Training course

Overview

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) Essentials is a comprehensive professional training programme designed to provide participants with a practical understanding of how Agile principles, Lean thinking, DevOps practices, and product development methods can be applied across large and complex organizations. The course introduces the core concepts, terminology, principles, roles, structures, events, artifacts, and practices associated with the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), enabling participants to understand how organizations can coordinate multiple Agile teams while maintaining strategic alignment, continuous value delivery, quality, and customer focus. It provides a structured foundation for professionals working in organizations seeking to scale Agile practices beyond individual Scrum or Kanban teams.

The primary purpose of SAFe is to help organizations align strategy with execution while coordinating teams, products, value streams, and portfolios in complex enterprise environments. Participants will explore Lean-Agile principles, Agile Release Trains (ARTs), Program Increment (PI) Planning, Product Management, Product Owners, Scrum Masters, System Architects, Release Train Engineers, Business Owners, Lean Portfolio Management, backlogs, objectives, dependencies, value streams, and continuous improvement. The course emphasizes practical application of SAFe practices to improve collaboration, transparency, flow, prioritization, predictability, quality, and business outcomes across multiple teams and organizational levels.

Modern enterprises face increasing pressure to deliver digital products and services faster while managing complex dependencies, regulatory requirements, legacy systems, changing customer expectations, distributed teams, technology transformation, and competing strategic priorities. Scaling Agile therefore requires more than simply replicating team-level Scrum practices. Organizations must establish effective structures for coordinating teams, aligning investments, managing product development, integrating architecture and technology, planning increments, managing dependencies, and continuously delivering value. SAFe Essentials addresses these challenges through Lean-Agile leadership, value-stream thinking, Agile Release Trains, Program Increment planning, DevOps and Continuous Delivery Pipeline concepts, Lean Portfolio Management, metrics, built-in quality, and organizational change practices.

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) Essentials is therefore suitable for Agile practitioners, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Product Managers, project and programme managers, business analysts, Agile coaches, technology professionals, enterprise architects, delivery leaders, PMO professionals, executives, and professionals involved in enterprise Agile transformation. The course combines SAFe concepts and terminology with practical tools, planning techniques, stakeholder-management practices, value-stream analysis, backlog management, PI Planning simulations, dependency mapping, objectives development, risk management, metrics, case studies, exercises, role plays, and real-world enterprise scenarios. Participants progressively develop the knowledge required to understand how SAFe connects portfolio strategy, product development, Agile teams, value streams, and continuous delivery within a scaled Lean-Agile operating model.

Course Duration

5 Days (40 Hours)

Target Participants

This course is suitable for:

• Chief Executive Officers (CEOs)

• Chief Information Officers (CIOs)

• Chief Technology Officers (CTOs)

• Directors and Senior Executives

• Agile Transformation Leaders

• Lean-Agile Leaders

• Programme and Portfolio Managers

• Project Managers

• Project Management Office (PMO) Professionals

• Scrum Masters

• Product Owners

• Product Managers

• Business Analysts

• Release Train Engineers (RTEs)

• Agile Coaches

• Enterprise and Solution Architects

• Software Development Professionals

• Information Technology Professionals

• DevOps Professionals

• Quality Assurance Professionals

• Business Owners

• Organizational Change Professionals

• Digital Transformation Professionals

• Professionals Responsible for Enterprise Agile Transformation

Course Objectives

By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

• Understand the purpose, structure, terminology, principles, and practices of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).

• Explain how Lean, Agile, systems thinking, and DevOps principles support enterprise agility.

• Understand the relationship between teams, Agile Release Trains, value streams, solutions, and portfolios.

• Explain the responsibilities and collaboration requirements of key SAFe roles and stakeholders.

• Understand the structure and purpose of Agile Release Trains (ARTs).

• Apply SAFe principles to coordinate multiple Agile teams working toward shared outcomes.

• Understand Program Increment (PI) Planning and its role in aligning teams around common objectives.

• Develop effective PI objectives and understand their relationship to business value.

• Identify and manage cross-team dependencies, risks, impediments, and integration challenges.

• Understand SAFe Product Management, Product Owner, and backlog responsibilities.

• Apply practical techniques for managing Features, Epics, User Stories, and other work items.

• Understand WSJF and economic prioritization concepts for sequencing work.

• Apply Lean Portfolio Management concepts to strategic alignment, investment decisions, and portfolio governance.

• Understand value streams and how organizations can optimize the flow of value.

• Understand Agile architecture, system thinking, built-in quality, and technical practices within SAFe.

