14.4 Scaling Agile for Large Projects
3 min read•august 9, 2024
Scaling Agile for large projects is crucial in today's complex business environment. Popular frameworks like , , and offer structured approaches to coordinate multiple teams, aligning their efforts towards common goals and maintaining agility at scale.
These frameworks introduce techniques for portfolio management, program increments, and cross-team coordination. They emphasize communication, collaboration, and adaptability, enabling organizations to apply Agile principles effectively across large, interconnected projects and programs.
Scaled Agile Frameworks
Popular Scaled Agile Methodologies
Top images from around the web for Popular Scaled Agile Methodologies
Modern Agile View original
Is this image relevant?
Pros and Cons of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) - The Agile Times View original
Is this image relevant?
Agile World: Large Scale Scrum (LeSS) View original
Is this image relevant?
Modern Agile View original
Is this image relevant?
Pros and Cons of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) - The Agile Times View original
Is this image relevant?
1 of 3
Top images from around the web for Popular Scaled Agile Methodologies
Modern Agile View original
Is this image relevant?
Pros and Cons of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) - The Agile Times View original
Is this image relevant?
Agile World: Large Scale Scrum (LeSS) View original
Is this image relevant?
Modern Agile View original
Is this image relevant?
Pros and Cons of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) - The Agile Times View original
Is this image relevant?
1 of 3
- Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) provides a structured approach for implementing agile practices at enterprise scale
- Consists of multiple levels: Essential, Large Solution, Portfolio, and Full
- Incorporates concepts like Agile Release Trains and Program Increments
- Emphasizes alignment, collaboration, and delivery across large numbers of agile teams
- Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) extends Scrum principles to coordinate work across multiple teams
- Offers two frameworks: LeSS (for 2-8 teams) and LeSS Huge (for 8+ teams)
- Maintains a single Product Backlog and one Definition of Done for all teams
- Focuses on feature teams and cross-team coordination
- Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) provides a flexible, context-driven approach to scaling agile
- Offers a hybrid model that combines elements from various agile and lean approaches
- Emphasizes the entire delivery lifecycle, from inception to production
- Allows teams to tailor their approach based on their specific context and needs
Coordination and Communication Techniques
- facilitates coordination among multiple Scrum teams working on the same project
- Involves regular meetings between team representatives to discuss progress, dependencies, and impediments
- Scales the daily stand-up concept to the multi-team level
- Helps identify and resolve cross-team issues and risks
- Each framework incorporates specific techniques for inter-team coordination
- SAFe uses events to align teams and stakeholders
- LeSS employs to improve the entire product development system
- DAD emphasizes streamlined governance and collaborative management practices
Agile at Scale Concepts
Portfolio and Program Management
- aligns project and program selection with organizational strategy
- Involves prioritizing and selecting initiatives based on business value and strategic fit
- Requires frequent review and adjustment of the portfolio to respond to changing market conditions
- Incorporates lean portfolio management practices (, )
- (PI) structures development into fixed-length planning and execution cycles
- Typically spans 8-12 weeks, aligning multiple agile teams' work
- Includes PI Planning events to create shared objectives and identify dependencies
- Ends with a system demo and retrospective to showcase progress and improve processes
- (ART) organizes agile teams to deliver value continuously
- Consists of 50-125 people working together on a common mission
- Operates on a fixed cadence, synchronizing work across teams
- Facilitates the delivery of large, complex solutions through coordinated effort
Scaling Agile Practices
- enable communication across multiple teams
- Representatives from each team participate to share progress and identify cross-team dependencies
- Often conducted using a Scrum of Scrums format
- align teams on shared goals and objectives
- SAFe's PI Planning brings all teams together for a two-day event
- LeSS uses Sprint Planning Two meetings to coordinate work across teams
- improve processes at the program and portfolio levels
- Involve representatives from multiple teams to identify systemic issues
- Focus on improving collaboration and removing organizational impediments
- become even more critical in scaled environments
- Teams need diverse skill sets to deliver end-to-end features
- Reduces dependencies between teams and increases overall agility
Key Terms to Review (15)
Agile portfolio management: Agile portfolio management is a strategic approach that focuses on aligning an organization's projects and initiatives with its overall business goals while embracing the principles of agility. This method allows organizations to adapt their portfolios dynamically, responding quickly to changes in market conditions, customer needs, and technological advancements. By fostering collaboration, continuous feedback, and iterative planning, agile portfolio management helps ensure that resources are allocated effectively to maximize value delivery across multiple projects.
