When agile approaches are introduced in large companies, the topic scalability immediately comes up. Scaling agility is most often institutionalized through the use of frameworks such as SAFe.

On closer examination, this approach isn't in the spirit of the Agile Manifesto. According to the principles of the Agile Manifesto, improvement occurs through reflection and adaptation. Not by copying pre-made blueprints or best practices.

This fact has led me to turn the topic of scaling agility into more general rules that can guide you in trying to scale agile approaches. Let me know what you think.

Yet Another Scaling Framework For Agility (YASFA): The Seven Rules

1. If you can't even be agile successfully in a single team, do not try to scale.
2. Stakeholders need to agree on a common, cross-team goal.
3. Teams distribute their work items so that each team can progress towards the goal as independently as possible from the other teams.
4. Teams self-organize their work to reach the goal. People are not machines that like to execute orders. They need space.
5. Regularly integrate the work results in the team and across teams, and talk about dependencies to other teams.
6. Regularly reflect in the team and across teams on how to improve cooperation and whether the goal is still the right one. Adjust the goal or behavior accordingly.
7. When a goal is achieved, celebrate. Or celebrate in between.

This article was first published on HOOD blog in German.