Executive Metascrum (EMS) (Event)

Executive Metascrum (EMS) (Event)

Submitted by: Donald Patti, Paula Kvedaras
Date Created Date Updated
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Play Description

Also Known As/Similar To

Portfolio Syncs

Pattern Groups

Cross-Team Coordination, Scaling Events, Scaling the Product Owner

Challenge Categories

Sprint Alignment, Communication and Coordination, Decision-Making, Prioritization, Resource Allocation, Dependencies, Stakeholder Engagement, Performance Review

Challenges Addressed

The Executive MetaScrum (event) pattern addresses the following challenges:

  1. Lack of Strategic Alignment: It facilitates regular alignment between the work of agile teams and the organization’s strategy, ensuring that everyone is focused on common goals.
  2. Stakeholder Engagement: The event provides a structured forum for stakeholders to share their insights and feedback, promoting collaboration and consensus in decision-making.

Definition

An Executive MetaScrum (event) is an event where leaders, executives, and stakeholders meet with Product Ownership at least once per Sprint to align the work of agile teams with the organization’s strategy. It is an implementation of the MetaScrum pattern, which is described in the Scrum@Scale guide as both a group and an event.

Executive MetaScrum has two meanings:

(1) A group of individuals; and

(2) An event.

This pattern describes the event. An Executive MetaScrum (event) is an event where leaders, executives, and stakeholders meet with Product Ownership at least once per Sprint to align the work of agile teams with the organization’s strategy.

In Frameworks

It is an implementation of the MetaScrum pattern and is described in the Scrum@Scale guide as both a group and an event. It is a part of the Scrum@Scale framework. For more details about Executive MetaScrum, see the Scrum@Scale guide and the MetaScrum pattern described in this library.

SAFe has a similar implementation, known as Portfolio Syncs, where Lean Portfolio Management works with Epic Owners, Business Owners, and the organization’s leadership to align the work of the Agile Release Trains (ARTs) and Solution Trains (STs) with strategy.

A similar implementation also exists in LeSS with multi-team Product Backlog Refinement (PBR). However, LeSS does not have a defined group of people who participate in multi-team PBR as other frameworks do.

Use When…

Use this pattern when:

An Executive MetaScrum event is beneficial when the number of people involved in guiding a product, solution, value stream, portfolio, or enterprise benefits from building a consensus and sharing of strategy in an open forum.

It helps the individuals involved in Product Ownership to understand the thoughts and ideas of their stakeholders and incorporate them into their strategy while providing an opportunity for everyone to “get on the same page”.

How NOT to Use (Avoiding Misuse, Mistakes):

For small products with few stakeholders, it is likely that an Executive MetaScrum is NOT necessary. Instead, the activities can be accomplished organically and informally.

Play Authors

  • Jeff Sutherland
  • Scrum Inc.

Advantages

Frequent, consistent interaction by Product Ownership with stakeholders and executive leadership can help improve the alignment of work performed by the teams with an organization’s strategy. It can also increase confidence of leadership in the work being performed by the teams, making delegation easier.

Disadvantages

The time necessary to prepare for and conduct events can be a drain on resources, drawing them away from more important work. It is also possible that organic, ad hoc communication can be faster and require less overhead than holding an event.

Additional Notes

Sources

1. Sutherland, J. & Scrum, Inc. (2022). The Scrum@Scale Guide. Scrum, Inc. p. 14
2. Scaled Agile, Inc. (2023). SAFe 5.0 for Lean Enterprises. Retrieved from https://www.scaledagileframework.com
3. LeSS, Inc. (2023). LeSS Framework. Retrieved from https://less.works