Jen’s Agile Cliff Notes — SAFe PI Objectives and Iteration Goals

In a previous column, I discussed how to write SMART Goals. The following column dives in a bit deeper as to how we can use the SMART Goal format when writing PI Objectives and Iteration Goals.

Every Program Increment (specifically at PI Planning), we craft and discuss our PI Objectives. What about Iteration Goals? Let’s dive into each a bit more.

What is a SAFe PI Objective?

It’s a summary of the business and technical goals, written in a common language for business and technology stakeholders, yet the exercise is often misunderstood by teams. (I’ll offer some insight in a bit!)

So Jen…what things are a PI Objective, um, not…?

They should not be confused with a set of fixed, inflexible, long-term deliverables. While they should relate to a feature, they are not a feature. PI Objectives are not one-to-one with a feature. (They can be a group of stories. A feature can have multiple PI Objectives too!)

What are the benefits of solid PI Objectives?

Well, they align the ART with a shared mission. They communicate and highlight each team’s contribution to the overall business value for the PI (and yes, we do assign a business value to each PI Objective, too).