SAFe Practitioner (SP)

Which of the following best describes the SAFe Lean-Agile Mindset?

• AA set of project management processes for waterfall delivery
• BA combination of Lean thinking, Agile principles, and SAFe values that guides the behavio…
• CA software development methodology focused only on code quality
• DA financial framework for managing enterprise budgets

What are the four SAFe Core Values?

• ASpeed, Cost, Quality, Delivery
• BAlignment, Built-in Quality, Transparency, Program Execution
• CVision, Roadmap, Backlog, Velocity
• DPlanning, Inspection, Adaptation, Retrospection

In SAFe 6.0, which two Core Competencies are most directly focused on the team level?

• ALean Portfolio Management and Organizational Agility
• BTeam and Technical Agility (TTA) and Agile Product Delivery (APD)
• CEnterprise Solution Delivery and Continuous Learning Culture
• DLean-Agile Leadership and Business Solutions and Lean Systems Engineering

What is an Agile Release Train (ART)?

• AA CI/CD pipeline that automatically releases software every sprint
• BA long-lived team of Agile teams (typically 50–125 people) that plans, commits, and execu…
• CA release calendar used by the Release Train Engineer to schedule deployments
• DA Kanban board used to track software releases across teams

Which roles are part of the core Agile team in SAFe?

• ARelease Train Engineer, Business Owner, and System Architect
• BScrum Master, Product Owner, and the Development Team
• CProduct Manager, Solution Architect, and DevOps Engineer
• DPortfolio Manager, Value Stream Engineer, and Lean-Agile Coach

What distinguishes SAFe Scrum from standard Scrum?

• ASAFe Scrum uses longer sprints called quarters instead of iterations
• BSAFe Scrum adds ART-level synchronization, PI Planning, and alignment with program-level…
• CSAFe Scrum removes the retrospective and replaces it with Inspect and Adapt
• DSAFe Scrum requires all teams to work in a single shared backlog

What is SAFe Team Kanban primarily used for?

• AManaging the PI Planning board at the ART level
• BVisualizing and optimizing the flow of work through a team's workflow states to limit WIP…
• CScheduling releases on the Continuous Delivery Pipeline
• DPrioritizing the Program Backlog using WSJF

During PI Planning, what is the primary output of team breakouts?

• AThe Program Backlog prioritized by WSJF
• BA team PI plan including iteration plans, PI Objectives, and identified risks and depende…
• CThe release cadence and deployment schedule for the entire PI
• DThe Continuous Delivery Pipeline architecture for the next quarter

What is a PI Objective in SAFe?

• AA sprint goal set by the Scrum Master for each iteration
• BA business-oriented summary of what the team plans to achieve during the Program Incremen…
• CA financial target set by the portfolio for each value stream
• DA technical architecture milestone that the system architect tracks

How are User Stories different from Features in SAFe?

• AStories are written by the Product Manager; Features are written by the team
• BStories deliver value to a team within an iteration; Features deliver value to a customer…
• CFeatures are always larger than Epics; Stories are equivalent to Spikes
• DStories and Features are the same artifact described at different organizational levels

Which of the following best describes a well-written User Story using the INVEST criteria?

• AA detailed technical specification that describes how the code should be implemented
• BA small, independent, negotiable, valuable, estimable, and testable description of a need…
• CA task list broken down from a Feature assigned to one developer
• DA formal requirements document approved by the Product Manager before development begins

What is relative estimation in SAFe, and why do teams use it?

• AEstimating in exact hours relative to team capacity
• BEstimating the size of stories by comparing them to each other using abstract units (stor…
• CEstimating value relative to cost to determine WSJF
• DAssigning task duration relative to team velocity from the previous sprint

What happens during Backlog Refinement in SAFe?

• AThe team closes all completed stories and updates the velocity chart
• BThe team reviews, analyzes, and estimates upcoming stories to ensure the Team Backlog is…
• CThe Product Manager prioritizes the Program Backlog using WSJF
• DThe Scrum Master removes impediments reported during the Daily Stand-Up

What is the purpose of the Iteration Planning event in SAFe?

• ATo review the completed work from the previous iteration with stakeholders
• BTo select stories from the Team Backlog, define an Iteration Goal, and create a detailed…
• CTo identify and resolve cross-team dependencies at the ART level
• DTo review the overall PI progress and adjust the program plan

What is the primary purpose of the Iteration Review in SAFe?

• ATo identify process improvements for the team's internal practices
• BTo demonstrate completed working software to the Product Owner and stakeholders and gathe…
• CTo plan the work for the next iteration with the team
• DTo update the PI Board with new risks and dependencies

What is the main goal of the Iteration Retrospective?

• ATo demonstrate working software to stakeholders and collect acceptance sign-offs
• BTo reflect on the team's processes, identify what went well and what to improve, and defi…
• CTo update the Team Backlog with stories for the next iteration
• DTo report velocity and team metrics to the Release Train Engineer

A team consistently fails to complete all stories in an iteration. What should the team investigate first?

