SAFe - Revision history

Johannesthiem: /* The Ten Essential Elements */

2021-02-11T11:58:16Z

The Ten Essential Elements

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	*'''PI Planning''' The PI planning is the event where all the teams in the ART meet and define what shall be done during the next PI - a cycle of ~10 weeks which represents the overarching cadence where medium-term objectives are achieved. All the teams working on it at the same time allows them to align together towards the same goal.		*'''PI Planning''' The PI planning is the event where all the teams in the ART meet and define what shall be done during the next PI - a cycle of ~10 weeks which represents the overarching cadence where medium-term objectives are achieved. All the teams working on it at the same time allows them to align together towards the same goal.

	*'''DevOps and Releasability''' DevOps and Releasability are what allows a faster and more reactive delivery of value to the customers by enabling more frequent releases.		*'''[[DevOps]] and Releasability''' DevOps and Releasability are what allows a faster and more reactive delivery of value to the customers by enabling more frequent releases.

	*'''System Demo''' SAFe places a big emphasis on measurable performance. The full system must be demoed to its stakeholders every two weeks so that the ART's progress can be measured and so that feedback can be taken into account as fast as possible.		*'''System Demo''' SAFe places a big emphasis on measurable performance. The full system must be demoed to its stakeholders every two weeks so that the ART's progress can be measured and so that feedback can be taken into account as fast as possible.

Johannesthiem: /* Essential SAFe Highlights */

2021-02-11T11:57:45Z

Essential SAFe Highlights

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	*ARTs use Lean UX principles in order to provide consistent approaches to user experience.		*ARTs use Lean UX principles in order to provide consistent approaches to user experience.

	*DevOps is culture, way of thinking, number of technical practices. It allows close connection and interaction within people needed to plan, test and release a solution.		*[[DevOps]] is culture, way of thinking, number of technical practices. It allows close connection and interaction within people needed to plan, test and release a solution.

	=== Roles ===		=== Roles ===

Anutka at 22:34, 4 March 2019

2019-03-04T22:34:50Z

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	SAFe implementation relies on the fact that organizations tend to reach a point where change is needed for their futures, and therefore need to reach a tipping point where a critical mass of people is formed that enable massive change. This book discusses in general about those tipping point and how great changes can happen suddenly in the society in general. This is an interesting read for a SAFe practitioner as this tipping point effect is usually needed to apply SAFe in an organization that is already established with their own processes and ways of working.		SAFe implementation relies on the fact that organizations tend to reach a point where change is needed for their futures, and therefore need to reach a tipping point where a critical mass of people is formed that enable massive change. This book discusses in general about those tipping point and how great changes can happen suddenly in the society in general. This is an interesting read for a SAFe practitioner as this tipping point effect is usually needed to apply SAFe in an organization that is already established with their own processes and ways of working.

			''The Standard for Program Management (2017), Project Management Institute''

			This book provides detailed knowledge about program management and gives clear information which could be used for most programs. Particularly Chapter 8.2 talks about Program Delivery phase activities. This information can help reader to understand contradictions between usual delivery phase activities as compared to SAFe activities. For example SAFe use close monitoring and frequent checks, which allows to change actions and chosen path if needed. This book enables the reader to understand standard project management methods. This in turn allows him to apply SAFe methods in a more informed way rather than in the dogmatic way someone who only knows about SAFe would behave.

	= References =		= References =

Anutka: /* The Essential SAFe */

2019-03-04T22:29:21Z

The Essential SAFe

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	The following roles help align multiple teams towards a common mission and vision, with the necessary coordination and governance.		The following roles help align multiple teams towards a common mission and vision, with the necessary coordination and governance.

	~~Some roles help to coordinate teams:~~
	*'''System Architect/Engineer''' can be an individual or a small team that takes care of system thinking. They decide what should be the overall architecture for the system and help define Nonfunctional Requirements.		*'''System Architect/Engineer''' can be an individual or a small team that takes care of system thinking. They decide what should be the overall architecture for the system and help define Nonfunctional Requirements.
	*'''Product Management''' communicate with Product Owners and customers in order to define system features and participate in the validation of those. Moreover, Product Management takes care of defining the program backlog.		*'''Product Management''' communicate with Product Owners and customers in order to define system features and participate in the validation of those. Moreover, Product Management takes care of defining the program backlog.

Anutka: /* The Essential SAFe */

2019-03-04T22:28:52Z

The Essential SAFe

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	The Essential SAFe covers the main elements of the Framework:		The Essential SAFe covers the main elements of the Framework:

	*The ART put together teams, stakeholders and management to achieve a main goal through the use of		*The ART put together teams, stakeholders and management to achieve a main goal through the use of a common vision, program backlog and roadmap.
	a common vision, program backlog and roadmap.

