The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe): An Overview

Agile project management based on Scrum has already become the standard in many organizations when it comes to reaching goals quickly with small, autonomous teams. However, this approach reaches its limits when multiple teams need to work together on very large projects. And when you want to build a superstructure in the form of a portfolio for prioritizing multiple projects, selecting them, and managing dependencies, Scrum does not provide the necessary guidelines. In these cases, traditional project management methods often still prevail due to a lack of alternatives. But the Scaled Agile Framework – SAFe for short – closes this gap and offers a framework for scaling Scrum. This way, even large organizations can achieve greater efficiency and a shorter time to market.

Nine Key Principles for Success

SAFe is based on proven Agile and Lean management methods. Nine key principles establish the guidelines:

Principle #1

To achieve optimal lead time, teams adopt an economic perspective. The focus is on the best quality and achieving the greatest value.

Principle #2

All facets of software development are considered when implementing systems.

Principle #3

Innovative ideas are encouraged and flexible options are preserved.

Principle #4

Development occurs incrementally based on fast, integrated learning cycles. This reduces risks and enables rapid implementation of customer feedback.

Principle #5

Milestones and evaluated, functioning systems ensure an economic advantage.

Principle #6

Best possible reduction of “Work in Progress” and batch sizes. Active queue management guarantees a continuous workflow.

Principle #7

Cross-functional synchronization is carried out to identify new business opportunities and implement any necessary corrections.

Principle #8

To unlock the full potential of knowledge workers, they are equipped with intrinsic motivation.

Principle #9

To achieve greater effectiveness and agility, decentralized decision-making is implemented in the Scaled Agile Framework.

Becoming More Agile with Five Core Competencies

According to the framework, SAFe is intended to help organizations “successfully navigate digital disruption and have an effective response to volatile market conditions, changing customer needs, and emerging technologies.” To this end, the method focuses on five core competencies:

1. Core Competency – Lean Agile Leadership

Lean Agile Leadership relies on the leadership level supporting and driving change within the organization as well as effective overall operations. This is particularly important because in practice, only leaders possess the necessary authority to positively influence individuals and teams so they can reach their full potential.

2. Core Competency – Technical Agility

To quickly generate good solutions, certain Lean and Agile methods must be applied within a team, and certain essential skills must be present. Since the team produces a product for a customer, technical agility within the team must be ensured.

3. Core Competency – DevOps

To sustainably meet customer needs, a consistent, continuous pipeline for products or services is critical.

4. Core Competency – Lean Systems Engineering

An organization’s innovative power increases with the focus on agile methods, particularly for promoting blueprints, development, and deployment.

5. Core Competency – Lean Portfolio Management

The fundamental prerequisite for the successful use of SAFe is an adequate corporate strategy that meaningfully aligns the areas of finance, portfolio management, and compliance.

What Distinguishes SAFe from Scrum?

While Scrum is optimally suited for small to medium-sized projects within a single team, the Scaled Agile Framework scales the agile way of working by implementing an additional cycle at a higher level of abstraction, the so-called Program Increment. This meta-cycle lasts approximately two to three months and deals with larger requirements – also called features. With this level, SAFe addresses the complexity of large programs. Additionally, at the team level in the Product Increment, smaller requirements – so-called stories – are worked on, each taking approximately one to four weeks per cycle.

The Program Increment meta-cycle specifically contains five iterations of several weeks each, with the last iteration (IP = Innovation and Planning) differing significantly from the other four. In the first four iterations, teams develop a solution, which they then examine in the fifth iteration and evaluate for potential optimization opportunities. This approach is often difficult to justify to management because relatively little visible work is done in the IP phase compared to the other four. Nevertheless, this fifth iteration is extremely important because it creates time for bug fixes and architectural optimizations. This method prevents legacy issues from programming that naturally always occur. Subsequent cleanup and bug fixing would be significantly more expensive and time-consuming than the direct “tidying up” in the fifth iteration of the Program Increment.

In all five iterations, all developers meet for a typically two-day meeting – from the Product Owners to all Scrum Masters and all other team members working on the project. Following a carefully planned agenda, all important topics related to the project are discussed together before moving into the next phase.

Additionally, the Program Increment meta-cycle includes a Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle at the feature level:

Plan – PI Planning:

PI Planning is a sprint planning at the feature level in the Program Increment meta-cycle.

Do – Program Backlog Refinements:

During the Program Increment, the team maintains a shared Program Backlog containing features.

