University of Texas, Dallas MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS SAFE 5 RTE Exam

SAFE 5 RTE exam Questions 1. What is an effective method for finding the root cause of a problem?

Engage Business Owners Perform a 5 Whys on the problem Conduct empathy interviews Perform a Team Retrospective

2. Why would an RTE use an Iteration and PI Calendar?

To provide teams and leadership with status updates To help Business Owners remember program milestones To manage and optimize the flow of communications To visualize the Agile Release Train's cadence and synchronization

3. What action does an RTE take prior to an upcoming PI Planning meeting?

Allocate time in the Scrum of Scrums meeting for Product Management to socialize with the teams the upcoming features for the upcoming PI Ensure at least 30% of the Program Backlog is allocated to feature enablers Facilitate Product Management and other stakeholders in prioritization of the Program backlog Provide approval and sign-off for draft team backlogs

4. How can an RTE foster motivation?

Support a team member when voicing their point of view Expedite participation and decisions from senior management on teams' frequent and time-critical matters Be responsible for formulating the decisions for disputes between teams Clarify communication protocol across functional boundaries Create an environment of mutual influence

5. Who are the two primary partners with the RTE to drive the Agile Release Train?

(Choose two.)

Product Owners System Architects/Engineers Business Owners Product Management Epic Owners

6. At the end of day two of the PI Planning event, the team's final plan review consists of which three deliverables? (Choose three.)

Final PI Objectives with Business Value Changes to capacity and load estimates Program Risks and Impediments Capacity allocation Final estimates Team Iteration plans

7. When gathering the information needed for the Program Predictability Measure, the RTE meets resistance from teams that the business value does not reflect the real effort and progress made during the PI. What are two considerations the RTE should make when coaching the team to give them a better feeling on what they have actually created? (Choose two.)

Illustrate the linkage between business values and the market communications/release objectives tied to the three to six month enterprise strategy Publish the team business values and coach teams that these values are for tracking each Agile Release Train deliverable Coach the Business Owner's review of objectives to see that scoring is against acceptance criteria negotiated with the team during PI Planning Educate teams that business value provides the enterprise with a metric of how fast the team executed work during the PI Work with the team to ensure they are actively involved when the Business Owners rate the business value achieved

8. What are two main reasons why the Program Predictability Measure is important? (Choose two.)

It allows the business and other stakeholders to plan effectively It indicates whether the Solution is ready to be released It focuses the Agile Release Train on predictable value delivery It demonstrates the need to fix the scope at the beginning of the Program Increment (PI) It identifies under-performing teams

9. What can occur as a result of not performing an IP iteration?

Responsibilities are unclear, resulting in delayed decision-making No time for the teams to plan, demo, or improve together Conflict and disagreement on processes and practices are difficult to resolve

Teams are sprinting, but the system is not

10. During the Agile Release Train (ART) kickoff session, Operations raises a concern that they are already spread very thin and have no time to collaborate with all the teams on the ART. What should the RTE recommend/coach to discover bottlenecks and provide governance for DevOps engagement?

Ensure all DevOps practitioners attend Leading SAFe training Have the Operations staff sit within the Feature/Component team areas Abstract platform/infrastructure requests from build/deploy requests Visualize the deployment pipeline requests through a Kanban System

11. Which activity takes place during Team Breakout #2 on the second day of PI Planning?

The RTE combines all Team PI Objectives into Program Objectives The RTE modifies the Program Increment iteration schedule, if needed, based on the scope of high priority features All feature delivery and dependencies are visualized on the Program Board Business Owners assign business value without team discussion so they can normalize business value across all teams on the Agile Release Train

12. The servant leadership role of the RTE is very important and can be described by which statement?

Coach by asking questions and articulating facts rather than using authority Directing the teams to self-organize Drive impediments and specific outcomes Support teams’ commitments and fix problems for them

13. What is the most accurate definition of DevOps? A method that ensures Operations works with Development every day to deliver value A mindset, set of practices, and culture that emphasizes close cooperation to provide value to the customer A process that provides visibility to impediments between writing code and delivering value A set of tools and processes that govern how code is deployed

