Scaled Agile SSM SSM (6.0) - SAFe® Scrum Master Exam Practice Test

One benefit of having an IP Iteration every PI is that it creates an estimating buffer for meeting PI objectives. PI objectives are a set of SMART goals that align the teams and stakeholders to a common vision and mission for the upcoming Program Increment (PI). They are derived from the business context, priorities, and dependencies, and are agreed upon and committed by the teams during PI Planning1 However, since PI objectives are based on estimates and assumptions, there is always a degree of uncertainty and variability in the delivery process. To account for this, SAFe recommends that teams reserve 10% of their capacity for each PI as an estimating buffer. This buffer is used during the IP Iteration, which is a unique, dedicated iteration that occurs every PI and provides dedicated time for innovation, continuing education, PI Planning, and Inspect and Adapt events2 By having an IP Iteration as an estimating buffer, the teams can improve the predictability and flow of value delivery, as well as reduce the stress and pressure of meeting the PI objectives23 (Must be taken from SAFe 6 Scrum Master resources)

References:

• PI Objectives - Scaled Agile Framework
• Innovation and Planning Iteration - Scaled Agile Framework
• SAFe Scrum Master Course Outline

Backlog Refinement is the Agile Team event where team members estimate relative story sizes. Backlog Refinement is an ongoing process where the team collaborates with the Product Owner and other stakeholders to review, split, prioritize, and estimate the stories in the Team Backlog1 One of the main objectives of Backlog Refinement is to ensure that the stories are ready for Iteration Planning, which means they are clear, feasible, testable,and small enough to be completed in a single iteration2 To achieve this, the team uses relative story sizing, which is a technique to compare the effort, complexity, and uncertainty of different stories based on a common reference point3 Relative story sizing helps the team to create a consistent and shared understanding of the scope and value of the work, as well as to optimize the flow and predictability of the delivery process4 The team can use various methods to estimate relative story sizes, such as story points, T-shirt sizes, or Fibonacci numbers35 (Must be taken from SAFe 6 Scrum Master resources)

References:

• Team Backlog - Scaled Agile Framework
• Backlog Refinement - Scaled Agile Framework
• Story - Scaled Agile Framework
• How to Estimate Agile Stories: Introducing Relative Sizing - LeanDog
• Why Your Agile Team Should Use Relative Story Point Estimation

One example of Scrum Masters/Team Coaches helping without diminishing the commitment of others is facilitating necessary meetings for the team. Facilitating means providing guidance and support to the team in conducting effective and productive meetings, such as Iteration Planning, Daily Stand-up, Iteration Review, and Iteration Retrospective1 Facilitating does not mean taking over the meeting or making decisions for the team. Rather, it means creating a safe and respectful environment, ensuring clear and shared objectives, encouraging participation and collaboration, managing time and agenda, resolving conflicts and issues, and summarizing outcomes and action items23 By facilitating necessary meetings for the team, Scrum Masters/Team Coaches help the team to achieve their goals, improve their processes, and deliver value to the customers and the organization14 At the same time, they respect and empower the team’s autonomy, self-organization, and self-management, and do not interfere with their commitment or accountability14 (Must be taken from SAFe 6 Scrum Master resources)

References:

• Scrum Master/Team Coach - Scaled Agile Framework
• Facilitation - Scaled Agile Framework
• How to Facilitate Effective Meetings as a Scrum Master | Agile Velocity
• The Scrum Master Balancing Act | Scrum.org

According to SAFe, one output of a successful Iteration Retrospective is the creation of a few improvement Stories that enter the Team Backlog for the next iteration. These stories reflect the team’s agreement on what they can do better in terms of their process, practices, and performance. The improvement stories are visible and prioritized along with the other stories in the backlog. They help the team implement the concept of relentless improvement, which is one of the core values of SAFe.

