If you’re planning or getting ready for SAFe Product Proprietor/Producer Supervisor POPM 6.0 (Scaled Agile Framework) certification then this text is so that you can get began.
Lesson 1: Product Proprietor/Product Administration Roles and Resposibilities
What are the Lean Pondering Ideas?
Lean Pondering is to ship the utmost worth (an answer) to the shopper within the shortest sustainable lead time from the set off (the identification of the necessity or alternative) to the purpose at which the shopper receives the worth. The 5 ideas of Lean pondering are:-
- Exactly specify worth by product
- Establish the Worth Stream for every product
- Make worth move with out interruptions
- Let the Buyer pull worth from the producer
- Pursue perfection
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/lean-agile-mindset/
What’s the Agile Values?
Agile Manifesto uncovering higher methods of growing software program by doing it and serving to others do it. By this work now we have come to worth:
- People and interactions over processes and instruments
- Working software program over complete documentation
- Buyer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to vary over following a plan
That’s, whereas there’s a worth within the objects on the correct, we worth the objects on the left extra
Lean Pondering and Agile Values are two core constructing block of SAFe.
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/lean-agile-mindset/
Reference: https://agilemanifesto.org/
What are the 12 Agile Manifesto Ideas?
- Our highest precedence is to fulfill the shopper by way of early and steady supply of priceless software program.
- Welcome altering necessities, even late in improvement. Agile processes harness change for the shopper’s aggressive benefit.
- Ship working software program ceaselessly, from a few weeks to a few months, with a desire for the shorter timescale.
- Enterprise individuals and builders should work collectively each day all through the undertaking.
- Construct initiatives round motivated people. Give them the setting and assist they want, and belief them to get the job performed.
- Probably the most environment friendly and efficient technique of conveying data to and inside a improvement staff is face-to-face dialog.
- Working software program is the first measure of progress.
- Agile processes promote sustainable improvement. The sponsors, builders, and customers ought to be capable of keep a continuing tempo indefinitely.
- Steady consideration to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
- Simplicity – the artwork of maximizing the quantity of labor not performed – is crucial.
- The perfect architectures, necessities, and designs emerge from self-organizing groups.
- At common intervals, the staff displays on find out how to turn into more practical, then tunes and adjusts its habits accordingly.
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/lean-agile-mindset/
Reference: https://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html
What are the ten SAFe Lean-Agile Ideas?
- Take an economic view
- Ship Early and Usually
- Apply a Complete Financial Framework:-
-Function Inside Lean Budgets and Guardrails
-Perceive Answer Financial Commerce-Offs: Improvement expense, Lead time, Product value, Worth, and Threat
-Leverage Suppliers
-Sequencing Jobs for Most Profit: Weighted Shortest Job First (MSJF)
- Apply systems thinking
- The Answer Is a System
-Optimizing a element doesn’t optimize the entire system
-For the system to behave nicely, groups should perceive the supposed habits and structure
-The worth of a system passes by way of its interconnections
-A system can evolve no sooner than its slowest integration level - The Enterprise Constructing the System Is a System, Too
- Perceive and Optimize the Full Improvement Worth Stream
- Solely Administration Can Change the System
- The Answer Is a System
- Assume variability; preserve options
-Versatile necessities and design, the Cone of uncertainty, set-based over point-based method - Build incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles
-PDCA = Plan – Do – Verify – Modify, The shorted the cycles, the sooner the training
-Integration factors management product improvement and cut back threat - Base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems
-Part-gate milestones power design selections too early, false-positive feasibility, they assume some extent Answer exists, enormous batches and lengthy queues, centralized necessities and design.
-Use Goal milestones as a substitute, PI System Demos, steady, cost-effective changes in the direction of an optimum Answer) - Make value flow without interruptions
-Scale back batch measurement for larger predictability. Complete value = Holding value + Transaction value. Lowering transaction prices will increase predictability, accelerates suggestions, reduces rework, and lowers value.
