Facilitator's Guide to the Value Stream & ART

Identification Workshop

Purpose

The Value Stream and ART Identification workshop is a critical step in any SAFe Implementation. It
brings together empowered stakeholders and provides them with the opportunity to explore a new
organizational model, one that is optimized to facilitate the flow of value across functional silos and
departments boundaries.

Value streams and ARTs are the organizational backbone of a SAFe transformation and are critically
important to this journey's success. Attempting to shortcut or breeze through this step would be
like putting your foot on the brake at the same time you are trying to accelerate. But get this one
right, and the organization will be well on its way to a successful transformation.

The workshop also helps stakeholders optimize their designs by considering coordination and
dependencies, Epic distribution, and organizational change impact. This workshop can be run
immediately following a Leading SAFe® course attended by key stakeholders. After the Value
Stream and ART Identification Workshop is complete, the SAFe® Program Increment Planning
Toolkit is used to prepare for the first ART launch.

This facilitator's guide provides a detailed description of a prototypical, Value Stream and ART
identification workshop. It includes considerations for preparation and tips and techniques for
facilitating the event and recommended next steps.

© Scaled Agile, Inc. 1

Contents
Purpose ............................................................................................................................................ 1
Preparing for the Workshop ............................................................................................................. 4
1. Agree on the Scope of the Workshop ..................................................................................... 4
2. Invite the Right People ........................................................................................................... 5
3. Create Alignment Ahead of the Workshop ............................................................................. 5
Deliver Training ......................................................................................................................... 5
Set Expectations........................................................................................................................ 6
Conduct Empathy Interviews .................................................................................................... 6
Agree that there is a Problem to be Solved ............................................................................... 7
4. Prepare the Facilitation Process ............................................................................................. 7
Identify the Facilitation Team.................................................................................................... 7
Review the Facilitation Overview Video .................................................................................... 7
Decide on the Workshop Duration ............................................................................................ 8
Consider Potential Challenges ................................................................................................... 8
Room Setup and Logistics ................................................................................................................. 9
Room Setup .............................................................................................................................. 9
Workbooks ............................................................................................................................... 9
Remote Delivery ............................................................................................................................... 9
Conducting the Workshop .............................................................................................................. 10
Opening .......................................................................................................................................... 10
Module 1: Examine the Importance of Value Streams for Continuous Flow .................................... 11
Activity: Identify Silos.................................................................................................................. 12
MODULE 2: Identify and Validate Value Streams and ARTs ............................................................. 13
Step 1: Identify the Operational Value Stream ................................................................................ 13
Activity: Identify Your Operational Value Streams ....................................................................... 15
Activity: Write an Operational Value Stream Definition .............................................................. 16
Activity: Elaborate the Operational Value Stream ....................................................................... 17
Activity: Identify the Solutions the Operational Value Stream uses or provides to customers ..... 18
Activity: Identify the people who develop and support the Solutions.......................................... 19

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 Activity: Identify Development Value Streams that build the Solutions ....................................... 20
Activity: Realize Development Value Streams into ARTs.............................................................. 23
Validation Testing ....................................................................................................................... 26
Activity: Elaborate a Development Value Stream ........................................................................ 28
Module 3: Define Next Steps .......................................................................................................... 29
Activity: Identify your most opportunistic Agile Release Train ..................................................... 29
Activity: Determine ART launch sequencing ................................................................................ 31
Activity: Identity Next Steps ........................................................................................................ 31
Wrapping up the Workshop ............................................................................................................ 32

© Scaled Agile, Inc. 3

Preparing for the Workshop

The Value Stream and ART Identification workshop provides a structured approach for defining
Development Value Streams and designing Agile Release Trains (ARTs) that cut across existing
departments and silos, thereby reducing organizational friction and improving the flow of value.
Given the potential impact and reach of this new organizational model, specific preparation
activities can go a long way to creating the right conditions for a successful outcome. Broadly these
preparation activities are categorized into four areas. The right mix of these preparation activities
will depend on your particular circumstances.

1. Agree on the Scope of the Workshop

A SAFe portfolio governs a set of Development value streams. Operating under a common
governance model, each value stream provides one or more solutions the enterprise needs to
accomplish its business mission. Within small to medium Enterprises, a single SAFe Portfolio may
govern that organization's entire solution set. In larger Enterprises there will often be the need for
multiple SAFe typically aligned with existing Business Units or Divisions.

Figure 1 Large Enterprises have multiple SAFe Portfolios

Although organizations can use the Value Stream Identification workshop to identify value streams
across multiple SAFe Portfolios, focusing it on a single Portfolio at a time ensures a manageable
scope for this activity. This focus can also help with identifying the correct attendees to invite.
Including a slide or two defining this single Portfolio scope at the beginning of the workshop is
recommended.

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 2. Invite the Right People

The workshop will require a mixture of stakeholders who have detailed knowledge of the
operational processes, the systems, the development teams, and those empowered to support the
changes under consideration. Typically, they fall into the following categories.

