A case study and experience sharing on Agile at Scale and Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) implementation

1. Practical Guide
to Scaling Agile
by Mariya Breyter

2. hello!
I am Mariya Breyter
I am here because I do not want you
to repeat my mistakes
18+ years in software engineering
10+ years in Agile
You can find me at @mbreyter
Maria_Breyter@yahoo.com
Certified SAFe SPC

3. 1.
What is Agile and why do
we need to scale it?
Agile and Lean values in Project Delivery

4. What is a Portfolio?
“A group of related projects
managed in a coordinated
way to obtain benefits and
control not available from
managing them individually”
- PMI
“A virtual organization of
5-12 teams, centered
around the value stream
map, working together to
deliver solutions”
- SAFe

5. Waterfall, Agile, and Lean
Waterfall (1984)
- Sequential method of
delivery;
- Originated in construction
and manufacturing where
changes are costly;
- Change management is
required;
- Immediate impact on budget
and resourcing;
- Predictability is key;
- Heaviweight method, long
feedback loop.
Agile (2001)
- Iterative method of
delivery;
- Promoted adaptive
planning, evolutionary
delivery;
- Roles are cross-functional;
- Encourages fl`exible
response to change;
- Emphasis on adaptability
rather than control;
- Delivers results faster with
shorter feedback loop.
Lean (1988)
- Contonuous improvement;
- Elimination of waste;
- Even workloads;
- Eimination of bottlenecks;
- Value-driven (weighted
shortest job first);
- Just-in-time approach
(place right people in the
right place at the right
time);
- Relentless measurement;
- Reduced cycle time.

6. “Happy families are all alike;
every unhappy family is
unhappy in its own way
Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

7. Delivery Challenges
✘ Software delivery at scale for interrelated projects
✘ Organizational-level Agile
✘ Dynamic environment – acquisitions, org changes
✘ “Agile did not work for us”
✘ Significant complexity
✘ Multiple outdated systems, lack of subject matter
expertise
✘ Outdated architecture, manual testing, limited skillsets
✘ Low employee job satisfaction and high attrition
✘ Highly distributed teams
✘ Low level of trust and motivation: need a longer
term view than just “the next sprint”

8. Which framework to implement?
✘ Scaled Agile Framework by Dean Leffingwell (SAFe)
✘ Disciplined Agile Delivery by Scott Ambler (DAD)
✘ Agile Scaling Model by Agile Alliance (ASM)
✘ Large Scale Scrum by Craig Larman (LeSS)
Advice: choose the one that resonates with you and stick to it by
continuously improving and optimizing for your unique situations

9. 2.
Scaled Agile Framework
Combines the best from Agile, Lean and
Waterfall in ensuring productivity and
predictability of software delivery
1.2.

10. SAFe Principles
Detailed review of these principles is available at www.scaledagileframework.com
#1-Take an economic view
#2-Apply systems thinking
#3-Assume variability; preserve options
#4-Build incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles
#5-Base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems
#6-Visualize and limit WIP, reduce batch sizes, and manage queue lengths
#7-Apply cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning
#8-Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers
#9-Decentralize decision-making

11. Three Levels of System Thinking in SAFe
portfolio program team

12. Three System Levels
Portfolio, Program, and Team

13. http://scaledagileframework.com/case-studies/
The Big Picture
Introduced three
levels of SAFe:
✘ Portfolio,
✘ Program,
✘ Team.

14. 1. Portfolio
Lessons Learned
✘ Leverage portfolio swimlane of SAFe
✘ Create transparency
✘ Identify roles and build partnerships
✘ Prioritize themes, swarm on epics,; follow the Definition of Ready

15. Portfolio-Level Roadmap Planning
Lessons Learned
✘ Roadmap Planning between silos
✘ Business and IT stakeholder
involvement
✘ Management towards shared
objectives (starts with mission and
vision)
✘ Significant pre-work
Image courtesy of http://slidehunter.com/powerpoint-templates/agile-roadmap-powerpoint-template/

16. 2. Program
Lessons Learned
✘ Enforce cadence at program level
✘ Establish PI Planning principles and definition
✘ Involve the right roles at all levels
✘ Identify the system team and implement DevOps
✘ RTE as a Delivery Manager at Scale

17. System Demo
Lessons Learned
✘ Purpose:
- Test system integration;
- Receive feedback from multiple
stakeholders;
✘ Happens in the end of iteration when
integration is achieved (CI/CD model
is highly preferable);
✘ Done by and for the stakeholders;
✘ System team and all teams in ART
are responsible.
Image courtesy of www.pixabay.com

18. 3. Team
Lessons Learned
✘ Execution excellence at team level
✘ Technical practices including ATDD and emergent architecture
✘ Normalized estimation and synchronized planning
✘ Retrospectives and continuous improvement
✘ Teams honoring commitment

19. IP Sprint
Innovation and Planning Sprint
✘ Innovation: hackathons, fix-a-thons,
open space, certification, continuing
education
✘ Planning: Release Planning
✘ Collaboration
✘ Not a sprint to catch up on missed
commitment
✘ Adjustment is needed for highly
distributed teams

20. Relentless Measurement
Team A Team B Team C
Agile Practices
Build, Deploy
and DevOps
Test and
Verification

21. 3.
Results
Agile works at large scale!

22. Quality of Delivery
Repeatable practices
Consistency across teams
Agile Tool to manage
dependencies
Center of Excellence established
Attrition rate went down

23. Let’s review some concepts
Three System Levels
✘ Portfolio
✘ Program
✘ Team
Lean Principles
✘ Elimination of waste
✘ System thinking
✘ Maximizing value
Execution Excellence
✘ Cadence
✘ Normalization of planning
✘ Technical excellence
What other SAFe concepts resonated with you?
Which SAFe concepts did not resonate with you?

24. If you want to learn more…
✘ http://inrhythm.com/
✘ mbreyter@inrhythm.com
✘ @mbreyter
✘ Blog: http://agilecoachingforteams.blogspot.com/

25. End-to-End Solution Delivery

26. Credits
Special thanks to all the people who made and released
these awesome resources for free:
✘ Presentation template by SlidesCarnival
✘ Photographs by Unsplash
✘ Scaled Agile Academy and contributors
www.scaledagileframework.com