SAFe Advanced Scrum Master (SASM)

An Advanced Scrum Master notices that their team's velocity has been inconsistent over the past four iterations. What is the BEST first action to take?

• AIncrease the team's sprint capacity by reducing the Definition of Done requirements
• BFacilitate a team retrospective focused on identifying root causes of velocity variation
• CReport the inconsistency to management and request additional resources
• DSwitch the team to a Kanban method immediately to stabilize flow

Which of the following BEST describes the primary responsibility of the Advanced Scrum Master during PI Planning?

• ADefine the Program Backlog and prioritize features for the upcoming PI
• BFacilitate team breakout sessions and ensure the team's PI objectives are realistic and c…
• CPresent the business context and portfolio vision to all ART teams
• DApprove team capacity and assign stories to team members

A SAFe Advanced Scrum Master wants to help the team improve flow. Which of the following is a flow accelerator defined in SAFe?

• AIncrease iteration length to reduce planning overhead
• BLimit Work in Process (WIP)
• CAdd more team members to complete stories faster
• DSeparate testing into a dedicated hardening sprint

During an Iteration Retrospective, the team repeatedly identifies the same impediment but reports no progress resolving it. What should the Advanced Scrum Master do?

• ARemove the impediment from the retrospective agenda to avoid demoralizing the team
• BEscalate the impediment to the Release Train Engineer if it is beyond the team's control
• CAssign the impediment to the Product Owner to resolve at the next PI Planning event
• DDocument the impediment and revisit it in three iterations

What is the purpose of the Team Kanban board in a SAFe context?

• ATo replace the Iteration backlog and eliminate sprint planning
• BTo visualize the flow of work, limit WIP, and expose bottlenecks at the team level
• CTo track individual team member productivity and report to managers
• DTo provide an alternative to SAFe ceremonies for teams that prefer Lean

A team member approaches the Advanced Scrum Master to report a conflict with another team member that is affecting collaboration. What coaching stance should the SASM take?

• AResolve the conflict by making a decision on behalf of both parties
• BIgnore it as interpersonal conflicts are outside the Scrum Master's scope
• CCoach the team member to self-resolve first, and offer mediation if needed
• DImmediately report both team members to their line manager

Which metric BEST helps a team and ART measure flow efficiency in SAFe?

• ATeam velocity in story points per iteration
• BFlow Efficiency (the ratio of active time to total cycle time)
• CNumber of features delivered per PI
• DIndividual developer task completion rate

What is the MAIN objective of the Inspect & Adapt (I&A) event at the ART level?

• ATo demo all features completed in the PI to Business Owners for acceptance
• BTo reflect on the PI, identify improvement backlog items, and plan problem-solving worksh…
• CTo finalize the next PI's features and capacity allocation
• DTo conduct performance reviews for each team on the ART

An Advanced Scrum Master is facilitating a problem-solving workshop during Inspect & Adapt. A team identified a persistent quality problem. Which root cause analysis technique is recommended in SAFe?

• ASWOT Analysis
• B5 Whys
• CRACI Matrix
• DBalanced Scorecard

Two teams on the ART have a dependency that could cause a delay if not addressed. The Advanced Scrum Master from Team A wants to resolve this. What is the BEST approach?

• ARaise the dependency in the ART Sync and collaborate with Team B's Scrum Master to plan a…
• BAsk the RTE to reassign stories from Team B to Team A to eliminate the dependency
• CReport the dependency in the next PI Planning event and defer action until then
• DReduce Team A's scope to avoid the dependency entirely

Which of the following BEST represents the Advanced Scrum Master's role in supporting DevOps practices on the team?

• AWrite the CI/CD pipeline scripts and configure deployment automation
• BCoach the team to adopt built-in quality practices and integrate testing into every itera…
• CApprove all code merges to ensure quality before releases
• DDelegate DevOps concerns entirely to the System Architect

A high-performing team on the ART is consistently delivering but showing signs of burnout. What should the Advanced Scrum Master prioritize?

• AIncrease the team's feature commitment to maintain high output levels
• BAddress sustainability by coaching the team to have honest conversations about workload a…
• CReassign team members to other teams where they can contribute more
• DReport the burnout to HR and let them handle the situation

What does the SAFe concept of 'Built-In Quality' require of an Agile team?