• Understand DevOps and the Continuous Delivery Pipeline.

• Apply Continuous Exploration, Continuous Integration, Continuous Deployment, and Release on Demand concepts.

• Understand Iterations, Program Increments, System Demos, Inspect and Adapt, and other SAFe events.

• Use SAFe metrics and measurement approaches to support transparency, predictability, quality, and improvement.

• Identify common challenges, anti-patterns, and implementation risks associated with enterprise Agile transformation.

• Support distributed and geographically dispersed Agile Release Trains.

• Apply SAFe practices to real-world organizational scenarios and complex product-development environments.

• Develop practical strategies for implementing and sustaining Lean-Agile practices at scale.

• Demonstrate understanding of SAFe concepts through simulations, exercises, case studies, and integrated practical application.

Course Content

Day 1: Foundations of SAFe, Lean-Agile Thinking, and Enterprise Agility

Module 1: SAFe Principles, Lean-Agile Leadership, and Scaled Agile Foundations

Topics

1.  Introduction to the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
2.  
• Definition and purpose of SAFe
• Evolution of scaled Agile practices
• Enterprise Agile transformation
• SAFe terminology
• SAFe configurations and applications
• Agile at scale
• Product development in complex environments
• SAFe and organizational agility
3.  Lean-Agile Principles and Mindset
4.  
• Lean thinking
• Agile principles
• Systems thinking
• Customer centricity
• Continuous improvement
• Respect for people
• Flow of value
• Managing uncertainty
5.  The SAFe Principles
6.  
• Taking an economic view
• Applying systems thinking
• Assuming variability
• Building incrementally
• Evaluating working systems
• Limiting work in process
• Applying cadence and synchronization
• Motivating knowledge workers
• Decentralizing decision-making
7.  Lean-Agile Leadership
8.  
• Leadership responsibilities
• Leading by example
• Creating the vision
• Developing people
• Empowering teams
• Supporting decentralized decision-making
• Creating a culture of learning
• Driving organizational change
9.  Business Agility and Organizational Transformation
10.  
• Business agility
• Strategic adaptability
• Organizational responsiveness
• Customer centricity
• Value delivery
• Agile operating models
• Organizational change
• Transformation challenges
11.  SAFe Organizational Structure
12.  
• Agile teams
• Agile Release Trains
• Solution trains
• Value streams
• Portfolio
• Business stakeholders
• Governance
• Organizational alignment
13.  Value Streams and Flow of Value
14.  
• Development value streams
• Operational value streams
• Value-stream identification
• Value-stream mapping
• Flow
• Bottlenecks
• Delays
• Improving value delivery
15.  Agile Teams within SAFe
16.  
• Scrum
• Kanban
• Team roles
• Iterations
• Team backlogs
• Team objectives
• Cross-functional teams
• Team collaboration
17.  Practical Exercise: Mapping an Organization to SAFe
18.  
• Identify business value streams
• Identify development teams
• Map organizational dependencies
• Identify potential Agile Release Trains
• Identify stakeholders
• Assess organizational challenges
• Identify transformation opportunities
• Develop an initial SAFe structure
19. Case Study: Transitioning a Traditional Enterprise to Lean-Agile

• Analyze an enterprise transformation scenario
• Identify organizational barriers
• Assess existing delivery structures
• Identify value streams
• Evaluate leadership readiness
• Define Lean-Agile transformation priorities
• Identify risks
• Develop an initial transformation roadmap

