What Are The SAFe Agile Principles?

I am sure you are aware of the concept of Agile. It is a methodology used in project management that emphasizes on breaking down the project into phases. Planning, execution, and evaluation are the cycle steps involved. A key focus is collaboration and continuous improvement. It is more than 20 years since Agile was introduced.

Agile has now undergone changes, leading to the introduction of SAFe or Scaled Agile Framework. The basic principles of Agile have been blended with the Lean concept and systems approach to create SAFe. Why should you learn about SAFe Agile and how will it help you is a question you may have. I will tell you all about SAFe agile principles and their importance. 

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Introduction to SAFe Agile Principles

Let me start by introducing the SAFe Agile principles. There has been a lot of learning while implementing lean agile. All this knowledge has been taken into account to create the SAFe agile principles. Scaled Agile Inc. is the organizations behind this concept, and they introduced SAFe agile principles in 2011.

The SAFe Agile principles have been created with the intention that any organization can implement it, whichever industry sector they belong to. It is a framework that helps organizations implement the lean agile principles at an enterprise level, i.e: across the entire organization. These principles offer best practices for organizations to follow to scale their agile implementation across cross-functional teams. 

Understanding the Agile Manifesto and SAFe

The Agile manifesto is the core of the Agile principles. A question you may have at this time is how different are the SAFe Agile principles from the Agile manifesto? Let me highlight that the concept of SAFe is grounded in the principles of Agile. This means the Agile manifesto is the foundation for the SAFe agile principles.

Also Read: Agile Vs SAFe Agile

The Agile manifesto was created to help implement Agile, and it was essentially meant for small teams. SAFe agile was made to scale Agile. It builds on the Agile manifesto and expands it further. So, I want to stress that SAFe is essentially an extension of the Agile manifesto. While the Agile manifesto has 4 values and 12 principles, SAFe is based on 10 principles, which I will explain in detail.

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The Ten SAFe Agile Principles

Let me now list out and explain the ten SAFe agile principles:

1. Take an Economic View: I want to tell you that economics is important for organizations. When decisions are taken, economics should govern the decisions. This ensures profitability and prevents losses and wastes. The first SAFe agile principle therefore says that it is economics that should drive decision-making at all levels, from top to bottom. 

There are two practices that you must know:

2. Delivery early and often: The lean agile concept focuses on delivering early and also on continuous delivery of product modules. By this, organizations can deliver better value

3. Use a comprehensive economic framework: An economic framework refers to guidelines that are in line with the financial goals of the enterprise. An economic framework involves four elements. The first is to have a lean budget and operate within in. Economic trade off solutions must be understood and use. It is important to leverage suppliers by looking at a long-term relationship. Jobs have to be sequenced to ensure maximum benefit.

4. Apply systems thinking: The systems thinking proposes that the solution itself is a system, as is the process of enterprise building. To implement systems thinking, it is important to understand and apply the concept of full development value stream. Each value stream should deliver a market solution. Management also has to play a role in systems thinking since it is only management that can change the system.

5. Assume variability, preserve options: We live in an uncertain world and variability is a part of it. Teams must accept that technical and market variability do exist. Keeping this premise in mind, they must preserve options by creating solutions that can be adapted to any changes in circumstances. This principle helps to create a mindset where the team remains versatile and can look for different solutions.

6. Build incrementally with fast and integrated learning cycles: I already told you about delivering early and continuously being a key element of SAFe. A related element is building incrementally by using the PDCA cycle. Plan-D-Check-Adjust helps the team get continuous feedback allowing them to build fast. It allows the organization to proactively respond to customer needs by learning quickly.

7. Base the milestones on objective evaluation of working systems: Continuing with the previous principle, in SAFe agile, we build incrementally, So, the milestones have to be planned by carrying out an objective evaluation of working systems. This principle also calls for making use of metrics to verify if the organization is in a position to achieve its mission. For this purpose, product and process metrics can be used. These metrics would help the stakeholders evaluate progress and then decide on further plans.

8. Make value flow without interruptions: A continuous flow of value must be delivered to customers. This point has been highlighted in earlier principles too. In fact, the core concept of SAFe is to ensure value flow within the shortest time (deliver early). To implement this principle, the traditional start and stop system will not work. It is important to improve throughput while ensuring value. Bottlenecks have to be removed and wait times reduced. Understanding the value stream concept and doing all this allows in ensuring value flow without interruptions.

9. Apply cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning: Cadence is all about ensuring things happen on time. To ensure a smooth flow, it is important to balance uncertainty with all known elements. Cadence is trying to ensure everything happens in a routine way. Synchronization is the next part in this principle. Work from multiple projects has to be synchronized to ensure value flow. 

10. Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers: Intrinsic motivation is what motivates someone to work without expecting any external rewards. Knowledge workers have an intrinsic drive that makes them work because they love the work. They do the work not for rewards but since they find the task interesting and enjoy it. This internal motivation has to be unlocked by the organization. It can be done by giving knowledge workers the autonomy or freedom to work. They must be encouraged and supported to master related skills. It is important to encourage them to come with innovative and creative solutions.

11. Decentralized decision making: When decision-making is centralized, it leads to delays. Quick and efficient decision-making is one of the key elements for success. When decision-making is decentralized giving more autonomy, it ensures empowerment. It also allows for innovation. Decision-making should ideally be done by those individuals who are closest to the problem being addressed. Strategic decisions can be centralized but routine decisions must be decentralized.

12. Organize around value: I want to stress on how important value is for SAFe. It is the core concept, which is why the last principle says that you must organize everything for value. ART or Agile Release Trains can help in making value streams a reality. The principle highlights the need to create cross-functional Agile teams that can collaborate and create value. 

Implementing SAFe Principles in Organizations

To implement the SAFe agile principles in an organization, it is important to first create a lean-agile mindset. Here is a roadmap that explains how the implementation can be done seamlessly:

• Train change agents in the organization on Lean Agile.
• Next, the leaders, managers, and executives must be trained.
• Organize around value.
• Make preparations for launching the ART.
• Train the teams and launch the ART.
• Enhance the SAFe portfolio.
• Accelerate the process.

Measuring Success with SAFe Agile Principles

SAFe metrics can be used to measure the success of implementation. Flow metrics can be used to measure success. Some of the flow metrics include:

• Flow load (number of items under process), 
• Flow velocity (speed of delivery), 
• Flow time, 
• Flow efficiency (total active time/flow time).
• Flow distribution (amount of work over time).

Challenges and Pitfalls of adopting SAFe Agile Principles

Some of the common challenges while adopting SAFe Agile principles include:

• Establishing the Agile mindset within the organization.
• Not being able to understand the framework of SAFe and the methods involved.
• Not giving sufficient autonomy to teams.
• Handling the cultural shift while scaling is a key challenge.
• Coordinating among Agile teams is a major challenge.
• Lack of top management involvement.

Continuous Improvement and Adaptation

SAFe highlights the importance of continuous improvement. A culture has to be built that encourages continuous improvement at all levels. This can happen through empowerment, ensuring autonomy, and embracing change/innovation. It is important to accept feedback and use it for improvement. When SAFe agile principles are scrupulously followed, it allows for a system for continuous improvement and adaptation to be built. The Lean Agile concept of ‘Inspect and Adapt’ is what drives continuous improvement. It ensures there is a space for continuous learning so improvement can happen.

Also Read: The SAFe Agile Principles

Conclusion

The SAFe Agile principles offers numerous benefits for organizations allowing them to increase productivity, time to market, and quality. That is the reason it is gaining in popularity. A survey by cPrime showed that SAFe is the first preferred choice for Agile scaling chosen by 45% of respondents.

If you want to enhance your career prospects, then you must learn the SAFe Agile principles and their implementation. Getting the SAFe Agilist certification is a great way of doing it. With my experience, let me tell you that those who complete this training and get certified do well in their careers. Certification will help you implement Agile scaling and make you more valuable in the organization you work.

FAQs

1. What distinguishes SAFe Agile Principles from traditional agile methodologies?

In traditional agile methodologies, there are no sub-teams in an Agile team and there are no hierarchies. Achieving small goals one by one is the technique to create the product. In SAFe, ART or Agile Release Trains is followed. ART is a virtual organizations of multiple Agile teams that collaborate with each other to achieve value stream goals. There are some other differences like:

• Traditional agile is bottom-up while SAFe has a top-down alignment so management is involved.
• In traditional agile planning is not done for the entire project but is for shorter periods. In SAFe, planning focuses on the larger picture and hence takes time.

2. How does SAFe address scalability and coordination across large enterprises?

The meaning of SAFe is Scaled Agile Framework. It has been created precisely for scaling Agile across large enterprises. The concept of ARTs or Agile Release Trains is used to ensure scalability. ARTs that are focused on the product can work together to create value.

3. What role do SAFe Agile Principles play in fostering collaboration between development teams and stakeholders?

Collaboration is one of the foundational concepts behind SAFe Agile principles. Alignment at all levels is a key requisite. Collaboration is essential among all teams for this to happen. Team engagement as well as engagement with all stakeholders is improved when you implement SAFe agile principles. 

4. Can SAFe Agile Principles be applied in non-software development contexts?

Yes, SAFe Agile principles are universal. They can be applied in any organization and are not intended only for software development. Non-software industries can also implement SAFe agile. 

5. What resources are available for organizations looking to learn more about SAFe Agile Principles and implementation best practices?

Scaled Agile is the organization behind SAFe Agile. They offer many resources on their website to help organizations. These include videos, podcasts, and blog posts. Their website has customer success stories that can help you learn implementation best practices. They also have an online community with a useful resource and media library.