SAFe Agile principles

SAFe is based on ten fundamental concepts that have evolved from Agile principles and methods, Lean product development, systems thinking, and observation of successful enterprises. Visualize and limit the amount of work in process (WIP). In Lean-Agile development, integration points provide objective milestones at which to evaluate the solution throughout the development life cycle. Since both types of decisions occur, creating a reliable decision-making framework is a critical step in ensuring a fast flow of value. Unlike the agile manifesto and its twelve supporting principles, it has always been almost impossible to present these to anyone and have them understand and accept them without significant training or discussion. Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.Well, according to Version One’s 12th Annual State of Agile Report, “The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) is reported as the most widely-used approach to scaling agile, with nearly 1/3 (29%) saying that SAFe is the method they “follow most closely”.The report also revealed that “52% of respondents stated that more than half of teams in their organizations are using agile practices.”70% of US Fortune 100 enterprises have Certified SAFe® professionals continuously delivering value on a regular and predictable schedule.SAFe is super popular and very effective at delivering results.We’ll dive into the 9 principles of SAFe in today’s post.It’s sometimes referred to as the SAFe model, the SAFe method, or SAFe software development.SAFe is a fusion of Lean, Agile, and DevOps principles and practices into a cohesive, scalable, and configurable framework.It helps small and large enterprises deliver products and services in the shortest time possible. The sheets are formatted in a easily printable format so that you can print and cut your own cards, and immediately start using them with your teams.This exercise only takes ten minutes and gets the groups discussing and understanding the principles, an invaluable thing to do before any discussion of the mechanics of SAFe.In this case the groups were all experienced Release Train Engineers, and the results clearly showed that they have some work to do to really establish the Lean and Agile mindset that they are looking for in their organizations.

Applying development cadence and synchronization, coupled with periodic cross-domain planning, provides the mechanisms needed to operate effectively in the presence of the inherent development uncertainty.Lean-Agile leaders understand that ideation, innovation, and employee engagement are not generally motivated by individual incentive compensation. The impression that ‘our problems are different’ is a common disease that afflicts management the world over. Each is described in detail in an article by that principle’s name. In SAFe, systems thinking is applied to the organization that builds the system, as well as to the system under development. But they’re also part of the problem.Fortunately, we have an amazing and growing body of knowledge that can help. They need to feel and understand the mission and purpose for the work they’re doing, for the reason they’re working.You may also provide minimal project plans or specific work, allowing them to self-direct while providing them with challenging requirements for completing the work they engage in.Decentralizing decision-making can reduce delays and improve the flow of product development. This lets you choose an alternate course of action if you need to.It also allows for faster learning thanks to more frequent points.The Scaled Agile Framework builds software in increments, every milestone contains requirements, designs, testing, and so on; therefore, every milestone is an increment of value.This is done routinely (which we’ll touch on in principle #7) and allows for regular evaluation.At every integration point, the system can be measured, assessed, and evaluated.Your goal should always be achieving a continuous state of “flow” — moving new systems from idea to sales as quickly and smoothly as possible.A few things are holding you back from getting there, one of which is having too much work-in-progress (WIP).A lot of WIP creates confusion, causes overload, and increases overhead.There isn’t any upside to having more work than you can handle.A tool like a Kanban board can help you visualize all the work that needs to be done and consciously “pull” just enough work at a time to move the project forward without getting overwhelmed.Visualizing work this way also helps you identify bottlenecks and even recognize systemic problems you wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.You should also try to reduce the size of each batch of work, such as requirements, code, tests, and any other work items.Smaller batches move through the system more quickly with less variability.Basically, the longer the queue, the longer the wait.Reduced queue lengths reduce delay and waste while improving flow.Cadence helps developers focus on managing the variable part of solution development.Synchronization helps you understand and integrate multiple solutions to find the best one.Together, they help DevOps teams make progress in the face of uncertainty.You don’t have to study motivational methods to unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers, the Scaled Agile Framework does it inherently.The idea is that, at one point, if you don’t pay a developer enough money they won’t be motivated.After that is achieved and time goes on, it may come to a point where the money is no longer a motivator; however, just as money won’t work to motivate them, neither will fear or intimidation.What knowledge workers need is autonomy.

Everyday decisions must be made in a proper economic context. The agile manifesto principles was created by 17 software developers to propose a new way of developing software with an ideology of doing it helping others do it. Visualize and limit the amount of work in process (WIP) to limit demand to actual capacity.Cadence creates predictability and provides a rhythm for development.