SAFe certification exercise

The Scaled Agile Framework is a framework for bringing agile software development to the enterprise level. The organization offers aon online open book examination. Which consists of 50 questions. This posts offer you a list of 25 questions as exercise for yourself. This list of questions is in NO WAY endorsed by the scaled agile framewrok organizatiopn. I am in no way affiliated with them. They are solely provided for the reason of you personal training.

1 What are problems with the waterfall process? Click all that apply:
a The projectmanager may have to write a business case
b The Lean method can not be applied to projects
c The sequence project initiation document - requirements - design - build - test takes a long time, and requirements usually have changed by the time the system gets implemented
d the waterfall model does collide with business cases
e there is no official method called the waterfall model or the waterfall process
f Benefits start at the very end of the process

2 SAFe stands for
a Secure Advanced Features
b Secured Agile Features
c Scaled Agile Framework
d Safe Advanced Framework
e Serious Average fantasies

3 SAFe favours:
a Component teams
b Feature teams

4 What is the relation between team, product owner and product manager?
a One product manager coordinates one or two product owners
b One feature team has one or two product owners
c A product owner coordinates two to four product managers
d A product manager coordinates two to four product owners
Click all that apply

5 An Epic owner
a Works with stakeholders and subject matter experts to define the epic, its potential benefits, establishes the cost of delay and identifies business sponsors;
b Proactively discusses with the product owners which budgets are available for his epic;
c Coordinates and synchronizes epic-related activities with functions in sales, marketing, other business units
d Prepares the business case to Portfolio management for a go / no go decision
click all that apply

6 which of the following statements are true?
a In SAFe, user stories are pulled from the backlog
b user stories were developed as part of XP
c a user story is a brief statement of intent that describes something the system must do for the user
d all of the above

7 user stories are prescribed by scrum
a True
b False

8 What are inputs for the iteration planning?
a Feedback from the prior sprint
b The teams PI plan backlog, which consists of stories that were planned during release planning
c Feedback from the System Demo, which will have occurred sometime during the prior sprint
d All of the above
e None of the above

9 In the iteration planning, if there are more stories on the team backlog than the teams capacity allows,
a the scrum master orders the pizzas
b the team decides how much overtime they will make
c the product owner and team decide together which stories are taken up in this sprint
d the development team decides what thye can achieve oin the sprint

10 One of the pillars of SAFe is "Respect for people and culture"
This means that:
a SAFe can be introduced in organizations without changing the culture
b change in culture comes last, not first
c people are never fired
d the proces of changing culture is a tricky one and must be planned meticulously

11 The "flow"principle of the SAFe house of lean means that
a no batch job may run longer than 4 hours
b team sprints may not take longer than one or two weeks
c there are regular feed back moments, for example every quarter
d a team at whatever level of scrum tackles tasks and problems in a short concentrated effort whenever possible

12 a high performing team
a usually has a stable composition
b has an excellent manager
c dances the haga at the start of the PI
d determines its own budgets

13 The following sentence is part of the agile manifesto: "Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done"
a True
b False

14 Ideal Developer Days are a part of the SAFE framework
a True
b false

15 The agile manifesto "Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential." is (in different words) also part of LEAN

a True
b false

16 An agile release train consists of 10-24 teams, that plan, commit and exceute together
a True
b False

17 1 The product manager owns the prigram backlog
2 the product owner owns the team backlog

a both are correct
b Only (1) is correct
c Only (2) is correct
d None is correct

18 The result of a release planning meeting is
a detailed features
b a set of program objectives committed by management
c a set of program objectives commited by the ART
d a sprint demo

19 Why should teams apply WIP limits?
a WIP stands for Waiting Is Problematic, and it must be avoided that people sit waiting for work
b WIP stands for Waiting Is Problematic, and it must be avoided that design dcouments wait to be realized, because witing times means they can get outdated
c WIP stands for Work in progress, which should be limited to prevent coworkers making overtime.
d WI stands for Work in Progress, and teams should limit it because wswitching between tasks means they loose time

20 If a situation arises that some of the features on the Roadmap can not be implemented,
a the RTE asks the product owner to write exception reports which he discusses with the project board
b the RTE writes exception reports which he discusses with the prodct manager
c the RTE knows this early because he is in frequent contact with product owners, scrum masters and teams
d the RTE chooses the most relevant features
Choose all that apply

