In 30 seconds
- LeSS applies Scrum to many teams with minimal extra rules.
- One Product Owner and one Product Backlog for the whole product.
- LeSS fits up to about 8 teams; LeSS Huge goes beyond.
The idea
Craig Larman and Bas Vodde developed LeSS from their scaling work starting in the mid-2000s. Rather than adding layers, LeSS asks: how can we apply plain Scrum to many teams? The answer is to descale the organization, not scale up the process.
Core rules
- One product, one Product Owner, one Product Backlog
- One shared Sprint, ending in one integrated Increment
- One Definition of Done
- Feature teams, not component teams
LeSS vs LeSS Huge
LeSS covers roughly two to eight teams. LeSS Huge splits very large products into requirement areas, each with an Area Product Owner and its own LeSS setup, for products with many more teams.
Myth vs reality
Myth · LeSS is Scrum with more meetings.
Reality · It adds very few events; it removes organizational layers.
Myth · Each team needs its own Product Owner.
Reality · LeSS keeps one Product Owner per product.
Myth · LeSS is easy to adopt.
Reality · The rules are simple; the organizational change is hard.
FAQ
How does LeSS differ from SAFe?
LeSS is minimal and asks the organization to change; SAFe adds roles and structure. See SAFe vs LeSS.
What extra events are there?
Mainly overall Sprint Planning, overall refinement and an overall retrospective.
Who trains LeSS?
Certified LeSS trainers via the LeSS community.