New version released - SAFe 6.0

Recently, a new version of SAFe was launched. Version 6.0 adds a number of significant improvements that increase its adaptability and efficiency.

Here are the six primary themes of SAFe 6.0 change:

Strengthening the Foundation for Business Agility

This theme focuses on solidifying the framework for corporate agility. Updates to the Business Agility Value Stream (BAVS), SAFe Foundation, Lean-Agile Mindset, SAFe Core Values, and SAFe Principles are made to achieve this. To make it clearer how to navigate the shift, the SAFe Implementation Roadmap and the duties of SAFe Practice Consultants were also changed.

To be included in all SAFe configurations, the Continuous Learning Culture competency was added to the SAFe foundation. In addition to fostering an inventive and never-ending improvement culture, these improvements give organizations the resources they need to quickly adapt to market shifts and new business possibilities with creative, digitally enabled business solutions.

Empowering Teams and Clarifying Responsibilities

SAFe 6.0 is focused on improving the performance of agile teams by providing more clarity and guidance on the responsibilities of each SAFe role. The role articles have been updated with better descriptions of responsibilities to help people improve their job performance and support the organization’s goals.

The Scrum Master/Team Coach now has broader responsibilities for optimizing flow, building high-performing teams, and supporting organizational agility. The Agile Release Train is responsible for delivering effective solutions to customers by developing solutions iteratively, engaging with customers, and adjusting their course of action. A ‘responsibility wheel’ has been created to clarify the ART’s duties at-a-glance. Finally, the collaborative partnerships needed to enable quick and efficient product development flow have been updated in four role articles with content authority. These roles are integral to successful value delivery, but no one has all the domain knowledge or capacity to do it alone.

Accelerating Value Flow

In the digital age, accelerating value flow is necessary for survival, and SAFe 6.0 introduces eight flow accelerators to help value flow faster. SAFe also incorporates flow into daily work with new articles on SAFe Scrum, SAFe Team Kanban, Built-in Quality, and Value Stream Management. These articles offer techniques for addressing and optimizing continuous value flow for different levels within the SAFe Framework.

SAFe Team Kanban is a Lean-Agile method that helps teams facilitate the flow of value by visualizing workflow, establishing Work in Process (WIP) limits, measuring throughput, and improving their process. SAFe Scrum replaces Scrum XP, and Built-in Quality provides a new innovative approach to quality practices that apply to specific domains such as software applications, IT systems, and hardware. Value Stream Management was enhanced to provide new guidance on managing the value stream, and the Value Management Office (VMO) supports portfolio flow by facilitating strategy formulation and Lean budgeting and governance. Finally, a new Applying Kanban in SAFe article provides an overview of Kanban and SAFe’s connected Kanban system.

Enhancing Business Agility with SAFe Across the Business

Fourth theme of SAFe 6.0 discusses how a Lean-Agile transformation can improve every aspect of an organization. The transformation requires everyone to learn and apply Lean-Agile principles, such as optimizing flow and working with small batches. The updated Business and Technology article highlights five patterns, including business-enabled ARTs, Agile executive teams, and Agile Business Functions.

An Agile Business Train is a further step towards agility, containing SAFe Operational Value Streams and all the ARTs needed to create a complete business solution. SAFe professionals have successfully extended Lean-Agile and SAFe practices to functions beyond IT, such as Finance and Operations, and their experiences are shared on the SAFe website. A combined portfolio that includes both Development and Operational Value Streams provides strategic funding decisions and alignment for a blended set of solutions within a business segment.

Building the Future with AI, Big Data, and Cloud

SAFe 6.0 provides guidance on harnessing three innovative technologies: AI, Big Data, and Cloud, which are critical for competing in the present and future. AI, with its potential to revolutionize solutions developed by SAFe organizations, has the ability to dramatically influence the operational and business models of enterprises. SAFe addresses Big Data concerns at the portfolio level as it requires vision, investment, and governance at the highest levels in the organization. Cloud computing is the single most disruptive driver of delivery model change that enterprise IT has faced since its inception.

Delivering Better Outcomes with Measure and Grow and OKRs

The Measure & Grow approach provides a comprehensive framework for measuring progress toward business agility using SAFe’s three measurement domains: Outcomes, Flow, and Competency. This approach enables better decision-making and helps identify opportunities for improvement.

The OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) icon has been added to the spanning palette, which links to a new guidance article that provides three main use cases for OKRs. OKRs can help drive better outcomes for the business and customers by enhancing strategic alignment across a SAFe portfolio, defining business outcomes for epics and Lean business cases, and setting improvement goals for the SAFe transformation. While the usage of OKRs within SAFe is optional, they are generally the best way to describe the portfolio’s strategic themes.

You can visit SAFe’s own post in this link to get more details.