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Foundations of scaling agile with SAFe

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Yuval Yeret
Yuval Yeret

Abstract: More and more organizations are realizing that in order to achieve business agility they need to go beyond implementing agile in specific teams/projects. Real agility requires scaling agile to the program/portfolio/enterprise level. In this session we will explore the options organizations have when looking to scale agile, with an emphasis on SAFe(tm) - the Scaled Agile Framework - one of the most popular options these days. Learning Objectives: • When does it make sense to Scale Agile • What are the leading scaling approaches • An introduction to SAFe's Big Picture and implementation configurations • How to implement SAFe - The Implementation Roadmap • Typical Results of implementing SAFe • Key risks/red flags to be aware of when implementing SAFe

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Foundations of Scaling Agile w/ SAFe Yuval Yeret, Enterprise Agile Consultant, SAFe SPCT
#BuildBridges
Our Agenda for Today • When does it make sense to use Agile? When does it make sense to Scale Agile? • What are some popular approaches for Scaling Agile? • An introduction to SAFe's Big Picture and implementation configurations • How to implement SAFe - The Implementation Roadmap • Typical Results of implementing SAFe • Key risks/red flags to be aware of when implementing SAFe
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Digital disruption is affecting every industry across the globe. © Scaled Agile, Inc.
© Scaled Agile, Inc. 1.5© Scaled Agile, Inc. —Dean Leffingwell Creator of SAFe “Every business is a software business now. Agility isn't an option, or a thing just for teams, it is a business imperative. But we struggle building big systems … “
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Problems discovered too lateSounds familiar? Too early commitment to a design that didn’t work Dissatisfied customers Poor morale Hard to manage distributed teams Phase gates don’t reduce risk Under- estimated dependencies Massive growth in complexity No way to improve systematically Late delivery Too little visibility
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Building incrementally accelerates value delivery 4 444 : Documents Documents Unverified System System
© Scaled Agile, Inc. And delivers better economics Early delivery provides fast value with fast feedback Time ValueDelivery Fast feedback
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Nothing beats an Agile Team Cross-functional, self-organizing — can define, build, and test valuable things Applies Agile Software Engineering practices with XP, Scrum, and Kanban Delivers value and inspects/adapts every two weeks Team Do CheckAdjust Plan PDCA
But what if your program/product is larger than a “Two Pizza Team”? <10 10-30 30-100 >100
Various approaches for Scaling Agile We implement The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) or something very similar We watched the Spotify movies and used that as inspiration We read Larman&Vodde and are doing LeSS – Large Scale Scrum We are using a Program/Portfolio Kanban to visualize, manage & improve flow beyond the team We’re using Jeff Sutherland’s Scrum @ Scale We’re following Scrum.org’s Nexus Guide
12http://stateofagile.versionone.com/
© Scaled Agile, Inc. 70% US Fortune 100 enterprises have SAFe-trained professionals 2 million Annual visitors to SAFe and Scaled Agile websites 30 - 75% Faster Time-to-Market 25 - 75% Increase in Productivity 20 - 50% Improvements in Quality 10 - 50% Increased Employee Engagement 180Scaled Agile Partners in 50 countries 250,000SAFe-trained professionals in 110+ countries SAFe cited as preferred solution for scaling Agile: • 2017 Agile in the Enterprise survey by Gartner Research • 12th Annual State of Agile Report by VersionOne • 2017 Scaling Agile Report by cPrime Configurable SAFe is able to accommodate enterprises of all sizes and industriesA comprehensive role-based curriculum for successfully implementing SAFe and skills validation through professional certification. Why SAFe? Pledged 1% Scaled Agile stock equity & employee time to Pledge 1% campaign Freely Available SAFe’s knowledge base is freely available at scaledagileframework.com S A F e C A S E S T U D I E S Fastest Growing Method Training
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Start with Essential SAFe Lean-Agile Principles 1 2 Real Agile Teams and Trains 3 Cadence and Synchronization PI Planning4 DevOps and Releasability 5 System Demo 6 Inspect & Adapt 7 IP Iteration8 Architectural Runway 9 Lean-Agile Leadership 10 Learn more at http://www.scaledagileframework.com/essential-safe
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Embrace Lean-Agile values House of Lean Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan Agile Manifesto LEADERSHIP Respectfor peopleandculture Flow Innovation Relentless improvement VALUE Value in the shortest sustainable lead time That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more. We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
© Scaled Agile, Inc. #1 - Take an economic view #2 - Apply systems thinking #3 - Assume variability; preserve options #4 - Build incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles #5 - Base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems #6 - Visualize and limit WIP, reduce batch sizes, and manage queue lengths #7 - Apply cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning #8 - Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers #9 - Decentralize decision-making SAFe Lean-Agile Principles
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Nothing Beats an Agile Team… Except a team of Agile Teams Align 50 - 125 practitioners to a common mission Apply cadence and synchronization, Program Increments every 6 - 12 weeks Provide Vision, Roadmap, architectural guidance D CA P D CA PD CA P D CA P D CA P D CA P D CA P D CA P
© Scaled Agile, Inc. To deliver value continuously
© Scaled Agile, Inc.
