How can I scale Scrum? The Nexus Framework (Part 1) with Rich Hundhausen

Jan 26, 2024

Rich Hundhausen, co-creator of Nexus Framework, discusses scaling Scrum in a multidisciplinary organization. He emphasizes starting small, the role of product owner, and the importance of clear sprint goals. The episode explores challenges of dependency, introduces the concept of 'exoskeleton,' and emphasizes cross-team refinement in a scaled Scrum setting.

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ANECDOTE

Origins With Ken Schwaber

Rich Hundhausen described working with Ken Schwaber to create Scrum.org and respond to early scaling trends.
They built a professional Scrum answer because industry momentum around other scaling approaches felt unsafe.

ADVICE

Don't Scale Unless You Must

Don't scale by default; enable a single professional Scrum Team first.
Start small and add scaling only when one product truly needs multiple teams.

INSIGHT

What Scaling Actually Means

Scaling is one product, one product owner, one product backlog, and multiple Scrum Teams.
All single-team Scrum principles still apply at scale with added coordination features.

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This week, your hosts, Dan Neumann, and Justin Thatil, welcome an external guest, Rich Hundhausen, software developer, Professional Scrum Trainer, and co-creator of the Nexus Framewokr for scaling Scrum. This episode is the first of two parts, in which they discuss the features of Nexus and when and how to implement it.

Listen to this episode for a description of Nexus, how it started, and why it was developed. Rich, Dan, and Justin also dive deep into the definition of scaling, what is considered done, and the Nexus goal. Stay tuned for part two!

Key Takeaways

Why do we have a Nexus Scaling Framework?

Rich started working with Ken Schwaber, co-creator of Scrum, in 2009. Together, they created Scrum.org, “The home of professionals.” They later became interested in Scaling according to the Scale Agile framework.

Are you really in a situation where you need to scale?

Rule number one when scaling is “Don’t.” Let your Team tackle the problems first. Always start small and add as needed.

What is Scaling?

Scaling is simply one product owner and backlog and multiple Scrum Teams. Everything you learned about Scrum for a single Team still applies at Scale with the Nexus. Additional features, such as the exoskeleton, are required for scaling.
The number one reason to build Nexus was for dependencies on different areas (not only technical). Refinement has been a proof practice at single-team Scrum, and at Nexus, it has become a required event called Cross Team Refinement.

What is the definition of Done?

Everyone at Nexus is a creative person, and these people are motivated when they have space to implement their creativity. All Teams should have autonomy, purpose, and the ability to master their actions. Each Scrum Team can have its definition of done, but it has to stay on top of the unified set of items that the other teams share.
The Nexus Goal: Do everything you committed to in the product backlogs.

Mentioned in this Episode:

“Shu, Ha, Ri” Episode of The Agile Coaches Corner.

Dan Pink’s books and TedTalks

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