21 What is NOT a resposibility of the System Team?
a Serve as a resource to help the teams make appropriate system and component level design decisions during implementation
b Building development infrastructure
c System demo
d Test system performance against NFRs and assist system architects in identifying system shortfalls and bottlenecks

22 An Epic Value statement typically starts with
a As
b For Who
23 The following is NOT part of the prioritization of Features:
a Risk reduction
b Cost of Delay
c Opportunity enablement
d Ideal Development Days

24 An ART typically starts a Program Increment with an Innovation and Planning iteration
a True
b False

25 The following is NOT part of the Kanban for Business Epics
a Funnel
b Review
c Architectural Runway
d Postfolio Backlog

You can check your answers here.

SAFe exercise certification - answers

These are the answers to the questions posted here.


1 What are problems with the waterfall process? Click all that apply:
a The projectmanager may have to write a business case
b The Lean method can not be applied to projects
c The sequence project initiation document - requirements - design - build - test takes a long time, and requirements usually have changed by the time the system gets implemented
d the waterfall model does collide with business cases
e there is no official method called the waterfall model or the waterfall process
f Benefits start at the very end of the process

Correct: c, f. 5 points
a False. A project manager may or may not have to write a business case document. Though a b.c. document is not Lean, it may be decided toi write both in waterfall processes as wel as for agile 'projects'.
b False. Lean ideas may be applied to projects.
c True.Due to the long time a project may take, and because canges crop up over time, often part of the requirements are outdated by the time the software is delivered.
d False. Business cases can be used to decide to start a project.
e False. Though there is indeed no official model called the waterfall model, this is not a majpr problem with waterfall models.
f True. Benefits only start when the project has delivered the soiftware, when it has been tested and when it is in use.

2 SAFe stands for
a Secure Advanced Features
b Secured Agile Features
c Scaled Agile Framework
d Safe Advanced Framework
e Serious Average fantasies

Correct: c. 5 points

3 SAFe favours:
a Component teams
b Feature teams

Correct: b. 3 points

4 What is the relation between team, product owner and product manager?
a One product manager coordinates one or two product owners
b One feature team has one or two product owners
c A product owner coordinates two to four product managers
d A product manager coordinates two to four product owners
Click all that apply

Correct: d. 5 points

5 An Epic owner
a Works with stakeholders and subject matter experts to define the epic, its potential benefits, establishes the cost of delay and identifies business sponsors;
b Proactively discusses with the product owners which budgets are available for his epic;
c Coordinates and synchronizes epic-related activities with functions in sales, marketing, other business units
d Prepares the business case to Portfolio management for a go / no go decision
click all that apply

Correct: a, c, d. 5 points
b is not correct. In SAFe, PPM has control of total spending, which varies based on the business unit portfolio budget cycle, yet programs are empowered for rapid decision making and flexible value delivery.

6 which of the following statements are true?
a In SAFe, user stories are pulled from the backlog
b user stories were developed as part of XP
c a user story is a brief statement of intent that describes something the system must do for the user
d all of the above

correct: d. 5 points

a is correct, see figure 6-1 in ASR by Dean Leffingwell, as well as http://scaledagileframework.com/iteration-planning/
b is correct, see Beck and Fowler [2005].
c is correct, see Beck and Fowler [2005]

7 user stories are prescribed by scrum
a True
b False

FALSE. Scrum has no prescribed design or requirements format. 3 points

8 What are inputs for the iteration planning?
a Feedback from the prior sprint
b The teams PI plan backlog, which consists of stories that were planned during release planning
c Feedback from the System Demo, which will have occurred sometime during the prior sprint
d All of the above
e None of the above

Correct answer: d, see http://scaledagileframework.com/iteration-planning/ 5 points

9 In the iteration planning, if there are more stories on the team backlog than the teams capacity allows,
a the scrum master orders the pizzas
b the team decides how much overtime they will make
c the product owner and team decide together which stories are taken up in this sprint
d the development team decides what thye can achieve oin the sprint

correct answer: d. 5 points
see scrum guide, paragraph sprint planning

10 One of the pillars of SAFe is "Respect for people and culture"
This means that:
a SAFe can be introduced in organizations without changing the culture
b change in culture comes last, not first
c people are never fired
d the proces of changing culture is a tricky one and must be planned meticulously

correct answer: b. 5 points a Introducing LEAN thinking does mean that cultures will change. For example by decentralizing decision making, or by eliminating formal documenmt appovals by several layers of hierarchy.
b Correct.
c People may be still be fired, for example for illegal behaviour or in times of economic crisis.
d Though a change of culture is a tricky one, as it may rob some people of "certainties", change in culture is a consequence, not something we plan in detail beforehand.

