Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
Practices Employed
- Approvals: SAFe uses Program Increment (PI) Planning events where objectives are agreed and approved by stakeholders. Referred to as:
- PI Planning
- Inspect and Adapt
- Automated Testing: SAFe emphasises built-in quality through test automation at all levels. Referred to as:
- Built-in Quality
- Test-First
- Automation: SAFe promotes built-in quality through continuous integration and automated testing. Referred to as:
- Continuous Integration
- Built-in Quality
- Change Management: SAFe manages change through structured backlogs and regular planning cadences. Referred to as:
- Program Backlog
- Enabler Stories
- Coordination Risk: SAFe specifically addresses coordination across multiple teams through Agile Release Trains. Referred to as:
- Agile Release Train (ART)
- Scrum of Scrums
- Delegation: SAFe emphasizes decentralized decision-making to empower teams. Referred to as:
- Decentralize Decision-Making
- Demo: System Demos occur at the end of each iteration to show integrated work to stakeholders. Referred to as:
- System Demo
- Solution Demo
- Estimating: SAFe uses story points and capacity-based planning during PI Planning. Referred to as:
- Story Points
- Capacity Allocation
- Issue Management: SAFe uses program and team backlogs to track and prioritise work. Referred to as:
- Program Backlog
- Team Backlog
- Measurement: SAFe measures progress through PI Objectives, velocity, and flow metrics. Referred to as:
- PI Objectives
- Flow Metrics
- Predictability Measure
- Meeting: SAFe uses regular ceremonies including daily stand-ups, iteration planning, and PI Planning. Referred to as:
- PI Planning
- Daily Stand-up
- Iteration Planning
- Monitoring: SAFe monitors progress through Program Boards, Kanban boards, and regular sync meetings. Referred to as:
- Program Board
- ART Sync
- Prioritising: SAFe uses Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) to prioritise work by economic value. Referred to as:
- WSJF
- Economic Prioritisation
- Release: SAFe promotes continuous delivery through the Release on Demand capability. Referred to as:
- Release on Demand
- Continuous Delivery Pipeline
- Requirements Capture: SAFe captures requirements as Features and Stories, refined through backlog grooming. Referred to as:
- Features
- User Stories
- Enablers
- Retrospectives: SAFe includes Inspect and Adapt workshops for systematic improvement after each PI. Referred to as:
- Inspect and Adapt
- Iteration Retrospective
- Stakeholder Management: SAFe engages stakeholders through Business Owners, Product Management, and regular demos. Referred to as:
- Business Owners
- Product Management
Description
"The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) is a set of organization and workflow patterns intended to guide enterprises in scaling lean and agile practices. SAFe promotes alignment, collaboration, and delivery across large numbers of agile teams." - Scaled Agile Framework, Wikipedia
SAFe addresses the challenge of Coordination Risk at scale by organising teams into Agile Release Trains (ARTs) that plan and deliver together in Program Increments (PIs). Key practices include PI Planning (a face-to-face event to align all teams), WSJF prioritisation (to maximise economic value), and Inspect and Adapt workshops (for continuous improvement). SAFe integrates Scrum, Kanban, and XP practices while adding coordination mechanisms for enterprise-scale delivery.