• ADedicated QA team members who perform all testing outside the iteration
• BEach story meets the Definition of Done, with testing, integration, and quality checks co…
• CPassing all user acceptance testing before stories are accepted by the Product Owner
• DMaintaining a separate regression test cycle at the end of each PI

How does the Advanced Scrum Master role differ from the Scrum Master role in SAFe 6?

• AThe Advanced Scrum Master manages multiple Scrum Masters and has formal authority over te…
• BThe Advanced Scrum Master focuses on enterprise-level coaching, flow improvement, and cro…
• CThe Advanced Scrum Master primarily handles administrative tasks such as status reporting…
• DThe Advanced Scrum Master role is identical to Scrum Master but with a higher salary band

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

• ATo evaluate individual team member performance for annual reviews
• BTo demonstrate working software to stakeholders and gather feedback for the next iteration
• CTo plan the upcoming iteration and assign story points
• DTo identify and resolve cross-team dependencies before the next sprint

Which coaching stance is MOST appropriate when a new Agile team is struggling to adopt SAFe practices?

• AConsultant — provide expert advice and tell the team which practices to adopt
• BTeacher — explain the purpose behind each SAFe practice and help the team understand the…
• CMentor — share your personal experience only when directly asked
• DFacilitator — stay neutral and let the team figure out the practices on their own

What is a Program Board used for during PI Planning?

• ATo assign resources and budget across the ART for the upcoming PI
• BTo visualize team PI Objectives, features, dependencies, and milestones across iterations
• CTo track individual story points committed by each team during the planning event
• DTo report the PI's risk assessment to the Portfolio level

A team asks the Advanced Scrum Master whether they should use Scrum or Kanban for their work. The team handles a mix of planned feature work and unpredictable support requests. What should the SASM recommend?

• AUse Scrum exclusively because SAFe requires all teams to follow Scrum
• BUse Kanban exclusively because it handles variability better than Scrum
• CConsider a ScrumBan approach that uses iterations for planned work and a Kanban flow for…
• DEscalate the decision to the RTE who is responsible for selecting team methods

During a retrospective, a team member says, 'We always talk about the same problems but nothing ever changes.' What should the Advanced Scrum Master do?

• AShorten future retrospectives to reduce frustration
• BHelp the team shift from problem identification to outcome-focused improvement experiment…
• CReplace the retrospective format with a team happiness survey
• DReassure the team that improvement takes time and continue the current format

What is the role of the Release Train Engineer (RTE) relative to the Advanced Scrum Master?

• AThe RTE is the direct manager of the SASM and has authority over team-level decisions
• BThe RTE is the chief Scrum Master for the ART, operating at the program level to facilita…
• CThe RTE and SASM have identical roles and can substitute for each other interchangeably
• DThe RTE focuses on delivery scheduling while the SASM handles all people-related concerns

A team consistently has a low ratio of active work time to total cycle time. What does this indicate, and what should the Advanced Scrum Master do?

• AThe team is overloaded; reduce the number of stories in the iteration
• BFlow efficiency is low; identify and reduce wait time, handoffs, and WIP to improve flow
• CThe team needs more skill training to increase their working speed
• DStory size is too large; break all stories into sub-tasks

Which of the following is a characteristic of a high-performing Agile team in SAFe?

• ATeam members specialize in a single skill set to maximize individual productivity
• BThe team is self-managing, cross-functional, and continuously improving through regular r…
• CTeam members report directly to the Scrum Master for daily task assignments
• DThe team relies on the Product Owner to resolve all technical decisions

During the ART Sync, Team A identifies that Team B needs to deliver a component before Team A can start their most critical story. What is the BEST way for the Advanced Scrum Master to handle this?

• AAccept the dependency and wait for Team B to finish before starting the story
• BWork with Team B's Scrum Master to negotiate the earliest delivery date and add the depen…
• CRemove the story from Team A's iteration plan and escalate to management
• DAsk the Product Owner to deprioritize Team A's story to avoid the dependency

What is the Continuous Delivery Pipeline in SAFe?

