Practical Scrum at Scale with CIPSA: Key Roles and Goals (Part - 1)

Scaling frameworks should be simple but will be used to deliver complex work. 

Scaled roles should be small in number, but will be used to deliver big solutions. 

Scaled events should be minimal, but the productivity should be maximal. 

I believe in it because simple is beautiful. Simple things scale well. In fact, simplicity sticks. 

See here –10 scaling mistakes to avoid.

Indeed, some of the most beautiful things in the world are simple, yet powerful. The Sydney Opera House, when seen from outside, looks like nested flower petals. It’s simple, yet a beautiful architecture and projects a powerful image of Sydney harbor.

Microsoft’s Bing is a powerful search engine and now loaded with gen-AI search, yet has a very simple user interface (UI). It’s only a textbox to do your search. That’s it! Think about it for a moment. Can it be simpler than that?

Agile at Scale is no different.

Let me also inform you, to make things simple is not that simple! It’s actually very hard. It takes enormous time and effort, practice, a number of iterations with feedback.

The Certified In Practical Scaled Agile (CIPSA) framework strives to be a simple one. It extends both team-level Scrum and team-level Kanban, in a minimal way in all aspects – be it events, roles, artifacts or others.

In this article, we are going to follow the CIPSA Scrum Framework. Here it’s specifically about scaling of roles and goals for Scrum at Scale. To understand the basics of this Practical Scaled Agile framework, you can check this article, specifically the first video in brief. You can also download the CIPSA Framework Guide for free here.

Two Key Roles in Scaled Scrum

Considering Scrum, the CIPSA Scrum framework adds only two new roles at scale:

• Chief Product Owner (CPO)
• Principal Scrum Master (PSM)

The CPO role is unique to CIPSA. The CPO is accountable for the Product Backlog. The CPO may be a dedicated individual or someone from the Product Owner Team (i.e., team of Product Owners from the individual teams) can play this role. The CPO creates a single, ordered backlog. The items from the backlog will be the deliverables by all teams.

The CIPSA Cross-Team Backlog Refinement and CIPSA Sprint Review meta-events are led by the CPO, with other product owners and needed representatives from the individual teams.

The PSM role is also unique to CIPSA. The PSM is accountable for the entire CISPA process. He or she focuses on the progress and helps in prioritization as well as removal of cross-team impediments. The PSM is also responsible for continuously improving the effectiveness of CIPSA processes. The PSM may be a dedicated individual or someone from the Scrum Master Team, i.e., a team of Scrum Masters from the individual Scrum teams.

The CIPSA Sprint Planning and CIPSA Sprint Retrospective meta-events are led by the PSM, with other Scrum Masters (SM) and the needed representatives from the individual Scrum teams.

As the role of CPO and PSM can be confusing for aspiring CIPSA certified professionals, the best way to know these roles is with the next two sections – what it is and what it’s not.

The Role of CPO – What it is and is Not *** UPDATED ***

The CPO sets the product vision, which is strategic and is aligned with organizational vision, mission and strategic objectives. The CPO is accountable for creating a single, ordered product backlog, which will be worked-upon by individual Scrum teams.

Now, the following differentiations inform what a CPO is not and what a CPO truly is for Scrum at scale:

1. The Chief Product Owner does not get the product vision from the top executive team. The Chief Product Owner sets the product vision.
2. The Chief Product Owner is not a portfolio or program manager. The Chief Product Owner is the visionary for the Product.
3. The Chief Product Owner is not a backlog maintenance person. The Chief Product Owner is the main backlog strategist.
4. The Chief Product Owner is not a lone-wolf. The Chief Product Owner works with other Team Product Owners, stakeholders and customers.
5. The Chief Product Owner does not have a management mindset. The Chief Product Owner has an ownership mindset.

You can know more about the role of the CPO in the following article:

CIPSA Certification: The Chief Product Owner (CPO) – What It Is and What It’s Not!

The above article also has an accompanying video explanation. 

The Role of PSM – What it is and is Not *** UPDATED ***

The PSM ensures (i.e., accountable) the CIPSA meta-events take place, conducted in the right way and within a timebox. After all, the PSM is accountable for the CIPSA process. The PSM also improves the effectiveness of the Scaled Scrum, such as higher quality, lesser number of bugs and lower cost.

To make this role clearer, the following differentiations outlines what a PSM is not and what a PSM actually is for Scrum at scale:

1. The Principal Scrum Master is not the manager of the CIPSA team. A Principal Scrum is a true leader who serves the team and organization.
2. The Principal Scrum Master is not concerned about intra-team dependencies. The Principal Scrum Master focusses on inter-team dependencies.
3. The Principal Scrum Master does not track the individual Team Increments. The Principal Scrum Master tracks the overall product work and progress.
4. The Principal Scrum Master is not concerned about individual risks arising from individual teams. The Principal Scrum Master is concerned about the cross-team risks.
5. The Principal Scrum Master is not a replacement for individual Team Scrum Masters. The Principal Scrum Master complements the individual Team Scrum Masters!

You can know more about the role of the PSM in the following article:

CIPSA Certification: The Principal Scrum Master (PSM) – What It Is and What It’s Not!

The above article also has an accompanying video explanation for the PSM role. 

Figurative Representations – Scaled Scrum Key Roles

Let’s see how the CPO and PSM are part of the entire CIPSA team. The below figure represents these rolls within the team.

As shown above:

• We have three Scrum Teams: Scrum Team A, B and C. Each team has its own individual team members.
• At scale, the CIPSA team has the Chief Product Owner (CPO).
• At scale, the CIPSA team also has the Principal Scrum Master (PSM).
• The CIPSA team is considered to be a single entity and there is no throw-over-the-wall mentality.

You might be wondering about the individual Scrum teams’ roles. The below figure shows a high-level view.

As shown above:

• Each Scrum team will have roles such as Product Owner (PO), Scrum Master (SM) and developers or team members.
• There can be some specialized roles, but then also do remember that the team members are generalizing specialists with broken-comb skill sets.
• While the individual Scrum teams have their own goals and deliverables, they have to integrate for the entire CIPSA team.

At scale, I’ll be not focusing on the individual roles, as the focus is on the entire CIPSA team, CIPSA integrated increment, cross-team risks, cross-team dependencies etc.

To be continued . . .

References

[1] Certification Course: Certified In Practical Scaled Agile (CIPSA), by Satya Narayan Dash

[2] The CIPSA Framework – A Simple Clock View, by Satya Narayan Dash

CIPSA and CHAMP Success Stories:

• CIPSA Success Story: From CHAMP to CIPSA – Taking Agile to the Next Level with Scaled Scrum and Scaled Kanban
• CHAMP Success Story: Bridging Predictive and Agile Worlds with Hybrid-Agile Mastery
• CHAMP Course: Excellent One for Mastering MS Project in both Traditional and Agile Environments
• CHAMP Success Story: A Niche Certification –Never Seen Anything Like this Before!
• CHAMP Success Story: One of the Best Hybrid-Agile Certification Courses I Ever Attended