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Synchronizing with PI Planning  All stakeholders face-to-face (but typically multiple locations)  Management sets the mission, with minimum possible constraints  Requirements and design emerge  Important stakeholder decisions are accelerated  Teams create—and take responsibility for—plans Future product development tasks can’t be pre-determined. Distribute planning and control to those who can understand and react to the end results. —Michael Kennedy, Product Development for the Lean Enterprise For a short video PI planning example, see: https://youtu.be/ZZAtl7nAB1M
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Demonstrating the full system every two weeks An integrated solution demo Objective milestone Demo from the staging environment, or the nearest proxy Full system System Team
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Inspecting and Adapting every PI Every PI, teams systematically address the larger impediments that are limiting velocity.
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Align strategy and execution with Portfolio SAFe
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Build big systems with Large Solution SAFe
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Lead, Following the SAFe Implementation Roadmap People are already doing their best; the problems are with the system. Only management can change the system. —W. Edwards Deming
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Get Business results 30 – 75% faster time-to-market 10 – 50% happier, more motivated employees 20 – 50% increase in productivity 25 – 75% defect reduction See scaledagileframework.com/case-studies
© Scaled Agile, Inc. Financial Services / Electronics / Software / Telecom / Retail & Distribution / Government / Healthcare / Insurance / Medical Technology / Pharmaceutical / Media / Manufacturing / COTS Software / Customer Care & Billing / Outsourcing See scaledagileframework.com/case-studies
© Scaled Agile, Inc.© Scaled Agile, Inc. Gain the KnowledgeGain the knowledge
© Scaled Agile, Inc. ▪ Leading SAFe® ▪ SAFe® for Teams ▪ SAFe® Scrum Master ▪ SAFe® Product Owner/Product Manager ▪ SAFe® DevOps CORE ADVANCED ▪ SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master ▪ Implementing SAFe® ▪ SAFe® Release Train Engineer ▪ More courses in development! scaledagile.com/learning Scaled Agile’s role-based curriculum: Educate yourself Special Offer – Use “Apex” for $100 discount on October SPC workshop in Boston http://bit.ly/SPCApex “In my recent job search, I’ve seen many Agile/Project Management positions specifically mentioning SAFe SPC as a plus”
Is SAFe really safe?
What you might hear / have heard about SAFe… (I chose just the nice, safe-for-work stuff ;-) “A Hard-coded Agile Framework isn’t Agile and hardly a Framework” “SAFe is like putting Lipstick on a Pig” SAFe is “RUP reborn in Agile clothes”
https://www.slideshare.net/yyeret/not-afraid-of-the-safe-big-bad-wolf
It is important to understand that most enterprises aren’t Internet unicorns such as Facebook/Amazon/Netflix/Google. They cannot use simplified work approaches that rely on their architecture and engineering talent/experience. SAFe meets these enterprises where they are, and helps them take steps towards becoming a Lean-Agile enterprise.
The SAFe Theater Starring the Managers-Only PI Planning, The Command & Control RTE, w/ special guest - The Waterfall Thinking
Why? See Kent Beck’s idea as described by Markus Gartner at http://www.shino.de/2010/11/04/software-g-forces-the-effects-of-acceleration/
The Law of Raspberry Jam: the wider any culture is spread, the thinner it gets. Alvin Toffler
Try … Inviting people into the SAFe Implementation rather than Forcing/Pushing them with force. And let them “Have it their way” https://www.scaledagileframework.com/invitation-based-safe-implementation/
TIP: To avoid “Revenge of the RUP” and ensure your SAFe implementation is based on solid Lean/Agile grounding, verify your SAFe partner comes from a Lean/Agile background. Get help to ensure success
http://ScaledAgileFramework.com Explore the SAFe knowledge base and find free resources Start Your Journey Special Offer – Use “Apex” for $100 discount on October SPC workshop in Boston http://bit.ly/SPCApex Assess whether SAFe is right for your enterprise/group http://bit.ly/6waysSAFe Questions? Yuval@AgileSparks.com

More Related Content

Foundations of scaling agile with SAFe

  • 1. Foundations of Scaling Agile w/ SAFe Yuval Yeret, Enterprise Agile Consultant, SAFe SPCT
  • 3. Our Agenda for Today • When does it make sense to use Agile? When does it make sense to Scale Agile? • What are some popular approaches for Scaling Agile? • An introduction to SAFe's Big Picture and implementation configurations • How to implement SAFe - The Implementation Roadmap • Typical Results of implementing SAFe • Key risks/red flags to be aware of when implementing SAFe
  • 4. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Digital disruption is affecting every industry across the globe. © Scaled Agile, Inc.
