Startups thrive on being able to pivot. On paper, the smaller the company, the easier it should be to adapt and evolve. However, that is not always the case. With that in mind, why is the scaled agile framework concept proving so popular with founders and innovators?
What Exactly is the Scaled Agile Framework?
The Scaled Agile Framework is often referred to as SAFe. It is, in brief, a methodology or concept that helps businesses grow. It revolves around Agile, which in itself has become more than a buzzword alone. Agile believes that startups should deliver exceptional service faster to customers and clients.
To do this, founders and innovators need to look at ‘bite-sized’ incremental growth. While many companies focus on big launches and celebrations, Agile and SAFe lean towards smaller checkpoints and moments.
SAFe revolves around seven key areas. These include focusing on organization agility, a gradual supply chain, streamlined product delivery, and portfolio simplification. A keyword used in SAFe planning is ‘lightweight’. There’s a focus on learning, leaner leadership, cross-functional team education, and upskilling.
SAFe is a tricky concept that we perhaps don’t have time to cover fully in this guide. However, we can observe the clear summary - it revolves around learning, breaking down journeys, and keeping your mind open. It is the working anthesis to simply charging into a single solution - working on multiple, manageable angles without the overwhelm.
Companies Making SAFe Work
It is always prudent to consider a few success stories working in practice. SAFe has worked wonders for ventures for some time - however, we also need to consider bigger, established names. Given their stature as household names, these are incredibly inspiring - could we learn anything from them?
Cisco, the networking giant, offers a fantastic example. They transformed their previous Waterfall methodology to help ensure disparate teams could work from the same page. Rather than have departments work to different goals, they used SAFe to keep all operatives working to the same targets.
FitBit, the fitness watch, and health monitoring service, also benefited from SAFe. Using Scrum as part of the wider SAFe analogy, the company scaled up more teams and saw massive revenue growth. This was as a result of product design and dispatch velocity increase.
Crucially, scaling can help even the biggest or longest-running of companies. It is simply a case of learning to trim and reorganize. It sounds simple on paper - and yes, it can be an upheaval in the short term. However, many companies and their customers see enormous benefits.
Startups Making the Most of SAFe
SAFe is just one way for ventures to consider approaching Agile. After all, nothing is set in stone - but success stories are truly remarkable.
If you are keen to look for startups scaling up, Fundz offers real-time data likely to help. SAFe or otherwise, these are companies ready to grow and adapt.
SOURCES USED
https://age-of-product.com/agile-startups/
https://medium.com/swlh/agile-for-startups-594e47500dc6
https://www.celerity.com/what-is-the-scaled-agile-framework-safe
https://www.scaledagileframework.com/startup-safe/
https://www.atlassian.com/agile
https://www.objectstyle.com/agile/scaled-agile-success-story-lessons
https://techbeacon.com/app-dev-testing/10-companies-killing-it-scaling-agile
Topic: Scaled Agile Framework