14. Which two roles should facilitate an Agile Release Train Sync? (Choose two.)

Product Owner Epic Owner Scrum Master Product Manager RTE

15. Which two activities take place during Team Breakout #1 on the first day of PI Planning? (Choose two.)

Have all backlog item types on their planning boardsTeams use color-coding for their backlog items as a reminder that they are required to all backlog item types on their planning boards All teams' planning boards are visible and use the same color-coding Draft objectives are written but do not include exploration enablers Risks on the teams' planning boards are resolved by the RTE Draft objectives and uncommitted objectives are written

16. What are the two primary impacts of having a well-executed IP Iteration?

(Choose two.)

Redistribution of people on teams Increased delivery predictability Decreased defects Innovation is leveraged and enabled Faster delivery

17. What are the three key items communicated on the PI Program Board? (Choose three.)

New Feature delivery dates Dependencies among teams and other Agile Release Trains Important milestones Program risks PI Objectives Team velocity

18. The Innovation and Planning iteration provide which three elements?

Time to release, continuous integration, and planning Time for innovation, planning, and an estimating guard band Estimating techniques, training, and innovation

Planning, estimating, and continuous exploration

19. The Agile Release Train (ART) team is nearing the end of the final Iteration of their first PI. Integration into the staging environment is proving more challenging than estimated.

After considering options, the ART decides to add a week to the IP Iteration for additional buffer space for solution integration and testing. Why is this a bad idea?

Overall train velocity goes up and the time to market goes down It substantially decreases the predictability of the Solution Intent It reduces the overall predictability established through cadence and synchronization of the program It decreases job satisfaction by removing autonomy and purpose

20. Which statement is true about the Definition of Done (DoD)?

At the higher levels there is only one DoD for everything that passes through the Agile Release Train to a Solution Increment or a Release The DoD should evolve as system capabilities evolve The DoD is not used at the Team Level because it is used as a method to manage technical debt at the Program Level At the lower levels the teams share one common DoD

21. A Scrum Master reports that his team feels like it is doing fine and would rather focus on work than waste time coming up with and implementing improvement ideas.

The team has recently had trouble meeting its Iteration commitments, so he knows they can do better. He asks the RTE for help. What might the RTE suggest as a first step?

Dedicate additional meeting time to brainstorm improvement items Observe the teams Daily Stand-ups and have a meet-after about the importance of relentless improvement Review team metrics with the Scrum Master and look for specific improvement areas that can be shared with the team Arrange for an external coach for the team to help them improve

22. What are two responsibilities of the RTE during PI execution? (Choose two.)

To escalate and track impediments

To facilitate the System Demo To formulate and direct decisions on risks To direct the management of the Communities of Practice To make decisions on resource issues for critical bottlenecks

23. Why should the RTE encourage lifelong learning?

To increase team velocity To motivate team members to form as a team to evolve the system To decentralize decision making

24. What are three actions to take to support a Continuous Integration (CI) culture?

(Choose three.)

Follow up with CI ceremonies Ensure fixing a failed integration attempt is always the top priority Integrate often Secure Senior Leadership support before starting CI Purchase a CI tool Make integration results visible

25. What action can result in reduced collaboration between teams during the PI Planning event?

Start the Agile Release Train without a System Team in place Include inexperienced team members Overprepare for PI Planning Skip the Inspect and Adapt sessions

26. An Agile Release Train (ART) is frequently discovering compatibility issues between the developed solution and the Enterprise information architecture.

What can the RTE do to prevent this from occurring?

Conduct the data architecture design earlier Develop more detailed Feature definitions Add Data Architects to the ART Confirm attendance of architectural representatives at PI Planning

27. Which two key skills does an RTE bring to Economic Prioritization? (Choose

two.)