• Representatives from the Lean-Agile Center of Excellence and other change agents
who will support the SAFe Implementation and help facilitate the workshop.
• Executives and Leaders who have the authority required to define and support ARTs
that may cut across existing silos.
• Business Owners and stakeholders who understand the flow of work within the
operational value streams.
• Technical Authorities and Development Managers who can identify the impacted
systems and the people who are working on them.

Although there is no limit to the number of people that can participate in the workshop, keeping
attendance below 20 will ensure everyone has an opportunity to have their opinions heard.

3. Create Alignment Ahead of the Workshop

During the workshop, attendees will challenge existing organizational structures and systems, and
they must have some awareness of the discussions that will occur. Without creating proper
alignment and setting expectations, conflicting opinions may block progress. The following
activities can help with this.

SAFe Training
Although the workshop includes slides to review the purpose of organizing around value and the
different types of value streams in SAFe, ideally, the attendees will have received training before
the event, typically in the form of a Leading SAFe class. One recommended pattern is to run the
workshop on the day following the conclusion of that class.

If this is not possible, ensure you provide alternative learning opportunities to build a common
understanding of the SAFe context among attendees. The SAFe Executive Workshop or the
Introducing SAFe Presentation are excellent options for providing an overview of SAFe.

© Scaled Agile, Inc. 5

Set Expectations
The Value Stream and ART Identification toolkit includes an 'Organizing Around Value' briefing that
you can use to go through the workshop's steps with the attendees and set expectations.

If possible, bring all the attendees together for a 30-60 minute run-through of this presentation.
The added benefit is that it will often uncover the need to invite additional attendees as those on
the initial invite list may identify gaps in their knowledge based on the expectations described in
this briefing.

It is also important to emphasize the interactive nature of the workshop. The attendees will be
required to participate throughout the entire event and should, as far as possible, defer any other
commitments they have during that time.

Conduct Empathy Interviews

An additional activity that you may find helpful is to run empathy interviews with each of the
attendees. (A template is included in the Value Stream and ART Identification toolkit and guidance
on conducting the interviews). Empathy interviews are a great way to understand any concerns or
anxieties individuals may have ahead of the event and provides an opportunity to consider how
you might address them during the workshop.

To alleviate some of these concerns, you should stress that the workshop focuses on organizing the
dual operating system's network side. In other words, the virtual organization aligned around
development value streams. The workshop is not looking to reorganize or replace the existing
organizational hierarchies, but rather organize solution builders effectively.

Figure 2 The Workshop helps organize the Value Stream Network side of the dual operating system.

© Scaled Agile, Inc. 6

Agree that there is a Problem to be Solved
Identifying a sense of urgency helps organizations reach a tipping point for starting on their SAFe
journey. Kicking off the Value Stream and ART Identification workshop with a clear understanding
of the 'why' keeps the focus on changing the current product development organizational model.

Consider framing one or two problem statements that describe some of the current challenges.
Capturing the current challenges will also help you evaluate the ART designs that emerge from the
workshop.

A recommended Problem Statement format is to define the WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and IMPACT
e.g.

The current HAND-OFFS that we must manage EVERY RELEASE between the DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS
IN OUR ORGANIZATION lead to DELAYS in our release resulting in lost MARKET SHARE.

If data is available, you may choose to bring this into the workshop as well. For example, you may
have metrics that illustrate current lead times, levels of flow efficiency, and release delays.
Quantifying the cost of delay of these problems by considering the financial impact that delay had
is a powerful approach to building the urgency required to demonstrate that a different
organizational model is needed.

4. Prepare the Facilitation Process

Facilitating a Value Stream and ART Identification Workshop requires a careful balance. On the one
hand, you need to challenge the attendees to think differently and consider a new organizational
model. On the other, you need to allow them the time and space to reach their conclusions at each
workshop step. Rushing them through the process will ultimately lead to outcomes that are
unsupported. In addition to this Facilitators' Guide, the following steps may be helpful as you
prepare to facilitate the workshop.

Identify the Facilitation Team

The Value Stream Identification workshop is available to SPCs, and typically, 1-2 SPCs will lead the
event. Naturally, groups will form around each of the Operational Value Streams under analysis,
and we would recommend you have an additional facilitator working with each of them. (The 'Dry
Run' activity described below will help arrive at this number.)

Review the Facilitation Overview Video

A video going through the process of preparing and facilitating the Value Stream and ART
Identification Workshop is available from the SAFe Community Platform

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Decide on the Workshop Duration
The 'Getting Started' folder of the toolkit contains two different timing guides: 1-day and 2-day
versions. Running the workshop over a single day works well when a small number of operational
value streams are under analysis or are already well understood. The 1-day version can also be
effective when using the workshop to revisit existing value streams and ARTs. The 2-day version is
effective when running it the first time, and the scope includes several operational value streams.

