ICON Agility’s Proven Approach to Value Stream Mapping and PI Planning

Agile transformation at scale requires more than just team-level optimization. To achieve true enterprise agility, organizations must align the flow of work to the flow of value—and ensure that execution stays connected to strategic goals.

At ICON Agility Services, we help organizations do exactly that through a proven, practical approach to Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and Program Increment (PI) Planning.

These two foundational practices create the structure and clarity large enterprises need to accelerate delivery, improve coordination, and realize measurable outcomes.

Why Value Stream Mapping Is Step One

Most organizations are structured around departments, not value. This leads to handoffs, delays, and misalignment between what customers need and how teams work.

ICON’s Value Stream Mapping Workshops help organizations:

• Identify end-to-end value streams based on customer outcomes
• Map current-state bottlenecks, delays, and disconnects
• Design future-state flows that support Agile Release Trains (ARTs)
• Define meaningful operational metrics and lead time improvements

Our expert facilitators engage leaders, architects, product managers, and delivery teams to co-create a shared understanding of how value flows—then build the foundation for launching or optimizing ARTs.

Connecting Value Streams to Execution with PI Planning

Once value streams are identified, successful execution hinges on the ability to plan and deliver in cadence across multiple teams. That’s where SAFe PI Planning comes in—and ICON is a national leader in helping organizations do it right.

We bring the experience and structure needed to make PI Planning productive, energizing, and outcome-driven, not chaotic or ceremonial.

How ICON Supports PI Planning:

Pre-PI Planning Readiness

• Train key roles (RTEs, POs, PMs, architects) on expectations
• Facilitate feature readiness and prioritization
• Ensure tooling (e.g., Jira, Rally) supports the event

Expert Facilitation

• Facilitate PI Planning events either onsite or virtually
• Keep sessions aligned to timeboxes, collaboration, and commitments
• Surface and resolve cross-team dependencies in real-time

Post-Planning Coaching & Follow-Through

• Guide teams through risk ROAMing, PI objectives, and confidence voting
• Support ART Syncs, Inspect & Adapt, and metric tracking
• Provide coaching to help organizations mature the practice over time

Why Organizations Trust ICON

With 32+ years of Agile experience, ICON is the first-ever Scaled Agile Partner and a current SAFe Platinum Transformation Partner. We’ve supported hundreds of organizations in launching and optimizing ARTs, with a unique focus on:

• Business and IT collaboration
• Practical enablement, not framework rigidity
• Tooling support (Jira, Rally, Aha!) that aligns with SAFe events
• Deep coaching bench to guide Agile leaders and teams beyond the planning room

Real Results from Real Clients

A Fortune 100 healthcare client partnered with ICON to map value streams across five divisions. Within six months, they launched three ARTs with consistent, high-quality PI Planning events. Results included:

• 30% increase in on-time feature delivery
• 20% reduction in team handoffs
• Full alignment between product strategy and execution

Take the First Step Toward Strategic Agility

Whether you’re just starting to explore value stream alignment or looking to improve your PI Planning experience, ICON Agility Services brings the clarity, experience, and support you need to succeed.

📩 Schedule a Value Stream or PI Planning discovery session
📘 Learn more at www.iconagility.com
🔍 Read our PI Planning insights blog:
5 Things to Know Before Your First PI Planning
Top PI Planning Challenges and How to Solve Them