Cross Team Sync (Scrum of Scrums)
At a Glance
Cross Team Sync, often called Scrum of Scrums, coordinates work across multiple agile teams by sharing progress, identifying dependencies, and resolving blockers that affect more than one team. This ceremony ensures teams stay aligned on shared objectives while maintaining their independent sprint cycles.
Purpose: Coordinate work and resolve dependencies across multiple agile teams
Audience: Team representatives, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and program leadership
Expected Outcomes: Resolved cross-team blockers, aligned delivery timelines, and clear dependency management
POWERD Start
Purpose: Enable effective coordination between multiple agile teams working on related objectives by facilitating communication, dependency management, and collaborative problem-solving.
Outcomes: Resolved cross-team dependencies, aligned sprint planning, identified integration points, clear escalation paths for blockers, and improved visibility into program-level progress.
What's In Scope: Cross-team dependencies, shared deliverables, integration timelines, blockers affecting multiple teams, resource coordination, and program-level risks.
What's Out of Scope: Individual team sprint planning details, internal team conflicts, detailed technical implementation discussions, and individual performance issues.
WIIFM (What's In It For Me): Teams get early visibility into potential blockers, clear communication channels with other teams, and support in resolving dependencies that could impact their delivery commitments.
Engagement: Structured round-robin updates with interactive problem-solving discussions and collaborative action planning for cross-team initiatives.
Roles: RTE or Agile Delivery Lead facilitates coordination, team representatives share updates and raise blockers, and Product Management provides program context.
Documents: Program roadmap, dependency tracking tools, current sprint goals from participating teams, and escalation procedures for unresolved issues.
What Is It?
Cross Team Sync, also known as Scrum of Scrums, is a coordination ceremony that brings together representatives from multiple agile teams to share progress, manage dependencies, and resolve issues that affect more than one team.
This isn't about micromanaging individual teams or duplicating their daily standups. Instead, it focuses specifically on the coordination points between teams and the dependencies that could impact program delivery if not managed effectively.
What Are the Benefits of Cross Team Sync?
Identifies and resolves cross-team dependencies before they become blockers
Creates transparency into program progress across multiple teams
Establishes clear communication channels between teams working on related objectives
Enables proactive coordination of shared resources and integration points
When Should Teams Have Cross Team Sync?
Hold Cross Team Sync 2-3 times per week during active development phases when teams have significant dependencies. Reduce frequency to weekly during stable periods or when teams are working on more independent features.
Schedule timing based on individual team sprint cycles. Many programs find success holding the sync on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to maintain regular coordination without overwhelming team schedules.
Who Should Attend Cross Team Sync?
Core Attendees:
One representative from each participating team (often Scrum Master or technical lead)
RTE or Agile Delivery Lead (facilitator)
Product Management representative for program context
Optional Attendees:
Subject matter experts when specific technical coordination is needed
Architecture representative for technical dependency discussions
Business stakeholders when business coordination is required
What Inputs Do Teams Need?
Each team representative should come prepared with updates on work that affects other teams, any new dependencies discovered since the last sync, current blockers that need cross-team support, and upcoming work that might create dependencies.
The facilitator should have the current program roadmap, dependency tracking information, and any program-level priorities that might influence team coordination decisions.
What Do Teams Get Out of It?
Teams gain early visibility into potential blockers, clear next steps for resolving cross-team dependencies, aligned delivery timelines for shared objectives, and established communication channels for ongoing coordination needs.
The program benefits from reduced integration risks, improved delivery predictability, and faster resolution of issues that could impact multiple teams simultaneously.
Preparing for Success
Team Preparation: Representatives should review their team's current sprint work, identify anything that affects other teams, and prepare updates on previously identified dependencies or blockers.
Facilitator Preparation: Review the program dependency map, check status of previous action items, and identify any program-level changes that teams need to know about.
Program Context: Have current program priorities and any deadline changes that might affect team coordination decisions.
How Do Teams Facilitate Cross Team Sync?
Program Context (3 minutes): Facilitator shares any program-level updates, priority changes, or deadline shifts that affect team coordination.
Team Round-Robin (15 minutes): Each team representative answers three key questions: What did we complete that affects other teams? What are we planning that creates dependencies? What blockers do we need help resolving?
Dependency Review (10 minutes): Review active cross-team dependencies, confirm delivery timelines, and identify any new coordination needs between teams.
Blocker Resolution (15 minutes): Focus on blockers that affect multiple teams or require cross-team collaboration to resolve. Assign ownership and next steps.
Integration Planning (10 minutes): Discuss upcoming integration points, shared deliverables, and coordination needs for the next few days.
Escalation Review (5 minutes): Identify any issues that need escalation to program leadership or require decisions beyond team-level authority.
Action Items and Follow-up(5 minutes): Document action items, assign owners, and confirm what needs follow-up before the next sync.
How Do Teams Make Cross Team Sync Successful?
Keep the focus on cross-team coordination rather than individual team progress reports. If it doesn't affect another team or need cross-team collaboration, save it for internal team discussions.
Empower team representatives to make coordination decisions on behalf of their teams. If they need to check with their team for every decision, the sync becomes inefficient and less valuable.
Follow up on action items between syncs rather than just tracking them. Cross-team blockers often require active coordination work, not just status updates.
What Are Common Mistakes in Cross Team Sync?
Turning the sync into individual team status reports rather than focusing on cross-team coordination needs. Each team should only share information that's relevant to other teams.
Having the wrong people represent teams. Representatives need enough context about their team's work to make coordination decisions and enough authority to commit to actions.
Not following through on cross-team coordination between syncs. The real value comes from the coordination work that happens after the ceremony, not just from the information sharing.
Prompts for Continuous Improvement
Are cross-team dependencies being identified and resolved before they impact delivery timelines?
Do team representatives have the authority and context needed to make coordination decisions?
Is the information shared in this sync actually helping teams coordinate their work more effectively?
Are teams getting the support they need to resolve blockers that require cross-team collaboration?
Is the frequency of this sync appropriate for the current level of cross-team dependencies?
Start Your Cross Team Sync
Map the dependencies between teams working on related objectives, identify the right representatives for each team, then establish a regular cadence that supports effective coordination without overwhelming individual team schedules.