References: Iteration Retrospective - Scaled Agile Framework, Exam Study Guide: SSM (6.0) - SAFe® Scrum Master

According to the SAFe 6 Scrum Master documentation, one of the ways a Scrum Master/Team Coach can help improve ART performance is to facilitate cross-team collaboration. Cross-team collaboration is the ability of Agile teams to work together effectively and efficiently to deliver value to the customers and stakeholders. It involves sharing information, resolving dependencies, aligning on goals, and providing feedback. Cross-team collaboration is essential for achieving the ART vision and objectives, as well as for delivering integrated and high-quality solutions.

The Scrum Master/Team Coach plays a key role in facilitating cross-team collaboration by 1:

• Participating in the Scrum of Scrums (SoS) and ART Sync meetings, where they communicate the team’s progress, impediments, and dependencies, and coordinate with other teams and the Release Train Engineer (RTE)
• Helping the team prepare for and participate in the PI Planning event, where they collaborate with other teams to define and commit to the PI objectives and identify risks and dependencies
• Supporting the team in the System Demo, where they demonstrate the team’s work to other teams and stakeholders, and receive feedback and validation
• Assisting the team in the Inspect and Adapt (I&A) event, where they review the ART performance, identify improvement opportunities, and create action plans
• Encouraging the team to adopt Communities of Practice (CoPs), where they share knowledge, best practices, and learnings with other teams and experts
• Promoting a culture of trust, respect, and cooperation among the team and other teams

(Must be taken from SAFe 6 Scrum Master resources)

References:

• Scrum Master/Team Coach
• Team Sync
• PI Planning
• System Demo
• Inspect and Adapt
• [Communities of Practice]

According to the SAFe 6 Scrum Master documentation, one of the ways a servant leader can support team members in decision-making is by giving each team member the opportunity to contribute. This means that the servant leader encourages and facilitates the participation of all team members in the decision-making process, ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard and valued. By giving each team member the opportunity to contribute, the servant leader fosters a culture of collaboration, empowerment, and trust, as well as increases the quality and buy-in of the decisions. (Must be taken from SAFe 6 Scrum Master resources)

References:

• Scrum Master/Team Coach
• The Power of Shared Decision-Making through Servant-Leadership
• The Scrum Master as a Servant-Leader

The first step of the problem-solving workshop is to agree on the problem to solve. This step is important because it helps the teams to clearly state the problem, highlight the what, where, when, and impact of the problem, and avoid addressing the symptoms instead of the root causes. By agreeing on the problem to solve, the teams can focus their investigation and analysis, and save time and effort. The problem statement should be succinct and specific, and should not include any assumptions or solutions.

References:

• Inspect and Adapt - Scaled Agile Framework
• Problem-solving workshop: Step-by-Step - Agilephoria
• The Sun Never Sets on the Problem-Solving Workshop

A constructive IP Iteration is one of the recommended practices for Scrum Masters/Team Coaches to help teams avoid burnout, address technical debt, and foster innovation. An IP Iteration is a unique, dedicated iteration that occurs every PI and provides an estimating buffer for meeting PI Objectives and dedicated time for innovation, continuing education, PI Planning, and Inspect and Adapt events. During the IP Iteration, teams can work on activities such as hackathons, research and design, spikes, refactoring, automation, training, and other improvement initiatives that are difficult to fit into a continuous, incremental value delivery pattern. An IP Iteration also allows teams to prepare for and participate in the PI Planning and Inspect and Adapt events, which are essential for alignment, collaboration, and learning across the ART. A constructive IP Iteration can improve the predictability and flow of value delivery, increase employee engagement and satisfaction, enhance the agility and resilience of the teams, and create a competitive advantage for the enterprise. (Must be taken from SAFe 6 Scrum Master resources)

References:

• Innovation and Planning Iteration - Scaled Agile Framework
• The CALMR Approach to DevOps [Complete Guide] - KnowledgeHut
• SAFe Scrum Master Course Outline

