Why did SAFe create the Quickstart ART Launch program?
The SAFe Quickstart ART Launch program is a response to a number of SAFe implementations that Value Glide and several other SAFe specialist consultancies have been a part of.
In the early days of SAFe implementations, we gathered a great deal of data and evidence from each unique application and learned from both the successes and the failures to inform what the optimal approach to a SAFe implementation should be.
A product informed by continuous learning and improvement.
Each client application is unique and when we start working with each new client, their specific needs and objectives differ a great deal, so it isn’t a great idea to have a ‘cut and paste’ approach to any SAFe implementation, however, we have learned through experience and knowledge sharing within our community that there is a degree of preparation that is required and there is an optimal launch program that works regardless of industry, organization or application.
That shared knowledge and community learning has deeply informed the SAFe Quickstart ART Launch program and empowered us to create a perfect launchpad of workshops, training events, and coaching practices that significantly increases the opportunity to succeed with an agile adoption or implementation.
The temptation in agile adoptions is to get everything right from the word go and attempt to scale across the organization with a focus on delivery, however, the SAFe Quickstart ART Launch program encourages us to first identify where the most valuable efforts are needed, what our specific goals and objectives for the launch program are, and what combination of products and services will best serve the organization in adopting the framework and evolving based on data and evidence.
If we focus exclusively on delivery, we do get things done but often find that it may be the least valuable work or deliver outcomes that aren’t aligned with organizational and customer objectives.
As the old story goes, if you have 5 hours to chop down a tree, you are best served sharpening the axe first.
A SAFe Quickstart ART Launch program is the sharpening of our toolset and empowers us to decide on the most valuable areas to contribute within the first 2 to 3 months of the client engagement.
It empowers us to partner with our clients to ensure that we are creating a rock-solid foundation from which we can build in the future and align our efforts and services with the most valuable work that needs doing.
Why the SAFe Quickstart ART Launch Program matters
In my experience, the larger organizations will partner with a value delivery partner with the aim of increasing delivery and decreasing delivery times.
Because the organization have not had sufficient time to identify what is most valuable, why it is valuable to customers and end-users, and how best to achieve alignment between the organization and the customer objectives, they simply feed the partner with work and focus on efficiency rather than quality outcomes.
A great deal of productivity with very little value to the organization or the customer.
The items that are quick and easy to deliver are often the low-risk, low-value items that don’t contribute to customer delight or helping the organization achieve competitive advantage in the markets they serve.
If all we are doing is creating clutter around a product or feature through the delivery of low-value items, we aren’t creating products and features that delight our customers and we are opening ourselves up to disruption from a competitor who builds a leaner product that delivers heaps more value to customers.
Innovation
We want to focus on innovation and great product development rather than simply delivering more features that nobody cares about or values.
Yes, there is a greater degree of risk, and it does involve a greater degree of complexity and effort, but the rewards are significantly higher.
We need to have thought about our customers and the markets we serve. We need to have identified how value is created and consumed throughout the value chain, and we need to focus on delivering the highest value products and features that help us achieve business objectives.
Measurement
If we don’t know what we are attempting to achieve, and how that aligns with organizational and customer objectives, how would we know whether we are succeeding or not?
How would we know what to measure and whether those leading and lagging indicators can effectively inform what we attempt, why we are attempting it, and how we are attempting it.
So, knowing what we are trying to achieve combined with a deep understanding of how value is created and consumed, empowers us to work on the most valuable thing, at the most valuable time, and measure the success of those efforts.
The SAFe Quickstart ART Launch program empowers us to identify the right metrics and objectives that align with the business and customer objectives we have agreed are most valuable at the start.
Summary of Quickstart ART Launch Program
All of these things are addressed in the SAFe Quickstart ART launch program. At the start of the client engagement, we host workshops, coaching sessions, consulting sessions, and training to identify:
- What are the problems we are trying to solve?
- What are the measures that tell us how we are going to solve it?
- Who are we solving the problem for?
- Why does it matter?
A series of questions and workshops that force us to think about what the most valuable outcomes and objectives we are aiming to achieve rather than simply rushing into delivery.
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.
#SAFe #scaledagileframework #scalingagile #agile #agileframework #agilecoach
