In view of the great success and global spread of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®), the framework provider Scaled Agile Inc.® now offers 13 different official training courses. It can be difficult to keep track of them all. That’s why we want to help you find the right SAFe® training course for you.
Basic Trainings
First of all, we would like to differentiate between basic and advanced training. For the advanced trainings, it is important that you have previously participated in a SAFe® basic training. This is because advanced trainings no longer explain the basic terms and structures of the Scaled Agile Framework® in detail, but focus on specific topics.
If you are looking for a comprehensive overview of the framework, the “Leading SAFe®” training is ideal. In this course, all essential artifacts, roles and meetings in SAFe® are explained across all four possible levels. This training is also suitable for all SAFe® roles at team and program level if, for example, no role-specific training is offered or you are unsure which SAFe® training suits you best.
If you are about to plan your first release or start your first agile team, then the “SAFe® for Teams” training is particularly valuable. This training is ideal for imparting the necessary knowledge to all team members involved. It is conducted with up to 125 people before PI Planning. Alternatively, it can also be divided into smaller training sessions with fewer participants per date. In line with the SAFe® motto “Train Everyone – Launch Trains”, we recommend that all participants complete this training before the first PI Planning.
In order to successfully launch a team, a program or a large solution, it is crucial that Scrum Masters, Product Owners/Managers are well trained. The “SAFe® Scrum Master” and “SAFe® Product Owner/Product Manager” training courses are ideal for this. If you already have experience with Scrum or Kanban, this will help you a lot in understanding these challenging SAFe® topics.
The “SAFe® DevOps Training” is a training course that helps companies to significantly shorten the time to market after initial release planning. In this training, the value streams in the company are carefully scrutinized and sustainably improved. Therefore, this training is not limited to a specific level in SAFe®, but is seen as a generalist, comprehensive training that provides valuable impulses for every company.
We hope that these explanations will help you to plan and select the right training courses and wish you every success on your SAFe® journey!
Advanced Trainings
Now let’s move on to the advanced trainings, which make up a significant part of our offering. We understand that these trainings require in-depth knowledge and several months of practical application of SAFe® – prerequisites that we value as they demonstrate your commitment and willingness to develop further.
A particular challenge within SAFe® is the role of the SAFe® architects. In addition to their technical skills, they also need excellent communication skills and a deep understanding of the business. It can be overwhelming to master all these aspects, but we are here to support you. The necessary knowledge is taught in the Advanced Training “SAFe® for Architects”. In this course you will learn how to achieve good results in SAFe® triads on different levels.
Another central topic of the SAFe® transformation is the mindset shift away from project thinking towards a value-oriented organization and budgeting. This change can also be a challenge, especially for top managers, budget decision-makers and portfolio and program managers who manage several programs in the company. You can find out how this process works in the “SAFe® Lean Portfolio Management” course. We would like to support you in successfully mastering this change and look forward to accompanying you on this journey.
Let us now turn to the roles in SAFe® that determine the success and effectiveness of the so-called ARTs (similar to programs, the heart of SAFe®) and the large solutions. One of these crucial roles is the Release Train Engineer (RTE) or the Solution Train Engineer (STE). Once an RTE has gained initial experience in several PI planning sessions (similar to release planning), the next step is the advanced training course “SAFe® Release Train Engineer”. This training helps the RTE and STE to deepen special techniques and the “Lean Agile Mindset” on which SAFe® is based, to strengthen the RTE as a coach of the ART and the STE as a coach of the large solution scale.
Due to the complexity of applying SAFe® in large organizations, we recommend comprehensive training by attending one or more training courses for all employees involved in an agile transformation. In addition, we advise organizations to initially be accompanied by external SAFe® coaches with extensive project and transformation experience until they have gained sufficient experience of their own.
We hope that this information will help you choose the right training course for you. Dates and further details can be found in the course descriptions.
Workshops
The standard training courses described above offer you a valuable knowledge base that is standardized independently of companies and is awarded a certificate after passing the exam. Workshops, on the other hand, offer you the opportunity to tackle company-specific challenges together. This does not mean that workshops are unstructured – they also follow proven structures to guide you to a solution.
