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SAFe Methodology: Scaling Agile Across Teams and Projects

SAFe Methodology

New innovations and advancements in the world of technology are made up of complex processes. To handle and simplify such processes companies need to hire professionals who have knowledge and are skilled with new techniques. There are a number of methodologies that are adopted by companies to manage their projects. Some of SAFe Methodology are-

  • Agile Methodology

  • Lean Methodology

  • Waterfall

  • RAD

  • DevOps

  • Spiral

What is Agile?

Agile Methodology is one of the most popular and commonly used Methodologies in today’s time for project management and software development. It is an iterative approach that simplifies the complex product building process by breaking it into small packages. These packages are delivered frequently and are reviewed by the customer then to make any required changes. It has a set of principles based on which the process is planned. There are frameworks that are used to implement the agile values. Given below are some of the frameworks-

  • Scrum

  • Kanban

  • DSDM

  • FDD

  • SAFe

  • Crystal

  • Extreme Programming

Agile Principles

In 2001 the Agile Manifesto with a set of principles to be followed for successful results in software development. Eventually the success of Agile made it popular among other sectors as well. The set of principles to be followed for implementing and scaling Agile are-

  • Embracing change

  • Working software

  • Frequent delivery

  • Better communication

  • Continuous delivery

  • Autonomy and motivation

  • Cooperation

  • Stable working environments

  • Assurance of quality

  • Simplicity

  • Self-organizing teams

  • Reflection and adjustment

Agile Life Cycle

The journey from raw materials to finished product in Agile Software Development Life Cycle has six stages. The duration and life cycle may vary for different frameworks but usually a Sprint is 1-4 weeks long. The 6 phases of Agile Methodology are-

  • Conception

  • Inception

  • Iteration

  • Release

  • Maintenance

  • Retirement



Roles in an Agile team

If you don't delegate work properly, handling a project in a large enterprise can become chaotic. In Agile, we assign responsibilities by bifurcating based on designation and skills, resulting in many roles involved in the process, each with their own set of responsibilities. The roles in an Agile team are-

  • Scrum Master

  • Developer

  • Product owner

  • Team leader

  • Integrator

  • Stakeholders

  • Auditors

  • Independent Testers

  • Technical experts

  • Architects

  • UX Designers

What are the factors to scale Agile?

Any company that wants to scale Agile among its teams or across projects need to have some common factors to gain success. The factors are-

  • The program's entire approach is iterative, which means that modern designs must replace traditional methods to reduce time and increase accuracy.

  • The communication and collaboration between all the levels need to be regular to maintain transparency.

  • Agile scaling necessitates releasing products frequently and at short intervals across the portfolio level.

Techniques for scaling Agile

Agile is suitable for small, medium as well as large size companies. In large sized company Agile needs to be scaled for implementation. A few techniques for scaling Agile efficiently are as follows-

  • Begin with Minimum Variable Product or MVP

  • Create a single high priority product backlog

  • Make a work culture that is collaborative and communicative in nature

  • Using the correct large-scale Agile framework. There are 3 major frameworks used by enterprises for scaling- DAD, LeSS, and SAFe.

  • Start training everyone involved in the project about Agile and the process through courses and certifications.

What is SAFe?

SAFe or Scaled Agile Framework is one of the large-scale Agile framework that helps implementation of Agile in large enterprises. The knowledge base of SAFe is a combination of Agile practices, lean mindset and systems thinking that efficiently builds complex products or software. The framework has 4 levels or configurations-

  • Essential SAFe

  • Large Solution SAFe

  • Portfolio SAFe

  • Full SAFe.

Core values of SAFe Methodology

Just like Agile, SAFe Methodology also has a strong foundation of 5 core values that ensure the work ethic and product delivery is efficient. They are-

  • Built-in-quality or Embedded quality

  • Alignment

  • Proper Program Execution

  • Strong Leadership

  • Transparency among cross-functional teams.

Conclusion

In summary, we can say that the SAFe methodology represents one of the best frameworks for implementing Agile values on a large scale. There are many sites that provide courses and training to prepare professionals for SAFe implementation. Acekube is a certified platform that has a variety of certification courses for SAFe. There are many trained coaches and guides who train other professionals in this field.


FAQs

1.What are the pillars of Agile Methodology?

There are four Agile pillars-

  • Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

  • Working software over comprehensive documentation

  • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

  • Responding to change over following a plan.

2. What are the certification courses available for scaling Agile?

There are many SAFe certification courses available on different platforms-

3. What are the challenges faced while scaling Agile?

Scaling Agile helps and simplifies the processes in the companies but adapting it has many challenges-

  • Shift in culture

  • Change in work management process

  • Advancement in Evolution.


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