Frameworx Focused Engagements

Unlocking Success with PI Planning: Aligning Teams for Value Delivery 

PI Planning, a pivotal cadence-based event within the Agile Release Train (ART), plays a crucial role in driving organizational success. Here’s why it matters: 

Alignment and Synchronization: PI Planning brings together teams and stakeholders, uniting them around a shared mission and vision. By collaboratively planning and prioritizing work for the upcoming 8 to 12-week Planning Interval (PI), teams ensure alignment across the ART. This synchronization is essential for delivering continuous value to customers. 

Clear Objectives and Risk Mitigation: During PI Planning, objectives, dependencies, and risks are laid bare. This clarity enables effective coordination, minimizing surprises and maximizing value delivery.  

Setting the Stage for Maturity: The first PI Planning event is critical. Proper preparation increases the likelihood of success and sets the foundation for refining the PI Planning process over time. Whether you’re new to PI Planning or an existing ART, this engagement helps you navigate challenges and optimize this essential event. 

This engagement is designed to help organizations new to PI Planning increase the success of the first PI Planning event and to develop an action plan to improve future PI Planning events. It helps existing ARTs address the challenges they are facing with PI Planning and the ART level events throughout a PI so that the ART can maximize their value. 

Audience: Business Owners, Product Managers, Product Owners, Release Train Engineers, Scrum Masters, System Architect, Program Managers, Project Managers,  

Duration: 5 days  

Optimizing Flow with Value Stream Mapping (VSM)  

n today’s dynamic business landscape, delivering value efficiently is paramount. Yet, hidden bottlenecks and delays often hinder progress, preventing organizations from achieving optimal results. That’s where Value Stream Mapping (VSM) comes in—a powerful tool designed to assess and optimize value streams for faster flow and improved quality. 

What Is Value Stream Mapping? 

• VSM identifies individual workflow steps and reveals delays between them. 

• It visualizes the end-to-end value delivery process, helping eliminate waste, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies. 

Why Is VSM Important? 

• Clarity: Understand your value stream’s current state. 

• Opportunities: Identify areas for improvement. 

• Efficiency: Streamline processes for better quality and customer satisfaction. 

Our Engagement Service helps you unlock your future leveraging insights from SAFe’s Advanced Facilitator: Value Stream Mapping workshop, we aid your organization in planning your first VSM workshop. We’ll guide you through facilitation, create a roadmap, and define backlog items to implement your future state VSM effectively. 

Audience: Directors, Program Managers, Release Train Engineers, Scrum Masters, Coaches 

Duration: 5 days  

Unlocking Value Flow: Designing and Launching Your Agile Release Train (ART) 

In the fast-paced world of value delivery, aligning dedicated, resilient teams to your organization’s value stream is paramount. Whether you’re launching your first Agile Release Train (ART) or optimizing an existing one, we’re here to guide you. Here’s how: 

1. Team Sizing: Determine the optimal number of teams needed. 

1. Topology Mix: Choose the right team structure for your unique context. 

1. Cross-Functional Roles: Identify essential roles for each team. 

1. Foundational Training: Equip teams with the knowledge they need. 

1. Metrics and Tooling: Define measurement and configuration. 

1. Team Launch Activities: Execute a seamless team launch. 

1. ART Roadmap: Set the course for accelerated value delivery. 

This engagement is designed to help organizations align a truly dedicated team of teams around a value stream to maximize its potential for accelerating delivery. 

Audience: Vice Presidents, Directors, Product Managers, Release Train Engineers 

Duration: 10 days 

Facilitating your transition from Project to Product Operating Model 

Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) is a competency within the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) that focuses on aligning strategy and execution. It applies Lean and systems thinking approaches to strategy and investment funding, Agile portfolio operations, and governance. LPM helps organizations make informed investment decisions, prioritize work, and ensure value delivery across the portfolio. 

In today’s dynamic business landscape, LPM is a game-changer. Here’s why: 

1. Alignment: LPM bridges strategy and execution using Lean and systems thinking. 

1. Effective Funding: It ensures investments match business objectives. 

1. Agile Portfolio Operations: Streamlined processes for better outcomes. 

1. Lean Governance: Transparent, collaborative decision-making. 

1. Continuous Improvement: Pivot plans swiftly for success. 

This engagement service is designed to help organizations capture the benefits of Agile at scale, changing the way work is connected to strategy, and pivot plans and funding quickly. This service will help your organization to establish the three dimensions of LPM: Strategy and Investment Funding, Agile Portfolio Operations and Lean Governance which are all critical for moving from a project led to a product led operating model. 

Audience: Program and Portfolio Managers 

Duration: 15 days 

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The Value Management Office (VMO) is responsible for facilitating the Lean Portfolio Management process and fostering operational excellence and lean governance as part of a Lean-Agile transformation. The benefits of implementing a VMO include: 

• Facilitating the Lean Portfolio Management process 

• Fostering operational excellence and lean governance 

• Enhancing communication and alignment 

• Driving value stream management 

• Supporting organizational change management 

• Enabling strategic decision-making 

Implementing a VMO within an organization helps drive agility, improve value delivery, and create a culture of continuous improvement and lean governance. 

This service engagement is designed to support organizations in establishing a VMO from scratch or help an existing Program Management Office transition from a PMO to a VMO so that the organization makes data-driven decisions about where to invest a portfolio's resources and helps identify optimize business outcomes and value delivered. 