-Little’s Regulation: Wq = Lq / Lambda, Common wait time = Common queue size / Common processing charge - Apply cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning
Cadence – converts unpredictable occasions into predictable occurrences and lowers value, makes ready instances for brand spanking new work predictable, helps common planning and cross-functional coordination, limits batch sizes to a single interval, controls injection of latest work, offers scheduled integration factors;
Synchronization – causes a number of occasions to occur concurrently, facilitates cross-functional trade-offs, offers routine dependency administration, helps full system integration and evaluation, offers a number of suggestions views - Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers
-Staff are most certified to make selections about find out how to carry out their work
-The employees should be heard and revered for administration to guide successfully
-Information staff should handle themselves. They want autonomy
-Persevering with innovation should be a part of the work, the duties, and the duties of data staff.
-Unlocking intrinsic motivation with autonomy, mastery, and goal - Decentralize decision-making
Centralize – Rare, Lengthy-lasting, Important economies of scale
Decentralize – Frequent, Time crucial, Requires native data - Organize around value
-Worth doesn’t observe silos
-Manage round Improvement Worth Streams.
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/safe-lean-agile-principles/
What are the 4 SAFe core values?
SAFe has the next 4 core values:-
- Alignment
- Transparency
- Respect for individuals
- Relentless enchancment
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/safe-core-values/
What’s Worth Streams?
Worth streams are probably the most basic assemble of Lean pondering and are foundational to SAFe. There are two kinds of worth streams described in SAFe:-
- Improvement Worth Streams (DVS) is the sequence of actions wanted to transform a enterprise speculation right into a digitally-enabled services or products that delivers buyer worth.
— Instance of DVS: designing and growing a medical machine, growing and deploying a CRM system, or buiding an e-commerce web site.
— Methods and software program builders, product managers, engineers, scientists, and IT practitioners work primarily within the DVS.
— DVS construction accommodates: Set off, Steps, Bar, and Elipses (…) - Operational Worth Streams (OVS) is sequence of actions wanted to ship a services or products to a buyer.
— Instance: manufacturing a product, fulfilling an e-commerce order, admitting and treating a affected person, offering a mortgage, or delivering knowledgeable service.
— Frequent OVS Patterns are: Achievement, Manufacturing, Software program merchandise, and Supporting.
— OVS move accommodates: Steps, Individuals, System, and data & materials
DVS develop and assist the product and companies utilized by OVS.
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/development-value-streams/
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/operational-value-streams/
What’s an Agile staff?
- An Agile Crew is a cross-functional group of usually ten or fewer people with all the talents essential to outline, construct, check, and deploy increments of worth to their prospects.
- Agile groups are optimized for communication and the continual supply of worth to the shopper.
- Agile Groups visualize move with SAFe Scrum or SAFe Kanban
- Agile Crew Occasions are:- Crew Sync, Backlog Refinement, Iteration Assessment, Iteration Retro, Iteration Planning
The Agile Crew’s duties are:-
- Connecting with the Buyer (led by PO)
- Planning the Work: ART Planning (PI Planning), Crew planning utilizing SAFe Scrum or SAFe Crew Kanban, and refining the Crew Backlog.
- Delivering Worth: Ceaselessly combine and check, Sync with different groups in ART by way of ART Sync (contains Coach Sync and PO Sync), construct steady supply pipeline, launch ceaselessly.
- Getting Suggestions: with the assistance of PO and thru System Demos
- Bettering relentlessly: take part in ART’s joint Examine & Adapt, tackle the issues as they happen
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/agile-teams/
What are the 2 specialty roles in Agile Groups?
The Agile Crew accommodates two specialty roles:- Product Proprietor (PO) and Scrum Grasp/Crew Coach (SM/TC).
- Product Proprietor (PO) duties are:-
- Join with the shopper
- Contribute to the Imaginative and prescient and Roadmap
- Handle and prioritize the Crew Backlog
- Assist the staff in delivering worth
- Get and apply quick suggestions
- Scrum Grasp/Crew Coach (SM/TC) duties are:-
- Facilitate SAFe Scrum (or SAFe Kanban) and PI planning
- Helps Iteration Execution
- Improves Stream
- Construct a high-performing staff
- Optimizes and improves the staff and ART efficiency
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/agile-teams/
What’s Agile Launch Prepare (ART)?
- ART is a staff of cross-functional Agile Groups and has the capabilities to outline, construct, validate, and launch to ship a steady move of worth.