Figure 3 The purpose of the workshop will help determine its duration

Consider Potential Challenges

Ahead of the workshop, the facilitation team and the critical workshop sponsors should meet and
consider the potential challenges that might arise and how to manage these. Using the inputs from
the empathy interviews, you may have uncovered conflicting opinions on how we organize or
perhaps challenges that you are anticipating with changing the existing way of working.

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Room Setup and Logistics

Room Setup
The room needs to be big enough to accommodate all the attendees taking part in an interactive
workshop. Ideally, you should set up the space with tables for groups of 4 – 8 people and a
projector at the front of the room. There are no videos to watch, so audio is not required.

Each of these groups will need:

• Two pieces of flip chart paper

• Sticky notes: Green, Yellow, Blue, Orange
• Pens and Markers

Workbooks
All the attendees will require a printed Value Stream Identification workbook. The toolkit also
includes the workbook along with printing instructions.

Remote Delivery

Given that organizing around value cuts across departmental and geographic boundaries, it is not
uncommon to remotely facilitate this workshop. SAFe Collaborate templates are available to
support the remote delivery of this workshop.

Value Stream Definition Template available here.

Identify Value Streams and ARTs template available here.

Alternatively, you can access these templates directly from the SAFe Collaborate template library.
You can access SAFe Collaborate via the 'Implement' menu option in the SAFe Community
Platform, as shown below.

© Scaled Agile, Inc. 9

 Figure 4 Access SAFe Collaborate

Conducting the Workshop

The Value Stream and ART Identification Workshop is organized into three modules:

1. Examine the Importance of Value Streams for Continuous Flow

2. Identify and Validate Value Streams and ARTs
3. Define Next Steps

This guide provides facilitation tips for each of the activities contained within these modules. The
key messages for each slide in the workshop are included in the presentation's notes section and
are not repeated here.

Opening

Allow time for any necessary introductions, then review the purpose and agenda for the event, the
working agreements, expectations, and other logistical items.

Some additional considerations:

• Given the importance of this workshop, it is not uncommon to have a Senior Executive or
leader give opening remarks and express their support of this initiative.
• Set the workshop's scope in terms of which Portfolio or business units are under
consideration, as mentioned previously.
• If you have captured a problem statement, present it now to help create alignment.
• It can also be helpful to put up a risk sheet somewhere in the room. This will allow
attendees to post risks they uncover or concerns they may have, which you can address
throughout the event.

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 • Ask the attendees for their expectations of the event to help build some momentum for the
challenges they are hoping to solve.

Module 1: Examine the Importance of Value Streams for

Continuous Flow

This first module provides an opportunity to emphasize the importance of organizing around value
and create a baseline of understanding of value streams within SAFe.

At this point in the workshop, don't worry about organizing the attendees into specific groups.
Later in the workshop, we will be more intentional in terms of how they are organized.

Facilitation Guidance:

• As you present the slides, pay close attention to the color of the value streams. Whenever
you see a slide with grey chevrons on it, as shown below, this is a generic value stream, i.e.,
not specifically an operational or development value stream. Green chevrons are used to
represent operational value streams, and blue chevrons illustrate development value
streams.

Figure 5 Grey chevrons represent generic value streams

• Ensure that the attendees are clear on the benefits of organizing around value at the end of
this first module.
• Ensure that the difference between operational value streams and development value
streams is also well understood. Operational value streams represent the steps to deliver
value to the customer, often described as the customer journey. Development value
streams describe the work to build the solutions the operational value streams use, i.e., the
operational systems or the solutions they sell, i.e., the products and services.

© Scaled Agile, Inc. 11

 Figure 6 Operational and development value streams in SAFe

Activity: Identify Silos

The first activity requires the attendees to
identify the existing silos in the organization
(within the workshop's scope) and the impact
each silo has on the flow of value.

There are two essential reasons for doing this

activity.

- First, it ensures that everyone recognizes

that the current way of organizing is not optimized for value flow and provides time to
discuss this further.

- Second, you can revisit these silos and their impact on flow when reviewing the
development value stream definitions later in the workshop. In other words, we can ask the
question, does our new approach for organizing solution builders provide an improvement
over the current functional silos, or have we replicated the problems of the silos by creating
development value streams with dependencies across them?

Facilitation tips:

• Consider having the attendees work individually to start with and then compare and de-
duplicate their ideas with others at their table.
• Take some time to do a readout and keep the output of this activity as you will come back
to it later.

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MODULE 2: Identify and Validate Value Streams and ARTs

This module has five steps, with activities for each of the steps:

1. Identify the Operational Value Streams

2. Identify the Solutions the Operational Value Streams use or provide to customers
3. Identify the people who develop and support the Solutions
4. Identify the Development Value Streams that build the Solutions
5. Realize Development Value Streams into ARTs

This module is the most significant part of the workshop since it comprises all the steps necessary
to identify value streams and organize Agile Release Trains. It is essential to gain alignment after
each step before moving to the next one. If there is disagreement on the outputs, then allow more
time to complete the associated activity. If the attendees can't reach an agreement, one option is
to continue the workshop with groups exploring multiple potential scenarios.