Audience: Program and Portfolio Managers, Agile Coaches 

Duration: 10 days 

Navigating Success: Unleashing Value Stream Identification and Alignment   

Value Stream Identification (VSI) is a critical activity for organizations aiming to optimize their value delivery processes. Let’s dive deeper into its significance: 

1. Understanding the Flow of Value: 

• VSI maps out the end-to-end journey of value creation—from concept to delivery. It sheds light on how work moves through the system, revealing bottlenecks, delays, and inefficiencies. 

• By visualizing the value stream, organizations gain insights into where improvements are needed. 

1. Agile at Scale and Transitioning Mindsets: 

• When implementing Agile at scale, VSI becomes foundational. It’s the compass that guides the shift from a project-centric mindset to a product-centric one. 

• VSI identifies how value flows within the organization, allowing teams to align and accelerate delivery. 

1. Operational and Development Alignment: 

• VSI bridges the gap between development and operations. It ensures that both sides work harmoniously to deliver value. 

• When development value streams align seamlessly with operational value streams, quality improves, time-to-market shortens, and customer satisfaction soars. 

This engagement serves focuses on working with you to facilitate the VSI process. We help your organization understand operational and development value streams. Armed with this knowledge, you can strategically align Agile Release Trains (ARTs) to the most critical areas of your business. 

Audience: 

Duration: 5 days 

Navigating Success: Unleashing Value Stream Identification and Alignment   

A Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) is a small Agile team dedicated to implementing the SAFe Lean-Agile way of working. LACE serves as a guiding body and provides expertise, coaching, and support to help organizations successfully adopt and scale the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). 

LACE is important because it plays a crucial role in driving and sustaining organizational change towards Lean-Agile practices. It helps organizations navigate the complexities of implementing SAFe by providing guidance, training, and support to teams and stakeholders at all levels. 

This service engagement is designed to help you establish a LACE in your organization so that your implementation is effective and sustainable. 

Audience: Program Managers, Project Manager, Agile Coaches 

Duration: 5 days 

Strategic Synergy: Unleashing the Power of Aligned OKRs 

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a collaborative framework for setting clear goals and measuring outcomes. Here’s why aligning OKRs with strategy matters: 

1. Clarity of Purpose: When OKRs align with strategy, everyone understands the organization’s direction and purpose. It clarifies what needs to be achieved and how it contributes to strategic objectives. 

1. Focus and Prioritization: Aligned OKRs prioritize efforts and resources toward impactful goals. Teams work on initiatives that directly support strategic priorities. 

1. Coordination and Collaboration: Aligned OKRs encourage cross-functional collaboration across teams and departments, breaking down silos. 

1. Measurement and Accountability: Aligned OKRs enable effective tracking of progress toward strategic objectives. They hold individuals and teams accountable. 

1. Adaptability and Agility: Aligned OKRs allow flexibility in response to changing conditions, keeping goals aligned with the evolving strategic landscape. 

1. Motivation and Engagement: Clear connections between work and strategy enhance motivation and commitment. 

Aligning OKRs with strategy ensures focus, collaboration, measurement, adaptability, and employee engagement. This service engagement helps define OKRs for ongoing strategic alignment throughout your organization.  

Audience: Vice Presidents, Directors  

Duration: 3 days 

Harmonizing Efficiency: The Art of Value Stream Management (VSM) 

Value Stream Management (VSM) is like orchestrating a symphony of efficiency within software development and deployment. Let’s break it down: 

1. What is VSM? 

• VSM focuses on improving the way teams deliver high-quality customer experiences. 

• It’s all about two things: 

• Speed: How quickly customer-requested features or updates are delivered. 

• Value: Whether the customer actually benefits from those changes. 

• Think of it as connecting the dots between the C-Suite, Agile, and DevOps teams to harmonize around customer satisfaction. 

• VSM draws inspiration from lean manufacturing and the Toyota Production System (TPS) – systematic approaches that shorten time-to-value and enhance product quality. 

1. Why is VSM important? 

• Faster Delivery: It turbocharges the delivery of customer-centric products, making your organization more competitive and revenue-savvy. 

• Better Experiences: When customers smile, leave positive reviews, and refer others, you know VSM is doing its magic. 

• Engaged Teams: Cross-functional teams see the big picture, not just their silos. It’s like giving them a backstage pass to the show. 

• Data-Driven Decisions: VSM provides insights for future investments, preventing resource wastage. 

• Imagine VSM as the conductor, ensuring every note (or line of code) adds value to the grand symphony of software delivery! 

This engagement service works with your organization to re-imagine how it works together, effective VSM improves productivity and quality, accelerating time to market, and increasing value flow. 

Audience: Vice Presidents, Portfolio Managers  

Duration: 10 days 

Building an Internal Coaching Capacity 

Why Build an Internal Coaching Capacity? 

1. Sustainable Improvement: Internal coaches guide teams toward continuous improvement, fostering a lasting culture of progress. 

1. Knowledge Transfer: Deeply familiar with the organization, internal coaches tailor guidance and share expertise with colleagues. 

1. Cost-Effectiveness: By relying less on external coaches, organizations save resources over the long term. 

1. Flexibility and Availability: Internal coaches are readily accessible, providing timely support during challenges. 

1. Cultural Alignment: Aligned with values and goals, internal coaches ensure coaching interventions match the organization’s ethos. 

1. Empowerment and Ownership: Investing in internal coaching empowers employees, driving engagement and accountability. 

Our service helps your organization create a self-sustaining coaching culture, leveraging internal expertise effectively. 

Audience: Functional Managers, Scrum Masters, RTEs, Coaches 

Duration: 10 days