Inspect & Adapt (I&A) is where improvement becomes real in the Scaled Agile Framework. It’s the moment when teams pause to look at what’s working, what isn’t, and what needs to change before the next Program Increment (PI).

For Certified SAFe Agilists, facilitating an I&A workshop is not just another meeting. It’s a structured opportunity to drive measurable improvement across teams and align everyone around continuous growth.

Let’s unpack how skilled SAFe Agilists make this workshop meaningful, data-driven, and results-oriented.

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Understanding the Purpose of Inspect & Adapt

At its core, the I&A workshop is a system-level retrospective. It ensures that agility doesn’t stop at the team level but extends across the entire Agile Release Train (ART).

The main goals are:

• To evaluate the solution’s performance against business objectives.

• To analyze systemic issues that impact flow and delivery.

• To define improvement actions that raise the bar for the next PI.

A SAFe Agilist, equipped with the right mindset and frameworks from their Leading SAFe Agilist Certification training, ensures these objectives don’t get lost in routine reporting or surface-level discussions.

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The Role of a SAFe Agilist in an I&A Workshop

Certified SAFe Agilists act as facilitators of clarity. They balance structure with openness — giving space for every team to contribute while maintaining focus on data and outcomes.

Here’s how they typically approach the workshop:

1. Setting the Stage with Purpose and Context

Before the workshop begins, the SAFe Agilist clarifies why everyone is there.
They restate the goal: to inspect the product increment and adapt processes to improve performance in the next PI.

They also share the agenda and key metrics upfront — so discussions stay data-driven rather than opinion-driven. This ensures everyone, from Product Managers to Release Train Engineers (RTEs), enters with a shared understanding of what success looks like.

2. Driving Data-Based Insights

The workshop usually starts with a PI System Demo, where teams showcase what they’ve delivered over the last increment. This provides tangible evidence of progress and helps participants connect the dots between features delivered and business value achieved.

A SAFe Agilist ensures the demo remains focused on outcomes, not just outputs.
They guide teams to discuss why certain objectives were met or missed, and what the data says about flow efficiency, predictability, and customer satisfaction.

Common metrics used:

• Planned vs. Actual Business Value

• PI Predictability Measure

• Defect Trends

• Velocity Stability

• Cycle Time and Flow Metrics

When handled well, this part sets a transparent tone for honest conversations later.

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The Structured Flow of an Effective I&A Workshop

The workshop typically runs through three main phases: PI System Demo, Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment, and Problem-Solving Workshop.
Here’s how a Certified SAFe Agilist ensures each phase delivers value.

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1. PI System Demo – Focusing on Business Outcomes

The System Demo gives stakeholders a complete view of the integrated solution.
A SAFe Agilist ensures:

• The focus stays on end-to-end value delivery, not just isolated team work.

• The demo connects clearly to the PI Objectives and the business context.

• Teams use customer-centric metrics (like usability, performance, or NPS) to evaluate real impact.

They might also invite Product Management or Business Owners to add context — reinforcing alignment between product vision and delivery.

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2. Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment – Balancing Data and Dialogue

After the demo, the discussion turns toward numbers. The Agilist facilitates data reviews around:

• Predictability (planned vs. achieved)

• Defects and rework

• Flow efficiency

• Delivery performance

• Team and ART health

But it’s not just about metrics. The qualitative part matters just as much.
Certified Agilists encourage open dialogue through confidence voting, ROTI (Return on Time Invested), and feedback exercises.
They help teams express concerns without fear — transforming data into insight, and insight into action.

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3. Problem-Solving Workshop – Turning Insight into Improvement

This is where the workshop shifts from reflection to action.
SAFe recommends a structured approach using root-cause analysis and problem-solving techniques like:

• Fishbone (Ishikawa) Diagrams

• 5 Whys Analysis

• Pareto Charting

The Certified SAFe Agilist ensures the group avoids blame and focuses on systems thinking.
Instead of asking “Who caused the delay?”, they ask “What process or dependency created friction?”.

Once root causes are identified, teams vote on the top improvement items using weighted shortest job first (WSJF) principles — the same way they prioritize features.
This makes improvement work visible, measurable, and aligned with business value.

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Creating Psychological Safety and Transparency

A critical part of any I&A workshop is trust.
Teams won’t speak honestly about failure unless the environment feels safe.

A skilled SAFe Agilist sets this tone early. They remind everyone that the purpose isn’t to point fingers but to learn and improve as a system.

They model vulnerability by acknowledging what didn’t go as planned — even at leadership levels.
This builds a culture where reflection becomes a shared responsibility, not an individual burden.

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Documenting and Tracking Improvement Actions

After the workshop, improvement actions are turned into Improvement Epics or Stories in the ART backlog.

A Certified SAFe Agilist helps translate high-level insights into clear, actionable backlog items with owners and due dates.
These are then prioritized alongside business features in the next PI Planning session — ensuring improvement work gets real time and visibility.

Tracking progress on these actions helps close the loop between “inspect” and “adapt.”
Without this follow-through, workshops become symbolic instead of transformative.

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Common Challenges and How SAFe Agilists Address Them

Even experienced enterprises struggle with I&A workshops. Here’s how Certified SAFe Agilists navigate the common pitfalls.

1. Data Overload

Challenge: Teams bring too many metrics without clear interpretation.
Agilist’s Approach: They focus discussions on meaningful trends, not isolated numbers. For example, instead of listing 20 KPIs, they highlight the 3 that tell the story of flow and value.

2. Defensive Behavior

Challenge: Teams fear blame when results fall short.
Agilist’s Approach: They frame every issue as a system problem, not a personal failure. “What process led to this?” replaces “Who made this mistake?”.

3. Lack of Follow-Through

Challenge: Improvement items disappear after the workshop.
Agilist’s Approach: They ensure actions are documented as backlog items, visible to the ART, and reviewed in the next I&A — keeping the improvement loop alive.

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The Impact of a Well-Facilitated I&A Workshop

When done right, Inspect & Adapt workshops have measurable outcomes:

• Higher ART predictability

• Stronger alignment between business and teams

• Reduced systemic bottlenecks

• Improved morale and ownership

Certified SAFe Agilists don’t just run a workshop — they build a habit of collective improvement.
Every iteration becomes smarter because the system learns from its own feedback loop.

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Developing the Skills to Facilitate I&A Effectively

Facilitating these workshops demands more than technical know-how. It requires:

• Systems thinking

• Emotional intelligence

• Communication and facilitation skills

• Deep understanding of Lean-Agile principles

That’s why professionals often start their journey with the Leading SAFe Agilist Certification training.
It builds the foundation to lead agile transformations, facilitate events like Inspect & Adapt, and drive change across organizational levels.

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Final Thoughts

Inspect & Adapt isn’t just a SAFe ritual — it’s the mechanism that keeps enterprises learning and improving continuously.

Certified SAFe Agilists play a pivotal role in turning these sessions from procedural reviews into strategic accelerators.
They bring data, structure, and empathy together to help organizations evolve — one PI at a time.

The best Agilists understand that improvement isn’t a task on the agenda.
It’s a mindset that powers sustainable agility.

 

Also read - How SAFe Agilists Foster Continuous Learning Culture in Large Enterprises

 Also see - Why SAFe Agilists Are Crucial to Building a Culture of Innovation and Alignment