Scaled Agile SSM - SSM (6.0) - SAFe Scrum Master

According to the SAFe 6 Scrum Master documentation, one of the potential root causes of Team Sync anti-patterns is the lack of collective ownership. Collective ownership means that the team members share responsibility for the quality and delivery of the team’s work. They collaborate, communicate, and coordinate their efforts to achieve the team goals. They also support each other, provide feedback, and resolve issues together. When there is a lack of collective ownership, team members may exhibit some of the following Team Sync anti-patterns 1:

Reporting to managers (status meetings): Team members use the Team Sync as a way to report their progress to the SM/TC or other managers, rather than to synchronize with their peers. This can create a hierarchical and command-and-control culture, where team members are not empowered to self-organize and self-manage.

Monologues: Team members give long and detailed updates that are not relevant or useful to other team members. This can make the Team Sync boring, inefficient, and ineffective, as team members lose interest and attention.

Cross-functional team standups (updates are not related to other people’s work): Team members work on different features or components that are not aligned with the team goals or the Iteration goals. This can result in silos, dependencies, and integration issues, as well as reduced collaboration and coordination.

“Nothing to report” can be a good thing: Team members say they have nothing to report, either because they have not done any work, or because they do not want to share their work with the team. This can indicate a lack of transparency, trust, and accountability, as well as a missed opportunity to get feedback and support from the team.

To overcome these anti-patterns, the SM/TC should coach the team on the purpose and value of the Team Sync, and help them adopt the best practices for effective Team Syncs, such as 2:

Having a clear agenda and timebox

Focusing on the team goals and the Iteration goals

Asking the three key questions: What did I do yesterday? What will I do today? Do I have any impediments?

Using visual aids, such as task boards or Kanban boards, to track progress and identify issues

Encouraging active participation, collaboration, and feedback

Ending with clear action items and follow-ups

One way uncommitted objectives help Agile Teams make a plan for the PI is that they maintain the predictability of achieving the objectives. Uncommitted objectives are PI objectives that are not included in the team’s commitment or counted against teams in the ART predictability measure. They are used to identify work that can be variable within the scope of a PI, such as stretch goals, spikes, innovation, or exploration1 Uncommitted objectives help improve the predictability of delivering business value since they allow the team to adjust their scope based on the actual progress and feedback during the PI. They also provide the team with some flexibility and capacity to respond to changing needs and expectations, as well as to pursue learning and improvement opportunities12 

One of the recommended practices for Scrum Masters/Team Coaches when facilitating Iteration Review is to begin to consider how and what to demo in Iteration Planning. This helps the team to have a clear vision of the expected outcome and to align their work with the iteration goals. It also facilitates the preparation and execution of the demo, as the team can anticipate the feedback and questions from the stakeholders.

One of the high-performing team characteristics that Team A is demonstrating is using regular feedback loops built into the learning cycle. A high-performing Agile Team is a cross-functional group of people that have everything, and everyone, necessary to produce a working, tested increment of product1 They are empowered, collaborative, aligned, and committed to delivering value to the customers and the organization1 One of the factors that enable a high-performing Agile Team is using regular feedback loops to learn and improve. Feedback loops are mechanisms that provide the team with information about the outcomes and impacts of their actions, as well as the needs and expectations of their customers and stakeholders23 Feedback loops help the team to validate their assumptions, measure their progress, and adjust their plans accordingly23 Feedback loops also help the team to foster a culture of experimentation, innovation, and continuous improvement, as well as to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty23 Team A is using regular feedback loops by releasing the functionality with a method for collecting direct customer feedback. This allows them to learn from the actual users of their product, and to incorporate their feedback into the next iteration of development. This way, they can deliver value faster and more effectively, as well as to enhance the quality and usability of their product4 