	*ARTs provide user functionality and technical infrastructure in order to gain value on a sustainable basis.		*ARTs provide user functionality and technical infrastructure in order to gain value on a sustainable basis.

Anutka: /* The Essential SAFe */

2019-03-04T22:28:41Z

The Essential SAFe

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	Some roles help to coordinate teams:		Some roles help to coordinate teams:
	*'''System Architect/Engineer''' can be an individual or a small team that takes care of system thinking. They decide what should be the overall architecture for the system and help define Nonfunctional Requirements.		*'''System Architect/Engineer''' can be an individual or a small team that takes care of system thinking. They decide what should be the overall architecture for the system and help define Nonfunctional Requirements.
	*''Product Management''' communicate with Product Owners and customers in order to define system features and participate in the validation of those. Moreover, Product Management takes care of defining the program backlog.		*'''Product Management''' communicate with Product Owners and customers in order to define system features and participate in the validation of those. Moreover, Product Management takes care of defining the program backlog.
	*'''Release Train Engineer''' (RTE) is one of the most important person for the ART. RTEs use several mechanisms such as the Program Kanban board, Inspect & Adapt (I&A) workshop, and PI Planning, in order to facilitate the flow of value.		*'''Release Train Engineer''' (RTE) is one of the most important person for the ART. RTEs use several mechanisms such as the Program Kanban board, Inspect & Adapt (I&A) workshop, and PI Planning, in order to facilitate the flow of value.
	*'''Business Owners''' are group of stakeholders who have both business and technical responsibility, including governance and return on investment. They are the main ART stakeholders.		*'''Business Owners''' are group of stakeholders who have both business and technical responsibility, including governance and return on investment. They are the main ART stakeholders.

Anutka: /* The Essential SAFe */

2019-03-04T22:28:15Z

The Essential SAFe

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	[[File:SAFe-essential.png\|256px\|The Essential SAFe\|thumb\|right]]		[[File:SAFe-essential.png\|256px\|The Essential SAFe\|thumb\|right]]

			The Essential SAFe configuration is a relatively simpler version of SAFe which allows in the future to transition to other more complete configurations.

			It is centered around an Agile Release Train (ART) which includes agile teams and program-level leadership. All members of the ART work toward a single overarching goal.

			=== Essential SAFe Highlights ===

			The Essential SAFe covers the main elements of the Framework:

			*The ART put together teams, stakeholders and management to achieve a main goal through the use of
			a common vision, program backlog and roadmap.

			*ARTs provide user functionality and technical infrastructure in order to gain value on a sustainable basis.

			*Team iterations use same start and end dates and work synchronously.

			*System-level increments are evaluated every 2 weeks.

			*Program Increments (PI) offer fixed periods of time where planning the work to be done, executing it, inspecting the results and adapting for the next PI is carried out in a cycle.

			*Solutions can be released whenever needed, whether during the PI or at the end.

			*Teams in the ART practice face-to-face PI planning in order to enable faster adaptation and reliable collaboration.

			*ARTs provide a Continuous Delivery Pipeline, which enables the delivery of small increments of value.

			*ARTs use Lean UX principles in order to provide consistent approaches to user experience.

			*DevOps is culture, way of thinking, number of technical practices. It allows close connection and interaction within people needed to plan, test and release a solution.

			=== Roles ===
			The following roles help align multiple teams towards a common mission and vision, with the necessary coordination and governance.

			Some roles help to coordinate teams:
			*'''System Architect/Engineer''' can be an individual or a small team that takes care of system thinking. They decide what should be the overall architecture for the system and help define Nonfunctional Requirements.
			*''Product Management''' communicate with Product Owners and customers in order to define system features and participate in the validation of those. Moreover, Product Management takes care of defining the program backlog.
			*'''Release Train Engineer''' (RTE) is one of the most important person for the ART. RTEs use several mechanisms such as the Program Kanban board, Inspect & Adapt (I&A) workshop, and PI Planning, in order to facilitate the flow of value.
			*'''Business Owners''' are group of stakeholders who have both business and technical responsibility, including governance and return on investment. They are the main ART stakeholders.
			*'''Customers''' are the main deciders of what constitutes value.

	=== The Ten Essential Elements ===		=== The Ten Essential Elements ===

Anutka: /* SAFe Principles */

2019-03-04T22:10:09Z

SAFe Principles

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	*'''Build incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles'''		*'''Build incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles'''

			One of the main principles is to build a working system in sequential iterations. Series of short iterations allow the teams to get fast feedback and give the opportunity to choose new routes and new courses of actions at early stages. Moreover, those iterations can be used as minimum viable products or prototypes.

	*'''Base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems'''		*'''Base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems'''

			The sequential - traditional model of investments into new solutions fail to provide a risk free experience. On the other hand, Lean-Agile development offers safe model where integration points give objective milestones. This new model assures investors that they will have commensurate return.