Day 2: Agile Release Trains, Roles, Backlogs, and Program Increment Planning

Module 2: Coordinating Agile Teams and Planning at Scale

Topics

1.  Agile Release Trains (ARTs)
2.  
• Purpose of an ART
• ART structure
• Cross-functional teams
• Shared mission
• Common cadence
• Synchronization
• Value delivery
• ART stakeholders
3.  Key SAFe Roles and Responsibilities
4.  
• Release Train Engineer
• Product Management
• Product Owner
• Scrum Master
• System Architect
• Business Owners
• Developers
• Stakeholders
5.  SAFe Events and Cadence
6.  
• Iterations
• Program Increments
• PI Planning
• System Demo
• Inspect and Adapt
• Innovation and Planning Iteration
• Scrum events
• ART synchronization
7.  SAFe Backlogs and Work Items
8.  
• Portfolio Backlog
• Solution Backlog
• Program Backlog
• Team Backlog
• Epics
• Features
• Stories
• Enablers
9.  Feature Development and Acceptance Criteria
10.  
• Feature definition
• Business value
• Feature decomposition
• Acceptance criteria
• Benefit hypotheses
• Feature sizing
• Dependencies
• Feature validation
11.  Program Increment Planning
12.  
• Purpose of PI Planning
• Business context
• Product vision
• Architecture vision
• Team planning
• PI objectives
• Dependencies
• Risks and impediments
13.  PI Objectives and Business Value
14.  
• PI objective development
• Business value
• Team objectives
• Committed objectives
• Uncommitted objectives
• Alignment
• Stakeholder validation
• Objective quality
15.  Dependency and Risk Management During PI Planning
16.  
• Dependency identification
• Dependency mapping
• Cross-team coordination
• Risk identification
• Risk categorization
• ROAM framework
• Impediments
• Resolution strategies
17.  Practical Exercise: PI Planning Simulation
18.  
• Establish business context
• Review product vision
• Analyze features
• Plan team iterations
• Identify dependencies
• Develop PI objectives
• Identify and classify risks
• Conduct a planning review
19. Case Study: Coordinating a Complex Agile Release Train

• Analyze multiple-team delivery challenges
• Identify dependencies
• Evaluate capacity constraints
• Assess competing priorities
• Resolve planning conflicts
• Develop PI objectives
• Apply risk management
• Create an ART coordination strategy

Day 3: Product Management, Prioritization, Value Delivery, and Customer Centricity

Module 3: Product Strategy, Backlog Management, and Economic Prioritization

Topics

1.  Product Management in SAFe
2.  
• Product Management accountability
• Product vision
• Product strategy
• Customer needs
• Market analysis
• Product positioning
• Product outcomes
• Product lifecycle
3.  Product Owner Responsibilities
4.  
• Team backlog management
• Story definition
• Backlog refinement
• Acceptance criteria
• Iteration planning
• Stakeholder collaboration
• Product feedback
• Value optimization
5.  Customer Centricity and Design Thinking
6.  
• Customer focus
• Customer personas
• Customer journey mapping
• Empathy
• Problem identification
• Design thinking
• Prototyping
• Customer validation
7.  Lean UX and Product Discovery
8.  
• Product hypotheses
• Assumptions
• Experiments
• Minimum viable products
• Customer feedback
• Lean UX principles
• Learning loops
• Product discovery
9.  Backlog Refinement and Story Development
10.  
• Story splitting
• Story estimation
• Acceptance criteria
• Story readiness
• Backlog transparency
• Dependencies
• Technical considerations
• Continuous refinement
11.  Prioritization and WSJF
12.  
• Economic prioritization
• Cost of Delay
• User-business value
• Time criticality
• Risk reduction and opportunity enablement
• Job size
• WSJF calculation concepts
• Prioritization decisions
13.  Epics, Features, Capabilities, and Stories
14.  
• Epic development
• Feature decomposition
• Capability management
• User stories
• Enablers
• Hierarchy of work
• Traceability
• Value alignment
15.  Product Roadmaps and Release Strategy
16.  
• Product roadmaps
• Strategic themes
• Product objectives
• Feature sequencing
• Release planning
• Market timing
• Feedback-driven adaptation
• Roadmap communication
17.  Practical Workshop: Building and Prioritizing a SAFe Backlog
18.  
• Define customer needs
• Develop product hypotheses
• Create epics and features
• Decompose features into stories
• Develop acceptance criteria
• Calculate prioritization factors
• Apply WSJF
• Build an ordered backlog
19. Case Study: Maximizing Product Value Under Resource Constraints

• Analyze a product portfolio
• Identify customer priorities
• Evaluate business value
• Assess risks
• Calculate economic priorities
• Resolve stakeholder conflicts
• Reorder features
• Develop a value-focused delivery strategy