- ART is a digital group of 5-12 groups (50-125+ people)
- All of the groups in ART are synchronized on a standard cadence – a Program Increment (PI), aligned to a standard mission by way of a single Program Backlog (ART Backlog).
Essential Roles within the ART are:-
- Launch Prepare Engineer (RTE) is a servant chief (chief scrum grasp and coach) who facilitates ART execution, obstacle elimination, threat and dependency administration, and steady enchancment.
- Product Administration is basically chargeable for ‘what will get constructed,’ as outlined by the Imaginative and prescient, Roadmap, and new Options within the ART Backlog. They work with prospects, groups, and Product Homeowners to grasp and talk their wants and take part in answer validation.
- System Architect is a person or staff that defines the system’s general structure. They work at a degree of abstraction above the groups and parts and usually outline Non-functional Necessities (NFRs), main system parts, subsystems, and interfaces.
- Enterprise Homeowners are key stakeholders of the ART, with last accountability for the enterprise outcomes of the prepare.
- Clients are the final word financial patrons or worth customers of the answer.
Different important roles within the ART are:-
- System Groups usually help in constructing and sustaining improvement, steady integration, and check environments.
- Shared Companies are specialists obligatory for the success of an ART however can’t be devoted to a particular prepare. They usually embrace information safety, data architects, web site reliability engineering (SRE), database directors (DBAs), and lots of extra.
Three Sync occasions to maintain ART on monitor:-
- Coach Sync: (timeboxed: 1 hour) focuses on executing the present PI, together with threat, dependencies, progress, and impediments
- PO Sync: manages the PI’s scope, opinions progress, adjusts priorities, and prepares for the next PI
- ART Sync: normally replaces the Coach Sync and PO Sync for a specific iteration to scale back overhead. The ROAM board created throughout PI planning may be reviewed throughout the ART Sync. ART Planning board is used throughout ART sync to trace and handle dependencies, guaranteeing they don’t block different groups.
Different occasions in ART:-
- PI Planning (timeboxed: 2 days) Every ART begins with the PI Planning utilizing the PI planning board, the end result is PI Targets to be accomplished within the PI iteration.
- System Demos (timeboxed: 1 hour) Happen on the finish of Iteration to assessment deliverables and obtain suggestions from stakeholders, enterprise house owners, and prospects.
- Examine & Adapt (timeboxed: 1/2 day) Every PI concludes with I&A occasion for retrospection the place ART opinions and improves its course of earlier than the subsequent PI.
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/agile-release-train/
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/planning-interval/
What are the responsibilites of Product Proprietor?
Product Proprietor (PO) is the staff’s major buyer advocate and first hyperlink to enterprise and know-how technique. They’ve following duties:-
- Connecting with the Buyer
- Contributing to the Imaginative and prescient and Roadmap
- Managing and Prioritizing the Crew Backlog
- Supporting the Crew in Delivering Worth
- Getting and Making use of Suggestions
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/product-owner/
What are the responsibilites of Product Administration?
They’ve following duties:-
- Exploring Markets and Customers
- Connecting with the Buyer
- Defining Product Technique, Imaginative and prescient, and Roadmaps
- Managing and Prioritizing the ART Backlog
- Delivering Worth
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/product-management/
What are the content material authorities of Product Proprietor?
- Has Crew Backlog content material authority
- Works with the System Architect to prioritize Enablers
- Guides Iteration Targets and content material by way of prioritized Tales
- Set up Story acceptance standards
- Has authority for accepting Tales and staff increments
- Helps information PI Targets on the staff degree
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/product-owner/
What are the content material autorities of Product Administration?
- Has ART Backlog content material authority
- Works with the System Architect and staff to prioritize Enablers
- Has content material authority for Imaginative and prescient and Roadmap
- Helps information PI Targets
- Set up Options and acceptance standards
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/product-management/
Lesson 2 – Making ready for PI Planning
What’s Planning Interval (PI)?
- A Planning Interval (PI) is a cadence-based timebox through which Agile Launch Trains ship steady worth to prospects in alignment with PI Targets.
- PIs are usually 8 – 12 weeks lengthy. The most typical sample for a PI is 4 improvement Iterations, adopted by one Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration.
