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Scrum Team with Multiple Projects

Last post 03:52 pm January 12, 2024 by Murray Andrews
3 replies
03:58 pm January 11, 2024

I have a couple of teams that work on 2-3 projects at a time. While that's not ideal, we all know that sometimes it can't be avoided. We do our best to keep Agile principles in place and do our best to set sprint goals...however....

The more that I get into the role of SM for multiple teams, the more I see that the teams have not been using super valid sprint goals. I'm working on putting together some training for our area in the company, but I wanted to get some advice from this community before I set out to try to teach anyone anything.

Let's say Team A is working on multiple projects at the same time, what's the best route I can take to help them come up with valid sprint goals for each sprint? Are their sprint goals going to be multi-goal focused, so something like a "mini" goal for each project they're touching that sprint? Should they write the goal in an overarching fashion and work each project into a single goal? Or should their goal be singular and only focus on the "most important" project they are touching that sprint?

Thank you in advance


06:21 pm January 11, 2024

It might be best to put the notion of a project to one side for the moment, and concentrate on products instead. Bear in mind that the product is where the value is, and the most important project in Scrum is the Sprint.

Scrum takes a broad view of a product. It might be a service within which multiple individual products are supported. The provisioning of such a service can be a complex challenge well suited to the empiricism Scrum brings.

Sprint Goals in these cases are not necessarily feature based, but might be based upon predictability and flow instead. A team might ask themselves, for example, what Service Level Expectations they can offer this Sprint for the various product value streams they are supporting.


12:06 am January 12, 2024

Let's say Team A is working on multiple projects at the same time, what's the best route I can take to help them come up with valid sprint goals for each sprint? Are their sprint goals going to be multi-goal focused, so something like a "mini" goal for each project they're touching that sprint? Or should their goal be singular and only focus on the "most important" project they are touching that sprint?

A Sprint Goal is meant to be singular and is your team's gift of focus. The Sprint Goal also lets the team know what is important and not important, guiding decisions during the Sprint.

In situations like this, I have seen teams work on one project at a time before taking on the next. Borrowing a like from Kanban, 'Stop starting and start finishing'. Statistics show they will be more productive with less work in progress.

Asking Developers of a Scrum Team to focus on multiple Sprint Goals for multiple projects is covering up the true problem: context switching and a lack of focus.

Check out this video on one-piece flow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqi9Gwt-OEA


10:55 am January 12, 2024

It’s great to hear that you are working on putting together some training for your area in the company. According to a post on Scrum.org, here are some tips for creating valid sprint goals for multiple projects:

Identify the most important project: If Team A is working on multiple projects at the same time, it’s important to identify the most important project and focus on that project first. This will help ensure that the team is working on the most critical project and that the sprint goal is aligned with the project’s objectives.

Create a single sprint goal: The team should create a single sprint goal that encompasses all the projects they are working on. This will help ensure that the team is working towards a common objective and that the sprint goal is aligned with the overall objectives of the projects.

Break the sprint goal into smaller goals: If the team is working on multiple projects, it may be helpful to break the sprint goal into smaller goals that are focused on each project. This will help ensure that the team is making progress on each project and that the sprint goal is aligned with the objectives of each project.

Prioritize the goals: If the team is working on multiple projects, it’s important to prioritize the goals. The team should focus on the most important goals first and work on the less important goals later.

Review and adjust the goals: The team should review and adjust the goals regularly to ensure that they are still aligned with the objectives of the projects.


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