The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) is the right option if your company is looking for increased stakeholder value, decreased time-to-market, and efficient project delivery. The thing is that huge companies operate very slowly as compared to smaller ones and also, they are very change-resistant and nimble competitors. It can lead to policy-and process-based barriers and deep-rooted cultural issues. However, there are still many huge enterprises that are looking to get the advantages of Agile development even though they might not be suited naturally. When it comes to SAFe, it is a strong tool that can be implemented within the organization to help them tackle issues that are negatively impacting the project’s success. Moreover, SAFe provides huge companies with a framework that helps them become more Agile so that they can deliver the right product at the right time. Here in this article, you will know about the facts and principles of the Scaled Agile Framework given further.
 

What is Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)?
 

The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) covers a set of processes, SAFe lean-agile principles, and best procedures that assist huge companies to implement various Agile methodologies like Kanban, Scrum, and Lean to deliver top-quality products and services in a small period. SAFe is specially designed for complex projects that constitute many large teams at the project, portfolio, and program levels. In addition, it helps the companies to avail the benefits of Kanban and Scrum more effectively and allows them to undertake the management of projects with a top-level of Agility so that the stakeholders can get faster feedback across multiple groups. An accelerated loop of feedback results in increased productivity, higher engagement levels, improved work quality, and job satisfaction. 
 

The Process Flow of SAFe Agile
 

If we talk about the processes that help the companies to adopt SAFe, there are 12 general processes however it should be noted that each process can be changed as per the requirements of your organization. The processes are different from the Scaled Agile Framework principles which are given below:
 

• Leaders should identify the individuals in the enterprise that can be change agents and offer them training as Certified SAFe Program Consultants. The whole responsibility of training other stakeholders and business leaders in SAFe processes and practices is all up to these change agents.
   
• Managers and executives should also be on board with all the required skills so that they can handle the practices of the same Lean-Agile.
   
• Value streams should be identified as it is nothing but the value that is provided by the business to its customers. On the other hand, ARTs (Agile Release Trains) are the teams of Agile that bring value-oriented solutions. Overall it is a blend of technology, internal processes, and people that produces value to the customers.
   
• ART should be executed well as it all depends on excelling at backlog refinement, iteration reviews, daily stand-ups, iteration planning, system demo, Scrum-of-Scrums, iteration retrospectives, ART Sync, and PO Sync.
   
• Ongoing success just relies on finding ways to discover improvements and take benefit of new opportunities. Also, business leaders should have a continuous Lean-Agile mindset to operate the business.
   
• It is effective to create a center of excellence (CoE) than to just practice management of the Agile project within specific domains to maximized performance within the organization.
   
• The launching of prioritized ARTs should be taken place by offering every ART the essential time, coaching ART execution, training teams, and striving hard to get success without even skipping diligence or steps.
   
• There are many factors that need organizational changes such as best practices, shifts in industry legislation, or desired goals. The business reasons for the shift to SAFe should be identified and communicated by the company leadership and then the stakeholders should be encouraged to make sure that all tasks are handled with the vision for change.
   
• Every individual in the team that generates the business systems are necessary for the success of each ART. All the team members should understand their role and develop the skills to fulfill their job successfully.
   
• A roadmap must be created and goals must be determined to achieve the objectives for your SAFe transformation. The process of adoption goes ahead with the selection of the first value stream, then the first ART, and then again repeating the process.
   
• Interpret the ART, record deadlines, accumulated Agile teams, train agents, and practice assessments. At the same, it is even crucial to carry out the preparation of the backlog program.
   
• At this step, all of the above steps would be applied at the portfolio level to improve the performance companywide, overall culture, and enhance goal attainment. 
   

9 Principles of Scaled Agile Framework
 

There are as a whole 10 SAFe lean-agile principles out of which you can check nine Scaled Agile Framework principles below. 
 

Assume variability; preserve options

In the process of development, life cycle practices and traditional design support the selection of requirements option early. If you choose the wrong thing at the starting point, then future adjustments can be too lengthy and result in a suboptimal design. Maintaining multiple design options and requirements for a longer time is a better approach in the cycle of development. Later, empirical data is made into use to narrow the focus which thereby leads to a design that generates maximum economic outcomes. 
 

