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How to Use GitScrum for Large-Scale Development Projects
Large-scale projects require coordination across multiple teams while preserving team autonomy and agility. GitScrum provides portfolio visibility, cross-team dependency tracking, and program-level reporting that helps organizations manage complexity without sacrificing speed.
Program Structure
Team Organization
LARGE-SCALE PROJECT STRUCTURE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PROGRAM: E-Commerce Platform Rebuild │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ PROGRAM MANAGEMENT: │
│ • Product Manager: Overall vision & priorities │
│ • Program Manager: Cross-team coordination │
│ • Architecture Lead: Technical alignment │
│ │
│ TEAM: CATALOG (6 engineers) │
│ Owner: Product listings, search, categories │
│ ├── Sprint work │
│ └── Dependencies: Search, Platform │
│ │
│ TEAM: CHECKOUT (5 engineers) │
│ Owner: Cart, payment, order processing │
│ ├── Sprint work │
│ └── Dependencies: Catalog, Platform, Payments │
│ │
│ TEAM: PLATFORM (4 engineers) │
│ Owner: Shared services, infrastructure │
│ ├── Sprint work │
│ └── Dependencies: (enabler for all teams) │
│ │
│ TEAM: MOBILE (5 engineers) │
│ Owner: iOS and Android apps │
│ ├── Sprint work │
│ └── Dependencies: All API teams │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Portfolio View
PROGRAM PORTFOLIO DASHBOARD:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ E-Commerce Platform Rebuild - Q1 2024 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ EPIC: New Search Experience │
│ [████████████████████░░░░░] 80% │
│ Teams: Catalog, Platform | Risk: Low │
│ │
│ EPIC: Checkout Redesign │
│ [████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 50% │
│ Teams: Checkout, Platform | Risk: Medium (API delay) │
│ │
│ EPIC: Mobile App v3 │
│ [██████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 25% │
│ Teams: Mobile, All API | Risk: High (dependencies) │
│ │
│ EPIC: Performance Optimization │
│ [████████████████████████░] 95% │
│ Teams: Platform | Risk: Low │
│ │
│ SUMMARY: │
│ Total Stories: 245 | Completed: 156 | In Progress: 42 │
│ Sprint Velocity: 89 pts (avg across teams) │
│ Dependencies Resolved: 23/28 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Dependency Management
Dependency Types
DEPENDENCY CATEGORIES:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ API DEPENDENCIES: │
│ Team A needs API from Team B │
│ Management: Define contract early, mock while waiting │
│ │
│ COMPONENT DEPENDENCIES: │
│ Team A needs shared component from Team B │
│ Management: Component library ownership clear │
│ │
│ DATA DEPENDENCIES: │
│ Team A needs data pipeline from Team B │
│ Management: Schema versioning, migration plans │
│ │
│ SKILL DEPENDENCIES: │
│ Team A needs expertise from Team B member │
│ Management: Cross-training, temporary allocation │
│ │
│ INFRASTRUCTURE DEPENDENCIES: │
│ Team A needs environment from Platform │
│ Management: Self-service where possible │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Dependency Tracking
DEPENDENCY BOARD:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ WAITING COMMITTED DELIVERED │
├─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────────────┤
│ │ │ │
│ ⚠️ Mobile needs │ ✓ Checkout │ ✓ Search API v2 │
│ Catalog API │ needs Payment │ (Catalog → Mobile) │
│ v2 (blocked │ gateway │ │
│ 3 days) │ (ETA: Jan 20) │ ✓ Auth service │
│ │ │ update │
│ ⚠️ Checkout │ ✓ Mobile needs │ (Platform → All) │
│ needs User │ Push service │ │
│ service │ (ETA: Jan 25) │ ✓ Shared UI │
│ update │ │ components │
│ (blocked │ │ (Platform → Mobile) │
│ 1 week) │ │ │
│ │ │ │
└─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────────────┘
Coordination Practices
Sync Meetings
COORDINATION CADENCE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ DAILY: Team Standups (15 min each) │
│ Who: Individual teams │
│ Focus: Daily progress, blockers │
│ │
│ WEEKLY: Scrum of Scrums (30 min) │
│ Who: One rep from each team + program manager │
│ Focus: Cross-team blockers, dependencies │
│ Format: │
│ • What did your team complete? │
│ • What's blocking your team? │
│ • What do you need from other teams? │
│ │
│ BI-WEEKLY: Sprint Review (90 min) │
│ Who: All teams, stakeholders │
│ Focus: Demo completed work, gather feedback │
│ │
│ QUARTERLY: PI Planning (2 days) │
│ Who: All teams, product, architecture │
│ Focus: Next quarter roadmap, dependency mapping │
│ │
│ AS NEEDED: Cross-Team Working Sessions │
│ Who: Affected teams │
│ Focus: Resolve complex dependencies │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
PI Planning
PROGRAM INCREMENT PLANNING:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PI 2024-Q1 PLANNING │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ DAY 1: │
│ │
│ Morning: Vision & Priorities │
│ • Product vision presentation │
│ • Architecture direction │
│ • Business priorities │
│ │
│ Afternoon: Team Planning │
│ • Teams plan their sprints │
│ • Identify dependencies │
│ • Draft commitments │
│ │
│ DAY 2: │
│ │
│ Morning: Dependency Resolution │
│ • Cross-team dependency mapping │
│ • Negotiate and resolve conflicts │
│ • Adjust plans as needed │
│ │
│ Afternoon: Commitment │
│ • Teams present plans │
│ • Confidence voting │
│ • Risk identification │
│ • Final commitment │
│ │
│ OUTPUT: │
│ • PI objectives for each team │
│ • Dependency map with owners and dates │
│ • Program risk register │
│ • Committed roadmap │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