According to the Scrum Guide, Scrum teams are typically 10 or fewer, with a preference to the smaller size. When Scrum teams become too large, they should consider re-organizing into multiple Scrum teams supporting a single product. When this happens, the Scrum teams should share a single Product goal, Product Backlog, Product Owner and a common Definition of Done.
The definition of a product
We use Scrum to deliver products in complex environments. But what exactly is a product? According to the 2020 Scrum Guide, “A product is a vehicle to deliver value. It has a clear boundary, known stakeholders, and well-defined end users or customers. A product could be a service, a physical product, or something more abstract.”
What the Scrum Guide means is that the definition of a Product is based on the value that it provides. Note that the definition is not based on the technology we use to deliver that value.
Multiple Scrum Teams; single product
Let’s look at an example. Imagine a company whose primary business is its subscription-based Whizbang Financial Planning website which generates more than $1 billion annually. Creating and maintaining the website requires java developers, graphic designers, content writers and testers.
In this example, the product is the website. The product is not the Java developers, content writers, or website testers. Instead, all of these individuals work together to support the Whizbang Financial Planning website – a single product.
But what if there are 20 Java developers, testers, graphic designers and content writers? Does this mean they all have to operate on the same Scrum Team? That sounds unmanageable.
The answer is no. Multiple Scrum Teams can work together to support a single product. Each Scrum Team should be cross-functional and have all the skills needed to deliver an Increment of value each Sprint.
Let’s suppose the organization creates four Scrum Teams to support the Whizbang Financial Planning website. It’s this scenario that often leads organizations to think that each team should have a Product Owner.
The whizbang Financial Planning website may have multiple teams, but it is a single product. Having one Product Owner per Scrum Team could lead to issues such as disagreement on the strategy for the website. One Product Owner might want to create a goal to increase sales, and another on cost savings. Now we lack focus and a unified goal. The Product Owner must be the single voice of the customer, and there must be a single voice per product.
The Product Owner accountability
The Product Owner is the bridge between company strategy and the Scrum Team. Senior management owns the overall company vision and business strategy (unless the entire company supports a single product, in which case the Product Owner may be the CEO). At a minimum, the Product Owner must own the product vision, goal, Product Backlog and forecasting. We can’t have more than one product goal at a time, so we only need one Product Owner.
(To learn more about the Product Owner accountability, signup for one of Rebel Scrum’s upcoming Professional Scrum Product Owner or Professional Scrum Product Owner - Advanced courses.)
That’s a lot of work!
