Cross-team Coordination

5 minutes 5 Questions

Cross-Team Coordination is a critical concept in scaling Scrum as it involves the way multiple Scrum teams interact with each other. One common mode of cross-team coordination is 'Communities of Practice' where members from different Scrum teams that have a shared interest in specific areas (e.g., testing, UX design) regularly interact to share ideas and practices. The Scrum Masters are often facilitators of these events and work to encourage cross-team collaboration. This helps to promote a shared understanding and consistency across all the Scrum teams within an organization.

Guide & Exam Tips: Cross-team Coordination in Scrum

Why is it important?
Cross-team coordination is essential in a scaled Scrum context because it ensures all teams work towards a common goal. This results in efficient solving of interdependencies and conflicts, effective knowledge sharing and alignment of deliverables.

What is Cross-team Coordination?
It refers to the interaction between different Scrum teams to ensure they work together efficiently. This is especially important in large projects where several Scrum teams are involved.

How does it work?
Teams coordinate through Scrum of Scrums meetings, integration meetings, and through the use of tools such as the Product Owner team or the Scrum Master. These tools ensure proper communication, align efforts, solve dependencies, and facilitate mutual adjustments.

How to answer exam questions on this topic?
Understand the key concepts and principles of cross-team coordination before the exam. Identify potential conflicts and interdependencies between teams and understand the role of Scrum Master in facilitating coordination.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Cross-team Coordination.
For answering exam questions on Cross-team coordination, focus mainly on understanding the importance of this coordination, the role of Scrum Master, and various meetings such as Scrum of Scrums and integration meetings. Also, remember the challenges that may occur in cross-team coordination and their potential solutions.
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PSM I - Cross-team Coordination Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Cross-team Coordination

Question 1

As a Scrum Master, you are overseeing two teams that are working together on a project. You notice the delivered increment lacks expected integration points, causing problems for both teams. What steps would you take?

Correct Answer: Arrange a Scrum of Scrums meeting to facilitate conversation about integration issues between the teams and work out a joint definition of done.

The best step for a Scrum Master in such a situation is to arrange a Scrum of Scrums meeting to facilitate conversation about integration issues between the teams and work out a joint definition of Done. This promotes collaboration, transparency, and forward progress. The Scrum of Scrums is a technique used when multiple teams are working on the same product, allowing teams to sync on work that might otherwise remain in silos. The Scrum Master's role is to foster self-organization and ensure a conducive environment for the teams to achieve their goals. Directly intervening and dictating the definition of Done would conflict with self-organization. Changing the sprint goal midway is counter to Scrum principles, as the sprint goal should remain unchanged once set. And lastly, arranging separate meetings would not foster the necessary communication and collaboration between the teams, which is the real issue at hand.

Question 2

As a Scrum Master, you notice that communication between your team and another team is challenged, leading to slowed progress on a joint project. What solution would you propose?

Correct Answer: Initiate a cross-team Retrospective to discuss challenges and collaborate on improvement strategies.

The correct answer focuses on active collaboration and problem-solving between the teams, leveraging Scrum's principle of transparency, inspection, and adaptation. The first wrong answer falsely assumes that merely documenting and exchanging workflows will solve communication problems without real-time discussion or collaboration. The second wrong answer disregards the need for a strategy when introducing new tools, potentially adding more complexity without solving the underlying issue. The third wrong answer is longer and suggests a passive approach that does not ensure the teams will actually address and solve their communication problems together.

Question 3

As a Scrum Master, your team and another are working on parallel stages of a project. The other team, however, tends to create bottlenecks by delivering components late. How can you intervene to improve this situation?

Correct Answer: Facilitate communication between the teams and drive a conversation to better align the teams' sprint goals with the overall project timeline.

The best way to address this issue is captured in the answer 'Facilitate communication between the teams and drive a conversation to better align the teams' sprint goals with the overall project timeline.' This approach aligns with the spirit of Scrum, as the Scrum Master plays a facilitative role instead of having absolute power over the team members. This is why 'Manage the other team’s work to ensure they deliver components on time' is not the best answer. Additionally, 'Directly communicate to the other team's Product Owner about their tardiness and demand adjustments' is not suitable, as this might incorrectly suggest exerting authority over the Product Owner, which is not in line with the Scrum Master's role. Lastly, 'Keep focusing on your own team's work, hoping the other team will eventually catch up' is not proactive enough, and does not ensure that the issue will be resolved.

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