July 25, 2025

Scope shift: meaning and metrics for cross-functional teams

Being part of a delivery team often presents sustainability challenges—not just at the organizational level, but mentally as well. We're mostly blaming context switching—the constant hopping from one activity or focus to another—for hindering an otherwise well-led sprint. It fragments attention, slows down productivity, and can ultimately lead to burnout. But there’s another tendency to watch out for.

The scope shift, a new crux for the well being of team members

One of the key benefits of working in a self-organizing, cross-functional and horizontal team is the opportunity to reflect on organizational aspects and discuss potential improvements beyond our own specialty. One that is overlooked, but still highly impactful is what I would call the scope shift. They both originate from poor anticipation at the planning stage, but, while context switching typically involves shifting between tasks or activities—often seen as a horizontal movement—scope shifting goes deeper. It involves transitioning between entirely different mental frameworks. This could be a horizontal or vertical shift: moving from one set of objectives, priorities, and skill sets (e.g., software development) to a completely different one (e.g., business analysis or strategy). Scope shifting is especially prevalent in smaller organizations, where individuals are often required to wear multiple hats and switch between domains with different logics and expectations.

As for the context switch, a simple rule applies: the less, the better. A team member's ability to maintain a coherent and well-defined scope promotes focus, reduces stress and increases overall job satisfaction. In a high-pressure environment where knowledge work is required, just because someone can do something a busy colleague can't at the moment, doesn’t mean they should automatically be assigned the accountability.

New metrics for team member satisfaction

When we think of well-being in the workplace, we usually consider topics such as work-life balance, workload and operational autonomy. Scope shifting can be seen as a new variable to monitor:

• How many times is a team member forced to shift their operational horizon?

• How many conflicting priorities must they handle within the same time frame?

• What is the impact of scope shifting when compounded with context switching?

Reducing these mental shifts not only improves individual performance, but also creates an environment that is more stable and welcoming - particularly for newcomers.