Agile Release Train: An Agile Release Train (ART) is a long-lived, team of Agile teams that incrementally develops, delivers, and releases high-quality solutions in alignment with a common vision. Each ART operates on a fixed schedule, typically delivering value every 8-12 weeks, while fostering collaboration and alignment among diverse teams across the organization to achieve strategic goals.
Capacity allocation: Capacity allocation refers to the process of determining how available resources, such as personnel, equipment, and time, will be distributed across various tasks or projects. This concept is particularly important when scaling agile methodologies for large projects, as it ensures that teams can efficiently utilize their resources to meet project demands without overextending themselves or creating bottlenecks.
Cross-functional teams: Cross-functional teams are groups composed of members from different functional areas of an organization, collaborating towards a common goal or project. This approach leverages diverse expertise, enhancing problem-solving and innovation while promoting communication across various departments. Such teams are vital in resource allocation, agile methodologies, and scaling projects effectively.
Dad: In the context of scaling Agile for large projects, 'dad' refers to the pivotal role of leadership in facilitating Agile practices across teams. This concept emphasizes the need for a supportive environment where leaders act as enablers, guiding teams through the challenges of implementing Agile methodologies in a larger organizational framework.
Less: In the context of scaling Agile for large projects, 'less' refers to the Less framework, which is an approach designed to help organizations scale Agile practices while maintaining a focus on simplicity and minimizing overhead. It emphasizes collaboration, transparency, and effective communication among teams to achieve better results without the complexity that often arises in larger project settings.
Overall retrospectives: Overall retrospectives are structured review sessions that take place at the conclusion of a significant phase or project, allowing teams to reflect on their performance, processes, and outcomes. These retrospectives are especially important in large projects as they help identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement, facilitating learning and continuous adaptation across multiple teams and stakeholders.
PI Planning: PI Planning, or Program Increment Planning, is a key event in the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) that aligns all teams on the Agile Release Train (ART) to a common vision and mission. This event typically takes place every 8-12 weeks and focuses on collaboration, ensuring that all team members understand their objectives and deliverables for the upcoming increment. It brings together stakeholders, team members, and product owners to plan, discuss dependencies, and identify potential risks.
Program Increment: A Program Increment (PI) is a timebox, typically lasting 8 to 12 weeks, during which an Agile Release Train (ART) delivers incremental value in the form of working software and system capabilities. PIs are designed to facilitate planning and alignment across multiple teams, enabling them to collaborate on delivering features and achieving shared goals. Each PI culminates in a system demo where stakeholders can see the results and provide feedback for future iterations.
SAFe: SAFe, or Scaled Agile Framework, is a set of organization and workflow patterns for implementing agile practices at scale. It enables larger organizations to achieve alignment, collaboration, and delivery across multiple teams by providing a structured approach that emphasizes roles, responsibilities, and best practices. SAFe combines principles from Agile, Lean, and product development flow to ensure effective management of complex projects while promoting flexibility and speed.
Scaled daily stand-ups: Scaled daily stand-ups are synchronized meetings that take place in Agile environments to promote effective communication among multiple teams working on large projects. These stand-ups allow team members to quickly share updates, challenges, and plans, ensuring alignment across different teams and enhancing collaboration. By scaling the daily stand-up format, organizations can maintain the Agile principles of transparency and adaptability while managing the complexities that arise in large projects.
Scaled planning sessions: Scaled planning sessions are collaborative meetings designed to plan and align multiple teams working on large projects using Agile methodologies. These sessions facilitate the coordination of efforts across various teams, ensuring that objectives, timelines, and dependencies are clearly understood and managed. They also emphasize the importance of stakeholder engagement and help identify and address risks early in the project lifecycle.
Scaled retrospectives: Scaled retrospectives are structured reflection sessions that take place in larger Agile projects, allowing multiple teams to assess their performance and improve their processes collectively. These retrospectives adapt traditional Agile retrospective practices to a larger context, focusing on gathering insights from various teams to enhance collaboration and alignment across the project. The goal is to ensure that lessons learned at different team levels are integrated into a unified improvement strategy.
Scrum of scrums: A scrum of scrums is a technique used to scale Scrum practices across multiple teams working on the same project. This approach allows various Scrum teams to collaborate and synchronize their work by holding regular meetings where representatives from each team discuss their progress, challenges, and dependencies. The aim is to ensure alignment and facilitate communication across teams, making it easier to manage larger projects in an Agile framework.
Value Stream Funding: Value stream funding is a financial approach that allocates resources based on the value delivered by specific value streams rather than traditional project funding methods. This method emphasizes continuous delivery and customer value, allowing organizations to invest in projects that contribute directly to business goals, enhancing agility in large projects.