  • 5. © Scaled Agile, Inc. 1.5© Scaled Agile, Inc. —Dean Leffingwell Creator of SAFe “Every business is a software business now. Agility isn't an option, or a thing just for teams, it is a business imperative. But we struggle building big systems … “
  • 6. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Problems discovered too lateSounds familiar? Too early commitment to a design that didn’t work Dissatisfied customers Poor morale Hard to manage distributed teams Phase gates don’t reduce risk Under- estimated dependencies Massive growth in complexity No way to improve systematically Late delivery Too little visibility
  • 7. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Building incrementally accelerates value delivery 4 444 : Documents Documents Unverified System System
  • 8. © Scaled Agile, Inc. And delivers better economics Early delivery provides fast value with fast feedback Time ValueDelivery Fast feedback
  • 9. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Nothing beats an Agile Team Cross-functional, self-organizing — can define, build, and test valuable things Applies Agile Software Engineering practices with XP, Scrum, and Kanban Delivers value and inspects/adapts every two weeks Team Do CheckAdjust Plan PDCA
  • 10. But what if your program/product is larger than a “Two Pizza Team”? <10 10-30 30-100 >100
  • 11. Various approaches for Scaling Agile We implement The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) or something very similar We watched the Spotify movies and used that as inspiration We read Larman&Vodde and are doing LeSS – Large Scale Scrum We are using a Program/Portfolio Kanban to visualize, manage & improve flow beyond the team We’re using Jeff Sutherland’s Scrum @ Scale We’re following Scrum.org’s Nexus Guide
  • 13. © Scaled Agile, Inc. 70% US Fortune 100 enterprises have SAFe-trained professionals 2 million Annual visitors to SAFe and Scaled Agile websites 30 - 75% Faster Time-to-Market 25 - 75% Increase in Productivity 20 - 50% Improvements in Quality 10 - 50% Increased Employee Engagement 180Scaled Agile Partners in 50 countries 250,000SAFe-trained professionals in 110+ countries SAFe cited as preferred solution for scaling Agile: • 2017 Agile in the Enterprise survey by Gartner Research • 12th Annual State of Agile Report by VersionOne • 2017 Scaling Agile Report by cPrime Configurable SAFe is able to accommodate enterprises of all sizes and industriesA comprehensive role-based curriculum for successfully implementing SAFe and skills validation through professional certification. Why SAFe? Pledged 1% Scaled Agile stock equity & employee time to Pledge 1% campaign Freely Available SAFe’s knowledge base is freely available at scaledagileframework.com S A F e C A S E S T U D I E S Fastest Growing Method Training
  • 14. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Start with Essential SAFe Lean-Agile Principles 1 2 Real Agile Teams and Trains 3 Cadence and Synchronization PI Planning4 DevOps and Releasability 5 System Demo 6 Inspect & Adapt 7 IP Iteration8 Architectural Runway 9 Lean-Agile Leadership 10 Learn more at http://www.scaledagileframework.com/essential-safe
  • 15. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Embrace Lean-Agile values House of Lean Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan Agile Manifesto LEADERSHIP Respectfor peopleandculture Flow Innovation Relentless improvement VALUE Value in the shortest sustainable lead time That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more. We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
  • 16. © Scaled Agile, Inc. #1 - Take an economic view #2 - Apply systems thinking #3 - Assume variability; preserve options #4 - Build incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles #5 - Base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems #6 - Visualize and limit WIP, reduce batch sizes, and manage queue lengths #7 - Apply cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning #8 - Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers #9 - Decentralize decision-making SAFe Lean-Agile Principles
  • 17. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Nothing Beats an Agile Team… Except a team of Agile Teams Align 50 - 125 practitioners to a common mission Apply cadence and synchronization, Program Increments every 6 - 12 weeks Provide Vision, Roadmap, architectural guidance D CA P D CA PD CA P D CA P D CA P D CA P D CA P D CA P
  • 18. © Scaled Agile, Inc. To deliver value continuously
  • 20. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Synchronizing with PI Planning  All stakeholders face-to-face (but typically multiple locations)  Management sets the mission, with minimum possible constraints  Requirements and design emerge  Important stakeholder decisions are accelerated  Teams create—and take responsibility for—plans Future product development tasks can’t be pre-determined. Distribute planning and control to those who can understand and react to the end results. —Michael Kennedy, Product Development for the Lean Enterprise For a short video PI planning example, see: https://youtu.be/ZZAtl7nAB1M
  • 21. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Demonstrating the full system every two weeks An integrated solution demo Objective milestone Demo from the staging environment, or the nearest proxy Full system System Team
  • 22. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Inspecting and Adapting every PI Every PI, teams systematically address the larger impediments that are limiting velocity.
