SAFE-SASM Practice Questions

One of the key responsibilities of a Scrum Master is to help the team stay focused on their Iteration

goals. This involves removing any obstacles or impediments that may hinder their progress. By

eliminating impediments, the Scrum Master ensures that the team can work more efficiently and

effectively, thereby maintaining their focus on achieving the goals set for the iteration.

Steps to eliminate impediments include:

Regularly communicating with the team to identify any obstacles they are facing.

Collaborating with stakeholders and other teams to resolve issues quickly.

Ensuring that any identified impediments are documented and tracked until they are resolved.

Facilitating problem-solving sessions and using techniques such as root cause analysis to address

underlying issues.

By proactively removing these barriers, the Scrum Master supports the team in maintaining a steady

and uninterrupted workflow, which is crucial for meeting iteration goals.

SAFe Scrum Master Reference

SAFe Scrum Master Role and Responsibilities

The 2020 Scrum Guide: Scrum Guide 2020

Principles of Lean-Agile Leadership in SAFe: focusing on continuous improvement and supporting the

team in overcoming obstacles.

Phase-gate milestones are traditional project management mechanisms that mark the end of one

phase and the beginning of another. One major problem with phase-gate milestones is that they

assume a point solution exists and can be built correctly the first time. This assumption does not

account for the iterative nature of Agile methodologies, where solutions are developed

incrementally and iteratively, with feedback loops and continuous improvement. Assuming a point

solution can be finalized early often leads to rigidity, lack of adaptability, and higher risks of

delivering a product that does not meet the actual needs or expectations.

Inspect and Adapt (I&A) Event: This event includes a retrospective aimed at reviewing the past

Program Increment (PI) and identifying issues that need to be addressed.

Purpose of Retrospective: The retrospective helps the team reflect on what went well, what didn’t,

and why. It is used to identify specific problems and root causes that will be addressed in the

subsequent problem-solving workshop.

Outcome: The issues identified during the retrospective form the basis for the problem-solving

workshop, where the team collaboratively develops action plans to improve processes and

outcomes.

SAFe Scrum Master Reference:

The I&A event in SAFe is designed to foster continuous improvement by systematically identifying

and addressing issues through structured retrospectives and problem-solving workshops.

Integration points in agile development serve as critical junctures where progress is reviewed, and

decisions can be made on whether to continue on the current path or pivot based on new

information.

Integration Points: Regular integration points help in verifying progress, ensuring alignment with

objectives, and assessing whether the current approach is delivering the desired outcomes.

Pivot or Persevere: These points provide the opportunity to pivot if necessary. Teams can change

their course of action based on feedback, new insights, or changing requirements, ensuring that the

final product meets the needs effectively.

Risk Mitigation: Regular integration reduces the risk of late discovery of issues and ensures that the

product evolves in a way that adds value continuously.

SAFe Scrum Master Reference:

SAFe Advanced Scrum Master Training Material, Chapter on Iteration Execution​​.

The Inspect and Adapt (I&A) event is a critical component in the SAFe framework, held at the end of

each Program Increment (PI). The main output of the I&A event is a set of improvement items that

are intended to be actioned in the next PI Planning event. This helps in ensuring continuous

improvement in the process and products.

PI System Demo: Demonstrates the current state of the solution and provides an opportunity for the

stakeholders to inspect the progress.

Quantitative Measurement: Teams review metrics that reflect the current state of the development

process.

Problem-Solving Workshop: Identifies root causes of the biggest problems and formulates

improvement items.

Improvement Backlog: The improvement items identified are prioritized and added to the team's

backlog for the next PI.

This cycle of continuous feedback and improvement helps in refining the development process and

enhancing the team's performance.

SAFe Scrum Master Reference:

SAFe Advanced Scrum Master Training Material, Chapter on Inspect and Adapt​​.

Team Performance Measurement: In SAFe, one of the key metrics for measuring team performance

is the ratio of Story points completed to Story points planned in the Program Increment (PI).

Story Points: Represent the effort required to complete user stories. By comparing planned and

completed Story points, teams can gauge their ability to deliver on commitments.

Purpose: This metric helps in assessing how well the team is performing relative to their planned

objectives, identifying areas for improvement, and making adjustments for future PIs.

SAFe Scrum Master Reference:

SAFe provides guidance on using Story points and other metrics to measure team performance and

drive continuous improvement.

Waterfalling the Iteration: The term "waterfalling" in an Agile context refers to the anti-pattern

where teams delay integration, testing, and other critical activities until the end of the iteration,

mimicking the Waterfall model of sequential phases.

Agile Practice: In Agile, the goal is to continuously integrate and test stories throughout the iteration.

This practice ensures that issues are identified and addressed early, and the product increment is

always in a potentially shippable state.

Anti-pattern Explanation: Integrating and testing stories only on the last day of the iteration means

the team is not practicing continuous integration. This can lead to hidden defects, reduced quality,

and last-minute rushes that jeopardize the team's ability to meet commitments effectively.

SAFe Scrum Master Reference:

SAFe emphasizes continuous integration and regular testing as key practices to maintain quality and

agility. Delaying these activities to the end of the iteration undermines these principles and can lead

to significant issues.

Organizing teams around Features can significantly reduce dependencies between teams. When

teams are aligned to deliver specific features, they have more autonomy and can work more

independently, without needing to wait for other teams to complete their parts. This alignment

minimizes coordination and dependency management overhead, enabling faster and more efficient

delivery. It also allows teams to focus on delivering end-to-end functionality, which enhances the

quality and coherence of the product.

SAFe Scrum Master Reference

SAFe 5.0 framework: principles of organizing teams around features to reduce dependencies

SAFe Agile Teams: benefits of feature-based team organization

One way a Scrum Master can gain the confidence of a stakeholder is by making the process visible.

Transparency is a key principle in Agile and SAFe, as it builds trust and ensures that stakeholders are

well-informed about the progress, challenges, and successes of the team. By making the process

visible through tools like information radiators, progress charts, and regular updates, the Scrum

Master can demonstrate accountability, foster open communication, and build stakeholder

confidence in the team's ability to deliver value.

SAFe Scrum Master Reference

SAFe Principles: transparency and visibility

SAFe 5.0 framework: building stakeholder confidence through visible processes

Achieving Continuous Deployment involves several practices, one of which is decoupling deployment

from release. This means that code can be deployed to production continuously and automatically,

but it is only released to end-users when it is appropriate. Decoupling these processes allows for

more frequent and reliable deployments without affecting the user experience until the features are

ready for release. This practice helps in maintaining system stability and enabling faster feedback

loops.

SAFe Scrum Master Reference

SAFe Continuous Delivery Pipeline: practices for Continuous Deployment

SAFe 5.0 framework: decoupling deployment and release for continuous improvement