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A Scrum of Scrums Meeting is an important element when scaling Scrum to large projects. Typically, there is one representative in the meeting from each Scrum Team—usually the Scrum Master—but it is also common for other members of a Scrum Team to attend the meeting if required. This meeting is usually facilitated by the Chief Scrum Master and is intended to focus on areas of coordination and integration between the different Scrum Teams.

These are preferably short meetings where a representative from each Scrum Team meets to share status of the respective teams. They are usually not Time-boxed to allow for more sharing of information between teams. The Scrum of Scrums (SoS) Meeting is held at predetermined intervals or when required by Scrum Teams so as to facilitate the sharing of information among the various Scrum Teams. Issues, dependencies, and risks impacting multiple Scrum Teams can be closely monitored, which helps the multiple teams working on a large project better coordinate and integrate their work. It is the responsibility of the Chief Scrum Master (or another Scrum Master who facilitates the SoS Meetings) to ensure that all representatives have an environment conducive to open and honest sharing of information, including feedback to other team representatives. For larger projects, involving a significant number of teams, multiple levels of these meetings may be convened to share the status of the respective teams.

Each Scrum Team representative will provide updates from his or her team in turn. These updates are usually provided in the form of answers to four specific questions.

1. What has my team been working on since the last meeting?
2. What will my team do until the next meeting?
3. What were other teams counting on our team to finish that remains undone?
4. What is our team planning on doing that might affect other teams?

The answers to these four questions provide information that allows each team to clearly understand the work status of all other teams.

One of the major misconceptions or criticisms about Scrum is that it cannot be used to deliver large scale projects that have multiple large teams which are not collocated. And for Scrum to be effective, the teams should ideally be collocated and have six to ten members. However, this is not valid as Scrum can easily be scaled for effective use in large projects. In situations where the Scrum Team size exceeds ten people, multiple Scrum Teams can be formed to work on the project.

Complex projects with numerous large teams working in parallel make it necessary to synchronize and facilitate the flow of information and enhance communication for the project to be successful. Scrum uses one of its events or ceremonies to overcome this barrier, i.e., Scrum of Scrums (SoS) meeting. This meeting is usually facilitated by the Chief Scrum Master and is intended to focus on areas of coordination and integration between the different Scrum Teams.

SoS is a review meeting for all the Scrum teams involved in the project. The main purpose of this meeting is to communicate progress among multiple teams. Scrum Master from all teams attend this meet. The meeting is most effective when the Chief Scrum Master announces the agenda prior to the meeting. This prepares the participants to gather appropriate information and issues to be discussed.

Any impediments being faced by a team which may also affect other teams are brought up in this meeting. Teams get an overall view of the development of the project and redirect their efforts meaningfully. This review meeting plays a crucial role in identifying risks and change requirements of each team which in turn affects other teams’ line of work. This also brings to the forefront any production duplications that may occur because of the scale of the project. An impediment log is created stating internal and external impediments. This log helps in resolving issues systematically.

The Chief Scrum Master (or another Scrum Master who facilitates the Scrum of Scrum Meetings) is responsible for ensuring that all representatives have an environment conducive to openly and honestly sharing information, including feedback to other team representatives. This conducive environment plays a vital role in better communication and identification of important issues. It contributes greatly to the success of the project as a whole. The Chief Scrum Master should take care that all representatives speak their minds and do not reserve their issues and concerns which may later turn out to be costly. Updates are provided in the form of answers to four specific questions:

• What has my team been working on since the last meeting?
• What will my team do until the next meeting?
• What were other teams counting on our team to finish that remains undone?
• What is our team planning on doing that might affect other teams?

When these four questions are answered, following outcomes are achieved leading to successful project delivery: reduction in non-detection of risks, enhanced coordination among teams, continuous improvement, maintaining of team’s focus on achievement of project objectives, and reduction in need for redesign and rework.

Thus, a SoS is held to coordinate the interdependencies between the related projects. It may then be conducted to coordinate and manage dependencies across all projects.