The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) !!

PMI Inland Empire January 21, 2014

!Scott Dunn

Certified Scrum Trainer & Scaled Program Consultant

!Scott Dunn, CST, PMP Scott@RocketNineSolutions.com http://scottdunn.blogspot.com http://twitter.com/sdunnrocket9

Please write down….. !- A question you have about scaling agile and Scrum !- Your role

Some things I’ve done: blogging for 10 years, founded the OC Agile Leadership Network, started local coaching circles, spoke at several conferences and a stage reviewer for Agile 2012.

Some places I’ve worked.

Some people we’ve helped.

Some companies currently implementing the Scaled Agile Framework.

Telstra’s Results with SAFe

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Implementing change sometimes causes conflict.

And you don’t want it to get out of hand…

Worse, we may roll out a change without conflict, but everyone simply ignores.

We have a problem -

Trying to get a lot of people doing the same thing is difficult. They may not coordinate well.

Or the may be coordinated, but not focussed on the right things.

Two Problems Adopting Agile

1. Predictably Hard !!!!2. Continuous Improvement is Required

The Satir Change Curve

Exercise: Place the cards where you think each group falls in the Technology Innovation Adoption Curve (Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards). Adoption of agile appears to be at the Late Majority stage, which means company leadership, mid-management and cultures that don’t like change.

Two Primary Approaches to Agile Adoption

Approach 1 - get a coach to tell you what to do

(or who will act as a guide for you to find your way)

But experience coaches are hard to find, due in part to the popularity of agile and supply and demand.

Or

Or, follow a plan.

Q: Is SAFe the only way to scale agile? !A: No.

No, there are numerous other, solid approaches. Part of the problem is digesting this advanced information and putting it back in front of stakeholders and teams in a way that they understand and you get buy-in.

1. Clear

2. Supported

3. Proven

4. Most Popular

But SAFe is:

Clear: the Big Picture communicate a lot, simply. Support: top agile project lifecycle companies are part of the Scaled Agile Partners ecosystem, including Rally and VersionOne, and the partnerships have doubled in the last six months. Proven: Numerous case studies. Most popular: webinars, classes and conference sessions consistently sell out, and a recent webinar from an ALM tool provider said the SAFe webinar was the most popular they’ve ever had.

Works well with 5 - 50 Teams

Works well with distributed teams

Clear value, roles and responsibilities for architecture & UX

Program level priority and value on technical debt & system infrastructure

Addresses Known, Natural Limits of Scrum

Single person responsible for driving the release

Cross-team priorities

Accountability at Areas Not Defined in Scrum

“…facilitates program level processes and program execution, escalates impediments, manages risk, and helps drive program-level continuous improvement.”

Note the Release Train Engineer role sounds an awful lot like a project manager or program manager.

SAFe as the Context for Change

Entire organization is aligned, focused and delivering

Culture values around specific, clear areas

Clear, repeated vision

Structure and mechanism for change

Full leadership involvement

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So what does it look like?

PSI Planning event. Kicking off with top level goals and objectives.

A snapshot of a culture.

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