  • 23. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Align strategy and execution with Portfolio SAFe
  • 24. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Build big systems with Large Solution SAFe
  • 25. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Lead, Following the SAFe Implementation Roadmap People are already doing their best; the problems are with the system. Only management can change the system. —W. Edwards Deming
  • 26. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Get Business results 30 – 75% faster time-to-market 10 – 50% happier, more motivated employees 20 – 50% increase in productivity 25 – 75% defect reduction See scaledagileframework.com/case-studies
  • 27. © Scaled Agile, Inc. Financial Services / Electronics / Software / Telecom / Retail & Distribution / Government / Healthcare / Insurance / Medical Technology / Pharmaceutical / Media / Manufacturing / COTS Software / Customer Care & Billing / Outsourcing See scaledagileframework.com/case-studies
  • 28. © Scaled Agile, Inc.© Scaled Agile, Inc. Gain the KnowledgeGain the knowledge
  • 29. © Scaled Agile, Inc. ▪ Leading SAFe® ▪ SAFe® for Teams ▪ SAFe® Scrum Master ▪ SAFe® Product Owner/Product Manager ▪ SAFe® DevOps CORE ADVANCED ▪ SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master ▪ Implementing SAFe® ▪ SAFe® Release Train Engineer ▪ More courses in development! scaledagile.com/learning Scaled Agile’s role-based curriculum: Educate yourself Special Offer – Use “Apex” for $100 discount on October SPC workshop in Boston http://bit.ly/SPCApex “In my recent job search, I’ve seen many Agile/Project Management positions specifically mentioning SAFe SPC as a plus”
  • 30. Is SAFe really safe?
  • 31. What you might hear / have heard about SAFe… (I chose just the nice, safe-for-work stuff ;-) “A Hard-coded Agile Framework isn’t Agile and hardly a Framework” “SAFe is like putting Lipstick on a Pig” SAFe is “RUP reborn in Agile clothes”
  • 33. It is important to understand that most enterprises aren’t Internet unicorns such as Facebook/Amazon/Netflix/Google. They cannot use simplified work approaches that rely on their architecture and engineering talent/experience. SAFe meets these enterprises where they are, and helps them take steps towards becoming a Lean-Agile enterprise.
  • 34. The SAFe Theater Starring the Managers-Only PI Planning, The Command & Control RTE, w/ special guest - The Waterfall Thinking
  • 35. Why? See Kent Beck’s idea as described by Markus Gartner at http://www.shino.de/2010/11/04/software-g-forces-the-effects-of-acceleration/
  • 36. The Law of Raspberry Jam: the wider any culture is spread, the thinner it gets. Alvin Toffler
  • 37. Try … Inviting people into the SAFe Implementation rather than Forcing/Pushing them with force. And let them “Have it their way” https://www.scaledagileframework.com/invitation-based-safe-implementation/
  • 38. TIP: To avoid “Revenge of the RUP” and ensure your SAFe implementation is based on solid Lean/Agile grounding, verify your SAFe partner comes from a Lean/Agile background. Get help to ensure success
  • 39. http://ScaledAgileFramework.com Explore the SAFe knowledge base and find free resources Start Your Journey Special Offer – Use “Apex” for $100 discount on October SPC workshop in Boston http://bit.ly/SPCApex Assess whether SAFe is right for your enterprise/group http://bit.ly/6waysSAFe Questions? Yuval@AgileSparks.com