Building Cross-Team Collaboration in a Multi-ART SAFe® Program: Best Practices & Pitfalls

When you move beyond a single Agile Release Train (ART) and into a multi-ART environment—whether you’re running a large program or managing an entire value stream—the complexity of collaboration multiplies.

The SAFe® (Scaled Agile Framework) provides structure and roles for coordination across a SAFe program, but real success depends on how teams actually work together day-to-day.

In this post, we’ll explore how to foster effective cross-team collaboration in a scaled Agile context, highlight common pitfalls, and share actionable best practices that enterprise organizations can use to bring alignment, flow, and shared purpose across multiple ARTs.

🎯 Align Around a Shared Mission and Vision

At the program and portfolio level, every ART within the SAFe program must understand the shared mission—what value is being delivered, to whom, and why. Without this clarity, even the most disciplined Agile teams can drift in different directions.

Use Program Increment (PI) Planning to establish alignment. This is where dependencies, risks, and commitments across ARTs should be surfaced early. The mission and program objectives set during PI Planning shouldn’t fade after the event. Keep them visible throughout the increment.

Reinforce the shared vision outside formal ceremonies. Dashboards, newsletters, and team-level stand-ups should continuously reference the higher-level value stream goals, keeping everyone connected to the “why” behind their work. 💡

🔍 Make SAFe® Program Dependencies Visible Early—and Manage Them Continuously

Hidden dependencies are one of the biggest bottlenecks in a scaled environment. Team A often needs something from Team B—but by the time the dependency surfaces, it’s too late.

Create a dependency board (physical or virtual) where all cross-team dependencies are logged, owned, and tracked. During PI Planning and weekly Scrum of Scrums or ART Syncs, review that board. Move items from “unknown” to “scheduled” or “mitigated” before they become blockers.

Leverage tools like Jira Advanced Roadmaps, Jira Align, or similar portfolio management platforms to link issues across teams. This traceability helps program leadership see how one team’s backlog impacts another’s deliverables by providing early warning for potential conflicts. 🧩

💬 Encourage Cross-Team Experimentation and Communities of Practice

Don’t let each ART operate as an island. Encourage Communities of Practice (CoPs) across disciplines from architecture, DevOps, testing, UX, security, and beyond. These cross-team groups share patterns, tools, and lessons learned, breaking down silos and accelerating knowledge transfer.

For instance, a centralized DevOps CoP could establish and maintain a shared CI/CD pipeline used by all ARTs, reducing duplicated effort and technical inconsistency.

Consider running “guild spotlight” sessions where teams present their workflows, tooling, or improvement stories to others. This cross-pollination not only builds capability but also strengthens relationships between teams across ARTs. 🌐

⏱️ Design for Cadence and Synchronization

Cadence is the heartbeat of a SAFe program. To achieve harmony across multiple ARTs, align on sprint lengths, sync timings, and release cycles. When everyone runs on the same clock, dependencies are easier to plan and integration is smoother. SAFe® provides a SAFe Program Increment (PI) Planning explaining this.

Hold a weekly ART Sync (Scrum of Scrums) to maintain alignment and momentum. Combine this with a System Demo that integrates deliverables across multiple ARTs—showing real progress toward shared program objectives.

Avoid mismatched cadences, such as one ART running 3-week sprints while another runs 2-week sprints with different release schedules. That kind of desynchronization creates unnecessary friction, integration drag, and rework. ⚙️

⚖️ Balance Autonomy with Standardization

Teams need autonomy to innovate, but too much divergence can cripple integration. Establish clear guardrails that standardize key elements like backlog definitions, the Definition of Done (DoD), and shared tools.

Agree on a common branching strategy, naming conventions, and test environment structure. These standards reduce integration complexity without sacrificing creativity.

Use a lightweight governance board (such as an Architecture Review or Release Management board) to maintain alignment across ARTs. The goal is to guide, not gatekeep—avoid bureaucratic overhead that slows teams down. 🧭

🌱 Recognize and Address Cultural Shifts

Expanding into a multi-ART setup often creates cultural friction. Teams that thrived independently may struggle with the increased coordination and visibility required at scale.

Invest in training and coaching for roles that span ARTs—Release Train Engineers (RTEs), Solution Train Engineers (STEs), System Architects, and Product Management. Clear role boundaries and shared understanding of responsibilities prevent overlap and confusion.

For an example of creating boundaries and roles, see our blog post on Your Essential Role: 7 Core Responsibilities of a SAFe® Scrum Master.

Encourage psychological safety and open communication. Teams should feel empowered to raise dependency issues, resource conflicts, and integration risks early.

And don’t forget to celebrate cross-team wins—for example, when two ARTs successfully deliver an integrated feature. These wins reinforce the mindset that collaboration creates value. 🎉

⚠️ Common Pitfalls to Watch

Even with structure, scaled collaboration has traps that can derail progress. The most common include:

• Hidden dependencies leading to delayed integration and release slippage.
• Teams working in silos or outside the agreed PI cadence.
• Lack of visibility into other teams’ backlogs—causing misalignment and late surprises.
• Over-customized tooling per team, making cross-team integration painful.
• Heavy-handed governance that stifles team autonomy and slows delivery.

Spot these early and address them through transparency, automation, and continuous improvement.

🏁 Conclusion: Turning Many ARTs into One Cohesive System

Scaling Agile through multiple ARTs isn’t just about adding more teams. It’s about making them work together as one unified system.

By aligning around a shared mission, making dependencies visible, fostering cross-team learning, synchronizing cadence, balancing autonomy with standardization, and nurturing a collaborative culture, organizations can move from “many teams working” to “teams collaborating effectively as one system.”

That’s where the real promise of SAFe® comes to life by delivering integrated value across the enterprise, predictably and continuously. 🚀