What is the role of the business owner in SAFe?
The business owners in SAFe, or Scaled Agile Framework, are a group of people who ensure that the Agile Release Train(s) are working on the most valuable product(s) for the organization.
A consistent, frequent, and regular engagement with the business owners is one of the guardrails in SAFe. It is recommended to make sure that the Agile Release Train(s) are aligned with organizational and customer objectives.
PI Planning
The business owners would be present during the PI (Program Increment) Planning events to guide the Agile Release Train(s) and provide insight into what the most valuable business and customer objectives for the upcoming PI (program increment) are.
System Demo
The business owners are also present through each system demo, where the Agile Release Train(s) present the working product to customers and stakeholders, so that they can keep a finger on the pulse of what is working, what needs work, and what problems or impediments are preventing the team from achieving their objectives.
In essence, to understand how the work is progressing and how the solution is evolving.
Problem Solving
In every team environment, there will always be problems and impediments that are beyond the control and influence of the team. Impediments that may require senior stakeholders or business owners to intervene and ensure that the impediment is resolved as quickly and effectively as possible.
The business owners play a critical role in helping the Agile Release Train(s) identify problems and impediments, take ownership of resolving the impediment, and work through the appropriate channels to remove those impediments on behalf of the team.
ART champions
The business owners act as champions for the Agile Release Train(s).
They have a deeply vested interest in seeing the team, or team of agile teams succeed, and play an active role in helping the team to succeed.
From removing impediments such as organizational policies right through to actively campaigning for resources the team may require; the business owners work to ensure the continuous success of the Agile Release Train(s) in delivering value to the customer and the organization.
As the solution evolves, the business owners are working within the organization and with key stakeholders to showcase what is working, how that positively impacts the customer as well as the organization, and to promote positive associations with the work produced by the Agile Release Train(s).
- These are the customer journey’s that we are improving.
- This is how the ART is improving the customer experience.
- These are the problems that we have resolved.
- These are the problems that we are addressing in the upcoming PI.
And so forth.
How do you become a business owner in SAFe?
There isn’t a particular certification path or training program via SAFe that is required to become a business owner. These people are generally respected individuals within the organization who are deeply embedded within the product development environment.
So, you could say it’s an evolutionary role.
As people progress in the organization and gain more experience and responsibility relating to the business objectives being achieved, they would naturally gravitate toward the business owner group and use their experience, expertise, and influence to help the Agile Release Train(s) succeed.
SAFe coaching and consulting for business owners
A SAFe consultant or SAFe agile coach will invest time with business owners to help them understand their role, gain clarity around how they can contribute effectively, and what good looks like in the context of a business owner.
It isn’t a certification path or training course, but more of a coaching function that helps the business owner identify how they can improve in the role, and how they can contribute effectively. A SAFe consultant will have a lot of experience working with powerful business owners, and their input and guidance is often valued by aspiring business owners and experienced business owners alike.
A great agile coach will help a business owner prioritize effectively, and communicate those priorities clearly to the Agile Release Train(s) during the PI planning events.
So, this is the role of the business owner in SAFe and how they progress in the role through the guidance and support of agile coaches and consultants.
About Value Glide
Value Glide are a SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) consultancy, coaching practice, and training specialist who work with organizations to align business objectives with customer needs and wants.
As deeply experienced agile coaches and practitioners, our team are invested in continuous learning through each client engagement and use the data and evidence we gather from each implementation to inform our training, coaching, and consulting services.
In a nutshell, empirical process control or empiricism.
If you are thinking of adopting agile within your organization and have identified SAFe as a great agile framework to adopt, implement and improve your business agility, visit our SAFe Quickstart ART Launch program page or view our SAFe Consulting Services page.
If you have identified a need for an agile coach and SAFe coach to help your organization adopt and implement SAFe, visit our SAFe Coaching Services page.
If you want to know more about SAFe and how to lead SAFe, visit our SAFE Training page for a host of options, from Leading SAFe to a SAFe Release Train Engineer course.
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