	*''' Visualize and limit WIP, reduce batch sizes, and manage queue lengths'''		*''' Visualize and limit WIP, reduce batch sizes, and manage queue lengths'''

			The continuous flow allows to move new system capabilities from concept to liquid money. There are few main points which need to be considered when implementing flow:

			In order to restrict demand to the actual capacity, it is needed to limit the amount of work in progress;

			To assist the progress of safe and fast flow through the system, it is needed to limit the size of work batches;

			To decrease the waiting time for new capabilities, it is needed to carefully control how much work is queued.

	*'''Apply cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning'''		*'''Apply cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning'''

			In order to minimize uncertainties and operate safely on the level of product development, it is important to implement synchronization, cadence, and cross-domain planning. Synchronization helps to understand and integrate numerous perspectives simultaneously. Moreover, cadence gives opportunity to create a rhythm for the development process and increases predictability.

	*'''Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers'''		*'''Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers'''
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	*'''Decentralize decision-making'''		*'''Decentralize decision-making'''

			SAFe uses decentralized decision-making, which allows to gain fast value delivery. Moreover, it allows to advance the product development flow, to decrease delays, to gain fast feedback and, lastly, to design inventive solutions. However, SAFe still uses centralized decision-making in some situations: centralized decision-making is sometimes necessary in order to make global, vital decisions for a company. In those cases, the SAFe principles give a foundation for solid decision-making.

			It is important to point out that it is not enough to learn and apply principles alone. People working in an organization are usually afraid of organizational changes, so in order to help them achieve this change, it is needed to give them clear guidance about their roles and responsibilities. Therefore, SAFe offers detailed guidance about four configurations of SAFe. This article will be focused mainly on Essential SAFe which represents the core value of the SAFe method.

	== The Essential SAFe ==		== The Essential SAFe ==

Anutka: /* The Essential SAFe */

2019-03-04T21:52:29Z

The Essential SAFe

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	*'''Lean-Agile Leadership''' Leadership must take full responsibility for the adoption of Lean-Agile principles if the organization as a whole is to ever adopt those principles.		*'''Lean-Agile Leadership''' Leadership must take full responsibility for the adoption of Lean-Agile principles if the organization as a whole is to ever adopt those principles.





















	= Implementation =		= Implementation =

Anutka at 21:52, 4 March 2019

2019-03-04T21:52:18Z

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	[[File:SAFe-essential.png\|256px\|The Essential SAFe\|thumb\|right]]		[[File:SAFe-essential.png\|256px\|The Essential SAFe\|thumb\|right]]

			=== The Ten Essential Elements ===

			Essential SAFe is based on ten essential elements from which most of the value of the SAFe method is extracted.
			*'''Lean-Agile Principles''' The essence of SAFe is to be a program management method based on Lean-Agile principles. An organization that wants to apply the SAFe method should follow those principles, or at least the underlying ideas in cases where the practical application isn't relevant.

			*'''Real Agile Teams and Trains''' Teams and train should be fully Agile and in particular shouldn't have to rely on other teams and trains to produce incremental value. This allows for shorter lead times in value production, in better customer engagement, and allows to extract more value from the Agile-specific roles like Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Product Managers, etc. as seen in the previous part about roles.

			*'''Cadence and Synchronization''' Having a set cadence is important for making routine task actually routine, and synchronization helps solving problems across teams.

			*'''PI Planning''' The PI planning is the event where all the teams in the ART meet and define what shall be done during the next PI - a cycle of ~10 weeks which represents the overarching cadence where medium-term objectives are achieved. All the teams working on it at the same time allows them to align together towards the same goal.

			*'''DevOps and Releasability''' DevOps and Releasability are what allows a faster and more reactive delivery of value to the customers by enabling more frequent releases.

			*'''System Demo''' SAFe places a big emphasis on measurable performance. The full system must be demoed to its stakeholders every two weeks so that the ART's progress can be measured and so that feedback can be taken into account as fast as possible.

			*'''Inspect and Adapt''' Every PI an Inspect and Adapt (I&A) event shall be organized where stakeholders and teams work together to inspect the ART's products and decide what should be improved during the next PI.

			*'''Innovation and Planning Iteration''' This is another event held during each PI to force the train to take some time and dedicate it to innovation, education and I&A so that the presence of urgent tasks doesn't completely prevent all those vital processes from taking place.

			*'''Architectural Runway''' Having enough Architectural Runway means always having the infrastructure needed to accommodate all the high priority short term changes. Care must be taken not to run out of Architectural Runway or the train might have to slow down considerably while waiting for the infrastructure to be available or working around its limitations.

			*'''Lean-Agile Leadership''' Leadership must take full responsibility for the adoption of Lean-Agile principles if the organization as a whole is to ever adopt those principles.