Scaling Agile

What it means

Scaling is not addressed directly by the Scrum Guide, which is scoped to a single Scrum Team. Frameworks like SAFe, LeSS, and Nexus each offer a different approach to coordinating multiple teams sharing dependencies.

Common scaling challenges include maintaining a single prioritized backlog, synchronizing release cadences, and managing cross-team dependencies without recreating slow, centralized decision-making.

Common mistakes

Before adopting a scaling framework, many coaches recommend first optimizing whether the work truly needs multiple teams, since organizational structure changes are often cheaper than adopting complex scaling processes.

Example

A company evaluates SAFe, LeSS, and Nexus before deciding LeSS fits its single-product, ten-team structure best.