Research and data gathering for cost of delay factors Facilitate stakeholder collaboration Determine job size by surveying Scrum Masters of impacted teams Understand and facilitate Weighted Shorted Job First Coordinate Lean Portfolio Management in providing feedback for cost of delay factors

28. Which statement is true about using a Kanban board?

The Program Kanban Board helps visualize PI readiness If a card is larger than 8 story points it needs to be broken down Dependency management across teams can only be accomplished if similar sized cards are used across the teams Policies are only necessary on columns with WIP limits

29. Migrating component teams to feature teams on an Agile Release Train (ART) can be enabled by which action?

Combining the testers into one team Carefully rotating team members between different component teams to spread the knowledge Encouraging the System Architect and Product Management to share roles Creating a business case to support the migration

30. In a Scrum of Scrums meeting, several Scrum Masters raise a common issue that their teams are finding difficult to resolve. The RTE has seen this problem many times and could suggest several proven solutions.

Rather than offering up answers, she asks the Scrum Master team a series of questions. Why would she do this?

Because identifying and solving team problems is not the RTE’s responsibility Because she wants the Scrum Masters to clarify the problem and come to solutions that best fit their contexts Because she wants them to brainstorm through the issues before she provides the answer Because her suggested answers would likely be valid

31. PI Planning is a major event that requires preparation, coordination, and communication. What are two key areas an RTE should focus on to support a successful PI Planning event? (Choose two.)

Facilities readiness - space and logistics for the event Process readiness - the operational rhythm that enables SAFe governance

Operational readiness - facilitating SAFe PI events such as Scrum of Scrums, PO Sync, Iteration Planning, System Demo Architectural readiness - the architectural runway completed Organization readiness - strategic alignment; roles, teams, and train setup

32. Which role should the RTE play related to a hackathon event?

Get approval for work to be done in the hackathon Ensure the teams have allocated story points in the Innovation and Planning Iteration during the PI to account for the effort Allow the teams as much flexibility as possible to promote innovation Work with development leaders to make sure they give clear and detailed guidance to the developers on what is expected

33. Value flows through which part of an Enterprise System?

Scrum of Scrums Interconnections Management Systems Backlogs

34. After PI Planning, when is the program board typically used?

PI Sync Before the System Demo Scrum of Scrums Agile Release Train Scrum

35. In addition to adopting and exhibiting a new mindset, which enterprise competency also supports teaching the skill set necessary to practice the goal of delivering value?

Lean-Agile Leadership SAFe House of Lean Lean-Agile Principles Lean Portfolio Management

36. What are two purposes of the System Demo? (Choose two.)

To demonstrate the full solution in a production-like context

To conduct the Inspect and Adapt workshop To get feedback from the primary stakeholders To exercise the performance of the staging area To demonstrate a team's build

37. Which SAFe core value creates an environment where facts are always friendly?

Flow Respect for People and Culture Innovation Transparency

38. What is one primary responsibility of an RTE? Manage and optimize the flow of value through the Agile Release Train Select and manage an Agile life cycle management tool Manage and optimize the Release on Demand process Communicate a weekly status report on each team

39. When planning for a distributed PI Planning event with a large difference in time zones, what are two key preparation and facilitation focus areas for an RTE? (Choose two.)

Arrange and test presentation audio and video connectivity in all locations Have a single, centralized RTE and technical support person that acts as a central point of communication for all locations Split up the PI Planning event per time zone and then have the Final Plan Review, Confidence Vote, and Planning Retrospective as one centralized meeting Adjust the PI Agenda to 2.5 - 3 days allowing for overlapping hours Share the outcomes of preparation meetings with local Scrum Masters so they can arrange local rooms

40. Why is it helpful to communicate newly refined Features and Enablers to the teams during the current PI? Teams can help support overall product integrity and facilitate working agreements during PI Planning Teams can prepare backlogs, give feedback to the Product Owner/ Product Manager/System Architect, and begin looking at dependencies, impediments, and knowledge building Teams can review the Features and Enablers at the start of PI Planning so they have a feel of the Roadmap for the next PI

Teams can breakdown Features and Enablers into stories, estimate them based on their acceptance criteria, and identify dependencies to be well prepared for PI Planning

41. PI Planning is several weeks away. Product Management wants to define the list and number of features that are likely to be planned by the train in the upcoming planning meeting.