• AThe quarterly release schedule for the ART based on PI objectives
• BThe set of practices and automated tools that enable teams to release at any time with hi…
• CThe backlog refinement process that ensures stories are ready for development
• DThe escalation path for unresolved impediments from team to portfolio level

An Advanced Scrum Master wants to assess whether their team is truly self-managing. Which behavior is the STRONGEST indicator of team self-management?

• ATeam members complete all assigned tasks before the sprint ends
• BThe team identifies, plans, and implements process improvements without waiting for the S…
• CTeam members attend all SAFe ceremonies without reminders
• DThe team reports status accurately in all ART Sync meetings

What is the ROAM technique used for during PI Planning?

• APrioritizing the Program Backlog based on weighted shortest job first
• BCategorizing identified risks as Resolved, Owned, Accepted, or Mitigated
• CEstimating the relative size of features using planning poker
• DAllocating capacity across teams for the upcoming PI

A team's cumulative flow diagram shows that the 'In Progress' column is consistently expanding while 'Done' grows slowly. What does this indicate?

• AThe team is working efficiently and handling more stories simultaneously
• BWork items are accumulating in progress without completing, indicating a bottleneck or ex…
• CThe team needs to increase its iteration length to allow more time to complete stories
• DThe team is following the pull model correctly by picking up new work as capacity opens

When coaching a team member on their technical practices, which approach BEST aligns with the Advanced Scrum Master's coaching role?

• ADemonstrate the correct technical approach and require the team member to replicate it ex…
• BAsk powerful questions that help the team member discover better approaches through refle…
• CSubmit a change request to the team member's manager outlining the coaching need
• DRefer all technical coaching to the System Architect since Scrum Masters do not have tech…

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

• ADelivering additional features that were not completed in previous iterations
• BProviding a buffer for innovation, exploration, hackathons, and PI Planning preparation
• CConducting performance reviews and individual career development discussions
• DRunning the Inspect & Adapt workshop for the previous PI

A team's average cycle time has been increasing over the past three iterations. What is the FIRST action the Advanced Scrum Master should take?

• AIncrease team capacity by requesting additional team members
• BAnalyze the team's flow metrics to identify where work is slowing down
• CAsk the Product Owner to reduce story size to improve cycle time
• DSwitch the team to Kanban immediately to address the cycle time issue

How should an Advanced Scrum Master handle a Product Owner who frequently changes story priorities mid-iteration, disrupting the team's focus?

• AAllow all priority changes since the Product Owner is the final authority on the backlog
• BCoach the Product Owner on the impact of mid-iteration changes and collaborate to establi…
• CReject all mid-iteration changes and enforce a strict no-change policy
• DEscalate the behavior to the RTE for disciplinary action

In SAFe, what does 'Lean-Agile Mindset' refer to?

• AA set of project management tools for tracking Agile metrics
• BThe combination of Lean thinking, Agile principles, and SAFe Core Values that guide behav…
• CA specific SAFe training certification required for all practitioners
• DThe process of selecting between Scrum, Kanban, or XP for team implementation

What is the Definition of Ready (DoR) in SAFe and who is responsible for it?

• AThe criteria that must be met before a story is accepted as complete; owned by the Scrum…
• BThe criteria that must be met before a story is pulled into an iteration for development;…
• CThe set of conditions required before a feature can be approved for the Program Backlog
• DThe requirements that must be fulfilled before the team can begin a new PI

A team member proposes skipping the Daily Stand-up (Team Sync) because the team thinks it wastes time. How should the Advanced Scrum Master respond?

• AAgree and eliminate the Team Sync to increase team satisfaction
• BCoach the team to explore why the Team Sync feels wasteful and experiment with format cha…
• CMandate that all team members attend regardless of their concerns, citing SAFe requiremen…
• DReplace the Team Sync with a written daily status email to management

Which SAFe principle relates most directly to the Advanced Scrum Master's focus on improving flow and reducing batch size?

• AApply Systems Thinking
• BApply cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning
• CAssume variability; preserve optionality
• DTake an economic view

A team wants to measure their performance more objectively. Which combination of flow metrics provides the most comprehensive view?

