LeSS, a scalable agile framework

Scrum is currently a popular agile framework. The Scrum agile development team consists of the product owner (Product Owner), agile coach (Scrum Master), software developers and other collaborators. Teams work together under this guiding framework to develop, create and deliver valuable products to solve complex problems. But if you want to scale the Scrum practice within the company, you must solve the problem of scaling through agile frameworks such as LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum, LeSS).

1. What is the LeSS framework

LeSS is a framework for extending Scrum to multiple teams working together on the same product. It is based on a single Scrum team, as defined by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland in The Scrum Guide, but scales efficiently to multiple teams.

The authors of "Large-Scale Scrum: More with LeSS" condense their years of experience to improve LeSS, defining it as a valuable framework for reducing the complexity and waste of agile scaling. The LeSS framework aims to make it as easy as possible to apply Scrum principles and values in a large-scale enterprise environment by rearranging the rules and practices. Some people read LeSS's simplicity as "just works," but that doesn't mean the approach won't work.

2. LeSS framework structure

The LeSS agile framework theory is summarized through more than 600 practical cases , which involves the agile practice of large-scale teams, breaking the limited view that agile development is only suitable for small, local collaborative teams at that time. The practices, guidelines, and principles of the LeSS framework provide guidance for meeting the agile needs of large-scale teams. And, as the LeSS discipline matures, it becomes clearer both in terms of what it is and how it is enforced.

1. Principles of the LeSS Framework

The LeSS agile framework has ten principles designed to help the entire enterprise better apply Scrum's values, principles and goals at scale . It helps create more accountable, customer-focused, and collaborative teams. It allows teams to focus on learning, collaborate seamlessly, and uphold customer-centric values, thereby enhancing the team's competitiveness and market responsiveness. Here are the ten principles of the LeSS agile framework:

Large-scale Scrum is still Scrum, following Scrum principles and values
Focus on process management and experience accumulation (Empirical Process Control)
Emphasis on transparency between teams (Transparency)
Emphasize simplicity, get twice the result with half the effort (More with Less)
Focus on the overall product goal (Whole Product Focus)
Customer-centric (Customer Centric)
Continuous improvement for perfection (Continuous Improvement towards Perfection)
Emphasis on System Thinking
Lean thinking
Emphasis on priority (Queue Theory)

2. The role of the LeSS framework

LeSS is available in two configurations: Small LeSS practices consist of 2 to 8 teams (10-50 people) working on the same product development. Large LeSS practices consist of 8+ teams (50-6000+ people).

A large LeSS practice is also developed based on a small LeSS practice. A large LeSS practice will add two or more regional product owners ( Product Owner ), as well as some additional artifacts and adjustments. We recommend starting with a small LeSS practice, gradually accumulating experience, improving, and then gradually expanding to a large LeSS practice.

Here are two recommended landing methods:

Based on a certain area of demand for a single large product over a certain period of time;
Or gradually expand the scope of work, definition of done and definition of product to include multiple teams;

This allows teams to acclimatize to the LeSS framework, reduce negative impact, and gain management buy-in before extending LeSS to the entire organization.

3. LeSS Guidelines

The LeSS guides were created by authors Craig Larman and Bas Vodde based on experiments with LeSS, and while they are somewhat an accidental by-product of their third book , Scrum at Scale: More LeSS , the guides are essential for understanding and adoption The LeSS approach, defining the roles and responsibilities of those involved, how to coordinate and integrate across teams, etc. was very helpful. You can introduce the principles in the guide as needed, not all of them are mandatory options. (Recommended related books: "Scaling Lean & Agile Development", "Practices for Scaling Lean & Agile Development" )

4. Roles and Planning in LeSS

The basic LeSS framework is established based on the Scrum framework, including key Scrum roles : the product owner responsible for product planning and iterative direction, the R&D team responsible for product iterative delivery, and the Scrum Master who guides the team to continuously improve. The LeSS framework expands the functional scope of the role, and the related role of product manager needs to help multiple teams to continuously improve and solve progress obstacles.

In the framework of a large-scale LeSS practice, multiple single-product/domain product owners and a global product owner form the product owner team. The scope of the single product owner's work is limited and the field is more focused, following the principle of customer-centricity .