• AAsk the Product Owner to add more stories to keep the team busy
• BEvaluate whether the team is overcommitting relative to capacity and whether stories meet…
• CReduce the Definition of Done to allow partial completion of stories to count
• DAsk the Release Train Engineer to reduce the scope of the PI Objectives

What does 'Built-in Quality' mean in SAFe?

• APerforming quality assurance only at the end of the PI during the System Demo
• BEvery team member is responsible for ensuring quality is built into the product and proce…
• CDelegating quality assurance to a dedicated QA team separate from the Agile team
• DReleasing software only after it passes a formal governance gate approval

Which Built-in Quality practice involves writing a failing test before writing the implementation code?

• ABehavior-Driven Development (BDD)
• BTest-Driven Development (TDD)
• CContinuous Integration (CI)
• DPair Programming

What is a Dependency in SAFe and how are dependencies typically managed at the team level?

• AA dependency is a risk on the Risk Board; teams manage it by escalating to the Release Tr…
• BA dependency is work that one team needs from another team; teams manage dependencies by…
• CA dependency is a story that requires two iterations to complete; it is managed by splitt…
• DA dependency is a technical integration point managed exclusively by the System Architect

What is the ART Sync in SAFe and what does it include?

• AA daily stand-up meeting for the entire ART where all 125 people report status
• BA regular ART-level coordination event that includes the Scrum of Scrums (SoS) for depend…
• CA monthly executive review of ART metrics and financial performance
• DThe PI Planning event where all teams synchronize their iteration plans

What does the Continuous Delivery Pipeline (CDP) consist of in SAFe?

• AA list of features planned for delivery in each PI
• BFour aspects: Continuous Exploration, Continuous Integration, Continuous Deployment, and…
• CThe ART cadence, PI duration, and System Demo schedule
• DA Kanban board tracking all stories from ideation to release

What is DevOps in the context of SAFe?

• AA job title for engineers who manage servers and deployment pipelines
• BA mindset, culture, and set of practices that enables development and operations teams to…
• CA phase in the Continuous Delivery Pipeline that occurs after deployment
• DThe process of automating unit tests during continuous integration

What is Inspect & Adapt (I&A) in SAFe, and when does it occur?

• AA daily team reflection held at the end of each stand-up
• BA significant ART-level event held at the end of each PI where the ART demonstrates the f…
• CA Product Owner activity for refining backlog priorities mid-iteration
• DAn architecture review conducted by the System Architect at the end of each quarter

What SAFe principle states that teams should 'Visualize and limit WIP, reduce batch sizes, and manage queue lengths'?

• ASAFe Principle 1 — Take an economic view
• BSAFe Principle 6 — Visualize and limit WIP, reduce batch sizes, and manage queue lengths
• CSAFe Principle 9 — Decentralize decision-making
• DSAFe Principle 3 — Assume variability; preserve options

What is customer centricity in the context of SAFe?

• APrioritizing internal stakeholder requests over end-user needs
• BA mindset that places the customer at the center of every decision, using customer feedba…
• CA marketing strategy for acquiring new customers through digital channels
• DA governance process for approving customer change requests

Which Design Thinking tool is used to deeply understand customer needs, pain points, and behaviors by stepping into their perspective?

• AStory Mapping
• BEmpathy Map
• CFeature Prioritization Matrix
• DImpact Mapping

What is the Product Vision in SAFe, and who owns it?

• AA sprint goal for the upcoming iteration, owned by the Scrum Master
• BA description of the future state of the product that guides teams toward a longer-term d…
• CA business case approved by the portfolio for funding a new epic
• DThe Definition of Done agreed upon by the team for each story

What is the Definition of Done (DoD) in SAFe, and who creates it?

• AA checklist of tasks the Product Owner must approve before stories are added to the Team…
• BA shared agreement by the team defining the quality criteria that every story (and the sy…
• CA list of features that must be complete before the PI can end and the ART can release
• DA set of governance rules defined by the SAFe framework and applied uniformly to all teams

What is a Spike in SAFe?

• AA story that is too large to complete in one iteration
• BA time-boxed research or exploration story used to gain knowledge needed to reduce uncert…
• CA defect that is escalated to the Release Train Engineer for resolution
• DA dependency between two teams tracked on the Program Board

What is the role of the Product Owner (PO) in SAFe?

• ATo write all user stories and assign them to developers
• BTo own the Team Backlog, accept stories, set story priorities, and act as the voice of th…
• CTo facilitate all Scrum events and remove team impediments
• DTo manage the Program Backlog and set Feature priorities across all teams

What is the role of the Scrum Master (SM) / Team Coach in SAFe?