• AVelocity, story points committed vs. completed, and sprint burndown
• BFlow Distribution, Flow Velocity, Flow Time, and Flow Efficiency
• CNumber of defects found in testing, code coverage percentage, and test automation rate
• DTeam happiness score, absenteeism rate, and meeting attendance

An ART has completed a PI and is now holding the Inspect & Adapt event. Which is the correct sequence of the event's three parts?

• AProblem-Solving Workshop → Retrospective → PI System Demo
• BPI System Demo → Quantitative and Qualitative Retrospective → Problem-Solving Workshop
• CRetrospective → PI System Demo → Problem-Solving Workshop
• DPI System Demo → Problem-Solving Workshop → Quantitative and Qualitative Retrospective

What is the primary purpose of backlog refinement in SAFe?

• ATo finalize the team's commitment for the current iteration
• BTo analyze, split, and estimate upcoming stories so they meet the Definition of Ready bef…
• CTo review and close stories completed in the previous iteration
• DTo reprioritize the Program Backlog based on new business intelligence

Which behavior BEST demonstrates the Advanced Scrum Master's servant leadership approach?

• AMaking all key process decisions to protect the team from overhead
• BAsking the team what they need to succeed and removing obstacles that prevent them from d…
• CSetting the team's goals and measuring individual performance against them
• DAttending all external meetings on behalf of the team to limit interruptions

A team's test automation coverage is low, causing frequent regression defects. What is the MOST appropriate action for the Advanced Scrum Master?

• AHire a dedicated automation engineer outside the team to build the test suite
• BFacilitate a team discussion on investing in test automation as a built-in quality practi…
• CInstruct the team to skip automated testing for low-risk stories
• DRequest the Product Owner to add test automation as a separate feature in the Program Bac…

What does the Advanced Scrum Master do with team-level improvement items identified during the Inspect & Adapt workshop?

• AKeep them in a separate improvement log outside the team backlog to avoid confusing them…
• BAdd them to the team backlog as improvement stories to be committed and tracked like othe…
• CSubmit them to the RTE for approval before the team can work on them
• DAddress them only during the next PI Planning event

Which of SAFe's four Core Values BEST describes the importance of making work and progress visible to all stakeholders?

• AAlignment
• BProgram Execution
• CTransparency
• DBuilt-in Quality

An Advanced Scrum Master is facilitating a cross-team retrospective after a difficult PI. Several teams blame each other for delivery failures. What is the BEST facilitation approach?

• ADetermine which team was responsible and document it for future reference
• BUse a structured retrospective format that focuses on systems and processes, not individu…
• CSeparate the teams and hold individual retrospectives to avoid conflict
• DEscalate the interpersonal conflict to the Portfolio level immediately

What is the Scrum of Scrums (ART Sync) and what is its primary purpose?

• AA management status meeting where team velocity is reported to senior leadership
• BA cross-team coordination event where Scrum Masters identify and resolve cross-team imped…
• CA planning session where the RTE allocates features to teams for the upcoming iteration
• DA technical review where System Architects approve team solutions

A team is struggling with technical debt that slows every iteration and causes frequent defects. What is the BEST long-term approach the Advanced Scrum Master should facilitate?

• ADedicate one iteration per PI entirely to technical debt reduction
• BHelp the team negotiate a sustainable approach of continuously allocating capacity to tec…
• CEliminate all technical debt work from the backlog to focus entirely on business features
• DAsk the System Architect to own and resolve all technical debt outside the team's iterati…

During PI Planning, a team is overly optimistic about how many stories they can commit to. What should the Advanced Scrum Master do?

• AAllow the over-commitment since Business Owners need maximum delivery
• BCoach the team to calculate realistic capacity based on historical velocity and known abs…
• CReduce the team's story count arbitrarily to ensure success
• DAsk the RTE to set the team's capacity for them based on ART-level planning data

What is the WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First) model used for in SAFe?

• AEstimating the effort required to complete individual stories during backlog refinement
• BPrioritizing features and stories by calculating the ratio of cost of delay to job size
• CAllocating budget across different value streams in the portfolio
• DMeasuring team velocity across multiple iterations to identify trends