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👥 Multi-Team Structure

Shared leadership layer overseeing multiple independent Scrum teams

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Organization Overview

Shared / Leadership Layer

Business Stakeholders
Product Owner
Functional Lead
Technical Architect
Design Team
↓ ↓ ↓

Scrum Teams

Team A
Team B
Team N

Each team: Technical Lead (Scrum Master) + Backend Devs + Frontend Devs + QA Engineer + Project Coordinator

↔

Customer Success Team

Client Success Managers

Direct client relationship, bridge between clients and development

Organization vs Execution Structure

Mid to large teams must balance two structures. Both are necessary, and over-indexing on either causes problems.

Organizational Structure
App Teams
Service Teams

Managed by: Technical Architect
Focus: Skills, Growth, Expertise

⟷
Execution Structure
POD A
POD B

Managed by: Technical Leads
Focus: Customer Value, Shipping

Organizational Structure

Along Domain & Tech Skills

AspectDetails
ExamplesApp Teams, X Service Team, Y Service
PurposeGrowth of individuals, deep expertise development
Managed ByTechnical Architect (cross-team)
FocusSkill development, career growth, technical depth

Execution Structure

Along Business/Customer Value

AspectDetails
ExamplesCustomer Call Centre, Buying Experience
PurposeConsumer value delivery
Managed ByTechnical Leads (per team)
FocusShipping features, delivering outcomes
Warning: Over-indexing on one structure will cause the other to fail and create mismatches in expectations at individual and company level.
Learn more: See Product Principles - Matrix Organizations for the philosophy behind this structure.

Shared Roles (Across All Teams)

Role Primary Responsibilities Scope
Business Stakeholders Requirements, priorities, acceptance of deliverables All teams
Product Owner Backlog management, prioritization, acceptance criteria, PRD ownership All teams
Functional Lead Cross-team oversight, business alignment, stakeholder management, go/no-go decisions All teams
Technical Architect Architecture decisions, technical standards, cross-team technical alignment, rollback decisions All teams
Design Team (UI/UX) User research, wireframes, mockups, prototypes, design handoff All teams

Leadership Involvement by Phase

Phase Functional Lead Technical Architect
Backlog Refinement Validates business alignment Assesses technical feasibility
UX/UI Design Reviews user workflows Reviews technical constraints
PRD Creation Co-authors with PO Reviews technical dependencies
PRD Sign-off Required approver Required approver
Sprint Planning Attends all team plannings Attends all team plannings
Development Available for escalations Code review, architecture decisions
Sprint Review Attends all team demos Attends all team demos
Release Final go/no-go decision Technical release approval, rollback decisions

Cross-Team Coordination

Scrum of Scrums

Aspect Details
Frequency Weekly
Duration 30 minutes
Attendees Functional Lead, Technical Architect, all Technical Leads
Purpose Sync across teams, identify cross-team dependencies, resolve blockers

Format: Each Technical Lead shares: progress, blockers, dependencies on other teams

Technical Sync

Aspect Details
Frequency Weekly
Duration 1 hour
Attendees Technical Architect, Technical Leads, Senior Devs from each team
Purpose Architecture alignment, shared component decisions, technical debt prioritization

Release Coordination

Aspect Details
Frequency End of Sprint
Duration 1 hour
Attendees Functional Lead, Technical Architect, all Technical Leads, Quality Engineers
Purpose Coordinate multi-team releases, integration testing sign-off

Individual Scrum Team Structure

Each Scrum team operates independently with:

Role Count Responsibilities
Technical Lead
(also Scrum Master)		 1 Technical decisions, code review, facilitates all ceremonies, removes blockers, protects sprint, reports to Functional Lead and Technical Architect
Backend Developers 2-4 API development, database, integrations
Frontend Developers 1-3 UI implementation, UX integration
Quality Engineer 1 Test planning, execution, quality advocacy
Project Coordinator 1 Sprint tracking, meeting coordination, status reporting, documentation
Combined Role: The Technical Lead serves as both the technical authority and Scrum Master for their team. This ensures technical decisions and process facilitation are aligned.
Team Autonomy: Each team manages their own sprint backlog and daily work. Leadership provides direction and removes obstacles but doesn't micromanage.

Decision Authority Matrix

Decision Owner Consulted Veto Power
Bug severity classification Technical Lead Technical Architect, Quality Engineer Technical Lead (final)
Code review / PR approval Technical Lead Technical Architect (for major changes) Technical Lead
QA sign-off Quality Engineer Technical Lead Yes (can block releases)
Merge to main (triggers deploy) Technical Architect Quality Engineer (must pass), Technical Lead Technical Architect
Go/No-Go decision Functional Lead + Technical Architect + Quality Engineer Product Owner (features) Any can block
Rollback decision Technical Architect Technical Lead Technical Architect (final)
Architecture decisions Technical Architect Technical Leads Technical Architect (final)
Deployment Flow: Production deployment is automatic when code is merged to main branch. Developer or Technical Lead merges to staging for QA testing, Developer creates a PR, then Technical Architect reviews, approves, and merges to main.