Best Practices For Scaling Agile With Leading SAFe

What is Agile?

In the world of Software Development many methodologies have been conceptualized in order to make the development process easier. Agile is one such methodology that was introduced as a solution to the problem of rigidity in the process. Agile Methodology breaks the project or process into phases that increases the efficiency of the work. It is iterative, collaborative and flexible in nature and also involves the customers as a part of the process that helps to take continuous review about the product. Agile is an umbrella term for all the frameworks that are used to implement Agile principles. Some of the Agile Frameworks are:

• Scrum

• Scaled Agile Framework(SAFe)

• Kanban

• Extreme Programming

• Adaptive Software Development

• Agile Unified Process

• Dynamic Systems Development Method

• Feature-driven Development

• Rapid Application Development

• Lean Software Development

Agile Principles

The Agile Manifesto has stated the 12 principles that have to be followed to implement Agile in a team or organization. The principles are listed below:

• Customer satisfaction by early and continuous delivery of valuable software.

• Welcome changing requirements, even in late development.

• Deliver working software frequently.

• Close daily cooperation between business people and developers.

• Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted.

• Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication.

• Working software is the primary measure of progress.

• Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace.

• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design.

• Simplicity- the art of maximizing the amount of work not done- is essential.

• Best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.

• Regularly, the team reflects on how to become more effective, and adjusts accordingly.

What is Leading SAFe?

Leading SAFe or Scaled Agile Framework is a scaling framework that implements Agile principles and practices. It uses tools and techniques to implement Lean-Agile principles at all the levels of an organization. It is one of the most popular frameworks used for Agile Transformation. The SAFe framework is implemented on three levels. Each level has its own events, roles and artifacts. The levels of SAFe are:

• Team

• Program

• Portfolio

Why to choose Leading SAFe?

Leading SAFe is an option that suits best for organizations that want to attain Business Agility. It also helps to take rapid decisions to adjust the goals as per customer needs. Better communication, collaboration, flexibility, etc. are added benefits of choosing SAFe.

Benefits of Leading SAFe

SAFe leads to business agility and also aligns the goals with the process. Here are some of the other benefits of SAFe Agile adoption:

• Improves collaboration.

• Better communication among the team members.

• Allows making changes as per the needs of the customer.

• The quality of products improves.

• Increase in productivity.

• Better time-to-market.

• Nurtures employee engagement.

Best Practices for Scaling Agile with Leading SAFe

Best Practices for Scaling Agile with Leading SAFe. Some SAFe practices can really help to scale Agile with lesser complexity. The SAFe best practices are:

• Strategic themes

• Program Epics

• Program Kanban

• Features

• PI Planning

• Innovation and Planning Iteration

Best practices for Scaling Agile with Leading SAFe involve fostering a culture of collaboration, aligning teams, and implementing lean-agile principles to achieve enterprise-level agility.

Who can benefit from Leading SAFe?

Leading SAFe certification can benefit the members involved in the team as well as higher authorities. Some of the roles that can benefit from the SAFe Courses are:

• Team leads

• Program Managers

• Product managers

• IT Heads

• Business Analysts

• Delivery Managers

• Development Managers

Conclusion

Leading SAFe Certification is one of the SAFe Certifications that can give you a detailed introduction about SAFe. There are many other courses available on Acekube which is a digital platform that offers training at flexible timings.

FAQs

1. What is Leading SAFe, and how does it differ from traditional Agile methodologies?

Leading SAFe is a foundation course that explains all the principles and practices of SAFe Agile in detail.

• SAFe has four iterations in the release plan but other Agile Methodologies do not have any fixed time.

• SAFe encounters the problems faced while scaling Agile due to its flexibility.

• It is a project-oriented framework whereas others focus on completing the iterations on time.

2. How does Leading SAFe handle cross-team collaboration and dependencies?

Leading SAFe use best practices to handle cross-team collaboration and dependencies. Some of those practices are as follows:

• Identifying and dealing with collaboration in Program Increment Planning.

• Organizing frequent events to ensure alignment.

• Using the correct tools for collaboration.

• Clear communication of tasks.

• Maintaining transparency.

3. Are there any specific tools or software that can aid in scaling Agile using Leading SAFe?

Yes, there are many tools and software that can aid in scaling Agile using Leading SAFe:

• Jira Software

• Atlassian

• Plan View

• Target Process

• Service Now

• Task Top

• Digital.ai.

• Rally Software

• Swift EASE

• Clarizen

• Spira Plan