Leading a SAFe course [What to Know]

Are you looking for a new career opportunity helping to coach leaders and companies? Do you enjoy the world of business and finding ways to make them work better for both stakeholders and employees?

By taking a Leading SAFe course, you’ll become equipped to guide organizations both large and small into a more agile system of management. This leads to a number of huge benefits for the company’s who successfully make the transition.

And it also provides a new career opportunity for you. You will then be equipped to coach companies, working with their management and individual teams to create a healthier, more effective workplace.

Wondering what goes into a Leading SAFe course? Keep reading to learn how to get certified today. 

What Is SAFe Certification?

SAFe stands for Scaled Agile Framework. The purpose of SAFe is to help companies transform their current organization into a lean, agile one.

It’s the process of turning a traditional organizational structure, which is lead from the top-down, on its head. Instead, a lean or agile organization is made up of different teams aimed at delivering value in every area of the company. 

The focus is put on a people-centered culture, faster decision-making through empowerment, and using modern, efficient technology. 

Ultimately, this new environment leads to a more productive company and greater growth. Agile management creates a healthier, empowering environment that attracts top talent instead of repelling it. 

But it takes a lot of work for a large organization to make this transition. In order to do it, certified professionals are needed in order to guide and facilitate this transition. 

This coaching makes the transition much more efficient. Plus, with their help, organizations are likely to experience long-term transformation, rather than reverting back to old ways. 

Why Should You Get SAFe Certified?

So if you’d like to work with organizations to guide them through this process, you can become a certified SAFe coach or SAFe Agilist. 

The SAFe system is in demand all over the world. Smaller organizations, under 250 people are looking to implement it. But other, much larger organizations are also looking for these solutions. This includes many of the top companies in the US at the moment. 

Many companies are looking to train and certify their own employees in agile management, in order to bring transformation on the inside. Or this will help facilitate long-term change after they stop working with an external coach.

Many others are looking to exit the role at their current office in order to become an external coach, working with a number of different companies over the course of their career.

As a result, SAFe Certified coaches are in high demand. New coaches cannot be trained fast enough. If you are looking for a new career, or to assume a greater role at your current company, then SAFe certification is for you. 

How to Get SAFe Certified

The first step in becoming SAFe certified is to become a student. You can take a two-day Leading SAFe course. After the course, you can take the required exam for a chance to receive your certification.

After passing the exam, you will know enough to begin coaching organizations into agile management. However, it really helps if you also have experience working within an organization that already uses it.

This gives you more hands-on experience with the management system. While not a requirement, it often helps you to find SAFe coaching work, as many companies prefer to see this type of experience before bringing you on. 

SAFe Certification Course

So what goes into a Leading SAFe course? You can expect to take two or three full days to make it through the class.

Courses are live-taught, with a majority taking place online at the moment. So while you’ll need to pay for the course fee, at least there are no travel and lodging expenses to take an in-person course. 

They are typically available multiple times per month, making it easy to work it into your busy schedule. 

Course Content

So what are you going to learn in the course? The main goal is to learn how to apply the SAFe framework of agile management and development in an enterprise. This could be a medium to a large company. Or it can be a government organization, non-profit organization, or other.

It starts with the mindset and principles that are the foundation of the SAFe system. You’ll learn about the traditional method of building a company and how to articulate the lean, agile way of organizing a company.

You’ll also learn how to work with leadership in order to map out a plan for each individual organization. Because every organization you will work with will be different, there isn’t one specific format. Once the goals have been decided, you’ll also learn how to create sprints and program increments in order to track the progress of the transformation. 

The course is packed full of other engaging content. Reference materials will likely be provided by the course facilitator as well. 

Passing the Exam

During the course, your goal is to learn enough to pass the exam, which is available just after the final session of the course. Depending on the course provider, you will probably take the course directly online. 

These are typically multiple-choice formats, which allow between one and two hours for completion. You aren’t guaranteed to pass the course, so make sure to pay attention and take notes during the course.

If you fail, you may be able to retake the test right away. If you fail again, there might be a mandatory waiting period before another attempt is allowed. Retakes generally cost extra.

Launching Into Your SAFe Career

With so many benefits to becoming SAFe certified, there’s no reason not to start today. Especially since it only takes a few days to make it happen.

If you plan to branch out on your own, it’s likely you’ll need to pay for the course yourself. But this can be viewed as an investment into your education and career.

But for those who plan to apply their SAFe certification to their current job, your employer may be able to cover the SAFe course fees. Whether you are starting a new career or taking your current job to the next level, SAFe certification will guarantee a fulfilling path forward.

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