Scrum SAFe-SASM - SAFe Advanced Scrum Master (SASM)

In a Kanban system, average lead time is measured by observing the horizontal distance between the arrival and departure lines on a cumulative flow diagram (CFD). The CFD visualizes the flow of work items through various stages of the workflow. The horizontal distance between thepoints where work items enter and leave a particular stage represents the lead time. By calculating this distance over multiple items, teams can determine the average lead time, providing insights into process efficiency and areas for potential improvement.

Large stories, often referred to as "epics," pose a challenge to iterative development because they encompass too much work to be completed within a single iteration. This contradicts the principles of Agile, which emphasize small, incremental deliveries to ensure continuous progress and feedback. By breaking down large stories into smaller, more manageable pieces, teams can better align with iterative development practices, allowing for more frequent delivery of value, better risk management, and easier progress tracking.

Organizing teams around Features can significantly reduce dependencies between teams. When teams are aligned to deliver specific features, they have more autonomy and can work more independently, without needing to wait for other teams to complete their parts. This alignment minimizes coordination and dependency management overhead, enabling faster and more efficient delivery. It also allows teams to focus on delivering end-to-end functionality, which enhances the quality and coherence of the product.

SAFe Scrum Master References

SAFe 5.0 framework: principles of organizing teams around features to reduce dependencies

SAFe Agile Teams: benefits of feature-based team organization

Two specific anti-patterns likely present within the team's retrospectives are:

The team identifies improvements but is not allowed to address them (B): This anti-pattern occurs when the team discusses potential improvements but lacks the authority or support to implement them. This leads to frustration and a sense of futility, as the team feels their efforts in retrospectives do not result in meaningful change.

The team does not identify and commit to improvement items for how they do their work (C): Effective retrospectives should result in actionable items that the team commits to addressing in the next iteration. If the team fails to identify and commit to these improvements, the retrospective becomes an empty ritual without real impact on the team's performance or processes.

SAFe Scrum Master References

SAFe Principles: continuous improvement and the importance of retrospectives

SAFe 5.0 framework: best practices for effective retrospectives

Refactoring code involves making small, incremental changes to the internal structure of the code without altering its external behavior. The goal of refactoring is to improve code readability, maintainability, and performance while ensuring that the functionality remains unchanged. This practice helps in reducing technical debt, enhancing the quality of the codebase, and making future changes easier and less error-prone.

SAFe Scrum Master References

SAFe Agile Principles: continuous improvement and refactoring

SAFe 5.0 framework: best practices for maintaining high-quality code through refactoring

The fishbone diagram, also known as an Ishikawa diagram or cause-and-effect diagram, is a tool used to systematically identify potential root causes of a problem. It helps teams brainstorm and categorize the possible causes of problems to identify root issues.

Problem Statement:Clearly defines the problem at the head of the fishbone diagram.

Categories:Major categories (e.g., methods, materials, equipment, people, environment, etc.) are identified and drawn as "bones" branching off from the main "spine."

Brainstorming:Each category is explored to list possible causes, which are added as smaller bones off the main categories.

Analysis:The team analyzes the diagram to identify which causes are most likely contributing to the problem.

This method helps teams to visually map out and drill down into all possible causes of a problem, leading to more thorough and effective problem-solving.

SAFe Scrum Master References:

SAFe Advanced Scrum Master Training Material, Chapter on Problem-Solving Techniques​​.

Problem Statement:The ART has nothing to show at the System Demo, indicating potential issues with integration, quality, or coordination among teams.

Recommended Action:Stopping new development work to focus on integrating and testing the system allows the team to identify and resolve integration issues, ensuring that the system is in a stable state.

Scope Adjustment:Based on what is learned during integration and testing, the scope can be adjusted to focus on delivering a coherent and functional system increment.

SAFe Scrum Master References:

SAFe emphasizes the importance of a stable, integrated system increment to demonstrate progress and ensure quality. Addressing integration issues promptly is crucial for maintaining stakeholder confidence and delivering value.

If a team consistently receives defect reports from production despite thorough testing of each story, the first step to address this issue is to ensure that development and testing environments are equivalent to production. Differences between environments can lead to undetected issues that only surface in the production environment. By aligning these environments, teams can ensure that tests accurately reflect real-world conditions, reducing the likelihood of defects slipping through.

SAFe Scrum Master References

SAFe Principles: ensuring quality by maintaining equivalent environments

SAFe 5.0 framework: best practices for aligning development, testing, and production environments

Anti-Pattern Explanation:Iteration Planning should not be the first time the team hears about the business intent of the work they are about to start. This should have been communicated earlier through backlog refinement sessions and ongoing interactions with the Product Owner (PO).

Business Intent Communication:The PO should regularly update the team on the business context and intent behind backlog items to ensure alignment and readiness for Iteration Planning.

Impact:Introducing business intent for the first time during Iteration Planning can lead to confusion, inadequate preparation, and a rushed planning session, which undermines the effectiveness of the iteration.

SAFe Scrum Master References:

SAFe emphasizes the importance of continuous backlog refinement and clear communication of business intent to ensure that teams are well-prepared for Iteration Planning.