Additionally, it is more important to reach alignment after each step than to force the activities to
fit within the allocated time box. If more time is needed, then the workshop may need to be
continued in a future session.

Step 1: Identify the Operational Value Stream

This first step is to identify the operational value streams within the workshop's scope. Starting
with the operational value streams provides clarity on the value the organization delivers to its
customers and the solutions it relies upon to do this. In turn, this will help to organize the
development efforts needed to build these solutions most effectively.

Identifying operational value streams for some organizations is easy. Many represent the products,
services, or solutions that the company sells. In the larger Enterprise, however, the task is more
complicated. Value flows through various applications, systems, and services—across many parts of
the distributed organization—to both internal and external customers. In these cases, identifying
operational value streams is an essential analytical activity.

There are four categories of operational value streams that will help with this identification
process.

1. Fulfillment for digitally enabled products and services value streams represent the steps
necessary to process a customer request, deliver a product or service, and receive

© Scaled Agile, Inc. 13

 remuneration. Examples include providing a consumer with an insurance product or
fulfilling an eCommerce sales order.
2. Manufacturing value streams convert raw materials into the products customers purchase.
Examples include consumer products, medical devices, and complex cyber-physical systems.
3. Software product value streams offer and support software products. Examples include
ERP systems, SaaS, desktop, and mobile applications.
4. Supporting value streams include end-to-end workflows for various supporting activities.
Examples include the lifecycle for employee hiring and retention, executing the annual
budget process, and completing a full enterprise sales cycle

Figure 7 Types of operational value streams

In terms of the workshop, this has several important implications:

• Going through each of the types, you can ask the attendees, 'Do we have any
Operational Value Streams of this type?'
• Recognizing the manufacturing process as an operational value stream will avoid
mistakenly modeling the manufacturing steps as a development value stream. (This is a
common mistake.) The development value stream for a manufacturing operational
value stream produces the manufacturing process's specifications and inputs.
• The recognition of supporting operational value streams allows the Enterprise to
consider their internal operations and their systems to operate effectively. (In most
organizations, the supporting operational value streams will likely cut across multiple

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 portfolios, so a dedicated workshop analyzing these supporting value streams might be
the best approach.)

Activity: Identify Your Operational Value Streams

This activity aims to gain broad agreement as to the operational value streams that apply in the
workshop's scope. The output of this activity is a name for the operational value stream and a short
description.

Facilitation tips:

● Point the attendees to the questions that can help identify the operational value streams in
the workbook.
● It can help the attendees to read these questions individually and then consider which ones
apply to their organization. You can also focus the attendees on the questions that may
apply in their context.
● The last set of questions, 'Question for Internal IT,' is a valuable way of taking an inside-out
approach and identifying operational work supported by current development activities.
(This is a useful set of questions regardless of the organization's context.)
● Remember, the operational value stream describes how the organization provides value to
the customer. It is the customer journey for obtaining solutions from the Enterprise. A
practical question to ask is, 'What product and services can customers access if they were to
visit our website?'

Figure 8 Questions for Identifying operational value streams

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At this stage in the workshop, do not worry about organizing the attendees into specific groups.
Instead, have each table complete the first exercise in this section by identifying all the operational
value streams relevant in the workshop's context with a short name and description – one sticky
note for each one.

Following this activity, allow each group to present back and create an agreed set of operational
value streams. Expect this to be a lengthy discussion. From this list, decide which operational value
streams will be the ones that are taken forward for analysis during the workshop.

At this point in the workshop, you should form groups around each operational value stream with
individuals who have the requisite knowledge about those value streams. Some attendees will
likely float between multiple groups. Each one of these new groups should have a dedicated
facilitator. If there are only a small number of operational value streams, it may be helpful to have
multiple groups working on the same ones to provide a different perspectives.

Sometimes you may find that you can't reach an agreement; perhaps one group identifies an
operational value stream that another group thinks is several operational value streams. In this
situation, it may be best to take both options forward. It is likely that the right level of granularity
will emerge at a later point when the development value streams are identified.

Activity: Write an Operational Value Stream Definition

The purpose of this activity is for each group to take one of the previously identified operational
value streams and complete the operational value stream template. These should be presented
back to the rest of the workshop attendees on completion of the activity.

Figure 9 Operational value stream definition template

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Facilitation tips:

● The 'Type' in the operational value stream definition template refers to the previously
mentioned operational value stream categories.
● Although it is not necessary to present back after each step of the workshop, this is a good
time to ensure alignment on the operational value stream definitions before going any
further with the workshop.
● After presenting each of the operational value stream templates, each group should
incorporate feedback from the rest of the workshop attendees as needed. Allow some
additional time for this.

Activity: Elaborate the Operational

Value Stream
Now that there is a good understanding of the
operational value streams, the next step is to
clarify the value stream's steps. The operational
activities described in these steps rely on the
solutions built by the development value
streams.

