Scaling: Scrum@Scale: Pros&Cons

What is it?
Scrum@Scale is a scaling methodology for Scrum developed by Dr. Jeff Sutherland, one of the co-founders of Scrum. It transforms organizations into agile enterprises.

Strengths (Top 3)

  • Quick decisions-making
    The concept of minimum bureaucracy (Minimum Viable Bureaucracy) aims at short decision-making paths through a minimum of governing bodies (managers) and processes. This allows necessary decisions to be made without unnecessary intermediate instances.
  • Proximity to Scrum
    Scrum@Scale, as the name suggests, takes Scrum to the next level. This makes it very intuitive for Scrum experts to use. In addition, the principles of Scrum have long been proven in practice.
  • Agile Mindset
    With its direct tie to Scrum and clear commitment to agile principles, Scrum@Scale promotes an agile mindset. To understand why certain things need to be done as described or to think beyond it is important to have an agile mindset. Unfortunately, this puts the hurdle high for non-agilists and makes it hard to motivate companies to adopt Scrum@Scale.

Weaknesses (Top 3)

  • Incompleteness
    What SAFe has too much of, Scrum@Scale has too little of: many helpful approaches Scrum@Scale does not mention; so it is possible to overlook them. For example, it makes sense to always keep the “big picture” in mind to focus on important work – not work that’s just urgent.; e.g. to agree on 1-2 top issues for the next release or (quarterly) goals. However, all this is not a fixed component in Scrum@Scale.
  • Missing enterprise view
    Scrum@Scale focuses on the area of software development. In doing so, it neglects the other areas of the company, such as marketing, and overlooks key areas of value flow and coordination within the company.
  • Difficult to sell
    For many non-agile, traditional, companies, a move to Scrum@Scale means a significant organizational change. For example, if a development team leader suddenly has to communicate customer benefits to his team as a product owner in direct consultation with individual customers and stakeholders.

Feedback
If you have any comments, ideas, suggestions or other feedback about this article, feel free to send me an email at Feedback[at]scrummastersmind.com.