How can an Agile Product Operating Model (APOM) enhance how organizations use SAFe? I had several conversations with product leaders this week where this question came up. Organizations that are struggling with SAFe Theater and want to see much more empowerment, outcome orientation, and evidence-driven decision making and steering. They realize SAFe has helped them …
I recently joined Adam Mattis on the “Business Agility Now” podcast for a conversation about scaling agile and product operating models. It’s always a pleasure to chat with Adam about the realities of applying agility at scale and some of the trends I’m seeing in the field. We covered various topics, drawing from our experiences …
The idea of bringing dependent teams together to collaborate better and minimize cross-dependency overhead isn’t unique to SAFe. It’s just a fractal of the pattern of an agile cross-functional team, which Agile hasn’t invented either, just leveraged. Here’s how you might go about designing effective ARTs: There will still be dependencies. Sometimes, even a lot. …
While the Product Operating Model focuses on developing new Products, it has implications and potential benefits for the teams operating the business and supporting these products. (These work in the Operational Value Stream, as defined in SAFe.) Improving the Interface between Product Development and Business Operations The handoff point between development and operations is a common …
Is SAFe good? Is SAFe agile? What are SAFe’s strengths? Weaknesses? How does SAFe see the Scrum Master and Product Owner roles? What are the benefits and challenges of the PI Planning practice? Ryan Ripley and I recorded Breaking The SAFe, a series of videos dissecting SAFe. Do you want a cliff notes version? It …
In this conversation, Jim, Sander, and their guest, Yuval, discuss various topics, including SAFe, lean portfolio management, and OKRs. They explore the misconceptions and polarizing nature of SAFe, the difference between a traditional PMO and a lean portfolio, and the challenges of managing different ways of working within a global organization. They also delve into …
Strategic Themes in SAFe represent strategic choices at the Enterprise/Portfolio level that should guide decisions throughout the portfolio. A qualitative Objective accompanied by a quantitative, valuable, and measurable evidence-oriented Key Result connected to a portfolio KPI is a great way to make sure the strategic theme is pointing toward desired outcomes without going into too …
There’s a lot of criticism out there about SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework). Leaders aiming to achieve agility at scale often find the landscape confusing and, at times, frightening. Some of the criticism is fair and worth addressing. Some is pure FUD mongering (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) As a Professional Scrum Trainer AND a SAFe Fellow/SPCT I …
Exploring SAFe’s Approach to Product Ownership What is SAFe’s perspective on the Product Owner role? How does it differ from the Scrum Guide? Why is Product Ownership split between the Product Owner and Product Manager in SAFe? SAFe’s approach to Product Ownership draws quite a bit of criticism. As a Professional Scrum Trainer who’s also …
Aiming towards Sustainable Pace “Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.” — The Agile Manifesto Principle “programmers or software developers should not work more than 40 hour weeks, and if there is overtime one week, that the next week should not include more overtime.” — Extreme Programming …