SAFe Train Engineers: Metrics - Activity Accounting

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As a Scaled Agile Framework RTE (Release Train Engineer), one of your primary goals/responsibilities is to measure and track the improvement of the teams and the train.  One of the ways to do this is through Activity Accounting.  Essentially, this is an assessment from product developers stating the percentage of time they spend on each measurable activity (the important ones).  We then want to help the teams turn these numbers from many of the non-value add activities towards the direct value add, like innovation and planning

First, to measure these things.  Work with the teams to figure out what makes sense, but an example to maybe start with is:

• Defect fixing
• Code Integration
• Planning
• Branching/Merging
• Manual Testing
• Creating/maintaining automated tests
• Innovation
• Other?

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Have your teams determine how to measure their selected items from a % of total time spent, for example, Integration might be 10%, manual testing 30% and automated test creation might be 15%, etc.  Don’t worry about actual hours, just percentages.  Then, assess that data in the I&A workshops in your planning events.  Which ones stick out as issues?  Which ones would add the most benefit if improved upon (usually reduced)?  How can we shift from non-value add (branching, defect fixing, etc) to value add (planning, innovation, etc)?  Share these numbers, goals, and plans with your leadership to show them where you are now (transparency), and what your targets are and your plan to get there.  Incorporate these improvement efforts into your planning event as objectives and help the business owners understand the business value of these items.

One other thing, be fairly aggressive on these goals.  For example, improving automated testing by 1% is pretty weak, try for a higher number that seems challenging but still reachable.  If you don’t make that number, that’s ok, you will learn much more about what is keeping you from those targets, and these newly discovered impediments can be addressed as new objectives in the next planning event.

If this sounds like a lot of work, it is.  But it’s well worth it.  If you say that you don’t have time to add this to your plate, look closely at what’s on your plate.  This measurement practice is the protein and vegetables you need, a lot of the other stuff is just empty carbs and should be prioritized out or delegated to someone else.  Your true value as an RTE is in helping the train improve, using Activity Accounting is one significant way to do so.

(Much credit for these concepts go to Humble, Molesky and O’Reilly in their excellent book “Lean Enterprise”.  I recommend every train engineer have a well-read copy at hand)