Please note that you should prepare for all workshops, with the exception of the Gemba Hike and Agile Readiness Workshop, by attending the relevant training courses. Our workshops are carefully planned and offer no room for hidden training.
The Agile Readiness Workshop gives you the opportunity to make a well-informed decision about the readiness and maturity of your company organization without having to invest a lot of time, resource and money in advance. We do not want to force an agile transformation on you. It is important that you recognize the need yourself. We are at your side in a neutral and supportive way to help you make this decision.
Participant Matrix
This matrix is intended to give you an overview of which courses and workshops are suitable for which roles:
| Course/Workshop | Roles | Level |
|---|---|---|
| SAFe® for Teams (SP) | Developers, testers, business owners, key users, specialists (SMEs), department heads, team leaders, HR, IT, purchasing, account managers, operational members of all hierarchies, all participants in PI Planning without SAFe training | Beginners |
| SAFe® Scrum Master (SSM) | Scrum master, agile master, team coach, team leader, project manager, sub-project manager | Beginners |
| SAFe® Product Owner / Product Manager (POPM) | Product owner (PO), product manager, program manager, business analyst, requirements manager, tool owner, process owner, sales manager, account manager and all others who act as an interface between internal/external customers and operational teams | Beginners |
| SAFe® for Architects (ARCH) | Development lead, tool architect, system architect, solution architect, enterprise architect | Advanced (builds on SP and/or SA) |
| SAFe® Release Train Engineer (RTE) | Release train engineer, solution train engineer (STE), scrum master, agile master, team coach, project manager, program manager, project coordinator, release manager | Advanced (builds on SSM) |
| Leading SAFe® (SA) | Executives, supervisory board members, shareholders, board members, managing directors, division managers, department heads, team leaders, HR managers, process managers, transformation officers, agile coaches, service buyers, sales managers, account managers and anyone who wants to get an overview of the big picture | Beginners |
| SAFe® Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) | PMO, strategy departments, senior management, division managers, department heads, team leaders, HR managers, service buyers, release train engineers, solution train engineers, epic owners, business owners, enterprise architects, agile coaches (SPCs) and anyone involved in business strategy, budgeting and workforce planning | Advanced (builds on SA) |
| Gemba Hike | Shareholders, supervisory board members, management, executive board members | Beginners |
| Agile Readiness Workshop | Shareholders, supervisory board members, management, executive board members, agile transformation lead, digital transformation lead | Beginners |
| Gemba Walk | Management, shareholders, division managers, department heads, transformation leads, program managers, project managers, process owners, product owners, tool owners, relevant staff unit members, team leaders in selected areas, grey eminences, selected key users and subject matter experts | Beginners |
| SAFe® Executive Workshop | Shareholders, supervisory board members, management, executive board members, division managers, department heads | Advanced (builds on SA) |
| Agile HR with Shared Services Workshop | Management, executive board members, division managers, team leaders, HR managers, HR employees and all employees with disciplinary responsibility | Advanced (builds on SA or SP) |
| Lean Budgeting Workshop | PMO, strategy departments, senior management, division managers, department heads, team leaders, HR managers, service buyers, release train engineers, solution train engineers, epic owners, business owners, enterprise architects, agile coaches (SPCs) and anyone involved in business strategy, budgeting and workforce planning | Advanced (builds on LPM) |
| SAFe® Value Stream and ART Identification Workshop | PMO, strategy departments, senior management, division managers, department heads, team leaders, HR managers, service buyers, release train engineers, solution train engineers, epic owners, business owners, enterprise architects, agile coaches (SPCs) and anyone involved in business strategy, budgeting and workforce planning | Advanced (builds on LPM) |
Further official Scaled Agile® SAFe® courses like SAFe® DevOps (SDP), SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master (SASM), Agile Product Management (APM), Agile HR Explorer, Agile Software Engineering (ASE), SAFe® for Government (SGP), Implementing SAFe® (SPC), Advanced Facilitator Conflict and Collaboration, Advanced Facilitator Value Stream Mapping are currently not offered by Bizagility.