Facilitation tips:

● Advise the attendees to avoid going into too much detail when identifying the operational
value stream steps. 10-12 steps are usually adequate. This activity is not designed to
produce a detailed process map.
● Ask the attendees to consider how work moves from one functional area to another and
highlight this as a separate step.
● If the operational value stream branches, include the step that occurs most often. If the
steps are very distinct, i.e., different teams, systems, etc., consider including both steps.

At this point in the workshop, watch out for groups getting too far ahead without the correct
instructions. It is common for some groups to want to move to the next activity if they finish
ahead of time. If this is the case, then make sure you brief them to ensure they understand the
process.

Typically, we don't get the groups to read out after each step as it just takes too much time.
There are some critical steps later in the workshop where it is worthwhile and these will be
highlighted.

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Activity: Identify the Solutions the
Operational Value Stream uses or
provides to customers
Now that the operational value stream steps are
identified, the next step is to identify the solutions
they use or provide to customers.

Keep in mind that SAFe defines solutions as

products, systems, or services. Therefore, these
solutions could be products that the organization sells to their customers or operational systems
that support business processes.

Facilitation tips:

● Focus on the solutions that have teams or suppliers building and developing them. It does
not include solutions bought off the shelf that the organization does not continue to evolve.
Examples of solutions to exclude in most cases: email, productivity software, ALM tooling,
source control management, etc.
● Some parts of the operational value stream may not be supported by any systems, and
some systems may support multiple steps.
● It is common to identify many operational systems, often in the range of 50+ for a single
operational value stream. In these situations, it can help to group solutions that are tightly
coupled and describe their broad capability. In the finance example threaded throughout
the workshop, the core banking system is one such example of this. This would be multiple
systems in reality, but they work together to provide core banking capabilities.
● For solutions that support multiple operational value streams, you may also choose to
identify this with a mark on the sticky note. This leaves open the possibility of centralizing
one or more systems in a development value stream to support other multiple operational
value streams. Of course, this design option would need to be carefully evaluated. Once
again, the core banking system example might fall into this category.

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Activity: Identify the people who
develop and support the Solutions
With a good understanding of the solutions
required to support operational value streams,
the next step is to identify the people who
develop these solutions. It will be these people
that we want to organize in a more effective way
to ensure we can deliver the value provided by
these solutions on time and aligned to customer
needs.

Facilitation tips:

● Use separate sticky notes for each group of people supporting each solution. If a team
supports multiple solutions, then draw connections to each of them.
● If teams are formed already, then identify them. If an individual(s) is working outside of a
team, leave the 'team' field blank.
● Capture the location as this will be necessary for identifying the ARTs in a later step.
● Although the connection to the supported solution will broadly identify the necessary skills,
recognizing specific skills helps identify potential bottlenecks. For example, when only a
single person can make changes to a particular system.
● When aggregating the total number of people supporting a solution, consider using the
number of FTEs (full-time equivalents). If it is a shared system, identify only those needed to
support the system based on the requirements from the operational value stream that is
under consideration. (It can also be helpful to add the total number of developers of the
system, across all value streams, onto the sticky note.) Don’t forget to include contract staff
that augment your FTE employees.
● Identify suppliers during this activity with separate suppliers on each sticky note, and
connected to the solutions they work on.

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Activity: Identify Development Value Streams that build the Solutions
In this activity, the attendees will identify the development value streams. This section begins with
an opportunity to remind them of the definition of a development value stream. Explain that the
development value stream includes the steps, the flow of information and material, and the people
who develop the operational value stream's solutions.

Figure 10 Development Value Streams

• The development value stream is 'triggered' by a new feature request. In reality, there are
lots of new feature requests moving through the value stream at the same time.

• The 'steps' are the activities needed to define, build, validate, and deploy that value in the
solution's context.

• The bar between steps in the figure above indicates the flow of information and material. It
also implies the typical "hand-offs" of information that occur as people in different stages
add their value to the process. It is NOT intended to reflect the traditional waterfall stage-
gated process: most if not all of these steps are often performed by properly formed Agile
teams.

Following this are slides that provide patterns for forming development value streams based on the
types of operational value streams that they support. These patterns are not exhaustive, and
indeed they can be applied to other operational value stream types in addition to those shown on
each slide.

You may choose to show the patterns that apply in your context, although the other patterns will
also provide valuable inputs to the activity that follows. Some of the points to highlight for each of
the patterns are as follows:

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 • Fulfillment Development Value Stream
pattern: In this pattern, the organization
requires multiple development value
streams to build and support the
operational systems.

One development value stream supports

the front-end loan origination services
and credit scoring; another builds the
core banking services.

In other words, most new features in the loan origination domain will only impact the first
three systems, and new core banking features are isolated to just the core banking system.
So two development value streams are created in the knowledge that there will be minimal
dependencies across them.

• Manufacturing Development Value

Stream pattern: This is a pattern for
manufacturing a significant cyber-
physical system, in this case, a passenger
vehicle.

