SA SAFe Agilist Framework Overview 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What are the three levels of the SAFe Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) function?
- Strategy, Operations, Execution (Correct answer)
- Portfolio, Program, Team
- Vision, Roadmap, Backlog
- Enterprise, Solution, ART
Correct answer: Strategy, Operations, Execution
LPM operates across Strategy and Investment Funding, Agile Portfolio Operations, and Lean Governance to connect strategy to execution.
Question 2: In SAFe, which artifact captures the highest-level work items that represent large development initiatives within the Portfolio?
- Features
- Enablers
- Epics (Correct answer)
- Capabilities
Correct answer: Epics
Epics are the largest portfolio backlog items and require a Lean Business Case before they enter implementation, ensuring value justification.
Question 3: What is the key difference between a Feature and a Capability in SAFe?
- Features are for the team backlog; Capabilities are for the ART backlog
- Features are delivered by a single ART; Capabilities span multiple ARTs (Correct answer)
- Capabilities are non-functional requirements; Features are functional
- Features belong to Portfolio SAFe; Capabilities belong to Essential SAFe
Correct answer: Features are delivered by a single ART; Capabilities span multiple ARTs
Features are ART-level work items deliverable within a single PI by one ART, while Capabilities are larger Solution-level items that may span multiple ARTs.
Question 4: Which SAFe principle states that 'the best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams'?
- Principle #1 – Take an economic view
- Principle #9 – Decentralize decision-making (Correct answer)
- Principle #11 – Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers
- Principle #10 – Organize around value
Correct answer: Principle #9 – Decentralize decision-making
SAFe Principle #9 advocates decentralizing decisions that are frequent, time-critical, or require local context, empowering teams rather than centralizing control.
Question 5: What is the role of the Release Train Engineer (RTE) in SAFe?
- Define and own the product vision for the ART
- Serve as a servant leader and coach for the ART (Correct answer)
- Approve all architectural decisions on the ART
- Manage the portfolio epic backlog
Correct answer: Serve as a servant leader and coach for the ART
The RTE is a servant leader who facilitates ART events, escalates impediments, helps teams improve, and ensures the ART executes with quality and flow.
Question 6: In SAFe, what does 'WSJF' stand for and what does it help teams do?
- Weighted Shortest Job First — prioritize backlog items by cost of delay divided by job duration (Correct answer)
- Work Sequencing and Job Flow — schedule iteration commitments
- Weekly Sprint Job Framework — time-box feature delivery
- Weighted Story Job Forecast — estimate sprint velocity
Correct answer: Weighted Shortest Job First — prioritize backlog items by cost of delay divided by job duration
WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First) is SAFe's economic prioritization model that sequences work by dividing Cost of Delay by the job's duration to maximize value delivery.
Question 7: What is the purpose of the Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration in SAFe?
- A sprint dedicated exclusively to bug fixes and technical debt
- A cadence-based buffer for PI planning, innovation, and continuous improvement (Correct answer)
- A sprint reserved for architectural runway only
- A team review of all completed features before the PI Demo
Correct answer: A cadence-based buffer for PI planning, innovation, and continuous improvement
The IP Iteration provides a dedicated cadence for PI Planning preparation, innovation, hackathons, continued education, and PI-level Inspect & Adapt activities.
SA SAFe Agilist Framework Overview 3
What are the three levels of the SAFe Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) function?