What's new in SAFe 6.0
Since its start in 2011, the Scaled Agile Framework, SAFe, has been continuously updated based on feedback from organizations worldwide. Continuous improvement is the base for Lean thinking and what has made SAFe the leading large scaled framework. Version 6.0 of SAFe is a natural step in making the framework an integral support for any business.
As before, the new version is backward compatible, and the emphasis is on reinforcing basic concepts and making them more accessible. Generally, every article in the framework has been addressed and updated to improve clarity and understanding.
Below you will find some of the key updates:
Flow
Regardless of working methods, there is always a flow of items through a business, and it is about things such as initiatives, products, or deliveries. We see flow at every level, from teams to the executive level. That is why more and more organizations work seriously with their flows and optimize for higher throughput with the right quality. In SAFe 6.0, a significant emphasis has been put on better understanding what properties are common to all organizational flows.
As a flow-based framework, SAFe now provides more tools for understanding, measuring, and improving flow throughout an organization. The new techniques are called flow accelerators; you can see how they are applied in this detailed article about Flow. As support, SAFe includes flow metrics that help you understand where to apply these accelerators and also the ability to measure and demonstrate improvements. With strengthened knowledge of flow, SAFe can help the entire enterprise deliver value more successfully.
Clarifying Responsibilities
Experience has shown that organizations that clearly understand the roles and responsibilities needed in the Lean way of working have an advantage. In SAFe 6.0, the new guidance gives much better clarity around how to put these roles in place and support them in the skills they need to develop.
To enhance the user experience of the framework, each significant role has been visualized with a “responsibility wheel,” a graphic display containing primary responsibilities. We know people are concerned about future tasks, and providing an easily understood overview is essential to support them. You can find an example of primary areas of responsibility in the role description of the Product Owner.
Business Agility
Business Agility is foundational and tightly connected to the core values, mindset, and principles of SAFe. Organizations that manage to incorporate this foundational way of thinking are the ones that are truly successful in changing their ways of working. The foundation grants the ability to understand product thinking and value streams and get enterprises to accelerate flow across their business.
In the new version of the framework, some brand-new guidance offers business and technology patterns for putting enterprises in a better place regarding an overall business agility transformation. The guidelines will greatly support an Agile executive team applying Lean portfolio practices across operational and development work.
Future technology
We all know how new technology like AI, big data, and the cloud already has a significant impact on any business. Applications like chatGPT will have vast opportunities for organizations regarding customer insights, intelligent solutions, and improvement of operational processes.
There are, however, many questions, such as how users perceive automated services, protecting sensitive information, acquiring and maintaining development capabilities, etc. Organizations need to understand how they can harness these questions to their benefit, and the new version of SAFe offers advice around these new synergistic technologies.
Measure and Grow
Organizations may have good anecdotal evidence that they deliver benefits because of a Lean-Agile transformation, but quantifying improvement and showing actual numbers is a challenge only some can achieve. That is why SAFe 6.0 aims to support the objective assessment of results by bringing objectives and Key Results, OKRs, into the outcome measurement domain. Sustained success depends on the ability to connect strategy to execution and measure growth.
Summary of SAFe 6.0
BDD is excited about how the measurement of flow, roles and responsibilities, the business, and technology has been augmented in the version of SAFe. All these things provide additional tools and resources to take these into your enterprise. The new version 6.0 of SAFe is launched worldwide today, March 15, 2023. As partners, we have worked closely with Scaled Agile to prepare for this new version of SAFe. All courses in our training portfolio have been upgraded as we strive to be up-to-date with the latest improvements.
The speed of change and development is increasing, and there has never been more critical to acquiring solid knowledge in organizational development and Lean thinking. The Scaled Agile Framework can be a great support and can be accessed as a free knowledge base or through training to become a certified professional.
About the content
The intention of the Articles published on this website is to provide exciting knowledge about organizational development in any business. BDD hopes this knowledge will help take your organization to the next level. The information is based on our experience supporting many transformations and cutting-edge sources published in books, articles, and frameworks.
