The Facilitator’s Guide to SAFe® AG I L E R E L E A S E T R A I N (A R T ) S Y N C Purpose and Topics Purpose The ART may choose to combine product owner (PO) sync and coach sync into a single event. In this circumstance, the event is called ART sync. This is an opportunity to bring ART leadership together with important representatives from the teams, focus on features and progress towards planning interval (PI) objectives, and align teams on a train. Purpose and Topics Preparation Checklist Tips and Tricks Overcoming Challenges Topics ART syncs can be held as often as needed and the duration can be adjusted as needed. The RTE (release train engineer) can facilitate this event or work with scrum masters and team coaches, and the product team to jointly facilitate ART syncs. Some topics for an ART sync include: • Discussing features teams are working on and highlighting dependencies, blockers, or risks • Asking if any POs/product management (PMs) need to suggest scope adjustments to features • Reviewing deployment and release plans • Aligning all teams to the ART planning board • Preparing for PI planning • Reviewing progress towards ART-level PI objectives After the agreed-upon timebox for the ART sync with the whole group, time should be reserved for meet-afters on any topic that requires deeper discussion. Learn more: https://www.scaledagileframework.com/planning-interval/ The Facilitator’s Guide to SAFe® AG I L E R E L E A S E T R A I N (A R T ) S Y N C Preparation Checklist Facilitator preparation Establish when your ART will hold ART syncs throughout the PI and schedule these event times. Make sure POs, PMs, scrum masters and team coaches, and important stakeholders know when these syncs will be held. Ensure that every team can be represented at ART sync by a PO, scrum master or team coach, and/or team lead. Invite representatives from engineering and architecture to the meeting, as they have key input about how to move the work forward. Decide who will facilitate each ART sync. Facilitation may be a shared responsibility. Whomever is facilitating any part of an upcoming ART sync should know in advance that they will be facilitating. Communicate the meeting topics to the attendees ahead of the next sync. Create an adjustable but re-usable ART sync agenda template, and make sure you update it before the upcoming sync to facilitate an organized flow of discussion. Attendee preparation Bring any requested information (e.g. identified risks, blocks, suggested changes). Share briefly and plan to stay after the timebox in case you are involved in any meetafters identified during the sync. Report any outputs back to your team (e.g. adjustments to work, priority, or scope). Learn more: https://www.scaledagileframework.com/planning-interval/ Purpose and Topics Preparation Checklist Tips and Tricks Overcoming Challenges The Facilitator’s Guide to SAFe® AG I L E R E L E A S E T R A I N (A R T ) S Y N C Tips and Tricks Put the ART sync notes in an ongoing shared document ahead of the meeting. This helps attendees in remote and in-person settings reference shared information. Purpose and Topics Preparation Checklist Tips and Tricks Overcoming Challenges Employ key focal points to drive the meeting—the ART backlog, features in the agile work management tool or on the ART planning board or PI objectives. In a remote setting, you may want to share a screen with these items on them and refer to it often. Take short breaks for stretching, getting a snack, or providing a mental rest, especially if your ART sync is a long event. Create a shared location for attendees to share prepared information, or a template guiding them on what or how much to share. Ask everyone to mute themselves when not speaking in a remote setting. Ensure that you can mute participants joining remotely so that others aren’t hearing background noise while trying to engage. Identify a remote- or distributed-friendly way for attendees to ask questions or share reactions (e.g. some video conferencing platforms have a raise-hand button). Agree on a signal or word that can help move a lengthy conversation into a meet-after. Using the Meeting Creatively • Rotate facilitators for each ART sync or assign a different facilitator for different portions of one ART sync. • Seek out creative ways to support engagement and feedback. Many remote meeting platforms allow participants to type chat items, offer polls, reaction buttons, and even support quizzes or games as means of building engagement and collecting feedback. • Dedicate time in the ART sync to celebrate successes. For example, have attendees share what they have seen the ART do well since the last ART sync. • Help the team come up with a fun or energizing meeting closer. Examples include a huddle, a team saying, or giving appreciation. Learn more: https://www.scaledagileframework.com/planning-interval/ The Facilitator’s Guide to SAFe® AG I L E R E L E A S E T R A I N (A R T ) S Y N C Overcoming Challenges Let’s face it; not everything goes perfectly all the time. In a fast-paced business environment, change is the only constant. It can be difficult to move your team forward when disagreements or conflicts occur. Below are some common areas where scrum masters or team coaches can succeed in the face of adversity. Purpose and Topics Preparation Checklist Tips and Tricks Overcoming Challenges P OT E N T I A L I S S U E S Details of enabler work are not available Ways to overcome: Invite system architect to discuss current and upcoming enabler work and its importance in ensuring sustainable value delivery. ART sync turns into a status report to stakeholders Ways to overcome: Re-orient the participants around the purpose of the event and facilitate it tightly. You can also ask stakeholders to join the system demo to get a full update on the working solution that the ART delivered. Learn more: https://www.scaledagileframework.com/planning-interval/ The event is too long Ways to overcome: Consider adjusting the event cadence so that attendees can sync more often and more efficiently. This challenge can also be addressed with tighter facilitation.