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/planning-interval/
What’s PI Planning and its occasions?
- PI Planning stands for Program Increment Planning.
- PI Planning is a cadence-based occasion that serves because the heartbeat of the ART, aligning all groups on the ART to a shared mission and Imaginative and prescient.
- PI Planning periods are recurrently scheduled occasions held all year long the place a number of groups inside the similar Agile Launch Prepare (ART) meet to align to a shared imaginative and prescient, talk about options, plan the roadmap, and establish cross-team dependencies.
- PI Planning is a 2 full day occasion that usually runs each 8-12 weeks (10 weeks typical). The 2-day agenda is as follows:-
Day 1 08:00 – 09:00 Enterprise Context 09:00 – 10:30 Product/Answer Imaginative and prescient 10:30 – 11:30 Structure Imaginative and prescient and Improvement Practicies 11:30 – 01:00 Planning Context and Lunch 01:00 – 04:00 Crew breakouts 04:00 – 05:00 Draft Plan Assessment 05:00 – 06:00 Administration assessment and drawback fixing Day 2 08:00 – 09:00 Planning Adjustment 09:00 – 11:00 Crew breakouts 11:00 – 01:00 Last Plan Assessment and Lunch 01:00 – 02:00 ART Dangers 02:00 – 02:15 Confidence Vote 02:15 – ?? Plan Rework (if wanted) When prepared Planning Retrospective and shifting ahead - Major Inputs to the PI Planning embrace: 1. Enterprise context, 2. Roadmap & imaginative and prescient, and three. Highest precedence Options (usually high 10) of the ART backlog
- Major Outputs of the PI Planning embrace: 1. Dedicated PI targets, and a couple of. ART planning board
- Product Administration offers the imaginative and prescient and backlog (usually represented by the highest ten or so upcoming options) and owns the characteristic priorities
- Enterprise Proprietor offers the enterprise context and assigns enterprise worth (BV) to every PI Goal on a scale from 1 to 10
- Improvement Groups personal Story planning and high-level estimates
- ART Planning Board is used for PI Planning exhibiting: 1. Options, 2. Important Dependency, and three. Milestone or Occasion
- Architect and UX work as intermediaries for governance, interfaces,and dependencies
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/pi-planning/
What are PI Uncommitted Targets?
Uncommitted targets are used to establish work that may be variable inside the scope of a PI. The work is deliberate, however the end result is just not sure. Groups can apply uncommitted targets every time there’s low confidence in assembly the target. This may be attributable to many circumstances:
- Dependencies with one other staff or provider that can’t be assured.
- The staff has little to no expertise with performance of this kind. On this case the groups might plan ‘Spikes’ early within the PI to scale back uncertainty.
- There are a lot of pretty crucial targets that the enterprise is relying on and the staff is already loaded near full capability.
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/pi-planning/
What’s a Characteristic?
- Options are maintained within the ART Backlog
- Characteristic are sized to slot in a Program Increment (PI) and delivered by a single Agile Launch Prepare (ART)
- Options are cut up into Tales and slot in one Iteration for one staff
- Options embrace a definition of Minimal Marketable Characteristic (MMF), a profit speculation (to justify improvement value) and Acceptance standards (outlined throughout program backlog refinement).
- Options are prioritized utilizing WSJF and the highest 10 options are offered to the staff throughout PI planning
- Sometimes Product Administration creates enterprise options and System Architect creates enabler options
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/features-and-capabilities/
Lesson 3: Main PI Planning
What the Product Proprietor and Product Administration do on the day 1 of PI Planning?
- Talk the Imaginative and prescient
— Current to the ART how the imaginative and prescient aligns with Strategic Themes and Answer Context
— Put together materials and supply consumer personas as an example and clarify the Imaginative and prescient
— Clarify the significance of NFR - Talk the Roadmap
— Present how PI roadmaps on this PI helps fulfill the imaginative and prescient
— Describe how PI roadmaps helps Key Epics and Milestones - Talk the highest 10 options to the ART
— Focus on and refine options by way of backlog refinement earlier than PI Planning
— Put together to clarify why these options have been chosen
— High 10 options is a suggestion. ART might pull roughly. - Collaborate to decompose Options into Tales
- Negotiate Scope
- Assessment draft PI plans and supply suggestions
- Take part in administration assessment of draft plans
What the Product Proprietor and Product Administration do on the day 2 of PI Planning?
