Scaled Agile SSM Practice Exam Questions & Answers

Explanation

According to the SAFe 6 Scrum Master documentation, one of the potential root causes of Team Sync anti-patterns is the lack of collective ownership. Collective ownership means that the team members share responsibility for the quality and delivery of the team's work. They collaborate, communicate, and coordinate their efforts to achieve the team goals. They also support each other, provide feedback, and resolve issues together.When there is a lack of collective ownership, team members may exhibit some of the following Team Sync anti-patterns1:

Reporting to managers (status meetings): Team members use the Team Sync as a way to report their progress to the SM/TC or other managers, rather than to synchronize with their peers. This can create a hierarchical and command-and-control culture, where team members are not empowered to self-organize and self-manage.

Monologues: Team members give long and detailed updates that are not relevant or useful to other team members. This can make the Team Sync boring, inefficient, and ineffective, as team members lose interest and attention.

Cross-functional team standups (updates are not related to other people's work): Team members work on different features or components that are not aligned with the team goals or the Iteration goals. This can result in silos, dependencies, and integration issues, as well as reduced collaboration and coordination.

''Nothing to report'' can be a good thing: Team members say they have nothing to report, either because they have not done any work, or because they do not want to share their work with the team. This can indicate a lack of transparency, trust, and accountability, as well as a missed opportunity to get feedback and support from the team.

To overcome these anti-patterns, the SM/TC should coach the team on the purpose and value of the Team Sync, and help them adopt the best practices for effective Team Syncs, such as2:

Having a clear agenda and timebox

Focusing on the team goals and the Iteration goals

Asking the three key questions: What did I do yesterday? What will I do today? Do I have any impediments?

Using visual aids, such as task boards or Kanban boards, to track progress and identify issues

Encouraging active participation, collaboration, and feedback

Ending with clear action items and follow-ups

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Scrum Master/Team Coach

Team Sync

Top 7 Anti Patterns of Scrum Master - Simpliaxis

Scrum Anti-Patterns Taxonomy | Scrum.org

[11 Daily Scrum Anti-Patterns We Commonly Hear from UsersIn ... - Geekbot

Explanation

SAFe defines seven core competencies that enable business agility. One of these is Agile Product Delivery, which focuses on building a customer-centric approach to defining, developing, and releasing valuable solutions.

This competency emphasizes Design Thinking, DevOps, continuous delivery, and release on demand to ensure fast, high-quality value delivery aligned with customer needs. While Built-in Quality is a foundational SAFe principle, it is not categorized as a core competency.

From SAFe guidance:

''Agile Product Delivery is a customer-centric approach to defining, building, and releasing a continuous flow of valuable products and services to customers and users.''

Therefore, the correct answer is B. Agile Product Delivery, as it is one of SAFe's official seven core competencies.

Explanation

The Coach Sync (sometimes referred to as the Scrum of Scrums or SM/TC Sync) is a coordination event within SAFe where Scrum Masters and Team Coaches from the Agile Release Train (ART) meet to discuss progress, dependencies, and impediments that affect multiple teams.

This event provides a forum for escalating and addressing ART-level impediments that cannot be resolved within a single team. The RTE (Release Train Engineer) typically facilitates this meeting to ensure transparency and problem-solving across teams.

From SAFe guidance:

''The Coach Sync allows Scrum Masters and Team Coaches to discuss cross-team progress and impediments, escalating those that require ART-level visibility or resolution.''

Therefore, the correct answer is C. Coach Sync. This event enables effective synchronization among teams and promotes continuous improvement across the ART.

Explanation Tracking iteration progress means staying aware of how the team is doing against its commitments. The SAFe practice here is about communication. By raising awareness early when goals might be missed, the Scrum Master gives the team time to adjust course or get help. Simply tracking metrics or holding more meetings doesn't address the core practice of proactive communication. Early visibility into problems is what allows teams to respond effectively.

Explanation

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.

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Scrum Master/Team Coach

The Power of Shared Decision-Making through Servant-Leadership

The Scrum Master as a Servant-Leader

Explanation

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.

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CALMR - Scaled Agile Framework

The CALMR Approach to DevOps [Complete Guide] - KnowledgeHut

SAFe Scrum Master Course Outline

Explanation

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 Planning1However, 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 events2By 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

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PI Objectives - Scaled Agile Framework

Innovation and Planning Iteration - Scaled Agile Framework

SAFe Scrum Master Course Outline