True or False: When scaling Scrum it is important to have multiple Scrum Teams working from one Product Backlog

The statement is correct. A core principle of effectively scaling Scrum to have multiple teams work on a single product is the use of one shared Product Backlog. This single Product Backlog serves as the sole source of work for the product, ensuring that all teams are aligned toward a common Product Goal. It provides transparency for all stakeholders and is essential for managing dependencies, ordering work to maximize value, and enabling the teams to create a single, integrated, valuable Increment. The Product Owner is the one person accountable for managing this single Product Backlog for all teams.

The alternative, False, is incorrect because having multiple Product Backlogs for a single product would introduce significant dysfunction. It would lead to a lack of a unified product vision, conflicting priorities between teams, difficulties in integrating the work into a cohesive whole, and a loss of transparency. Each team would optimize locally for its own backlog, undermining the goal of maximizing the value of the product as a whole. This fundamentally contradicts the principles of Scrum.

1. Schwaber, K., & Sutherland, J. (2020). The 2020 Scrum Guide. Scrum.org.

Page 6, The Scrum Team: "If Scrum Teams become too large, they should consider reorganizing into multiple cohesive Scrum Teams, each focused on the same product. Therefore, they should share the same Product Goal, Product Backlog, and Product Owner."

Page 10, Product Backlog: "The Product Backlog is an emergent, ordered list of what is needed to improve the product. It is the single source of work undertaken by the Scrum Team."

2. Scrum.org. (2021). The Nexus Guide: The Definitive Guide to the Nexus Framework - The Rules of the Game.

Page 4, The Nexus Framework: "A Nexus consists of: ... A single Product Owner who is accountable for maximizing the value of the product... A single Product Backlog that is the single source of work for the Nexus." This guide, published by Scrum.org, explicitly defines the rule for scaling Scrum with the Nexus framework.

3. Dingsøyr, T., Falessi, D., & Power, K. (2019). Agile development at scale: The next frontier. IEEE Software, 36(2), 30-38.

Page 33, Table 1, Coordination Mechanisms: The paper identifies "Backlog management" as a key coordination mechanism in large-scale agile. It notes that frameworks like LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum) mandate "one product backlog for all teams" to ensure alignment and manage inter-team dependencies, reinforcing this as a standard and necessary practice in the field.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MS.2018.2884884