Check – System Demo:

During the System Demo, the team reviews the jointly created product. This check occurs in every sprint and additionally at the end of a Program Increment.

Act – Inspect & Adapt Workshop:

In the Inspect & Adapt Workshop, all teams together recap the work from the last Program Increment and try to learn from challenges and adapt optimizations for the future.

The Right Offering for Every Need

Depending on the objectives and the levels to be included within the organization, SAFe offers different tiers:

Essential:

Essential covers the team and program levels and is particularly suited for organizations that want to start quickly.

Portfolio:

The Portfolio tier includes the team and program levels as well as the portfolio level. Companies that want to align their programs with corporate strategy are ideally served.

Large Solution:

Starting from the Large Solution tier, a Large Solution level is added to the team, program, and portfolio levels, which is important for organizations with significant scaling needs.

Full:

Global players with major scaling needs for projects and employees rely on the Full tier of SAFe, which covers all levels and thus provides the complete package.

Step by Step to the Scaled Agile Framework

Once an organization has decided to work according to SAFe, the first project is implementing the new structures and processes. This is best accomplished step by step:

Initiating Change and Introducing Change Agents:

The initial spark for implementing SAFe can have various reasons. Whether it’s about optimizing the current handling of complex projects, increasing productivity, or tackling large-scale projects for the first time. Regardless of the starting point, management must first be convinced by leadership of the need for implementation. The more strongly all project stakeholders are convinced of the value of this change, the better the chances for successful transformation. To keep acceptance high from the start, the leadership level can identify and engage so-called change agents. These can serve as program consultants to guide stakeholders and leaders on the Scaled Agile Framework and be available as points of contact for questions and clarifications.

C-Level Engagement and the Lean Agile Center of Excellence

Leaders in most organizations have a role model function that should not be underestimated. Accordingly, they can model agile methods for their employees and should receive the first SAFe training as early as possible. Furthermore, implementing a “Center of Excellence” is beneficial to establish Agile and Lean methods across the entire organization and optimize overall performance in this area.

Agile Release Trains (ARTs)

Agile teams that develop value-creating solutions are called Agile Release Trains in the SAFe environment. The people who develop the systems within the team are particularly critical to their success. Accordingly, it is important that each individual team member knows and fulfills their individual role and brings the skills necessary for success. ARTs can be successfully executed when the individual SAFe roles are optimally filled.

Prioritization, Roadmap, and Parameters

With the definition of corporate goals, a roadmap can be created that provides structured guidance for the SAFe implementation. This also includes the clear definition of ARTs, deadlines, teams, training, and a readiness assessment. The shared backlog program is also prepared at this stage.

From Portfolio to Cross-Organizational Success

Once all preparatory measures are in place, they are transferred to the portfolio level. This enables the consolidation of corporate culture, performance improvement, and optimal goal achievement. When new business opportunities are recognized and implemented in a timely manner, business processes become sustainable. On this foundation, an organization’s leadership builds a shared Lean and Agile mindset.

Benefits of SAFe at a Glance

With SAFe, agile projects become practically implementable for large organizations with complex initiatives. Accordingly, large mid-sized companies and corporations become more flexible and effective and have the opportunity to shorten their time to market and respond agilely to market conditions. Transparent processes and autonomous work also lead to more satisfied, engaged employees, higher productivity, and an improved corporate culture. This benefits not only existing teams but also helps attract important specialists and experts as new employees.

The well-thought-out and documented Scaled Agile Framework provides organizations with fundamental security in implementing their first agile large-scale projects. All techniques, meetings, roles, and other aspects are cleanly documented and comprehensibly captured, so that stakeholders can easily transfer the model to their own organization.

SAFe’s focus is on streamlining, teamwork, and delivery across a multitude of distributed, agile teams. Beyond that, there are other interesting frameworks that may also be suitable depending on organizational goals. Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD), for example, focuses on the end-to-end lifecycle of products with seven fundamental principles. Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS), on the other hand, builds on the premise that all teams involved in the project consider not just their own area but keep the final product in mind. Which model fits which organization is an individual assessment that depends on numerous factors. In any case, a project management software should be used that optimally supports the respective model to avoid generating additional effort. For an overview, see agile project management software and project management tools.

If you’re interested in Kanban boards, we recommend this article. Further reading: agile principles, agile values, agile practices, Scrum artifacts, Scrum roles, and Agile vs. Waterfall.