• ATo manage the team's schedule, assign tasks, and report progress to management
• BTo serve the team as a servant-leader: facilitating events, removing impediments, coachin…
• CTo write acceptance criteria for stories and approve them before they are accepted as done
• DTo negotiate Feature priorities with the Product Manager on behalf of the team

During the Daily Stand-Up (Team Sync) in SAFe, what are team members expected to address?

• ADetailed status reports for management and a review of all open Jira tickets
• BWhat did I do yesterday, what will I do today, and what impediments are blocking me?
• CA review of all open dependencies on the Program Board with the Release Train Engineer
• DA presentation of completed stories to the Product Owner for acceptance

What is the Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration in SAFe?

• AAn extra iteration added at the end of a PI where teams continue delivering features to m…
• BA dedicated iteration at the end of each PI that serves as a buffer for innovation, PI Pl…
• CA sprint exclusively for fixing defects and paying down technical debt
• DThe first iteration of a PI used for team formation and initial story writing

What does 'flow' mean in a SAFe Agile team context?

• AThe deployment pipeline that automatically releases software to production
• BThe continuous, sustainable movement of value from concept through delivery with minimal…
• CThe team's creative focus state when developers are coding without interruptions
• DThe budget flow from the portfolio to teams through Lean Budgets

Which SAFe principle emphasizes applying cadence and synchronization to manage variability and unpredictability?

• ASAFe Principle 2 — Apply systems thinking
• BSAFe Principle 7 — Apply cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning
• CSAFe Principle 5 — Base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems
• DSAFe Principle 4 — Build incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles

What is the primary purpose of the System Demo at the end of each iteration?

• ATo demonstrate each team's individual stories to their Product Owner for acceptance
• BTo show the integrated ART-level system increment — the combined working software from al…
• CTo conduct a root-cause analysis of the ART's impediments for the PI
• DTo update Business Owners on the ART's financial performance against PI budgets

What does 'accepting technical debt' mean in SAFe, and what is the recommended approach?

• ATaking a loan to purchase development tools and infrastructure for the team
• BKnowingly taking shortcuts that create future rework; SAFe recommends making technical de…
• CDocumenting all unfinished stories at the end of the PI as debt for future planning
• DAssigning bug fixes to the next PI without addressing root causes

What is an Enabler Story in SAFe?

• AA story that enables another team's work by delivering a shared dependency
• BA technical story that supports exploration, architecture, infrastructure, or compliance…
• CA story written by the Release Train Engineer to enable PI Planning to proceed
• DA stretch objective story added to the plan if capacity allows

What is the purpose of the Program Board (PI Board) in SAFe PI Planning?

• ATo show the team's velocity trend across previous iterations
• BTo visualize each team's planned stories and features, iteration by iteration, and highli…
• CTo track defects and risks assigned to individual team members
• DTo manage the Program Backlog prioritized by WSJF across all teams

What does ROAM stand for in the context of SAFe risk management during PI Planning?

• AResolve, Optimize, Assess, Mitigate
• BResolved, Owned, Accepted, Mitigated
• CReview, Organize, Approve, Monitor
• DRaise, Observe, Assign, Manage

What is velocity in SAFe, and how should it be used?

• AThe speed at which the ART delivers Features, measured in features per PI
• BThe amount of work (in story points) a team completes per iteration, used to forecast cap…
• CThe release frequency of the Continuous Delivery Pipeline measured in deployments per day
• DThe number of stories accepted by the Product Owner in the Iteration Review

What are the five SAFe Lean-Agile Principles that are most fundamental to team behavior? Select the BEST answer.

• ACustomer focus, team autonomy, sprint goals, retrospectives, and continuous deployment
• BTake an economic view; apply systems thinking; assume variability and preserve options; b…
• CCentralize decision-making, increase batch sizes, reduce team WIP limits, maximize utiliz…
• DUse feature flags, trunk-based development, behavior-driven development, pair programming…

What is the 'last responsible moment' decision-making approach in SAFe?

• AMaking all architectural decisions at the start of the project to avoid surprises
• BDelaying irreversible decisions until the last moment before they must be made, to preser…
• CReleasing software at the last moment before the deadline to ensure it is fully tested
• DWaiting until the PI Retrospective to decide on technical architecture changes

A team member notices that stories are frequently blocked mid-iteration waiting for input from another team. What is the BEST first step?

• ARaise the issue during the PI System Demo so all ART stakeholders can observe the problem
• BRaise the blocked story as an impediment in the Daily Stand-Up so the Scrum Master can ta…
• CMove all blocked stories to the next iteration's backlog and accept the velocity loss
• DEscalate immediately to the Release Train Engineer to force the other team to reprioritize

What is the purpose of story acceptance criteria in SAFe?

• ATo estimate the effort required to complete a story in story points
• BTo define the specific conditions that must be verified for the Product Owner to accept t…
• CTo describe the technical implementation steps for the development team
• DTo set the business value score for the story during PI Planning