A safe environment for taking risks without fear of embarrassment or criticism is one of the characteristics of a high-performing Agile Team. A high-performing Agile Team is a cross-functional group of people that have everything, and everyone, necessary to produce a working, tested increment of product1 They are empowered, collaborative, aligned, and committed to delivering value to the customers and the organization2 One of the factors that enable a high-performing Agile Team is a safe environment where team members can experiment, learn, and grow without fear of failure, blame, or judgment3 A safe environment fosters a culture of innovation, creativity, and continuous improvement, as well as a sense of psychological safety, trust, and belonging among team members4 Team C is demonstrating this characteristic by creating a new workflow to speed up the testing process, even though it did not work out as expected. The rest of the team was excited to hear what was learned from the failed experiment, rather than being disappointed or critical. This shows that the team values learning over perfection, and supports each other in taking risks and trying new things. (Must be taken from SAFe 6 Scrum Master resources)

References:

• Agile Teams - Scaled Agile Framework
• High-Performing Teams - Scaled Agile Framework
• How to Create a Safe Environment for Agile Teams | AgileConnection
• Psychological Safety - Scaled Agile Framework

One Agile development value is customer collaboration over contract negotiation. This value is one of the four core values of the Agile Manifesto, which states: “We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.” 1 This value emphasizes the importance of building a trusting and collaborative relationship with the customers, rather than relying on rigid and formal contracts that may limit the ability to respond to changing needs and expectations2 Customer collaboration means involving the customers throughout the development process, seeking their feedback, input, and validation, and delivering solutions that meet their requirements and expectations3 Customer collaboration also means respecting the customers’ opinions and perspectives, and resolving any conflicts or issues in a constructive and respectful manner4 Customer collaboration helps the Agile teams to deliver value faster and more effectively, as well as to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty34 (Must be taken from SAFe 6 Scrum Master resources)

References:

• Manifesto for Agile Software Development
• Customer Collaboration Over Contract Negotiation - Mountain Goat Software
• Customer Collaboration Over Contract Negotiation - Agile Alliance
• Customer Collaboration Over Contract Negotiation - Scrum Inc

Lean flow is one of the elements of the CALMR approach to DevOps in SAFe. It means applying lean principles and practices to optimize the flow of value from idea to production. Lean flow accelerates delivery by eliminating waste, reducing batch sizes, implementing pull systems, limiting work in process, managing queues, reducing handoffs, and applying cadence and synchronization. Lean flow enables faster feedback, shorter lead times, higher quality, and lower costs. (Must be taken from SAFe 6 Scrum Master resources)

References:

• CALMR - Scaled Agile Framework
• The CALMR Approach to DevOps [Complete Guide] - KnowledgeHut
• SAFe Scrum Master Course Outline

One benefit of holding regular system demos is that execution can be measured across the whole ART. A system demo is a significant event that provides an integrated view of new Features for the most recent Iteration delivered by all the teams in the Agile Release Train (ART). Each demo gives ART stakeholders an objective measure of progress during a Program Increment (PI). The system demo offers the ART a fact-based measure of current, system-level progress within the PI. It’s the true measure of ART velocity and progress. Achieving this requires implementing the scalable engineering practices necessary to support Continuous Integration across the ART. By holding regular system demos, the ART can evaluate the quality, functionality, and usability of the solution, as well as identify and resolve any issues, risks, or dependencies. The system demo also provides an opportunity for feedback and learning from the customers, Business Owners, and other stakeholders, which can help the ART to align with the vision and goals, and to adapt to changing needs and expectations. (Must be taken from SAFe 6 Scrum Master resources)

References:

• System Demo - Scaled Agile Framework
• SAFe Scrum Master Course Outline

One of the best practices Scrum Masters/Team Coaches can use to run successful meetings is to leave meetings with clear action items. Action items are specific tasks that need to be done by a certain person or group by a certain deadline. They help the team to follow up on the outcomes of the meeting, track progress, and ensure accountability. Action items should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Scrum Masters/Team Coaches should document and communicate the action items to the team and stakeholders, and review them in the next meeting. (Must be taken from SAFe 6 Scrum Master resources)

References:

• Scrum Master/Team Coach
• How To Run Effective Scrum Meetings - Xebia
• Four agile ceremonies, demystified | Atlassian