Agile frameworks like scrum can only serve agile project management and agile product development to some extent. But when it comes to apply agile across the entire organization, a different approach and framework needs to be used.

The scaled agile framework is used as enterprise level agile framework by large organizations (Multi-National Corporations). It addresses the enterprise level portfolios, programs and projects management approach and guidelines.

The scaled agile framework (SAFe) consists of its prescribed principles, values, processes and templates. The roles used in the framework upto the level of projects are same as scrum. The product manager, scrum master and scrum team remain, but it also adds more roles and people to take care of scaling agile for the entire organization.

The scaled agile framework was created in the last decade and it has gained popularity in past 5-6 years. The adoption and usage increased as SAFe still complies with many of the agile scrum mindset and methods. SAFe is also adopted largely as it helps the entire organization adoption and not just some pockets and divisions. It covers the entire portfolio, programs and projects including embedding important parts of lean, Kanban and agile way of working across the organization.

The scaled agile framework prescribes adherence to 5 core values and 10 principles for it to work smoothly in the organization,

Core Values of SAFe Framework,

1.     Alignment – Alignment of priorities, purpose and goals across the portfolio ensuring right sizing of resources to fulfilling portfolio needs.

2.     Built-In Quality – Ensure clearly articulated “Definition of Done” at all levels of work. Ensuring quality is given importance for the first-time right delivery.

3.     Transparency – Full transparency on progress and updates across the entire portfolio.

4.     Program Execution – Focus on efficient execution and delivering results that will create business value.

5.     Leadership – Lead the organization and team with lean and agile leadership mindset. Ensure the core values and principles of lean and agile are well understood and embedded across entire organization.

Key Principles of SAFe Framework,

1.     Take an economic view – Operate with lean and agile mindset, adhering to lean budget and agile delivery with time box approach. Ensure what creates value gets prioritized and delivered first.

2.     Apply systems thinking – Systems thinking and use of value stream mapping to understand dependencies, gaps and waste is important.

3.     Assume variability; preserve options – SAFe prescribes maintaining multiple design options for long to ensure easier switch to new options during execution. This allows the organization to adapt the right path as it learns what will work best from the execution deliverables.

4.     Build incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles – It is important that the learning and adaption is done faster by the organization. The team must build with speed (timeboxing) and have faster learning loops and feedbacks to adapt and change on the move.

5.     Base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems – The working systems results must be shared with stakeholders to evaluate if the objective is really met by the team.

6.     Visualize and limit WIP, reduce batch sizes, and manage queue lengths – Visualizing and limiting work in progress is Lean Kanban methods to check and limit how much work can be done at each stage and pay priority attention to the stages where work in piling up.

7.     Apply cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning – Applying a standard cadence and cross-domain synchronizing helps ensure progress is closely tracked and reported as well as dependencies and issues are identified and resolved with speed.

8.     Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers – Empower and motivate the team members to unlock their full potential and bring their best to work.

9.     Decentralize decision-making – Part of empowerment is also to ensure decentralize decision making. Allow the team to make decisions for their areas while still maintaining some control. Step in only where leader has to make the decision.

10.  Organize around value – All work must be done to ensure there is full focus on creatin value. Prioritize things that create more value and focus on delivering them first time right with speed and quality.

Organizations can apply and adapt to scaled agile framework (SAFe) in different stages,

1.     Essential SAFe – Applied and used for individual projects and products management. Here is a quick overview of the same.

2.     Large Solution SAFe – Applied and used for Programs management referred as large solutions. Here is a quick overview of the same.

3.     Portfolio SAFe – Applied and used for entire Portfolio management consisting for programs and projects. Here is a quick overview of the same.

4.     Full SAFe – Applied and used for managing entire organization (mission, vision, strategy) including portfolio, programs, products and projects management. Here is a quick overview of the same.