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Understanding what Scrum of Scrums is and how it works in the product development process is very important. The first thing to know about Scrum of Scrums is that it acquires relevance only for large projects where several Scrum Teams are involved. In this process Scrum Team representatives convene for Scrum of Scrums Meetings at predetermined intervals or whenever required, to collaborate and track their respective progress, impediments, and dependencies across teams.

Normally, one member from each Scrum Team will represent his or her team in the Scrum of Scrums Meeting. In most cases, this is the Scrum Master, but at times someone else may represent the team. A single person may be nominated by the team to represent them in every Scrum of Scrums Meeting, or the representative may change over time, based on who can best fulfill the role depending on current issues and circumstances. Each person involved in the meeting should have the technical understanding to be able to identify instances in which teams could cause each other impediments or delays. Other important participants of Scrum of Scrums meeting include Chief Scrum Master and Chief Product Owner.

The primary purpose of the Scrum of Scrums meeting is to facilitate communication and progress tracking among multiple teams. The Chief Scrum Master, or any Scrum Master facilitating the meeting, can announce an agenda beforehand, allowing individual teams to prepare accordingly.

During these meetings, any impediments affecting one team that might impact others should be highlighted for discussion. Additionally, if a team identifies a large-scale issue, change, or risk that could influence other teams, it should be communicated at the Scrum of Scrums. Insights from the Retrospect Sprint process that could affect multiple teams can also be shared to enhance the meeting's effectiveness.

These meetings, though preferably brief, are usually not time-boxed to allow comprehensive information sharing among teams. A representative from each Scrum team provides updates on their team's status, facilitating a collaborative environment.

The Scrum of Scrums meeting is held at predetermined intervals or as needed by the Scrum teams. These sessions enable face-to-face information exchange, ensuring that issues, dependencies, and risks impacting multiple teams are closely monitored. This coordination helps teams working on a large project to better integrate their efforts. The Chief Scrum Master, or another facilitating Scrum Master, ensures an open and honest environment for sharing information and feedback among team representatives.

For larger projects involving numerous teams, multiple levels of these meetings may be necessary. Each representative provides updates from their team, typically answering four specific questions to ensure clarity and consistency in communication.

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. It is recommended that a dedicated conference room be made available for the Scrum of Scrums Meeting, where all the Scrum Team Representatives are comfortable.

Some of the important outputs of the Scrum of Scrums meetings are: Coordination of work across multiple Scrum Teams. This is especially important when there are tasks involving inter-team dependencies. Incompatibilities and discrepancies between the work and deliverables of different teams are quickly exposed. This forum also gives teams the opportunity to showcase their achievements and give feedback to other teams.

By using Scrum of Scrums Meeting, there is collaboration across the organization as opposed to people working in closed teams concerned primarily with their individual responsibilities. The Scrum of Scrums Meeting is a forum where Scrum Team members have the opportunity to transparently discuss issues, impacting their project. The need to deliver every Sprint on time forces the teams to actively confront such issues early instead of postponing seeking resolution. This timely discussion and resolution of issues in the Scrum of Scrums Meeting greatly improve coordination between different Scrum Teams and also reduces the need for redesign and rework. Risks related to dependencies and delivery time tables are mitigated as well.