Introduction
Agile Management is becoming more and more popular and many companies, and organizations are thinking about it as the new normal, and implementing it. Agile methodologies are important in creating and managing complex processes that yield products of high value that are designed to solve complicated problems.
A couple of systems have been built to Scale Agile, most remarkable are the Scaled Agile Framework(SAFe) and Large Scale Scrum(LeSS). In any case, which system would it be a good idea for you to pick – what are every structure’s up-sides and negatives? Is it true that they are indistinguishable, integral, or have unique features?
Portraying the SAFe and Fewer structures
Intricacy
To begin talking about the intricacy of the two structures, the characteristics depicted by every system’s site is self-explanatory: the LeSS site utilizes brilliant freestyle drawings to clarify its functions, while the SAFe is more suggestive of specialized drawings utilized in designing.
Going by this display, you would agree that SAFe is more dependent on the organization than LeSS is.
Also, as its name suggests, LeSS intentionally makes progress toward effortlessness and simplicity of comprehension. They say that more modest teams sharing a workspace and producing as a team are more effective than gigantic programming items with many assets.
The SAFe structure is significantly less dynamic than its LeSS counterpart and it attempts to depict a widely inclusive answer for Scaling Agile. Notwithstanding, reliant upon the size of the association, just explicit levels of SAFe’s staggered approach can be carried out. Team and Program divisions are decent beginning stages for most associations.
Talking about the Program level, a critical contrast among both structures is that SAFe includes a management system in its built-in structure, an area wherein LeSS is obviously inadequate.
Group jobs
The positions of Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers which are conventional Scrum jobs are included in the LeSS framework, owing to its straightforwardness. SAFe depicts more jobs and doles out various obligations to every job when as opposed to LeSS.
A good example is, that SAFe emphasizes the customary Product Owner’s job for addressing the end customers’ viewpoint. In contrast, the group is urged to cooperate straightforwardly with end customers, subsequently bypassing this customary Product Owner job in less. This gives the Product Owner additional free time for different undertakings and is troubled with overseeing project needs and venture scope for quite a long time. In SAFe this can be compared to the Program Manager’s role.
Authoritative construction
In line with adjusting associations to the systems, LeSS is considerably more a promoter of re-adjusting a whole design to fit an improved style that supports the light-footed method of working. LeSS endorses three supporting groups for a maximum of 8 groups.
The Undone Department and Product Owner group are on a similar level inside the chain of importance, and all are overseen by the Head of Product Group – this is known as a flat hierarchy.
SAFe does not factor in corporate reorganization to accommodate its style and it is considerably more tolerant towards associations that need to embrace the system. LeSS on the other hand factors hierarchical change and adjusting system a lot, since it sets that culture ensues authoritative construction.
Sprint Planning
A supposed Program Increment is used to gather a few Sprints in SAFe. With each Sprint having the target of completing work submitted, groups are only expected to convey the final products for advertising at the program’s end. Products completed within a Program Increment can be submitted earlier on.
A Program Increment is arranged during a two-day meeting towards the start of the increment, every run is arranged at the start of the run. What makes SAFe convincing, however, is the way that all groups cooperate during program increment arrangement meetings – SAFe uses an idea where different groups focus on conveying a particular arrangement of elements called Agile Release Trains (ARTs).
In LeSS, both run arranging and reviews happen in two phases. For arranging, the primary stage includes each group designating two delegates that will assist with concluding what backlog items each group will undertake. The subsequent stage is not normal for an ordinary run arrangement, where all colleagues are presently involved and can give information or criticism.
Advantages of SAFe
- It addresses different business perspectives that aren’t addressed by other structures or frameworks.
- It is able to maximize the output of teams in relatively short periods of time.
- The likelihood of scaling is higher when teams are harmonized.
- Offers a wide range of certifications and learning to help train people on core concepts.
- Breaks down processes, creating concise and elaborate routes towards scaling.
Disadvantages of SAFe
- It is not a one size fits all framework. This means it has to be continually adjusted to meet specific organizational goals and objectives.
Advantages of LeSS
- Easily adaptable owing to its similarities with Scrum.
- It is cheaper to implement
- It doesn’t need more people to work on delivering products since the framework doesn’t assign new responsibilities.
- It is more product-centric than project-centric.
- There is no barrier between members of the team and both customers and business executives.
Disadvantages of LeSS
- Lack of division of labor may put the Product Owner under too much stress.
- It doesn’t provide many additional features since its functionality is centered around Scrum.
Note: LeSS has two frameworks within it; one which is used to manage a maximum of 8 teams and another which is used to manage a greater number of teams, this is called LeSS Huge.
The difference between both is the fact that LeSS huge has Area Product Owners who oversee smaller areas as opposed to a single Product Owner in LeSS for 8 teams maximum.
LeSS also employs 10 principles for implementing core effectiveness across the board. This helps to build teams with great regard for customers and collaboration.
Settling on a procedure to scale
LeSS versus SAFe
All the Agile frameworks are very useful and powerful but are always contextual. To determine the right framework, we need to thoroughly think beyond sight as it is more about where the backlog ownership should lie and the nature of the project.
LeSS is an Agile framework used at a small team level, single team working on the product delivery whereas SAFe involves a large number of team members working on a complex project.
However, the key difference that distinguishes SAFe from LeSS is the alignment and number of team members. In LeSS, there is one backlog and the team size is approximately 6 to 9 people, plus the Scrum Master and Product Owner who also follows all Agile principles. In SAFe, there are many team members and each team member has a Product Owner and backlog but together they are all serving a common purpose like Agile Release Train.
In SAFe, the team members are aligned, they collaborate and cooperate with each other working on complex projects. While LeSS descale the organization as too small teams working on products to go very fast in providing services to the customers.
Though LeSS and SAFe are both indispensable frameworks, depending upon the requirements of the organization, either one of them can be more favorable than the other. So, it’s recommended to go through the article to understand the pros and cons of using LeSS and SAFe.
Conclusion
The world is dynamic and not static, therefore, scaling Agile is one of the best decisions an organization can make to improve productivity while working within set deadlines and towards assigned objectives. Scaling Agile can be done for single departments or throughout the organization. SAFe and LeSS are the most popular frameworks used to Scale Agile across multiple departments but organizations need to be keen on what they want before choosing any framework.
SAFe will work best for organizations wanting to Scale entire enterprises and willing to implement stringent measures while at it. Agility here is not only team bound, but business and portfolio also benefit from Agility.
LeSS on the other hand works best for organizations already familiar with Scrum and intend to replicate It across different divisions. This is what makes it easy to grasp.
The two Agile frameworks are both important and good depending on the environment and purpose. In SAFe, you have a great prescriptive way of doing everything with everyone fully involved, while LeSS helps in pulling back to the basic minimum to achieve high-performance results.
It isn’t uncommon to find organizations alternating between frameworks, what is most important is to be able to tailor one or multiple frameworks to suit the varying needs of the organization.
Hopefully, this comprehensive analysis of both frameworks makes the decision a bit easier.