Base milestones on an objective evaluation of working systems
 

It is the responsibility of the customers, business owners, as well as project developers to make sure that they deliver economic benefit by investing in new approaches. To tackle this challenge, the sequential, phase-gate development model has been designed but according to experience, it has been proved that the risks cannot be mitigated as intended. Throughout the development life cycle in Lean-Agile, evaluation of the solution is done when integration points offer objective milestones. This overall evaluation done regularly offers the technical, financial, and fitness-for-purpose governance required to make sure that an ongoing investment will generate a commensurate return.
 

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

Various lean organizations make a huge effort to grab a state of continuous flow where capabilities of the new system move faster right from concepts to cash. Ways to adopting flow include:
 

• Envision and limit the amount of work in progress (WIP). This limits demand to actual capacity and boosts throughput.
   
• Handle queue lengths to decline the times of wait for new features.
   
• Decrease the batch sizes of work to encourage quick and more dependable flow.
   

Have an economic view
 

Only a fundamental understanding of the economics of building systems can deliver the best quality and value for society as well as people in a small period of lean time. Decisions should be taken every day in an appropriate economic context with the inclusion of the broader economic framework and the strategy for incremental value delivery for each value stream. This framework focuses on the development, manufacturing, Cost of Delay (CoD), trade-offs between risk, and operational costs. Moreover, all the development value streams should be compliant with the guardrails that encourage decentralized decision-making and run within the context of an approved budget. 
 

Construct incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles
 

When solutions are developed incrementally in a sequence of short iterations, it mitigates risks by enabling faster customer feedback. As per the ‘system always runs’, a few of the increments might work as prototypes for market validation as well as testing whereas others are found to be minimum viable products (MPVs). Moreover, this fast feedback helps to decide when to ‘pivot’ as per the need. 
 

Unlock the inherent motivation of workers
 

Lean-Agile leaders are aware of the innovation, ideation, and employee engagement that are not usually encouraged by the incentive compensation of the individual. The fact is that such individual incentives can destruct the cooperation required to accomplish the huge system goal just by creating internal competition. For top levels of employee engagement, the keys are creating an environment of mutual influence, minimizing constraints, offering autonomy and purpose, and better knowledge of the role of compensation. 
 

Adopt systems thinking
 

To address the risks and challenges that take place in the marketplace and workplace, it is very important to have a good understanding of the systems in which the users and workers work. Such systems are very intricate comprising of various interrelated components however it does not mean that optimizing a component is optimizing a system. In the case of SAFe, system thinking is adapted to the system that is under development and to the company that creates the system. 
 

Decentralize decision-making
 

Decentralized decision-making encourages the achievement of fast value delivery. This method improves product development flow, decreases delays, creates more innovative solutions, and allows faster feedback. The framework of reliable and trustful decision-making is an important step to ensuring a fast flow of value and empowering employees. 
 

Implement cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning
 

Cadence renders a beat for development and thereby creates predictability. With synchronization, multiple outlooks can be integrated, resolved, and understood as well at the same time. If the synchronization and development cadence is applied with periodic cross-domain planning, it offers the mechanisms required to run efficiently in the presence of the innate development uncertainty.

Simpliaxis is one of the leading professional certification training providers in the world offering multiple courses related to SAFe methodologies. We offer numerous SAFe related courses such as Leading SAFe® (6.0) Certification Training, SAFe® 6.0 Scrum Master (SSM) Certification Training, SAFe®6.0 Product Owner/Product Manager Certification Training,SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master (SASM) Certification Training, Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) Certification Training, SAFe® 6.0 Architects Certification Training, SAFe® for Teams Certification Training, SAFe® 6.0 DevOps Certification Training, SAFe® Agile Product Management Training (SAFe® APM) Certification Training  and much more. Simpliaxis delivers training to both individuals and corporate groups through instructor-led classroom and online virtual sessions.