Compared to the Scrum framework, the LeSS framework extends and complements the practice of product backlog meetings (PBR) . Product Backlog Refinement Meeting (PBR) The PBR meeting is executed through a set of parallel LeSS iterations, extending the iteration planning to focus areas. These meetings need to be conducted continuously during each iteration (sprint) to understand, discuss and optimize the project in preparation for future iterations.

The main activities of the PBR session are:

1) Decompose major product items;

2) Clarify the product backlog to be done;

3) Assess story points, risks, dependencies, and value of tasks.

Like Scrum agile development, in addition to iteration planning meetings, iteration presentations and retrospectives in the LeSS framework are also important meetings for reviewing team deliverables and reviewing improvements. It is also an opportunity for teams to demonstrate value to customers. Each team will be responsible for its products. People, users, customers, and stakeholders simultaneously demonstrate and discuss their deliverable product increments separately in their respective meetings.

Finally, at the end of the iteration, each team first holds its own team retrospective meeting, followed by a general retrospective meeting, attended by the product owner, all Scrum Masters, team representatives and managers.

3. How is LeSS different from other frameworks and Scrum frameworks?

The LeSS framework draws inspiration from other agile frameworks, including five aspects: Inspiration from the Agile Manifesto and its 12 principles, iteration rhythm, synchronization across the organization, lean development practices, and DevOps, CI/CD and test-driven development (TDD), in addition to some other features.

1. The difference between the LeSS framework and the Scrum framework

We often see the question " Which is better, LeSS or Scrum? ", but in fact there is no comparison between the two. LeSS is not a better version of Scrum, neither is better. Because LeSS is based on an extension of Scrum to support use in larger teams.

Small LeSS is similar to the process of a single Scrum team, in LeSS there is a Product Backlog, a Product Owner, and a Definition of Done. Although made up of multiple teams, all teams work like a Scrum process, delivering work at the end of each iteration. While a Product Owner is responsible for a Product Backlog, the work is divided among multiple teams. Especially in large LeSS frameworks, the product owner's scope of responsibility expands to include multiple teams and multiple product modules. Therefore, the product owner needs to drive the product backlog refinement meeting and coordinate the work delivery of all teams.

Furthermore, in LeSS, iteration planning is divided into two parts:

1) Multi-team iteration planning meeting: all team leaders participate in and assign product work;

2) Single team iteration planning meeting: arrange the work to be delivered, and arrange cooperation and communication with other teams.

In addition to planning meetings, others such as daily stand-up meetings and retrospective meetings have nuances within the LeSS framework.

2. The difference between the LeSS framework and the SAFe framework

In addition to the LeSS framework, other large-scale agile frameworks such as Scrum of Scrums or Scrum@Scale are gaining popularity among large software development teams, and one of the advanced theoretical frameworks is the Scalized Agile Framework® (SAFe).

There are many similarities between LeSS and SAFe . For example, both are based on Scrum extensions to incorporate principles such as Lean thinking, continuous improvement, and customer focus. But the difference between the two is that LeSS focuses on maintaining flexibility and adaptability by simplifying the organizational structure; while SAFe needs to add other roles: release train engineer (RTE), solution train engineer (STE) and product management. In addition, SAFe has added some new processes, new artifacts, and new organizations. In contrast, LeSS is in most cases less complex than the SAFe framework.

3. Advantages of the LeSS framework

The significance of the LeSS framework is not to create a new concept, but to better apply Scrum principles to multiple teams to help teams provide complete end-to-end, customer-centric solutions and products.

The LeSS framework has the following benefits:

Reuse the practical experience of Scrum to reduce the cost of team implementation
Product owners with an understanding of frameworks and principles better bridge the gap between business and technical teams
Less labor cost to deliver the product, no additional member overhead
Gives the team a view of the entire product
Strengthen the connection between R&D teams and business stakeholders
Increase the frequency of retrospective meetings to promote continuous improvement of the team

For many organizations, scaling the LeSS framework to scale Scrum teams may be the right next step for them.

4. Start LeSS Large-Scale Agile

The LeSS framework provides a viable path to help enterprises effectively scale agile development within their organizations to achieve desired business outcomes. Just as importantly, you can choose tools to help your team make better use of the LeSS framework. For example, use PingCode , an enterprise-level agile planning platform , to improve team transparency, strategic alignment and adaptability, and accelerate digital transformation.