11 The "flow"principle of the SAFe house of lean means that
a no batch job may run longer than 4 hours
b team sprints may not take longer than one or two weeks
c there are regular feed back moments, for example every quarter
d a team at whatever level of scrum tackles tasks and problems in a short concentrated effort whenever possible

correct answer: d, 5 points
a though it is a general rule of thumb that batches should have a limited runtime, this is not what the flow pillar in the house of SAFe lean is about
b Team sprints should have a limited length; but this is not what the FLOW principle is all about;
c every quarter will for most teams not be frequent enough for a rapid feedback loop
d correct.

12 a high performing team
a usually has a stable composition
b has an excellent manager
c dances the haga at the start of the PI
d determines its own budgets

correct answer: a, 5 points
a when a team undergoes a major change, it has to go through the forming and storming phases before it gets into the norming phase
b in a high performance team the team has a high degree of autonomy
c though the haga dance of the new zealand blacks is cited as an example of a team that has "the power of ba", SAFe doesn not prescribe this dance
d budgets are allocated at the level of release trains. Teams may however be granted limited budgets for non work related activities

13 The following sentence is part of the agile manifesto: "Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done"
a True
b False

a is correct, 3 points. See the agile manifesto, sheet 13 of "Embracing lean and Agile"

14 Ideal Developer Days are a part of the SAFE framework
a True
b false

a is correct, 3 points

15 The agile manifesto "Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential." is (in different words) also part of LEAN

a True
b false

a is correct, 3 points

16 An agile release train consists of 10-24 teams, that plan, commit and exceute together
a True
b False

b is the correct answer, as an agile releas etrain consists of 5/12 teams. 3 points

17 1 The product manager owns the prigram backlog
2 the product owner owns the team backlog

a both are correct
b Only (1) is correct
c Only (2) is correct
d None is correct

a is correct. 5 points.

18 The result of a release planning meeting is
a detailed features
b a set of program objectives committed by management
c a set of programobjectives commited by the ART
d a sprint demo

c is the correct answer, 5 points
a features can be detailed during the

19 Why should teams apply WIP limits?
a WIP stands for Waiting Is Problematic, and it must be avoided that people sit waiting for work
b WIP stands for Waiting Is Problematic, and it must be avoided that design dcouments wait to be realized, because witing times means they can get outdated
c WIP stands for Work in progress, which should be limited to prevent coworkers making overtime.
d WI stands for Work in Progress, and teams should limit it because wswitching between tasks means they loose time

d is the correct answer, 5 points

20 If a situation arises that some of the features on the Roadmap can not be implemented,
a the RTE asks the product owner to write exception reports which he discusses with the project board
b the RTE writes exception reports which he discusses with the prodct manager
c the RTE knows this early because he is in frequent contact with product owners, scrum masters and teams
d the RTE chooses the most relevant features
Choose all that apply

c,d are correct. 5 points

21 What is NOT a resposibility of the System Team?
a Serve as a resource to help the teams make appropriate system and component level design decisions during implementation
b Building development infrastructure
c System demo
d Test system performance against NFRs and assist system architects in identifying system shortfalls and bottlenecks

a is a responsibility of the system architect, 5 points

22 An Epic Value statement typically starts with
a As
b For Who
b is correct. See page http://scaledagileframework.com/epics/ 3 points

23 The following is NOT part of the prioritization of Features:
a Risk reduction
b Cost of Delay
c Opportunity enablement
d Ideal Development Days

d is used for estimating user stories, 5 points
see http://saiframeworkbalancer-762644628.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com/wsjf/

24 An ART typically starts a Program Increment with an Innovation and Planning iteration
a True
b False

b False, it ends its Program Increment with an innovation and Planning iteration
3 points

25 The following is NOT part of the Kanban for Business Epics
a Funnel
b Review
c Architectural Runway
d Postfolio Backlog

c does not belong in the list, see http://scaledagileframework.com/architectural-epic-kanban/
5 points

You can score a total of 109 points. My peronal estimate is that if you managed to score 95+ points, you stand a good chance of making the offical examination.