One Agile development value is customer collaboration over contract negotiation. This value is one of the four core values of the Agile Manifesto, which states: “We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.” 1 This value emphasizes the importance of building a trusting and collaborative relationship with the customers, rather than relying on rigid and formal contracts that may limit the ability to respond to changing needs and expectations2 Customer collaboration means involving the customers throughout the development process, seeking their feedback, input, and validation, and delivering solutions that meet their requirements and expectations3 Customer collaboration also means respecting the customers’ opinions and perspectives, and resolving any conflicts or issues in a constructive and respectful manner4 Customer collaboration helps the Agile teams to deliver value faster and more effectively, as well as to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty34 

According to the SAFe 6 Scrum Master documentation, one of the ways a Scrum Master/Team Coach can help improve ART performance is to facilitate cross-team collaboration. Cross-team collaboration is the ability of Agile teams to work together effectively and efficiently to deliver value to the customers and stakeholders. It involves sharing information, resolving dependencies, aligning on goals, and providing feedback. Cross-team collaboration is essential for achieving the ART vision and objectives, as well as for delivering integrated and high-quality solutions.

The Scrum Master/Team Coach plays a key role in facilitating cross-team collaboration by 1:

Participating in the Scrum of Scrums (SoS) and ART Sync meetings, where they communicate the team’s progress, impediments, and dependencies, and coordinate with other teams and the Release Train Engineer (RTE)

Helping the team prepare for and participate in the PI Planning event, where they collaborate with other teams to define and commit to the PI objectives and identify risks and dependencies

Supporting the team in the System Demo, where they demonstrate the team’s work to other teams and stakeholders, and receive feedback and validation

Assisting the team in the Inspect and Adapt (I&A) event, where they review the ART performance, identify improvement opportunities, and create action plans

Encouraging the team to adopt Communities of Practice (CoPs), where they share knowledge, best practices, and learnings with other teams and experts

Promoting a culture of trust, respect, and cooperation among the team and other teams

One anti-pattern that emerges when teams do not spend enough time refining the backlog is that they enter new Iterations without enough Stories prepared. This can result in several negative consequences, such as: 123

The team may struggle to plan and commit to the Iteration Goals, as they lack clarity, feasibility, and testability of the Stories.

The team may face delays, rework, and waste, as they encounter unanticipated dependencies, risks, or technical issues during the Iteration.

The team may deliver low-quality or incomplete Stories, as they rush to meet the Iteration deadlines or compromise on the Definition of Done.

The team may lose focus, alignment, and motivation, as they work on ambiguous or unrealistic Stories that do not deliver value to the customers or the organization.

To avoid this anti-pattern, the team should dedicate sufficient time and effort to refine the backlog on a regular basis, preferably every Iteration123 Backlog Refinement is an ongoing process where the team collaborates with the Product Owner and other stakeholders to review, split, prioritize, and estimate the Stories in the Team Backlog4 One of the main objectives of Backlog Refinement is to ensure that the Stories are ready for Iteration Planning, which means they are clear, feasible, testable, and small enough to be completed in a single Iteration2 By doing so, the team can improve the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of their work, as well as deliver value to the customers and the organization

One way to ensure a team is holding successful iteration reviews and demos is to have the team demo working, tested system components that meet the definition of done (DoD). This shows the team’s progress and value delivery, and allows them to receive feedback from the product owner and other stakeholders. The team should minimize the use of slides and the preparation time for the demos, and focus on the solution instead of the presentation. The team should also discuss the impact of the current solution on the nonfunctional requirements (NFRs) and identify any risks or impediments.

One anti-pattern of the Inspect and Adapt (I&A) is to have no actionable improvement Features created as a result of the problem-solving workshop. This is considered an anti-pattern because the main goal of the I&A workshop is to identify and address the systemic issues that are limiting the effectiveness of the Agile Release Train (ART). The workshop should produce one or more improvement Features that are added to the ART backlog and prioritized for the next PI Planning event. These Features should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) and aligned with the ART vision and goals. Without actionable improvement Features, the ART will miss the opportunity to learn and improve from the feedback and data collected during the PI.