If Scrum Teams become too large, they should
A) split into sub-teams based on function
B) reorganize into multiple cohesive Scrum Teams and share the same Product Goal and Product Backlog
C) divide into separate teams each with their own Product Owner
D) do nothing and focus on delivering a usable product Increment
The Correct Answer and Explanation is :
The correct answer is:
B) reorganize into multiple cohesive Scrum Teams and share the same Product Goal and Product Backlog
Explanation:
Scrum teams are designed to be small, cross-functional, and self-managing to maximize communication, collaboration, and agility. The Scrum Guide recommends that a Scrum Team be small enough to remain nimble and large enough to complete significant work during a Sprint. Typically, a Scrum Team size ranges from 3 to 9 members. When the team grows larger than this, communication overhead increases significantly, coordination becomes challenging, and the team’s ability to be agile diminishes.
Why not A) split into sub-teams based on function?
Splitting teams by function (for example, having separate teams for development, testing, design) is contrary to Scrum principles. Scrum promotes cross-functional teams where all skills necessary to deliver a product increment are within the same team. Functional silos reduce collaboration and increase hand-offs, which slows down the workflow and introduces dependencies.
Why not C) divide into separate teams each with their own Product Owner?
Having multiple Product Owners working on the same product can create confusion and misalignment in priorities, vision, and product goals. Scrum emphasizes a single Product Owner responsible for managing one Product Backlog to ensure clarity and consistency of the product vision and priorities.
Why not D) do nothing and focus on delivering a usable product Increment?
Ignoring the problem of a large Scrum Team is impractical. A large team makes it difficult to have effective communication, maintain transparency, and perform frequent inspection and adaptation. This eventually affects product quality and delivery speed.
Why B is correct:
When the Scrum Team becomes too large, the recommended practice is to split into multiple smaller Scrum Teams, each fully cross-functional and capable of delivering value independently. These teams share the same Product Goal and work from the same Product Backlog, ensuring alignment toward a common vision. This structure is often referred to as a “Scrum of Scrums” or scaled Scrum, and it maintains the benefits of Scrum while accommodating larger and more complex product development.
By sharing the same Product Goal and Backlog, these teams collaborate, reduce duplication, and ensure their work integrates smoothly into a cohesive product increment at the end of each Sprint.
In summary, to maintain agility, communication, and effective delivery, large Scrum Teams should split into smaller, independent, cross-functional Scrum Teams that share the same Product Goal and Product Backlog. This ensures better coordination, alignment, and continuous delivery of valuable product increments.