This pattern shows some fundamental

differences between the types of
development streams that support
digital solutions directly and those that support manufactured products. In this case, the
delivered value is not the product itself but rather the specifications needed to manufacture
and validate the product.

It is important to notice that one development value stream is building the tooling that the
second development value stream uses to carry out their work. This pattern illustrates a
common and valuable separation observed in the cyber-physical domain and also applies to
other operational value stream types.

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 • Software Product Development Value
Stream pattern: The third pattern
supports the development of software
products.

This pattern shows how the most

significant amount of development effort
goes directly into the software solution.
But the solution doesn't sell itself, answer
support calls, or collect its revenue. That responsibility belongs to the operational value
stream dedicated to customer acquisition, internal operations, support, and more. As
shown, software and IT practitioners are also committed to supporting and maintaining
those internal systems.

• Supporting Development Value Stream

pattern: The final pattern is shown in the
context of a supporting operational value
stream. These are the internal and
critical functions and the people and
processes that keep the Enterprise
running.

In this pattern, a single development

value stream develops the ERP system used by multiple operational value streams. This
one-to-many relationship is helpful for modeling systems that cut across operational value
streams in any context.

Facilitation tips:

● It is essential to emphasize the NOTE on

the slide: Do not think about ARTs yet!
Indeed we don't need to concern
ourselves with the size of the
development value streams since it will
be by organizing them into ARTs to keep
each ART below the recommend 125
person threshold.
● Reiterate to the attendees that the
triggers for development value streams are feature requests. Get them to think about the

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 source of these feature requests (in the operational value stream). They can use these
triggers to identify how many development value streams they might have.
● If most requirements necessitate touching all solutions to enable the new functionality,
there is likely a single development value stream. If the solutions are decoupled, there
might be multiple development value streams supporting a single operational value stream.
In any case, development value streams should be mostly or wholly independent and
develop and release solutions without too many intra-value stream dependencies.
● It can help to label each development value stream with the name of the solution that it
supports.

When completing this step, don't forget to refer to the activity outcomes from earlier in the
workshop, where the attendees identified the silos in the organization. Ask the question, have
the development value streams reduced or removed the challenges from these silos? Be careful
that they don't replicate the existing problems and separate the systems into lots of
Development Value Streams with hand-offs and dependencies.

If time permits, it can help get the groups to present at this point, and to gather feedback from
the wider group before going into the ART design step.

Note: In a two-day workshop, this step is often the last activity on day 1.

Realize Development Value Streams into ARTs

In this activity, the attendees will identify the ARTs that will realize the development value streams.
Since some development value streams will be substantial, this exercise also considers different
options to split the value streams.

Ahead of this activity, there is the opportunity to explain why large value streams require multiple
ARTs. Depending on how many people do the work, there are three possible scenarios for the ART
design:

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 Figure 11 Three possible scenarios for ART design

● Multiple development value streams can fit within a single ART – When several related
solutions can be produced with a relatively small number of people, a single ART may
deliver multiple value streams. In this case, the ART is roughly the same as the value stream.
Everyone is in that ART!
● A single development value stream can fit within an ART – Often, a Value Stream can be
realized with 125 or fewer people. Many development groups are already organized into
units of about that size, so this is a typical case. Again, everyone is on the ART.
● Multiple ARTs are required for large development value streams – When a lot of people
are involved, the development value must be split into multiple ARTs, as described in the
next section, and form a Solution Train.

Recommended topologies for splitting large value streams into multiple ARTs are included in the
workshop slides. These are defined as follows:

Stream-aligned ARTs are aligned to a single, valuable stream of work, empowered to build and
deliver customer or user value as quickly, safely, and independently as possible, without requiring
hand-offs to other ARTs to perform parts of the work.

Complicated-subsystem ARTs are responsible for building and maintaining a part of the system
that depends heavily on specialist knowledge, reducing the cognitive load on other ARTs.

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Platform ARTs provide the underlying internal services required by stream-aligned ARTs to deliver
higher-level services or functionalities, thus reducing their cognitive load.

For more guidance, refer to the Team Topologies advanced topic article.

Finally, factors such as geography, spoken language, and cost centers may influence the ART
design. But these are far less desirable.

The activities in this section are in three steps:

1. Review existing Development Value

Steams and ARTs: Often the Value
Stream and ART Identification
Workshop will be used to re-evaluate
existing ART designs. If this is the
case, you can use this activity to allow
the attendees to describe the existing
ART designs.

When capturing the current ART definitions, complete the fields shown on the orange sticky
note (see step 3 below). It is also helpful to specify which development value stream the
ART is part of, the solutions it provides, and the steps in the operational value stream it
supports. This additional detail will help to remind the attendees of any challenges that
exist with the current approach that they might want to avoid in their new designs.

These existing ART designs will be brought into the validation exercise alongside the new
ART definitions before arriving at a preferred option.

