The most likely planning anti-pattern in this scenario is when prioritization by Product Management is performed autonomously rather than collaboratively. This is evident from the issue raised during the scrum of scrums, where a Product Manager presents a priority wish list that does not align with the already established Feature prioritization.
In SAFe, it is crucial that prioritization is a collaborative effort involving Product Management, Business Owners, and other stakeholders to ensure alignment and shared understanding of the priorities. The SAFe principle of alignment emphasizes this collaborative approach1. When Product Management operates in isolation, it can lead to misalignment with the rest of the Agile Release Train (ART), causing disruptions and inefficiencies during Program Increment (PI) Planning2.
To prevent such anti-patterns, SAFe recommends that:
Product Management works closely with Business Owners and other stakeholders during the Continuous Exploration process to align on vision, roadmap, and backlogs.
During PI Planning, the RTE (Release Train Engineer) facilitates events where Product Management presents the vision and top features to all teams, ensuring transparency and alignment2.
The scrum of scrums, facilitated by the RTE, is a platform for raising and addressing such issues, promoting collaboration and problem-solving among teams2.
By following these practices, SAFe ensures that prioritization is a collective effort, reflecting the needs and inputs of all relevant parties, and supporting the successful execution of PI Planning.
