May 30, 2019
You’re a new SPC gearing up to teach your first class in the Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®), i.e., formal training with lots of slides. You’re probably a bit nervous, maybe unsure about how to present all this information in an engaging, relevant way.
Want some advice? Preparation is key to success. Take it from two battle-hardened SAFe veterans who’ve taught thousands of students—going in prepared gives you greater self-confidence, more flexibility, and an opportunity to be more strategic with what you and your students will get out of the class. The end result? Grateful students who walk away feeling confident that SAFe will work for their organization, and maybe even inspired to teach their own classes someday.
So how can you go in prepared? To help you out, we developed a list of tips for new SAFe instructors, a list that we would’ve wanted at the beginning of our teaching careers. These suggestions are all tried and true, and we hope that they will help you motivate the newest crop of Lean-Agile change agents.
To be the most effective communicator, you have to know your audience. What are their mindsets and where are they coming from? Research their organizations. Find out what their Value Streams are. Ask them about their businesses and the features they’re working on. If you can’t research ahead of time, then greet your students as they walk in and ask some questions. Just a few minutes of learning about your students can help you create a much more meaningful context for them.
The Trainer Guide comes with each SAFe course when you purchase the course license. You can find it in the “Getting Started” folder. One of the best ways to learn the materials is through this Guide, which contains all the slides and speaker notes. We recommend that you study it twice over before teaching your first class.
When you’re new to the material, there will be things you don’t understand. For me (Randy), it was U-Curve optimization. I had to study it and phone a friend or two before it made sense. If you’re unsure about a concept, reach out to your network, maybe even a previous instructor.
Most course modules have a video or two. What happens if you don’t have network access? Switching back and forth between the course PowerPoint and a web browser is awkward and not a good option. For a smoother approach, embed the videos in the PowerPoint slides before you start class. Duplicate the PowerPoint slides with the links, download the videos, and then insert the videos onto the duplicated slides with AutoPlay set.
There are concepts your students just aren’t going to understand without some connection or context. Think about real stories or analogies from your own work to help students make the connections. If you can’t find your own stories, then borrow someone else’s.
If you can, pair with someone who has taught the class before. We recommend creating a system that allows for pairing, if you don’t have one already. Can’t pair? Then watch someone else teach the class and take notes. Even though we’ve taught more than a thousand students, we still watch others teach to learn valuable tricks and stories from them.
Get the room set with supplies, posters, etc. the day or night before. By strategically placing furniture and materials to optimize learning and reduce distractions, you are setting your students up for better outcomes.
Being able to deliver and manage your training is critical. Let’s face it—our attention can wander after about 10-20 minutes. So how can you engage (or reengage) your students?
If you’re lucky, your students will be highly engaged and have lots of questions. That’s a blessing and a curse. What are some ways to stay on track?
Every class has a lull where the students start to get groggy. Prepare a few activities to get them up and moving.
If you’re interested in learning more, invite us to train with you or come to one of our public classes. Some ICON coaches have been teaching SAFe courses as early as 2013…that’s a lot of teaching experience!
Scott has over 20 years of experience in implementing process improvement within Software Development companies. His foundations in Agile, eXtreme Programming (XP), and Scrum have enabled him to deliver products and solutions for enterprises around the globe.
He began the exploration of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) and became an SPC in 2014. Scott specializes in integrating Scrum Teams into larger Agile Release Trains that are focused on Value Delivery, organizational OKRs, and KPIs. Scott has led many SAFe Transformations and enjoys helping large-scale enterprises appreciate transformational benefits including; increased speed to market, improved quality products, and higher employee engagement.
Randy is a Consultant, Trainer, Agile Transformation Coach, and SPCT. He believes that a transformation is about more than adopting a framework—it’s also about meeting people where they’re at to help them create an optimal human system that can happily and effectively deliver value to customers. Randy has more than 2 decades of experience in the industry and has worked in several sectors, including tech, manufacturing, shipping, financial, and medical firms, and he has served many roles like developer, test management, release management, support, etc. He started using Agile principles and values with a team in 1999, got his SPC in 2014, and completed his SPCT in May 2019.