Why do you recommend the SAFe Quickstart ART Launch program to clients?
Embarking on an agile transformation or deciding to scale agile within a large organization can be incredibly difficult, intimidating, and costly.
If handled incorrectly, there is a high probability of failure with potentially millions of dollars being wasted through the failed adoption or implementation of agile.
I recommend the SAFe Quickstart ART Launch Program to clients for 4 primary reasons:
- Effectiveness and cost effectiveness
- A proven methodology with a high success rate
- Aligning the Big 3 things necessary for a successful adoption
- SAFe coaching and consulting
Effectiveness
One of the primary reasons why we recommend the SAFe Quickstart ART Launch Program to clients is because it is one of the more effective ways to create an Agile Release train for the organization.
Effective in terms of resources commitment and usage for the client, their customers, and for the SAFe Partner helping them create an initial Agile Release Train.
Because it’s the most effective way to adopt and implement SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), especially as an initial phase, the cost savings for the organization can be passed through to the customer in addition to delivering more valuable products and features to that customer.
Proven methodology
Launching an Agile Release Train looks and feels daunting.
There are so many things that you need to get right for the agile adoption to be successful that it makes sense to work through a proven methodology for effectively and efficiently creating an Agile Release Train within the organization.
The SAFe Quickstart ART Launch Program has been developed through many, many thousands of agile adoptions and SAFe implementations, and is still informed and developed by hundreds of SAFe experts, coaches and consultants.
There is no ‘copy and paste’ approach to Agile because each organization is unique as is the context in which they operate and compete. There is, however, a proven framework and model for creating an Agile Release Train that forms a strong foundation from which the organization can iterate and evolve in alignment with the SAFe agile framework.
The Quickstart ART Launch program does exactly what it says on the tin. It is a tested, proven and rapid methodology for creating an Agile Release Train within a limited time frame – 10 to 20 weeks – that empowers your organization to deliver products and features that truly delight customers whilst reducing cost, time to market, and wastage.
Aligning the Big 3
There are 3 critical elements to successfully adopting SAFe and creating a powerful Agile Release Train. The SAFe Quickstart ART Launch program allows us to focus on getting these 3 things right from the very beginning.
- Organizational readiness
- Content readiness
- Facilities readiness
Organizational Readiness
This is simply about answering the question of whether this is the right thing for us to be working on.
Is this the most valuable use of our time and efforts, and will this deliver the outcomes, goals and objectives that most matter to the team, leadership teams, and the organization.
All great organizations have more great ideas than they have the capacity to deliver.
So, is this the right thing to be working on and do we have alignment with executives, business unit leaders, and leadership teams that this is the right and most valuable thing we can be working on.
Content Readiness
- How do we know what the problem is?
- Have we fully defined the problem we are trying to solve?
- Have we understood the right problem, or are we randomly diving into delivery too quickly?
- What are the features that will help us meet the customer needs?
- What is the minimum thing we can do to test this hypothesis?
Understanding these elements and articulating or defining these elements empowers us to work on the most valuable thing, at the most valuable time, and ensure that the Agile Release Train we create during the Quickstart ART Launch Program is the most effective and valuable use of our time.
Facilities
- Have we got the right tools?
- Have we got the right areas for the team to work from?
Coupled with these 2 elements, we also cannot expect people to work in a different way and embrace new values and principles if they haven’t been trained.
- What training is needed?
- Who needs to go for that training and when are they available for that training?
Leadership teams and executives would need specific training that aligns with their role and responsibilities whilst others who are going to be in a specific position – such as a Release Train Engineer – need to be trained and certified for that role.
SAFe Consulting and Coaching
Training is an incredibly effective way to prepare people for the new style of working and helping them understand the big picture as well as how the whole system is optimized via the SAFe framework but it isn’t enough for people to excel in their role from day one.
This is where agile consulting and coaching come into their own.
As part of the SAFe Quickstart ART Launch Program, leadership teams and agile teams are supported by SAFe coaches and consultants that help ensure the adoption and implementation runs smoothly.
The concept of consulting and coaching is that the SAFe experts work with your teams and do the work together. The idea isn’t to create dependency, it is instead to help build capabilities within the organization and decrease the need for agile coaches and consultants over time.
The goal for our team is that within the 10-to-20-week engagement period, the team creating and improving the Agile Release Train are self-sustainable and have the capability to build momentum from the moment the SAFe Quickstart ART Launch program ends.
The executive and leadership teams, combined with the agile teams on the ground will have enough knowledge, experience and capability to run that Agile Release Train on their own and continuously improve with each product increment created.
That’s the point of the SAFe Quickstart ART Launch Program and why I recommend this approach to new clients that want to see a definitive and effective outcome within a fairly short period of time.
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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