Large stories, often referred to as "epics," pose a challenge to iterative development because they encompass too much work to be completed within a single iteration. This contradicts the principles of Agile, which emphasize small, incremental deliveries to ensure continuous progress and feedback. By breaking down large stories into smaller, more manageable pieces, teams can better align with iterative development practices, allowing for more frequent delivery of value, better risk management, and easier progress tracking.

When a team struggles with breaking down large stories into smaller ones, the Scrum Master can coach them by demonstrating specific story-splitting techniques. This hands-on approach provides practical examples of how large stories can be decomposed into smaller, more manageable tasks. Techniques might include splitting by workflow steps, by business rules, by user roles, or by data boundaries. By using a specific example, the Scrum Master can illustrate the process and benefits, helping the team develop this essential skill.

SAFe Scrum Master References

SAFe Agile Principles: continuous delivery of value

SAFe 5.0 framework: techniques for effective story splitting

Achieving Continuous Deployment involves several practices, one of which is decoupling deployment from release. This means that code can be deployed to production continuously and automatically, but it is only released to end-users when it is appropriate. Decoupling these processes allows for more frequent and reliable deployments without affecting the user experience until the features are ready for release. This practice helps in maintaining system stability and enabling faster feedback loops.

SAFe Scrum Master References

SAFe Continuous Delivery Pipeline: practices for Continuous Deployment

SAFe 5.0 framework: decoupling deployment and release for continuous improvement

To resolve the issue of the team being unclear on the scope of new stories during Iteration planning, the Scrum Master should ensure that both the Product Owner and the team come to the planning session well-prepared. Proper preparation involves:

The Product Owner refining and prioritizing the backlog items before the planning session, ensuring that stories are well-defined and understood.

The team reviewing the backlog items ahead of the planning session, allowing them to ask questions and clarify any uncertainties.

Conducting pre-planning sessions or backlog refinement meetings to discuss and break down stories, ensuring they are ready for planning.

This preparation helps ensure that the planning session is productive and that the team can commit to well-understood and scoped stories.

SAFe Scrum Master References

SAFe Iteration Planning guidelines

SAFe 5.0 framework: ensuring effective preparation for planning sessions

In SAFe, the Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration is reserved for activities such as innovation, planning, and preparation for the next Program Increment (PI), as well as for holding the Inspect and Adapt (I&A) event. It is not intended for completing work that should have been finished during regular iterations. Planning work for the IP Iteration can lead to a lack of focus on essential planning and innovation activities and may indicate poor planning and risk management practices. Therefore, relying on the IP Iteration to complete Feature work is considered an anti-pattern.

SAFe Scrum Master References

SAFe 5.0 framework: guidelines on the purpose and use of the IP Iteration

SAFe Advanced Scrum Master learning materials

Phase-gate milestones are traditional project management mechanisms that mark the end of one phase and the beginning of another. One major problem with phase-gate milestones is that they assume a point solution exists and can be built correctly the first time. This assumption does not account for the iterative nature of Agile methodologies, where solutions are developed incrementally and iteratively, with feedback loops and continuous improvement. Assuming a point solution can be finalized early often leads to rigidity, lack of adaptability, and higher risks of delivering a product that does not meet the actual needs or expectations.

SAFe Core Valuesare the fundamental beliefs that guide behaviors and decision-making in SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework). They are critical for fostering a culture that supports Lean-Agile principles.

Transparency:

Definition:Transparency in SAFe means having an open and honest environment where everyone has access to the information they need. It involves making work visible to all stakeholders, sharing risks, and ensuring that everyone understands the status of the work.

Importance:Transparency enables trust across the Agile Release Train (ART) because it ensures that everyone is aware of what is happening, leading to informed decision-making and reducing misunderstandings. It builds a culture of openness and accountability.

SAFe Framework Reference:In SAFe, transparency is crucial for effective collaboration and alignment across teams and stakeholders. It ensures that progress, challenges, and changes are communicated openly, fostering trust and collective problem-solving.

SAFe Scrum Master References:

SAFe training materials emphasize the importance of transparency as a core value that underpins trust and collaboration within and across teams.

The SAFe website and guides detail how transparency is implemented through various practices like visual management, open communication, and regular feedback loops.

The ROAM risk management framework categorizes risks to ensure they are managed appropriately. When a risk is mitigated, a plan is put in place to reduce or eliminate the threat posed by the risk.

ROAM Framework:

Resolved:The risk is no longer an issue.

Owned:Someone is assigned to manage the risk.

Accepted:The risk is acknowledged, and its impact is accepted without further action.

Mitigated:Actions are taken to reduce the likelihood or impact of the risk.

Mitigation involves proactive planning and actions to reduce the severity or likelihood of a risk.

SAFe Scrum Master References:

SAFe Advanced Scrum Master Training Material, Chapter on Risk Management​​.

Continuous Integration (CI) is a practice where code changes are automatically built, tested, and merged into a shared repository multiple times a day. The main purpose of CI is to ensure that the codebase is always in a state that could be potentially deployable. This means that any integration issues are identified and addressed as soon as possible, reducing the chances of bugs slipping into production.

