Product Management is expected to collaborate in planning the amount of upcoming En-abler work by establishing what?

Product Management is responsible for defining and supporting the building of desirable, feasible,

viable, and sustainable products that meet customer needs over the product-market lifecycle. To do

this effectively in a SAFe environment, they must collaborate with various stakeholders to determine

the capacity allocation for upcoming Enabler work.

Enabler work refers to the activities that support the development of business features, such as

exploration, architecture, infrastructure, and compliance. These are necessary to advance the

Solution and build its architectural runway. The capacity allocation for Enabler work is a collaborative

effort between Product Management, System Architects/Engineering, and other stakeholders. This

ensures that sufficient capacity is allocated for both feature and enabler work, balancing the need to

address technical debt, architectural advancements, and other necessary activities that enable future

delivery of value.

The SAFe framework suggests a ‘capacity allocation’ approach where a certain percentage of the

team’s capacity is allocated to Enabler work. This is not a fixed number but rather a guideline to

ensure that teams invest in necessary work that may not directly deliver new customer features but

is essential for the long-term health and adaptability of the product. By establishing a capacity

allocation for Enabler work, Product Management ensures that there is a balance between delivering

new features and maintaining the technical quality and flexibility of the product to adapt to future

changes. This approach helps in managing the investment in Enabler work and ensures that it is not

overlooked in the pursuit of immediate feature delivery.