Creating Great Agile Teams Competency

The best way to develop mastery in your Agile Team is to experiment with these practices in your daily work. Here are some strategies to enhance your understanding: 

• Learn from experienced Agile Teams – Spend time with mature Agile Teams to observe their practices, attend their events, and learn from their experiences. Continue your learning by sharing knowledge across Agile Teams through chat platforms, forums, and intranets, where you can discuss challenges and brainstorm solutions. 

• Implement practices for a PI – Select a set of practices and apply them consistently throughout a PI. Based on your experiences, iterate on the practices that best suit your Agile Team. Be mindful of the context; a practice that was effective in one PI might not yield the same results in a subsequent PI with different circumstances. 

• Research beyond your Agile Team and organization – Expand your knowledge by participating in communities of practice (CoP), attending Agile community events such as meet-ups, and learning from industry sources. Integrate what you learn into your SAFe organization. 

Both SAFe Scrum and SAFe Team Kanban teams are built on the same foundation of Agile practices, which include planning, synchronization, reviewing, and retrospectives. Below is a collection of valuable guides and resources that will help you apply these essential practices. 

Agile Teams that effectively apply Agile practices are highly competent and self-sufficient.  By employing SAFe Scrum or SAFe Team Kanban, they prioritize, plan, and deliver work in a way that maintains transparency about their progress, challenges, and dependencies. Agile Team members are deeply engaged in their work and committed to achieving both team and ART objectives. These cross-functional, fully dedicated teams are well-aligned with their Agile Release Train (ART) and excel at defining, building, testing, and deploying increments. 

The behaviors exhibited by the members of the Agile Team reflect a strong culture of self-organization and autonomy. Team members actively determine which practices help them best accomplish their work together. Fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility for both individual and collective outcomes. They are well-versed in SAFe events and able to use what best fits their unique context. The other Agile Teams they work with are able to communicate and integrate effectively and rapidly with them, regardless of the practices chosen.   

Team members feel equipped to find and test techniques in order to address challenges as they arise. Collaboration is a cornerstone of their interactions; they openly communicate and support one another, creating an environment of trust and continuous learning. These Agile Teams remain resilient in the face of change. 

Practices and techniques enable each team to deliver significant and impactful outcomes for the organization. They achieve predictable value delivery, optimize the flow of work, and leverage each member’s capabilities. Their relentless pursuit of improvement ensures that they are constantly learning and adapting their practices to remain relevant and effective. Ultimately, these Agile Teams become adaptable, confidently embracing change and responding swiftly to new needs, driving both their performance and the overall success of the ART. Such an environment fosters innovation, operational excellence, and strong alignment with business objectives.