SAFe is a complex framework with many moving parts. The SAFe implementation roadmap is designed so that leaders and change managers can ensure every step is followed and implemented correctly and in a timely manner. The last thing an organization wants is a new framework that takes too long to implement.

The roadmap includes several steps related to teaching employees — from executives to managers to developers — how the framework operates, the benefits of being agile, how to identify stream values and ARTs, how to launch agile release trains and more. With the roadmap, you can swiftly put your new work culture in place.

Time is of the essence when it comes to overhauling a company’s work methods and culture. The roadmap is an excellent tool for those who like to measure progress, as leaders can quickly see which stage of the process they are in and whether they are meeting any self-imposed deadlines.

Every project manager, scrum master or leader can tell you that a well-laid-out plan can help teams identify risks and devise solutions to deal with them if they occur. With the SAFe implementation roadmap, strategic change agents, leaders and executives can create risk mitigation plans to ensure problems can be dealt with successfully.

There will come a time when the work culture and the methods used to complete projects at your business simply do not work anymore and you need change. This is known as reaching the tipping point, which is the first step on the SAFe roadmap. When you reach this point, it’s time to discuss with your employees why change is needed.

Once you have moved past the tipping point and the team is on board, it’s time to hire or train change agents. Change agents help individuals accept change, influence teams to align themselves with the company’s new direction, balance business agility and offer help along the way. Change agents can and will help make switching to SAFe more palatable.

Every SAFe team member must be trained, but this is especially true for executives, managers and leaders. Individuals in these roles are responsible for planning, monitoring, managing risk, budgeting and leading others to success. Step three of SAFe implementation is one of the most critical steps in Agile transformation because success starts at the top.

A Lean-Agile center of excellence, also called a LACE, should be formed. A LACE is a small group of people from various functional teams who are committed to implementing SAFe Lean-Agile ways of working.

Each member has different responsibilities for the remainder of the roadmap. Still, all are responsible for communicating the organization’s new vision, implementing the plan and coaching others.

Step five of the roadmap covers operational value streams and agile release trains. Operational value streams, or channels, are methods that customers can use to communicate with the team. The communication methods need to be identified and created as soon as possible so that communication channels can be established.

Similarly, agile release trains (ARTs), which are development value streams, are the teams that develop and build products for stakeholders and clients. During this stage of implementation, it’s vital to form the business practices and Agile practices that your ART team will adhere to. 

Now that the foundations for SAFe implementation have been laid, it’s time to create a strategy to get the organization where it needs to be. When implementing SAFe, teams are recommended to adopt an iterative approach that will allow them to create simple plans, execute and assess them, and then create a plan for the next rollout.

Like any Agile methodology, the goal is to strive for continuous improvement. By working on small parts of the implementation plan and assessing how it went, future mistakes can be avoided.

By this point, you should have identified your ARTs; now it’s time to nail down the final details. During this step, schedules, project leaders and administrators should be listed, and training should commence. In addition, backlogs for the project should be created, and the individuals who will make up the teams should be assigned.

You must ensure the ART team is adequately trained for continuous value delivery. After training, the team can work on its initial PI strategy. For clarification, a PI or program increment is a time-boxed period that usually lasts eight to 12 weeks. During this time, development teams create iterations of the product being produced.

Once training has concluded and the first program increment has been formed, it’s time to launch the ART. Now the organization should move away from planning and focus on support and coaching. You can use individuals within the organization to offer help and support, or you can hire a SAFe consultant to spearhead the continuous development cycle.

Now that your organization has learned Lean-Agile practices and the first agile release train launch has occurred, realizing other value streams is essential. To increase the return on your investment in SAFe, train and coach more ART teams so your enterprise can work on multiple projects at a time.

Now that SAFe is up and running, business agility has improved and multiple teams are working well, it’s time to deliver more customer value by extending your portfolio. The main objective in extending the portfolio is to build on the SAFe foundation that has already been laid and continue training so that teams can collaborate efficiently.

By this stage, you should have an incredibly efficient, highly productive team that has adapted well to the new organizational culture. Customer demands are being met, the iterative process is working well and organizational change has been accepted, but you can’t rest on your laurels. The transformation journey and SAFe training must continue.

Leaders must continue to coach teams to ensure that SAFe practices are followed, and solution development should continue to ensure that roadblocks can be overcome rapidly. If you continue to follow the last three steps after you implement SAFe, your business and your teams will thrive.

Changing a company’s culture and way of working without a plan will only lead to disaster. With the roadmap, executives, managers and leaders will have a visual plan that offers global views of the SAFe adoption process. At a glance, leaders can quickly see what needs to happen during each critical step thanks to the clear roadmap.

The roadmap contains steps to help build a solid Agile culture in your place of work. Additionally, training stages are built into the plan. You will know precisely when to form, train, coach and support teams. The roadmap takes the guesswork out of the process.

Not only does the roadmap help align teams with Agile principles but it also spurs individual growth and, thanks to the increased business agility, can open the door to more value streams.

Perhaps one of the roadmap’s most important benefits is its ability to foster business alignment. If the plan is followed correctly and change managers and leaders successfully convince everyone that this large-scale Scrum method is worth the time and effort, every team member will be aligned with the company’s new business strategy, which will be priceless.