2. Brainstorm Options: The next step is

to brainstorm different options for
organizing your ARTs based on the
ART topologies. There is often more
than one solution. Before you get
into the next exercise where the
attendees will be defining these
options, it pays to allow them to
brainstorm potential options based
on the information you have given them about the different organizing patterns.

Of course, one of the deciding factors will often be the constraints that systems
architectures create in terms of ease of use in splitting those across multiple ARTs. If the

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 attendees find that these constraints limit their design options, you may suggest that they
create a desired end state ART design alongside some intermediate designs. These
intermediate designs will move the organization in the right direction while also allowing
some time to address the identified system constraints.

3. Realize ARTs in the Development

Value Streams: Following the
brainstorming session, the idea is to
get down to a reasonable number of
competing options. During this
exercise, it is essential to allow the
attendees to offer several different
design options for the ARTs. They will
use a further validation exercise to
trade off the possibilities.

Facilitation guidance:

• Not everything needs an ART. Small development value streams may be realized by a few
Agile Teams with some lightweight coordination.
• It helps give each potential ART a name associate with the solutions that it supports e.g.
Core Banking ART.
• When adding the details to the sticky note, 'Organized by' refers to slide 39 e.g., the
approach used to split the value streams into ARTs. 'Optimized for' refers to slide 40 and
will help trade-off competing ART designs in the validation testing exercise.
• Consider suppliers during this activity as well. Generally, there are three options. If they are
integrated into the organization's way of working, they may either represent teams on an
ART or form a dedicated supplier ART. Alternatively, they may continue to operate more
traditionally to a set of deliverable milestones. If this is the case, add a note to the sticky
note to make this clear.

Activity: Validation test ART

options
If the previous step of the workshop created
multiple ART options, this validation step can
be used to narrow down these options. Two
versions of this exercise are available. Both a
simple version and a more detailed version
of the validation activity are available to you.

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The validation testing is a very powerful part of the workshop as it recognizes there is rarely a
single perfect design optimized for all scenarios. If manageable, you can run this in front of the
room as one larger group. You will benefit from having multiple viewpoints.

Described below are the three variables that the validation test will consider:

• Coordination and dependencies: This could be a range of things. Would the delivery of new
capabilities cut across the ARTs? Are there components and systems that span the ARTs?.
Are the ARTs able to develop, test, and release independently, or do they need to
collaborate with other ARTs to fulfill these activities?
• Portfolio and Solution Epic distribution and WIP: The consideration here is how many ARTs
are needed to complete significant initiatives. Do some ART designs minimize the
complexities involved in distributing and coordinating this work? Does every Epic require
every ART?
• Organizational change impact: Some of the ART designs will have a more significant impact
on the current organization design. For example, bringing individuals together from
different departments may affect HR policies or the existing accounting systems, asking
developers to work on systems they haven't worked on previously, requiring new hires, etc.
Creating ARTs that span multiple geographies and time zones may also impact current
working arrangements.

Facilitation Tips:

● High (H) is considered less desirable, and Low (L) is more desirable. The lower the amount of
coordination and fewer dependencies will make it easier to deliver value. The lower
distribution of Epics means that ARTs can release value more independently. And less
organizational change impact will be the easier ART to launch in the shortest time.
● The simple version of the validation activity is generally applicable when considering a small
number of distinct ART options.
● The validation spreadsheet is used when there are many ART options to consider. This
spreadsheet also includes space to capture additional tests that you may want to validate
against, e.g., impact on compliance, architectural integrity, suppliers, etc. The spreadsheet
will also automatically calculates the aggregate scoring.
● Caution the attendees against aggregating across all the tests to make their final decision.
Some tests may weigh more heavily into the decision. Instead, they should consider the
scores individually to arrive at a final decision.

One result that may emerge from the validation testing is that the attendees select an intermediate
ART design while maintaining a long-term target state to move towards over time. This strategy can
help to minimize some of the immediate impacts of the change.

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NOTE: It can be useful to prepare and agree to the validation tests that will be used ahead of the
workshop. Arriving at the appropriate criteria to validate the organizations' ARTs can take time.
Furthermore, making this document available from the start will also help the attendees better
understand some of the organization's challenges and provide input into possible solutions as they
progress through the workshop steps.

Activity: Elaborate a Development

Value Stream
Included in the workshop is a template for
elaborating the details associate with each
development value stream.

The development value stream canvas is an

important artifact, and the detail it adds will help
with the communication of the workshop
outcomes across the organization.

Note: It is unlikely that there will be time in the workshop to document all the development value
streams and ARTs identified but rather to ensure the attendees understand the process. The
complete set of development value streams canvases can be completed following the workshop.

Facilitation Tips:

● To illustrate completing the canvas, select a development value stream that is fairly well
understood and run this exercise from the front of the room.
● The development value stream template can be printed on a large format poster or
completed directly into the supplied spreadsheet and projected.
● For some categories, the information may not be available. The Budget, KPIs/Revenue, and
Economic Framework categories will require consideration of the broader portfolio.
● For very large development value streams the Large Solution roles may not have been
identified. These can also be omitted if it is not known.

