Scrum of Scrums

Scrum works well for a single team, with its daily scrum keeping everyone in sync. Once several Scrum teams work on the same product, a new problem appears. Each team knows its own plan, but nobody has a clear view of how the teams' work fits together, which team is blocked by another or where two teams are about to change the same part of the system. A Scrum of Scrums addresses that gap with a simple idea borrowed from the daily scrum. Representatives from each team meet regularly to share what their teams are doing, what they need from each other and what is getting in the way.

The technique is credited to Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber, who first used it in the mid-1990s when scaling Scrum at a software company. It later became part of larger approaches such as Scrum@Scale, which Sutherland formalized, and similar coordination meetings appear in other scaling frameworks, including the ART sync in SAFe. For Scrum Masters, delivery leads and team members working in multi-team environments, the Scrum of Scrums is often the first and lightest step toward coordinating agile work at scale. It requires no new roles or tools, which makes it easy to try.

Definition of Scrum of Scrums

A Scrum of Scrums is a scaling technique in which each Scrum team sends one or more representatives, often called ambassadors, to a recurring short meeting focused on integration, cross-team dependencies and shared impediments, so multiple teams can deliver one product increment together.

It extends the daily coordination practices of Scrum, is one of the simplest approaches to agile at scale and supports dependency management between teams.

How It Works

Each team chooses a representative, who may be a developer, the Scrum Master or another team member who understands the team's work and its technical dependencies.

Representatives meet regularly, often two or three times a week or daily for larger efforts, for about 15 minutes.

The conversation focuses on what each team has done that affects others, what it plans to do that affects others, and impediments that need help from other teams.

Problems that need more time are taken into separate follow-up conversations with only the people involved.

Common Questions

Many groups use a version of the daily scrum questions adapted for teams rather than individuals.

What has my team done since we last met that affects other teams? What will my team do before we next meet that affects other teams?

What is blocking my team, or what is my team about to put in another team's way? The final question encourages teams to warn others before a problem lands. Some groups add a fourth question about integration: is there anything that will make it harder for teams to combine their work this Sprint?

Importance of Scrum of Scrums in Delivery and Engineering Operations

A Scrum of Scrums makes cross-team problems visible early. Dependencies and integration risks are discussed while there is still time to adjust.

It keeps coordination lightweight. A short, focused meeting of a few representatives costs far less than involving every team member in every coordination discussion.

It also builds connections between teams. Regular contact between representatives makes it easier to ask for help and solve problems informally.

Scrum of Scrums and Financial Management

Catching integration and dependency problems early avoids the cost of rework and delayed releases.

The meeting uses a small amount of time from a few people, making it one of the cheapest coordination mechanisms available.

When coordination needs outgrow it, the cost of delays and missed dependencies is a signal to invest in more structured approaches.

Clear escalation of impediments helps leaders see where funding or staffing changes would remove recurring blockers.

Common Challenges

The meeting can turn into a status report for managers, losing its focus on dependencies and impediments. Keeping it to team representatives and the three questions helps.

Representatives who do not report back to their teams break the flow of information. A short update at each team's next daily scrum closes the loop.

With many teams, a single Scrum of Scrums becomes too large. A higher-level Scrum of Scrums of Scrums, or a different scaling approach, may be needed. If the same impediments keep coming up, the meeting may be treating symptoms of a structural problem, such as teams organized around components rather than features.