Frequent Integration:Developers frequently integrate their code changes into the main repository, often several times a day.

Automated Builds:Each integration is verified by an automated build to detect integration errors as quickly as possible.

Automated Testing:Along with building, automated tests are run to ensure new changes do not break existing functionality.

Feedback Loop:Quick feedback is provided to the development team, allowing them to fix issues promptly.

By maintaining a potentially deployable codebase, teams can deliver high-quality software more rapidly and with greater confidence.

SAFe Scrum Master References:

SAFe Advanced Scrum Master Training Material, Chapter on Continuous Integration​​.

Inspect and Adapt (I&A) Event:This event includes a retrospective aimed at reviewing the past Program Increment (PI) and identifying issues that need to be addressed.

Purpose of Retrospective:The retrospective helps the team reflect on what went well, what didn’t, and why. It is used to identify specific problems and root causes that will be addressed in the subsequent problem-solving workshop.

Outcome:The issues identified during the retrospective form the basis for the problem-solving workshop, where the team collaboratively develops action plans to improve processes and outcomes.

SAFe Scrum Master References:

The I&A event in SAFe is designed to foster continuous improvement by systematically identifying and addressing issues through structured retrospectives and problem-solving workshops.

Identify Impediments:

Purpose:The Scrum of Scrums meeting helps identify and address impediments that affect multiple teams. This ensures that these blockers are resolved quickly, allowing teams to continue their work without disruptions.

Process:Representatives from different teams come together to discuss challenges, share updates, and seek assistance in removing impediments.

Facilitate Cross-Team Collaboration:

Purpose:The meeting fosters collaboration among teams working on the same product or solution, ensuring that their efforts are aligned and integrated.

Process:Teams share their progress, dependencies, and upcoming work, enabling better coordination and synchronization across the Agile Release Train (ART).

SAFe Scrum Master References:

SAFe highlights the importance of the Scrum of Scrums meeting for coordinating efforts and solving cross-team issues, ensuring that the ART functions smoothly and efficiently.

Waterfalling the Iteration:The term "waterfalling" in an Agile context refers to the anti-pattern where teams delay integration, testing, and other critical activities until the end of the iteration, mimicking the Waterfall model of sequential phases.

Agile Practice:In Agile, the goal is to continuously integrate and test stories throughout the iteration. This practice ensures that issues are identified and addressed early, and the product increment is always in a potentially shippable state.

Anti-pattern Explanation:Integrating and testing stories only on the last day of the iteration means the team is not practicing continuous integration. This can lead to hidden defects, reduced quality, and last-minute rushes that jeopardize the team's ability to meet commitments effectively.

SAFe Scrum Master References:

SAFe emphasizes continuous integration and regular testing as key practices to maintain quality and agility. Delaying these activities to the end of the iteration undermines these principles and can lead to significant issues.

To transform unpredictable events into predictable events (A): Cadence creates a regular, reliable schedule for events, which helps in managing and mitigating variability. This predictability allows teams to plan and execute their work more effectively, reducing the uncertainty of unforeseen events.

To synchronize planning for multiple teams and ARTs (C): Cadence helps align the planning cycles of multiple teams and Agile Release Trains (ARTs), ensuring that everyone works in a coordinated manner. This synchronization is critical for integrated, cross-team activities and for maintaining a cohesive workflow across the organization.

SAFe Scrum Master References

SAFe Principles: the importance of cadence and synchronization

SAFe 5.0 framework: benefits of applying cadence in Agile teams

In SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), lead time is an essential metric used to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of a process. Lead time is defined as the total time it takes for a work item to move through the entire process from the moment it is initiated until it is completed. To measure lead time accurately using a Team Kanban board, two specific timestamps are crucial:

When the Agile Team pulls a Story onto the board (Timestamp C):

This is the starting point of the lead time. It marks the moment when the team commits to working on a particular story by pulling it into the workflow. This action indicates that the story is now in progress and the clock starts ticking from this point.

When the Story is accepted by the Product Owner (Timestamp D):

This is the endpoint of the lead time. It signifies that the story has been completed to the satisfaction of the team and has met the acceptance criteria defined by the Product Owner. When the Product Owner accepts the story, it indicates that the work is done and the lead time measurement stops.

These two timestamps effectively capture the duration a story takes to go through the development process, providing valuable insights into process efficiency and identifying areas for improvement.

SAFe Scrum Master References

SAFe Advanced Scrum Master learning materials

SAFe 5.0 Scrum Master Certification resources

The 2020 Scrum Guide:Scrum Guide 2020

This information aligns with the principles and practices outlined in the SAFe framework and the Scrum Guide, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of lead time measurement within a Team Kanban board context.

The Portfolio Backlog in SAFe contains the larger initiatives, known as Epics. Epics are substantial pieces of work that require analysis, investment, and development effort over multiple Program Increments (PIs). They represent significant business or technical needs that drive the long-term strategy of the organization. These Epics are prioritized and managed in the Portfolio Backlog, where they can be decomposed into smaller, actionable items as they progress through the development process.