The RTE should coach the Product Manager to use which option as the denominator of the WSJF calculation?

The number of features in the backlog An absolute number of story points estimated by development teams working on the current PI Job size based on relative estimation A relative (Fibonacci) number estimated by the Business Owners

42. How can an RTE be aware of employee satisfaction?

Survey full-time employees Address and resolve any problems areas Conduct an employee Net Promoter Score survey Gather employee metrics immediately after the Agile Release Train launches

43. Which two behaviors are an important part of the RTE role? (Choose two.)

Drive teams to specific outcomes Encourage teams to self-organize Provide answers about Features Coach leaders to increase alignment Manage dependencies for teams

45. What are two benefits of having a team Definition of Done? (Choose two.)

To collect team performance metrics To optimize quality To maintain predictability To reduce technical debt To measure the team's capacity to load ratio

46. Who can the RTE work with to help eliminate policies and procedures that demotivate employees?

Business Owners Portfolio Managers Lean-Agile Leaders Product Managers

47. What is an RTE anti-pattern behavior during the Scrum of Scrums or PO Sync meetings?

To ask a lot of detailed questions To ignore emotion and focus on content To express positive feelings and praise To ensure compliance items are addressed

49. What value do Iteration Goals provide in SAFe? Metrics to best understand Agile Release Train health Better understanding of the sequencing of the team's backlogs Detail on how work is managed in the Iteration Clarity, commitment, and transparency

50. Which statement is true about the Retrospective and Problem-Solving part of the Inspect and Adapt workshop?

Key Agile Release Train stakeholders, including Business Owners, customers, and management can participate along with the teams The improvement backlog items resulting from the Problem-Solving Workshop should be items that only leadership can address Encourage teams to sit together during the retrospective portion to ensure an effective outcome The RTE gathers the list of problems to be solved during the final Scrum of Scrums of the PI

51. Which enterprise competency organizes the activities of building large-scale Solutions?

Business Solutions and Lean Systems Enterprise Solution Delivery Team and Technical Agility Lean Portfolio Management

52. The RTE ensures that Business Owners assign business value to what during PI planning?

Stories Features Program Level PI Objectives Team Level PI Objectives

53. Which enterprise competency describes how enterprises collaborate to implement approaches to strategy and investment funding?

Set-Based Design Lean Portfolio Management Lean-Agile Leadership Business Solutions and Lean Systems

54. What should the RTE do during the Final Plan Review on Day #2 of PI Planning?

Facilitate the ROAMing of each team's risks Verify each team's stretch objectives have lower Business Value than the committed PI objectives in order to reflect proper prioritization Encourage discussion of each team's product vision as part of the final plan review Facilitate all teams when they are presenting their final plans to the entire Agile release train

55. During the Management Problem Solving workshop, the System Architect notices that one team has raised the risk of not finishing a Feature before the end of the PI. What decision should the management team make to help the Program complete the Feature within the PI? Ensure the Feature is properly measured against revenue and profitability Assign the Feature to another team Resize the stories for the team Negotiate a reduction in scope of the Feature

56. How does an RTE view the role of functional managers on the Agile Release Train?

As developers of people As problem solvers As decision makers As content authority for work

58. What helps to encourage lifelong learning behavior in other people?

Identify skill gaps Establish a sense of urgency Share learnings and knowledge Apply the SAFe Implementation Roadmap

59. Which two actions can the RTE take to facilitate team growth? (Choose two.)

Encourage continuous learning Define Key Performance Indicators for the teams Ensure time is allocated for innovation and planning Require several Enablers per Iteration Encourage skill specialization

60. How does the RTE help develop the Agile Release Train (ART) over time?

Analyze the velocity trend Facilitate post-PI Planning Create an ART improvement roadmap Conduct a retrospective

An Agile Release Train (ART) is frequently discovering compatibility issues between the developed Solution and the Enterprise information architecture.

What can the Release Train Engineer do to prevent this from occurring?

1. Conduct entire data architecture design upfront 2. Add data Architects onto ART 3. Develop more detailed Feature definitions 4. Confirm attendance of architectural representatives at Program Increment (PI) Planning

How does the Release Train Engineer help develop the Agile Release Train (ART) over time?

