What is Large Scaled Scrum (LeSS) Framework?
Large Scaled Scrum, abbreviated as LeSS, is one of the leading frameworks of agile software development. It is a multi-team scrum framework that can be applied to an agile team consisting of twelve, hundreds or even thousands of individuals, all of whom are working together on one specific shared product.
Bas Vodde and Craig Larman evolved the LeSS framework from their experiences working with large-scale product development, especially in the telecoms and finance industries. It evolved by taking Scrum and trying many different experiments to discover what works. In 2013, the experiments were solidified into the LeSS framework rules. The intention of LeSS is to ‘descale’ organization complexity, dissolving unnecessary complex organizational solutions, and solving them in simpler ways. Less roles, less management, less organizational structures.
Useful Resources for LeSS Framework
- LeSS Official Site – There are lots of different learning resources for exploring more about LeSS. We try to collect the most interesting and relevant ones here for further study. Hope these learning resources will guide you on your LeSS exploration:
- LeSS Framework, Agile, Scrum and UML Articles and Tutorials from Visual Paradigm
- Scrum and Large Scaled Framework (LeSS) at Wikipedia
- Large-scale Scrum (LeSS) is a product development framework that extends Scrum with scaling rules and guidelines without losing the original purposes of Scrum.
- There are two levels to the framework: the first LeSS level is designed for up to eight teams; the second level, known as ‘LeSS Huge’, introduces additional scaling elements for development with up to hundreds of developers. “Scaling Scrum starts with understanding and being able to adopt standard real one-team Scrum. Large-scale Scrum requires examining the purpose of single-team Scrum elements and figuring out how to reach the same purpose while staying within the constraints of the standard Scrum rules.”
- LeSS Framework (Article) Published in InformIT by By Craig Larman and Bas Vodde Oct 21, 2016
- An Overview of LeSS Framework written by the original authors
- The Project Management Blueprint Part 2: A Comprehensive Comparison of Waterfall, DAD, SAFe, LeSS, and Scrum@Scale (Article) by DARREN HAGMAN
- LeSS agile framework? (Article) – A general introduction
- What is SAFe? The Scaled Agile Framework explained – SAFe vs. DAD vs. LeSS (Article) by Moira Alexander, Aug 2019, CIO.com
- Scaling agile in large organizations: Practices, challenges, and success factors, (Article) by Researchgate.net with a summary
| Aspect |
SAFe |
SoS |
LeSS |
DAD |
Nexus |
RAGE |
| Team size |
50-120 people in release trains |
5 – 10 teams |
10 Scrum teams, 7 members x team |
200 people or more |
3 – 9 Scrum teams |
no specific size |
| Diffusion |
High |
High |
Medium |
Low |
Low |
Low |
| Maturity level |
High |
High |
High |
Medium |
Low |
Low |
| Complexity |
High/Medium |
Medium/Low |
Medium/low for Scrum-aware |
High (many practices) |
Medium / low for Scrum-aware |
Medium / low for Scrum-aware |
| Organization Type |
Traditional Enterprises |
Traditional and Agile Enterprises |
Large Enterprises |
Multiple organizations & Enterprises |
Traditional and Agile Enterprises |
Traditional and Agile Enterprises |
- Scrum Forum Discussion “LeSS or Nexus?” Scrum.org
- Youtube Video Introduction of LeSS Framework – Introduction to the LeSS Frameworks. LeSS can help you optimize your organization for adaptability and customer value.
- Scrum software tools:
- User story map – a visually structured approach for scrum teams to manage the product backlog.
- Scrum Process Canvas – seamlessly navigate the entire scrum process in a single, beautifully designed scrum process canvas.
- LeSS Canvas – a scrum tool built for every scrum team to plan, track and manage scrum projects through an intuitive visual canvas.
- Nexus Canvas – a map of actionable Nexus work items. It helps improve project efficiency for product delivery with the Nexus framework.