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 Figure 12 Development Value Stream Canvas

Module 3: Define Next Steps

This final module provides the attendees the opportunity to consider the steps needed to launch
the ARTs they have identified and discuss the next steps.

Activity: Identify your most

opportunistic Agile Release Train
The preferred ART options for each Development
Value Stream are brought forward to this
sequencing ART launch activity.

The first ART is critical for demonstrating success

and building momentum across the organization to
support further change and future ART launches.
Selecting this first ART for transformation is an important step, and successful first ARTs have
several factors in common:

● Leadership Support: Lean-Agile Leaders drive and sustain organizational change by

empowering individuals and teams. Selecting an ART with leadership support is critical for
implementing new ways of working and delivering systemic improvements.

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 ● Collaborating Teams: Teams are the primary construct of the ART. Selecting a first ART
where teams already exist and are collaborating will ensure a solid foundation for scaling.
● Clear Products or Solution: Each ART is aligned around Product or Solution development.
Clarity of the Product or Solution Vision helps to build alignment across the first ART.
● Significant Program Challenge or Opportunity: As Kotter tells us, 'Creating a Sense of
Urgency' is the first step in successful change. A significant program challenge or
opportunity provides this urgency and ensures the first ART has the potential to
demonstrate significant improvements to business outcomes.

Facilitation Tips:

● Have the workshop attendees work as a single group now, contributing their opinions and
discussing until they arrive at an agreed score for each category.
● Duplicate sticky notes for the ARTs, rather than remove those that are part of the value
stream and ART identification activities.
● If the attendees are sequencing many ARTs consider extending the scoring to 1-5. This will
avoid too many ARTs with the same aggregate score.

Comparing the ARTs can be challenging. The following statements can help provide a scale for
comparison:

Leadership Support

1. Leadership mindset is based on traditional thinking

2. Leaders are trained in Lean and Agile
3. Leaders are starting to exhibit Lean-Agile mindset and behaviors
4. Leaders advocate, coach and train other in Lean-Agile.
5. Lean-Agile mindset and principles exemplify the culture and influence every decision.

Collaborating Teams

1. Traditional, siloed functional development

2. Some Agile Teams are established
3. Cross-functional Agile teams apply common roles and practices
4. Agile teams are performing well, and flow is established
5. Agile teams have achieved operational excellence and are continuously improving

Significant challenge or Opportunity

1. No reason to change has been identified

2. Anecdotal evidence that things are not as good as they could be
3. Recent experiences of program challenges
4. Current programs are facing significant measurable challenges

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 5. Benchmarked data showing poorer performance than the competition

Clear Products or Solution

1. Lack of clear Product Strategy

2. Disagreement as to the Product Strategy
3. Product Vision exists but rarely updated
4. Vision and Roadmap communicated often
5. Vision and Roadmap updated and communicated often

Activity: Determine ART launch

sequencing
And then there is a final vital decision to make.
Should the organization launch multiple ARTs at
once, or would they be better served to stagger
the launches?

Facilitation Tips:

In addition to the considerations mentioned on the slides, some other things you can prompt the
attendees to consider.

• What is the starting point of the ARTs? If they already have well-formed Agile Teams, then
maybe it is possible to go a bit faster. If they are starting from a position of no existing agile
team, they may need to take a staggered approach.
• What kind of support is available to help with the ART launches. How many SPCs does the
organization have access to if they did decide to launch multiple ARTs at one?
• Has the organization ever launched an ART before? Do they have a good understanding of
the patterns needed to do this successfully? If this will be the first time, then again, the
staggered approach might make sense.

Activity: Identity Next Steps

The final activity is used to wrap up the
workshop by discussing the next steps.

You should use this activity to summarize the

decisions that have been made throughout
the workshop and review any outstanding
decisions or actions that have been taken.

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Facilitation Tips:

• Ensure there is alignment among the workshop attendees on the decisions made during the
workshop.
• Discuss how best to communicate the workshop's outputs to the wider organization and
where to store the various artifacts created.
• Try to get some rough agreement on the dates for the ART launches that the attendees
prioritized during the workshop (a specific date(s) is best – it creates a forcing function that
enables the organization to take immediate actions in support of the first ART launch).
• At this point in the workshop, it's unlikely that there is much time remaining for detailed
implementation planning. Instead, organize a time to meet again and begin creating the
implementation plan and agree on who needs to be involved.

Wrapping up the Workshop

That concludes this critical step on the SAFe implementation roadmap, Identifying Value Streams
and ARTs. Remind the attendees that this is not a once and done. ART designs need to evolve as
opportunities for improvements emerge or as the strategy changes. When that happens, the
workshop can be used to re-evaluate existing development value streams and ART designs. Indeed
the first ARTs launched may simply be a first step on the journey toward the desired end state that
will take time to achieve.

The next step in the implementation roadmap is Prepare for ART Launch. The following article
provides guidance for completing this step successfully. Good luck on your SAFe journey!!

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