SAFe® Coaches Handbook: Proven tips and techniques for launching and running SAFe® Teams, ARTs, and Portfolios in an Agile Enterprise

Written by experienced Agile coaches, SPCTs, and a SAFe® Fellow, this guide is packed with real-world examples, use cases, and anecdotes, and offers valuable guidance to help you avoid common pitfalls and successfully implement SAFe®

Key Features

• Understand how to tailor SAFe® practices to meet your organization’s needs
• Avoid common mistakes encountered while adopting SAFe® at team, ART, and portfolio levels
• Discover practical tips and best practices to plan teams, ARTs, events, and Lean Portfolio Management

Book Description

The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) is widely recognized as an eff ective methodology for implementing Agile practices at the Enterprise level. However, the complexity of SAFe® can make it challenging for Teams and organizations to determine which practices can be safely adapted to their unique needs. Although SAFe® is a framework rather than a set of rules, promoting adaptation, it’s crucial to understand why SAFe® practices are designed the way they are along with the consequences of modifying them.

The SAFe® Coaches Handbook is a comprehensive resource that goes beyond a how-to guide, providing a deep understanding of SAFe® principles and practices. The chapters are designed in a way to teach you how to successfully implement SAFe® in your organization and eff ectively manage the Team’s Backlog while avoiding common pitfalls. You’ll discover optimal ways to create SAFe® Teams and run successful Events. You’ll also learn how to plan Agile Release Trains (ARTs), manage the ART Backlog, conduct PI Planning, and grasp the importance of Value Stream Identifi cation in driving value delivery.

By the end of this book, you’ll be armed with practical tips and advice to help you successfully customize the Scaled Agile Framework to your Enterprise’s needs while preserving the aspects that make it work successfully.

What you will learn

• Discover how to set up Agile Teams to attain maximum effectiveness
• Avoid common mistakes organizations make with SAFe®
• Find out how to set up the Agile Release Train
• Discover common mistakes enterprises make that affect the success of the ART
• Understand the importance of Value Streams and learn how to work with them successfully
• Start using the best ways to measure the progress of Teams and ARTs at an Enterprise level
• Recognize the impact of successful SAFe® adoption on Enterprise strategy and organizational structure

Who this book is for

If you're a SAFe® Practice Consultant (SPCT), Scrum Master/Team Coach, or Release Train Engineer tasked with implementing SAFe® within an organization, you'll find this book indispensable. It offers valuable insights into aspects of SAFe® and helps ensure success in delivery and execution with practical uses you can adopt. Product owners and product managers will also benefit from this book by gaining a deeper understanding of how to function effectively within a SAFe® environment. A basic understanding of SAFe®, agile, and DevOps is recommended to get the most out of this book.

Table of Contents

1. Thriving the Digital Age
2. Building the Team
3. Agile Team Iteration and PI Execution
4. Team Backlog Management
5. Team Iteration Events
6. Building the Agile Release Train
7. Release Trains Day-to-Day
8. ART Backlog Management
9. Events for the Train
10. PI Events
11. Enterprise Strategy
12. Building Your Portfolio
13. Establishing Lean Budgets
14. Portfolio Backlog Management
15. Measuring Progress
16. Leadership Alignment
17. Embracing Agility and Nurturing Transformation

Darren Wilmshurst is the UK director of Cprime, a leading global Agile, product, and technology solutions provider, delivering transformations. Having spent almost 30 years in the corporate world, first in retail banking and then later in the IT industry, he moved to consulting to help organizations in both the private and public sectors to be more effective and efficient. He is a SAFe® Practice Consultant Trainer (SPCT) and is also recognized as a SAFe® Fellow. He co-authored the BCS book Agile Foundations – Principles Practices and Frameworks, was a contributor and reviewer of The ART of Avoiding a Train Wreck, and was a reviewer of Valuing Agile: The Financial Management of Agile Projects.

Lindy Quick is the owner and principal at LNQ Consultants. She has more than 15 years of federal government IT experience and 10 years of SAFe® and Lean-Agile consulting and Coaching experience. Lindy has Coached and trained numerous individuals, teams, ARTs, and solutions, delivering both software and highly complex cyber-physical solutions. Lindy is a SAFe® Practice Consultant Trainer (SPCT) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and German and a Master of Business Administration (MBA).