1. Analyze velocity trend 2. Propose an ART improvement Roadmap 3. Facilitate post-PI Planning 4. Conduct a retrospective

A Scrum Master reports that the team feels like it is doing fine and would rather focus on work than waste time coming up with and implementing improvement ideas. The team has recently had trouble meeting their Iteration commitments, so the Scrum Master knows the team can do better. The Scrum Master asks the Release Train Engineer (RTE) for help. What might the RTE suggest as a first step?

1. Arrange for an external coach for team to help them to improve 2. Observe the team's daily stand-ups and have a meet-after about the importance of relentless improvement 3. Review team Metrics with Scrum Master and look for specific improvement areas that can be shared with the team 4. Dedicate additional meeting time to brainstorm improvement items

What is a Release Train Engineer anti-pattern behavior during the scrum of scrums or PO sync meetings?

1. Ignoring emotion focusing on content 2. Expressing positive feelings and praise 3. Resolving impediments 4. Ensuring compliance items are addressed

Which statement is true about the definition of done (DoD)?

1. The DOD should evolve as system capabilities evolve 2. The teams share one common DOD 3. At the higher levels there is only one DOD for everything that passes through Agile Release Train to a Solution increment or a release 4. DOD is not used by teams because it is used as a method to manage technical debt across the ART

Which two key skills does a Release Train Engineer bring to economic prioritization?

(Choose two,) 1. Determine job size by surveying Scrum Masters of impacted teams 2. Coordinate Lean Portfolio Management by providing feedback for cost of delay factors

3. Facilitate stakeholder collaboration 4. Understand and facilitate weighted shorted job first 5. Do research and data collection for cost of delay factors

Which two behaviors are an important part of the Release Train Engineer role? (Choose two.)

1. Drive teams to specific outcomes 2. Provide answers about Features 3. Coach leaders to increase alignment 4. Encourage teams to self-organize 5. Manage dependencies for team

What are two main reasons why the program predictability measure is important? (Choose two.)

It allows the business and other stakeholders to plan effectively It indicates whether the Solution is ready to be released It focuses the Agile Release Train on predictable value delivery It demonstrates the need to fix the scope at the beginning of the Program Increment (PI) It identifies under-performing teams 100.00%

In addition to adopting and exhibiting a new mindset, which core competency also supports teaching the skill set necessary to practice the goal of delivering value?

Lean-Agile Leadership Agile Product Delivery Organizational Agility Continuous Learning Culture Which Enterprise competency organizes the activities, coordinates, and aligns the extended set of value streams to a shared business and technology mission?

Business Agility Lean Portfolio Management Enterprise Solution Delivery Measure and Grow

What are two purposes of the System Demo? (Choose two.)

To demonstrate the full solution in a production-like context To conduct the Inspect and Adapt workshop To get feedback from the primary stakeholders To exercise the performance of the staging area To demonstrate a team's build

Which core competency describes how Enterprises collaborate to support decentralized program execution, enabling operational excellence?

Lean Portfolio Management Agile Product Delivery Lean-Agile Leadership Organizational Agility

What action does an RTE take prior to an upcoming PI Planning meeting?

Allocate time in the Scrum of Scrums meeting for Product Management to socialize with the teams the upcoming features for the upcoming PI Ensure at least 30% of the Program Backlog is allocated to feature enablers Facilitate Product Management and other stakeholders in prioritization of the Program backlog Provide approval and sign-off for draft team backlogs

What are two main reasons why the Program Predictability Measure is important? (Choose two.)

