates the need for specialized roles within Scrum teams.
Benefits for Multi-Team Coaching:
- Scalability: LeSS provides a framework for scaling Scrum practices to multiple teams, ensuring that teams can work collaboratively on complex projects.
- Simplicity: LeSS keeps the framework simple and easy to understand, which makes it ideal for coaching large organizations. It minimizes the complexity of scaling Agile practices.
- Transparency: The framework enhances transparency across teams, enabling a holistic view of project progress, dependencies, and impediments.
- Shared Values: LeSS reinforces the values and principles of Scrum, ensuring that all teams share a common understanding and mindset.
LeSS Events, Agenda, and Expected Outcomes:
- Sprint Planning: LeSS Sprint Planning is similar to regular Sprint Planning in Scrum. The agenda includes selecting work from the Product Backlog, defining a Sprint Goal, and identifying the tasks to achieve the goal. The expected outcome is a shared understanding of the work and a commitment to achieving the Sprint Goal.
- Sprint Review: The LeSS Sprint Review focuses on reviewing the product increment. The agenda involves each team presenting its increment and collecting feedback. The expected outcome is a shared understanding of the product’s progress and potential adjustments to the product backlog.
- Sprint Retrospective: LeSS Sprint Retrospectives are conducted by individual teams, addressing their internal processes and ways of working. The expected outcome is team-specific process improvements.
- Overall Retrospective (Multi-Team): This event is held at the end of a Sprint and is attended by all teams working on a product. The agenda includes discussing cross-team issues, coordination challenges, and improvements at the overall level. The expected outcome is improvements in cross-team collaboration and alignment.
- Daily Scrum (with optional Daily Stand-Down): The Daily Scrum occurs within each team and follows the standard Scrum practice. An optional Daily Stand-Down can be held to address cross-team coordination issues and impediments. The expected outcome is daily alignment within teams and potential resolution of cross-team impediments.
- Product Backlog Refinement: Teams participate in Product Backlog Refinement activities to ensure that the Product Backlog is well-prepared for the upcoming Sprint Planning. The expected outcome is a refined backlog ready for Sprint Planning.
- Sprint Retrospective at the Overall Level: This event is held every few Sprints and involves all teams working on a product. The agenda includes addressing overall product development issues and improvements. The expected outcome is improvements in overall product development practices.
In conclusion, LeSS is a framework that simplifies the scaling of Scrum for multi-team environments. It maintains Scrum’s core principles while promoting simplicity and transparency. The framework’s events, agendas, and expected outcomes focus on team and cross-team collaboration, alignment, and continuous improvement, making it well-suited for multi-team coaching in large organizations.