Effective learning methods

Students throughout the western world, and perhaps worldwide, seem to regard highlighting text, with pencil or with a text marker, as an effective study method.

However, research published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, points another direction.

The research was done by J. Dunlosky, K. A. Rawson, E. J. Marsh, M. J. Nathan, and D. T. Willingham. 
I mentioned this paper before in this post.

They compared 10 study methods :
1. Elaborative interrogation (Generating an explanation for why an explicitly stated fact or concept is true)
2. Self-explanation (Explaining how new information is related to known information, or explaining steps taken
during problem solving)
3. Summarization (Writing summaries (of various lengths) of to-be-learned texts)
4. Highlighting/underlining (Marking potentially important portions of to-be-learned materials while reading)
5. Keyword mnemonic (Using keywords and mental imagery to associate verbal materials)
6. Imagery for text (Attempting to form mental images of text materials while reading or listening)
7. Rereading (Restudying text material again after an initial reading)
8. Practice testing (Self-testing or taking practice tests over to-be-learned material)
9. Distributed practice (Implementing a schedule of practice that spreads out study activities over time)
10. Interleaved practice (Implementing a schedule of practice that mixes different kinds of problems, or a schedule of
study that mixes different kinds of material, within a single study session)

Rather to their surprise, they found that two methods yield a good return : Practice testing and distributed practice.
I used the first one for an itil certification last fall ( and both for an fpa certification the year before), and i  liked the effects.

Learning - Kolb

One recurring topic of this blog is learning. In times of economic crisis, customers are increasing their expectations that temporary personnel are certified. The big software houses, at least in the Netherlands, pass this burden on at least partly to their employees. The employers pay for the course, but the employee will have to study in the evening hours.

This blog is intended for employees, not for their managers. Now we (I am an employee too) can grunt about the situation, but that ain't gonna change it. It is much more efficient to concentrate on how to get that certification asap with a minimum of effort.

One learning model is that of Kolb, based on what is called Experential learning.  His theory is that learning happens in a cycle of four stages:

In order for learning to be effective, all four of these approaches must be incorporated.

This in itself is a powerful studying add: if a course you are following presents a new concept, try experimenting with it.  This experimenting leads to concrete experience, about which you can reflect if you have understood the concept well.

As individuals attempt to use all four approaches, however, they tend to develop strengths in one experience-grasping approach and one experience-transforming approach. The resulting learning styles are combinations of the individual's preferred approaches. They can be displayed along two axis:

  

According to Kolb,  on each of the two axis one can be either busy with concrete experience or with abstract conceptualization, and not both at the same moment. The same goes for the horizontal axis. Again according to Kolb, People tend to specialize their learning style by combining two of the axis sides at a time, giving a preferred learning style in each of the four quadrants. That gives four preferred learning styles:

Accommodators are in the upper left quadrant: They prefer to combine experimentation and hands on experience. The name accommodators may, i.m.h.o., be slightly misleading. The accommodator does not hesitate to ask questions, and is ready to challenge theories. He or she prefers gut feeling over logic and happily receives information from others.

Divergers are people whose skills concentrate on concrete experience and reflective observation. They are imaginative, love discussion, brainstorming and group work. They are in the upper right quadrant.

Assimilators are in the bottom right quadrant. Theories, models, graphs, lectures? If you are an assimilator, you thrive on them. You will also rather talk than experiment.

Convergers are the fourth group, in the bottom left quadrant. Combining abstract conceptualization with active experiment, convergers work alone on specific problems, test hypothesis and strive for the best answer.

There are tests around if you really want to know your favorite learning style if it isn't clear to you from the short description above. However, this theory is not intended to label you "this is how you are". The true intention is to see if there are gaps or weak spots in your learning style and work on it.