SAFe – Business Owners

SAFe has business owner’s roles, which are being played through three to five groups of stakeholders. These people have shared governance, fiduciary, ROI responsibility, and efficacy for the Agile Release Train delivered value. In every train, the role is being carried out by the people who are suited enough for this kind of job. Aside from that, they have other responsibilities in every stage such as before PI Planning, during PI Planning, Assigning business worth, at adapt and inspect, PI Execution, and other working responsibilities.
Before PI Planning
This period is considered as Business Owners business time because they have a lot of things do such as participating during prior-PI Planning, understanding all the business goals and objectives, helping the stakeholders, Product Management, System Architects, and Train Release Engineer comprehend and understand the set goals, and providing the context of the business to the Milestones, external dependencies, and suppliers. When these people do not make these responsibilities the next step or process will be tremendously affected.
During the PI Planning
The roles of these individuals are very important during this process as they deliver related business context elements, play a major role when it comes to the review of draft plan in which they need to understand its bigger picture and whether or not the plans achieve the recent business goals, circulate the process, communicate the priorities of the business to various teams, keep the stakeholders’ alignment and agreement, and actively join with the review on the management and problem-solving session. With these obligations of the Business Owners from SAFe, these should be properly done so that everything will go accordingly and hassle-free.
Assigning Business Worth
The assignment of business worth especially during planning stage gives the business owners, the team, and the stakeholders a salient face-to-face dialogue. Aside from that, it provides a chance to enhance a personal rapport between the Business Owners and the Agile Teams in which they will be able to gain a deep understanding wherein the mutual commitment is being based. Also, they will better realize the true business goals and their relative worth.
At adapt and inspect
The adapt and inspect workshop can be considered as the larger cadence-based chance wherein the Agile Release Train (ART) will be able to make deeper reflections and to solve a wide variety of predicaments that they will face along their ways. These impediments cannot be solved without the business owners’ involvement. In the workshop, business owners evaluate the actual value of businesses while considering the plan. Furthermore, they make an active participation on problem solving.
PI Execution
Apart from that, their roles do not stop. As a matter of fact, they play a significant obligation during this process such as attending to the system demonstration that will view the development which can provide feedback, attending Iteration planning, attending iteration Retrospective sessions, and others.
Other responsibilities
These include providing a feedback on the Solution Demo, addressing impediments, joining in the Post-PI Planning, assisting trains in adjusting the Agile Release Trains PI plans. With all of these responsibilities of the business owners, they have an important role all throughout the process.

— Slimane Zouggari