In February, ABB Power Grids, Grid Integration received Leading SAFe® training from Frontit consultant Kristina Rosén. The training was part of an initiative that started in October to meet a need to increase knowledge in scaled agile development and find new, more efficient ways of working.
Karin Thorburn, who is one of the driving forces of the SAFe® initiative and works on the release train level of the SAFe model, says “one of the advantages of SAFe is the willingness to experiment. ABB has that culture, but the principle of testing and experimentation is applied even more now that they have started working according to SAFe. This results in greater efficiency and gives them the ability to take a step back and reconsider things”.
The employees who participated in the training numbered about 20 and have various leading roles in ABB Power Grids, Grid Integration.
“We have applied parts of SAFe for a long time, but all of our teams have worked in slightly different ways. Now, with Kristina’s help, we are getting the tools we need to complete the big picture,” says David Strinnholm, R&D Team Manager.
The participants also included Global Technology Manager Björn Jacobson, who highlighted the importance of the transparency the SAFe model provides. Giving all stakeholders a complete picture of the requirements placed on R&D as a whole usually prompts these stakeholders to be better about prioritizing what they need in order to make things easier for R&D instead of saying that everything is important Leading SAFe training for ABB.