Practical Scrum at Scale with CIPSA: Key Roles and Goals (Part - 2)

This is part 2 of the series. You can read the earlier post below. 

[Part - 1]

In this part, we will learn to use MS Project Agile to have a practical demonstration. It's not mandatory to use this software to scale as any other software with scaling capabilities for Scrum and Kanban can be used. 

I've extensively used this software as it provides capabilities for both Scrum and Kanban. In addition, the traditional aspects of project management are also available. This makes a powerful combination. 

Practical, Hands-on Demonstration

Now, let’s see how MS Project Agile can be used to have all the roles (resources). MS Project comes with a very simple, yet effective view – the Resource Sheet view. This view will be used to add the necessary resources, who play the desired roles.

After you add the resources for all the Scrum teams, the view will come as shown below.

As shown:

• We have 18 resources across multiple Scrum teams.
• Various resource related fields are populated by default.
• For your Scaled Scrum work, you can also add other resources such as material and/or cost.

Next, to differentiate among the teams, we need to have a new custom field, i.e., Team custom field. This field can be added by going to Resource Sheet Tools > Format tab > Columns group > Custom Fields command.

Next, you can add the teams separately, but it’s better to have a look-up for the custom field. This can be done by using the “Lookup …” button highlighted in the above figure.

As shown above, for the Team Custom Field, we have five values:

• Team A, B and C for resources of Team A, B and C.
• Unassigned for unassigned resources.
• All Teams will be resources used across the teams. For roles such as CPO and PSM, it will be an apt choice.
• Unassigned has been set as the default one and hence the blue color coding.

Ensure that the Lookup radio button is enabled so that the values can take effect and will be available in the drop-down list. Next, we can populate this new Team custom field in our Resource Sheet view with the respective team values. The Team column has to be added into the existing list of columns in the view. Post population, it’ll come as shown below.

In addition, we can also associate the resources to the roles being played. The role can be added into the Group field, available by default or one can add a separate custom field. This is shown in the below figure.

As you’d have noticed, three resources are part of the entire CIPSA team (informed as “All Teams”):

• John Robinson, a work resource, is the Chief Product Owner.
• Satya Dash, a work resource, is the Principal Scrum Master.
• Other resources have team specific roles and accountabilities.

Goals in Scaled Scrum *** UPDATED ***

Roles and goals are intricately related. Without clear roles and responsibilities (accountabilities), you won’t have clear goals.

As a matter of fact, I’ve interacted with many Scrum Masters and Product Owners, who don’t have any goal at all for their Sprints. It’s like getting into a train or bus, but without any end destination in mind! Ever travelled like that in any seriousness?

So, who will set the Goals and where? The goals are associated with the artifacts – Product Backlog, CIPSA Sprint Backlog and Team Sprint Backlog.

• Goal for the product will be set by the Chief Product Owner. The Product Goal is part of the Product Backlog. The CPO also prepares the Product Goal and presents it to the CIPSA Team in the CIPSA Sprint Planning meeting.
• Goal for the upcoming CIPSA Sprint meta-event will be set by the CIPSA Team. The CIPSA Sprint Goal is part of the CIPSA Sprint Backlog.

You can know more about the Product Goal in the following article:

Practical Scaled Agile (CIPSA) Certification: Product Goal – What It Is and What It’s Not!

Goals for the upcoming Team Sprint events will be set by the individual and respective Team Product Owners. The Team Sprint Goal is part of the Team Sprint Backlog.

Video – Key Points Recap

Now, it’s a good time to recap what we have learned so far with the help of MS Project Agile software tool. To support this, I’ve provided the following video [duration: 4 minutes approx.]. For the best experience, you may want to go full-screen with HD mode and plug-in your earphones.

Conclusion *** UPDATED ***

In the beginning, I wrote: 

Simple is beautiful. Simple things are followed. And simplicity is sticky. 

It is applicable to many aspects of our lives, too. For example, as a kid, did you like the simple game of baseball, cricket, and/or badminton, or the complex game of synchronized swimming with eight or ten people and rules? I’m not saying synchronized swimming is not good, but which one did you mostly follow? You know the answer!

The CIPSA framework is intended to be simple, so that it can be followed easily. More importantly, it’s hands-on and practical. This can be used with any software tool, which provides Agile at Scale capability. MS Project Agile does that and hence it’s used. Of course, it can be used with any other software tool providing proper scaling capabilities.

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This article was first published by MPUG on March 11, 2025. This an updated version. 

[Part - 1]

References

[1] Certification Course: Certified In Practical Scaled Agile (CIPSA), by ManagementYogi.com

[2] Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - CIPSA Certification

[3] The CIPSA Framework – A Simple Clock View

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