Each Cluster consists of several Teams and divides the Organization into related value streams. The Clusters are responsible for the various Systems, Applications (products) and Markets .
Many different competencies are usually required for the implementation of extensive and complex systems. In order to work together on such a project, a single Working Team with a maximum of 10 people is usually not enough. The cooperation between the Teams has to be regulated and areas of responsibility have to be defined. To achieve this, teams are brought together in a higher-level organizational unit. This overarching organizational unit is called the P4 framework Cluster . A Cluster has system responsibility for one or more related systems (or products), for a product area or for a large Module area.
By scaling the Scrum roles to the Cluster level, there are …
- a Cluster Product Owner (CPO) representing the Team Product Owner ( TPOG ),
- a Cluster System Engineer and the Team System Engineer Group (TSEG) as representatives of the Working Teams of the Cluster and
- a Cluster Scrum Master representing the Team Scrum Master ( TSMG )
The three roles of Cluster Product Owner, the Cluster Scrum Master and the Cluster System Engineer form the Management Circle of the Cluster (see also the next paragraph).
Roles & groups
In order to organize the cooperation, in addition to the Working Teams, various groups are formed that regulate the three different areas of responsibility. The groups are formed on the principle of overlap from members of the Working Teams. In order to clearly regulate this dual affiliation, the working hours for working in the group are determined centrally. From the outset there is a clear agreement on when and how long the group will work together ( Cadence ).
There are the following groups according to the three areas of responsibility:
- Market and Business: The Team Product Owner Group (TPOG) with the Cluster Product Owner (CPO)
- Technology and architecture: the Team System Engineer Group (TSEG) with the Cluster System Engineer (CSE)
- Processes, infrastructure and culture: the Team Scrum Master Group (TSMG) with the Cluster Scrum Master (CSM)
Management circle of the cluster
The Cluster Product Owner, the Cluster System Engineer and the Cluster Scrum Master form the Management circle of the cluster . They support and complement each other in the decision-making of topics that reach their level or have been escalated to them by one of the three groups. This construct effectively prevents “lonely individual decisions”, because decisions are previously examined and discussed from all three directions.
Worksflows & Value Streams
Teams that work within the Cluster often deliver partial results and intermediate products to each other. To make this transparent for everyone, “Value Stream Maps” describe the different areas of responsibility and delivery objects. For this purpose, the P4 framework uses the SIPOC description from classic organizational development. (Suplier >> Input >> Process >> Output >> Customer).
See also: Artifacts of the cluster and events of the Cluster during the iteration and ” The Cycle change: events between the cycles “.
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Further suitable links:
| Events | Roles | Groups | Artifacts |
| Cluster Planning |
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Team Product Owner Group | Cluster Backlog
Usable Knowledge & System Increment . |