- Assist staff breakouts
- Settle for staff PI Targets
- Set up enterprise worth with Enterprise Homeowners
- Take part in last plan assessment
- Present suggestions on ART PI Dangers
- Take part within the confidence vote
Lesson 4: Executing Iterations
What’s a Characteristic?
- Options are maintained within the ART Backlog
- Characteristic are sized to slot in a Program Increment (PI) and delivered by a single Agile Launch Prepare (ART)
- Options are cut up into Tales and slot in one Iteration for one staff
- Options embrace a definition of Minimal Marketable Characteristic (MMF), a profit speculation (to justify improvement value) and Acceptance standards (outlined throughout program backlog refinement).
- Options are prioritized utilizing WSJF and the highest 10 options are offered to the staff throughout PI planning
- Sometimes Product Administration creates enterprise options and System Architect creates enabler options
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/features-and-capabilities/
What’s a Story?
- Options are carried out by Tales
- Tales are small increments of worth that may be developed in days and are comparatively straightforward to estimate
- Tales are created throughout PI planning as staff collaborate with POs and Product Administration
- Options suits in a single PI for one ART; Tales suits in a single iteration for one staff.
- A Story Level is a relative quantity that represents: Quantity, Complexity, Information, and Uncertaity.
- Crew breaks down Options into a number of Consumer Tales and Enabler Tales
- Consumer Tales expressed desired end-user performance written in consumer’s language
- Enabled Tales assist exploration, architacture, infrastructure, and compiance
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/story/
When is a Story full?
A Story is full when it satisfies the definition of performed (DoD). The DoD requires that the story:-
— Satisfies the acceptance standards
— Is accepted by the Product Proprietor
Lesson 5: Executing the PI
What’s PO Sync?
- Gives visibility into how nicely the ART is progressing towards assembly the ART PI Targets
- Gives a possibility to entry scope and precedence changes
- Is facilitated by RTE or Product Administration
- Consists of Product Managers, POs, Stakeholders, and SMEs, as obligatory
- Happens weekly or extra ceaselessly and lasts 30-60 minutes lengthy
POs talk the changes to their staff after the PO Sync
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/planning-interval/
What’s Examine and Adapt (I&A) Occasion?
- The Examine and Adapt (I&A) is a big occasion (Timebox: 3-4 hours) held on the finish of every PI, the place All ART stakeholders and Agile Crew take part.
- The I&A occasion consists of three elements:-
– PI System Demo (Timebox: 45-40 minutes) – staff demonstrates the present state of the answer
– Quantitative and qualitative measurement – Crew PI efficiency report is created which incorporates staff’s deliberate vs precise enterprise worth. Particular person staff totals are rolled up into the ART predictability report.
– Retrospective and problem-solving workshop
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/inspect-and-adapt/
What’s PI System Demo?
- The PI System Demo is the occasion (Timebod: 1 hour) held on the finish of every PI, to show the present state of the answer to appropritate stakeholders
- Usually led by Product Administration, Product Homeowners, and the System Crew
- Attended by Enterprise Homeowners, ART Stakeholders, Product Administration, RTE, Scrum Masters/Crew Coaches, and groups.
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/system-demo/
What’s Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration?
- The Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration is a novel iteration that happens each PI, which offers devoted time for Innvoation and Planning the place:-
–– Innovation contains alternatives for innovation, hackathons, infrastructure enhancements, persevering with schooling, certifications, and so forth.
–– Planning contains PI Planning Readiness, Examine and Adapt (I&A), and PI Planning occasions, and so forth. - It offers:-
— an estimating buffer for assembly PI Targets
— an estimating guard band for cadence based mostly supply
— ample capability margin to allow cadence - With out the IP Iteration
– Lack of supply capability buffer impacts predictability
– Little innovation; the tyranny of the pressing
– Technical debt grows uncontrollably
– Individuals burn out
– No time for groups to plan, demo, or enhance collectively
Reference: https://scaledagileframework.com/innovation-and-planning-iteration/