Scaling the Scrum Master (Team Coach/Team Facilitator)

Play Description

Also Known As/Similar To

Scrum of Scrums Master (SoSM), Release Train Engineer (RTE), Chief Scrum Master

Pattern Group(s)

Scaling Roles, Scaling Structures

Challenge Categories

Impediment Resolution, Continuous Improvement, Cross-Team Coordination, Dependency Management

Challenges Addressed

The following challenges are likely to be improved or addressed by implementing this pattern:

• Scrum Masters, Team Coaches, or Team Facilitators are struggling to identify and overcome impediments that are not isolated to their team.
• Scrum Masters, Team Coaches, or Team Facilitators are struggling to implement continuous improvements because doing so would require the coordinated effort of multiple teams and team leaders.
• Scrum Masters, Team Coaches, or Team Facilitators are struggling to coordinate with each other, because they do not know each other well enough or do not know whom to coordinate with.
• Scrum Masters, Team Coaches, or Team Facilitators are struggling to manage dependencies, so delivery of work is either being delayed as each team waits for others.  Or, the work delivered is not well integrated.

Definition

Scaling the Scrum Master (Team Coach/Facilitator) recreates the team coach/facilitator role and related functions to provide the same benefits to teams of multiple teams, helping the network of teams to deliver a valuable working product frequently together. A scaled Scrum Master (Team Coach/Facilitator) helps to ensure that the team of teams successfully executes through teaching, coaching, mentoring, and facilitation activities.

The pattern is the reuse of the team coach/facilitator role in a larger, scaled context. As a result, an effective Scaled Team Coach/Facilitator

• Coaches the various teams in the effective use of scaling frameworks and techniques.
• Helps the teams to identify and manage cross-team dependencies.
• Brings visibility to impediments (obstacles) that affect multiple teams, communicates these impediments to leadership to help resolve when appropriate.
• Ensures that the network of teams continuously improves and delivers a valuable working product or service effectively.

In Frameworks

In Scrum@Scale, this person is called the Scrum-of-Scrums Master (SoSM), which is a scaling of the Scrum Master accountability. A further scaling of the person is called the Scrum-of-Scrum-of-Scrums Master. The SoSM is a true leader that serves and could be one of the individual scrum masters in the scrum of scrum.

In Scaled Agile Framework, this person is called the Release Train Engineer (RTE). A further scaling of this role is called the Solution Train Engineer. In the contrast to the Scrum@Scale, the RTE expect to be facilitate all events for the network of teams.

Some organizations also call this individual the Chief Scrum Master.

How to Use

There are a variety of implementation techniques. One common technique is to select one of the existing Team Coaches/Facilitators from the network of teams and ask them to begin facilitating with all of the teams, starting with the Cross-Team Sync. Then, add further events and activities — such as release planning, scaled reviews and retrospectives — as needed. Another technique is wholesale organizational adoption of a framework that includes a dedicated Scaled Team Coach/Facilitator.

Evidence of Success

Short term, the Scaled Team Coach/Facilitator is being effective when:

• Dependencies are quickly identified, reducing future impediments.
• Impediments are aggressively eliminated and/or escalated to senior leadership to address.
• Key insights and learning are shared quickly across teams.
• Team member satisfaction is gradually increasing.

Long term, the Scaled Team Coach/Facilitator is being effective when:

• The network of teams is self-organizing and self-managing their work, requiring minimal intervention by the Scaled Team Coach/Facilitator.
• The network of teams is improving its performance over time.
• The capabilities/capacity of the network of teams are increasing over time.
• Team membership happiness/job satisfaction is high.

Success Measures/Leading Indicators

Here are some possible/potential success measures you may want to consider using:

• Impediments –> average days open
• Impediments –> number and criticality
• Velocity for the “Team of Teams”.
• Feature cycle time
• Feature lead time
• Feature %C&A
• Defect rate
• Happiness index
• Stakeholder satisfaction
• Product Owner satisfaction