Day 4: DevOps, Continuous Delivery, Quality, Metrics, and Inspect and Adapt

Module 4: Continuous Delivery, Built-In Quality, and Agile Performance

Topics

1.  DevOps and SAFe
2.  
• DevOps principles
• Development and operations collaboration
• Automation
• Continuous integration
• Continuous delivery
• Quality
• Deployment
• Organizational culture
3.  Continuous Delivery Pipeline
4.  
• Continuous Exploration
• Continuous Integration
• Continuous Deployment
• Release on Demand
• Pipeline automation
• Feedback loops
• Flow
• Deployment readiness
5.  Continuous Exploration
6.  
• Customer research
• Market analysis
• Hypothesis development
• Product discovery
• Experimentation
• Design thinking
• Validation
• Innovation
7.  Continuous Integration
8.  
• Frequent integration
• Source control
• Build automation
• Automated testing
• Integration practices
• Quality feedback
• Defect prevention
• System integration
9.  Continuous Deployment and Release on Demand
10.  
• Deployment automation
• Release strategies
• Release decisions
• Feature toggles
• Incremental releases
• Customer feedback
• Risk management
• Release on demand
11.  Built-In Quality
12.  
• Quality ownership
• Definition of Done
• Automated testing
• Non-functional requirements
• Security
• Performance
• Compliance
• Defect prevention
13.  System Demo and Integrated Delivery
14.  
• System Demo purpose
• Integrated solution
• Stakeholder feedback
• Product inspection
• Demonstrating working systems
• Integration challenges
• Feedback incorporation
• Transparency
15.  Inspect and Adapt
16.  
• Inspect and Adapt event
• Quantitative measurement
• Qualitative assessment
• Problem-solving workshop
• Root-cause analysis
• Improvement backlog
• Action planning
• Continuous improvement
17.  Practical Tools: SAFe Metrics and Improvement Dashboard
18.  
• Flow metrics
• Predictability
• Quality indicators
• Lead time
• Cycle time
• Throughput
• Business outcomes
• Improvement indicators
• Dashboard development
19. Case Study: Improving a Low-Performing Agile Release Train

• Analyze delivery metrics
• Identify quality problems
• Assess flow bottlenecks
• Evaluate dependencies
• Review team collaboration
• Conduct root-cause analysis
• Develop improvement actions
• Establish an Inspect and Adapt strategy

Day 5: Lean Portfolio Management, Enterprise Transformation, Scaling Challenges, and Capstone

Module 5: Strategic Alignment, Portfolio Agility, and Advanced SAFe Application

Topics

1.  Lean Portfolio Management
2.  
• Portfolio strategy
• Strategic themes
• Portfolio vision
• Investment funding
• Portfolio governance
• Lean budgeting
• Portfolio prioritization
• Strategic alignment
3.  Portfolio Epics and Economic Decision-Making
4.  
• Portfolio Epics
• Epic hypothesis statements
• Business cases
• MVPs
• Economic prioritization
• Investment decisions
• Cost of Delay
• Portfolio Kanban
5.  Strategy and Execution Alignment
6.  
• Strategic objectives
• Portfolio alignment
• Value streams
• ART objectives
• Team objectives
• Strategy communication
• Execution visibility
• Business outcomes
7.  Agile Governance and Decision-Making
8.  
• Lean governance
• Compliance
• Risk management
• Financial governance
• Decision-making authority
• Transparency
• Auditability
• Decentralized decision-making
9.  Organizational Change and SAFe Transformation
10.  
• Change management
• Transformation roadmap
• Leadership alignment
• Culture change
• Capability development
• Resistance management
• Change readiness
• Sustaining transformation
11.  SAFe Metrics, Business Outcomes, and Predictability
12.  
• Business outcomes
• Objectives and key results
• Predictability
• Flow metrics
• Quality metrics
• Customer outcomes
• Portfolio performance
• Evidence-based improvement
13.  Scaling Challenges and SAFe Anti-Patterns
14.  
• Excessive hierarchy
• Role confusion
• Poor PI Planning
• Weak backlog management
• Dependency overload
• Artificial Agile Release Trains
• Excessive governance
• Failure to empower teams
• Output-focused management
15.  Practical Workshop: Developing an Enterprise SAFe Implementation Roadmap
16.  
• Assess organizational readiness
• Identify value streams
• Define Agile Release Trains
• Establish leadership responsibilities
• Define transformation priorities
• Identify capability gaps
• Establish implementation milestones
• Develop change-management actions
17.  Integrated Case Study: Transforming a Large Organization Using SAFe
18.  
• Analyze organizational strategy
• Identify development value streams
• Design Agile Release Trains
• Establish portfolio priorities
• Plan Program Increments
• Address dependencies and risks
• Define DevOps and quality improvements
• Establish metrics
• Develop transformation governance
• Present an enterprise SAFe transformation strategy
19. Final Assessment, Capstone Simulation, and SAFe Implementation Strategy

• Comprehensive SAFe knowledge assessment
• SAFe principles and terminology review
• Role and accountability assessment
• PI Planning evaluation
• Backlog and prioritization exercise
• WSJF application
• Dependency and risk-management assessment
• DevOps and Continuous Delivery Pipeline assessment
• Lean Portfolio Management scenario
• Personal and organizational SAFe implementation action plan