It indicates whether the solution is ready to be released It demonstrates the need to fix the scope at the beginning of the PI It focuses the Agile Release Train on value delivery It identifies variations to discuss in the Inspect and Adapt workshop It identifies under-performing Agile Release Train teams

Culture ???? forming storming

collaborating norming performing

All team would like to lean more about devops Join community of practice Devops training Quizlet

Day 1 Agenda - Business Context - Product/solution vision - Architecture vision and development practices - Planning context and lunch - RTE presents the planning process and expected outcomes of the meeting - Team breakouts #1 - Draft plan review - teams present key planning outputs, including draft objectives, potential risks, and dependencies - Management Review and problem-solving Day 2 Agenda - Planning Adjustments - managers describing any changes to planning scope and resources - Team Breakouts #2 - Final plan review and lunch - Program Risks categorized by ROAM - Confidence Vote - if it's less than 3 then rework - Planning retrospective and moving forward

Which core competency best describes the critical skills of Scrum, Kanban, and the Built-In Quality practices that are needed to manage the flow of value?

Team and Technical Agility

Which core competency helps foster faster lead time, faster recovery, fewer defects, and more frequent deployments?

Agile Product Delivery Which core competency describes the mindsets, culture, and practices that make flow possible?

Lean Agile Leadership

In addition to adopting and exhibiting a new mindset, which enterprise competency also supports teaching the skill set necessary to practice the goal of delivering value?

Lean-Agile Leadership Agile Product Delivery Organizational Agility Continuous Learning Culture

Which enterprise competency describes how enterprises collaborate to implement approaches to strategy and investment funding?

Set-Based Design Lean Portfolio Management Lean-Agile Leadership Business Solutions and Lean Systems

Which core competency supports and fosters flow of value, innovation and apply lean budget in the enterprise Lean Portfolio management

Which Enterprise competency organizes the activities, coordinates, and aligns the extended set of value streams to a shared business and technology mission?

Business Agility Lean Portfolio Management

Enterprise Solution Delivery Measure and Grow

Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) Aligns strategy, funding and execution 1- trategy & Investment Funding ensures the entire portfolio is aligned and funded to create and maintain the solutions needed to meet business targets.

2-Agile Portfolio Operations coordinates and supports decentralized program execution and fosters operational excellence 3- Lean Governance is the oversight and decision-making of spending, audit and compliance, forecasting expenses, and measurement Organization Agility Creates an enterprise-wide, Lean-Agile mindset and provides flexibility to change.

Lean-Thinking People and Agile Teams – Everyone involved in solution delivery is trained in Lean and Agile methods and embraces their values, principles, and practices.

Lean Business Operations – Teams apply Lean principles to understand, map, and continuously improve the processes that deliver and support businesses solutions.

Strategy Agility – The enterprise is Agile enough to continuously sense the market, and quickly change strategy when necessary.

Continuous Learning Culture Everyone in the organization learns and grows together - organizational DNA Lean-Thinking People and Agile Teams – Everyone involved in solution delivery is trained in Lean and Agile methods and embraces their values, principles, and practices.

Lean Business Operations – Teams apply Lean principles to understand, map, and continuously improve the processes that deliver and support businesses solutions.

Strategy Agility – The enterprise is Agile enough to continuously sense the market, and quickly change strategy when necessary.

Lean-Agile Leadership Sets the foundation and will inspire others by modeling desired behaviors Leading by Example Mindset and Principles Leading Change

Authenticity, Emotional intelligence Life-long learning, , Growing others encourages leaders to provide the personal,Decentralized decision-making

Team and Technical Agility HIgh Performing, Cross-functional, Agile teams Business and Technical teams build business solutions Quality business solutions delight customers

Agile Product Delivery Customer is the center of your product strategy Develop on cadence and release on demand Continuous explore, integrate, deploy, and innovate design thinking system demo , inpect and adapt The Continuous Delivery Pipeline

Enterprise Solution Delivery Tools to delivery really big solution Lean Systems and Solution Engineering Continually Evolve Live Systems ensures large systems and their development pipeline support continuous delivery Continually Address Compliance Concerns

Busines Agility compete and thrive in the digital age by quickly responding to market changes and emerging opportunities with innovative, digitally-enabled business solutions

At which two stages will the Agile Release Train (ART) act as a one-team culture? (Choose two.)

Collaborating - Pairing and sharing across the ART Norming - Teams begin to form communities

Forming - The leaders will start to emerge Performing - Creating a flow of knowledge across the teams and the ART Storming - Fostering continuous improvement