Agility has changed the way today’s businesses beat the competition. It has turned out to be vital for organisations to be responsive and adaptive to the changing requirements of the customer in the dynamic market trends. On understanding the benefits of the agile methodology, many organisations are looking to scale agile at the enterprise level using the popular framework called SAFe, Scaled Agile Framework. If you are a professional looking to advance your career in the agile space, Leading SAFe certification is your best bet. The current article highlights the benefits of Leading SAFe certification from the leader’s perspective.
What is SAFe?
SAFe is a complex framework employed by organisations to scale agile at the enterprise level. It is often implemented at the sprint and team levels to witness the success and adoption before scaling at the enterprise level. Extending agile beyond teams shows alignment, communication, and integration challenges. The SAFe framework becomes a saviour in handling all these challenges. It uses events and artefacts to help the organisation navigate planning and execution while aligning the teams towards their goals. The SAFe framework can align the entire project work in a single agile team and increase the organisational efficiency in project completion and value delivery. Leading SAFe certification helps professionals gain a deep understanding of SAFe principles and practices and guides them on how to lead agile transformations in the organisation.
What are the Benefits of Leading SAFe from the Leaders’ Perspective?
Enhanced Project Management Skills
Completing the Leading SAFe certification is not just about validating one’s knowledge about the framework; it also educates leaders about the effective project management skills needed for successful agile implementation. The professionals can gain sound knowledge about the tools and techniques needed to manage agile projects. The certification courses focus on teaching the ways to improve adaptive planning, cooperation, and communication in agile project management. The certification is recognised by the organisations and demonstrates your comprehensive skills in managing projects. With SAFe Agilist Certification, leaders will be able to drive agile initiatives effectively in the organisation. It gives the skill and power to make the necessary changes in the new agile environment.
Build Alignment and Collaboration
Alignment and coordination between the teams is one of the major challenges leaders face during the agile transformation. While a few team members are sharing their ideas about reaching the shared goals, others are still uncertain about their roles during the transformation phase. SAFe-certified leaders will play a key role here by making the teams understand their roles and responsibilities and the workflow outlined in SAFe to create a shared understanding among the team members. The leaders can help the teams stay on the same page by fostering collaboration and reducing misunderstandings between team members. SAFe helps the teams align sprint goals with organisational goals and communicate effectively with stakeholders. The certification equips the leaders with the necessary tools and techniques to align organisational strategy with execution, thereby enabling the teams to work collectively.
Enhanced Value Delivery
On completing the SAFe certification, they will be able to optimise value delivery through effective planning. The certification will help them earn skills needed to restructure teams and align them with value streams. They can align multiple teams towards a shared vision and streamline dependencies to deliver predictable value. They also learn tools to align strategy with the execution and fund value teams to ensure investing the resources for the right purpose. Leading SAFe certification teaches the leaders to build a continuous delivery pipeline and deliver faster value. By delivering enhanced value, the SAFe-certified leaders can improve customer satisfaction, impacting organisational success.
Adoptability and Resilience
By understanding the SAFe framework, the leaders can develop a lean mindset that makes them effective change agents as managers. They embrace flexibility and incorporate feedback to deliver greater value. The certification learning helps the leaders to empower teams with decentralised decision-making to enhance market responsiveness. By mastering SAFe practices, the leaders can use PI planning to align teams as per changing priorities. They also master the techniques of managing dependencies and build a robust organisational structure. The certification also helps leaders build a learning culture that normalises failure and allows teams to innovate without fear. The Leading SAFe certification helps the leaders to maintain stability in the organisation through consistent execution.
Effective Decision-making at Speed
A professional who has completed Leading SAFe certification can divide the larger tasks into manageable chunks. The SAFe framework will help the leaders build better coordination among the teams. By completing the Leading SAFe certification, the leaders can change their mindset from a traditional approach to a lean approach, take data-driven decisions, and believe in decentralised authority. By completing the certification, you gain an economic perspective on decision-making and maximise the value of investments. The leaders will learn to make decisions aligned with business objectives and prioritise high-value items that offer the best returns. Also, certified professionals will gain knowledge about the tools to manage the risks and complete the task within stated deadlines.
Effortless Transition to Agility
Agile implementation in organisations is the new norm, and organisations would love to adopt it at some point. Scaling the agile approach at the enterprise level requires one to have knowledge about SAFe. Many organisations are stuck at the complexity of handling SAFe, as there is a lack of clarity and understanding about the framework. The leaders who can learn about the framework through the certification programme can become transformational coaches to help the teams navigate the agile transition at scale.
Conclusion
Increasing numbers of organisations are adopting agile, and the benefits of the agile approach are encouraging them to scale it at the organisational level. Certifications like Leading SAFe help leaders become servant leaders rather than managers and facilitate smoother agile transformation with less complexity and greater confidence.
