The GROWTH stage empowers the team to evolve independently and influence others.

Agility framework for building agile enterprise team, without a scrum master or agile coach in or outside SAFe.

Stage 5: GROWTH— End-of-Stage Checklist

By the end of this stage, the team should:

Follow a T-Shaping Plan to grow skills across roles, reduce silos, and build adaptability.
Continuously improve the SDLC using feedback, retrospectives, and learning from other teams.
Expand the Micro–Macro Missions Model to include strategic initiatives beyond the team’s scope.
Use the P&T Value Checklist regularly to retire or improve processes and templates that don’t deliver value.
Run cross-team retrospectives and maintain knowledge-sharing loops to spread learning across the organization.
Participate in high-level planning and improvement work that influences the wider business, not just the immediate team.

Team

The team waits for work to be given to them → The team owns outcomes, not work items.

Adopt the Micro–Macro Missions Model to distribute outcome ownership across individuals.

Delivery

Releases are unstructured or still managed by leadership. → The team owns the full development lifecycle.

Map and define ownership of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)..

Leadership

The team is dependent on leadership to make decisions. → Transfer decision authority from leadership to the team.

Run a Power Swap Workshop to shift decisions from leaders to the team.

Processes & Templates (P&T)

Leadership or Scrum Masters own all processes and templates. → The team owns and manages all P&T.

Use the Ownership Selector to determine readiness for team-managed processes.
Start with Scrum Master-owned P&T, then gradually decentralize.

SAFe-Specific Guidance

In SAFe, Product Owner and Scrum Master roles are tied to ceremonies and ownership.
Over-reliance on these roles can limit the team’s growth.
Rotate team members through ceremonies to build broader ownership.

Bottom Line

The team depends on leadership to own the system development life cycle work (SDLC). → Shifting ownership of work, SDLC & P&T to the team to enable true ownership.

The team now owns outcomes, SDLC, processes, templates, and ceremonies.

Summary

The GROWTH stage empowers the team to evolve independently and influence others.

Stage 5: GROWTH— End-of-Stage Checklist

By the end of this stage, the team should:

Follow a T-Shaping Plan to grow skills across roles, reduce silos, and build adaptability.

Continuously improve the SDLC using feedback, retrospectives, and learning from other teams.

Expand the Micro–Macro Missions Model to include strategic initiatives beyond the team’s scope.

Use the P&T Value Checklist regularly to retire or improve processes and templates that don’t deliver value.

Run cross-team retrospectives and maintain knowledge-sharing loops to spread learning across the organization.

Participate in high-level planning and improvement work that influences the wider business, not just the immediate team.

Team

The team waits for work to be given to them → The team owns outcomes, not work items.

Adopt the Micro–Macro Missions Model to distribute outcome ownership across individuals.

Delivery

Releases are unstructured or still managed by leadership. → The team owns the full development lifecycle.

Map and define ownership of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)..

Leadership

The team is dependent on leadership to make decisions. → Transfer decision authority from leadership to the team.

Run a Power Swap Workshop to shift decisions from leaders to the team.

Processes & Templates (P&T)

Leadership or Scrum Masters own all processes and templates. → The team owns and manages all P&T.

Use the Ownership Selector to determine readiness for team-managed processes.

Start with Scrum Master-owned P&T, then gradually decentralize.

SAFe-Specific Guidance

In SAFe, Product Owner and Scrum Master roles are tied to ceremonies and ownership.

Over-reliance on these roles can limit the team’s growth.

Rotate team members through ceremonies to build broader ownership.

Bottom Line

The team depends on leadership to own the system development life cycle work (SDLC). → Shifting ownership of work, SDLC & P&T to the team to enable true ownership.

The team now owns outcomes, SDLC, processes, templates, and ceremonies.

We grow the team.

Until they are Agile.