30 SAFe Agilist Interview Questions & Answers
Below is a list of our SAFe Agilist interview questions. Click on any interview question to view our answer advice and answer examples. You may view 15 answer examples before our paywall loads. Afterwards, you'll be asked to upgrade to view the rest of our answers.
Discovery
1. In your opinion, what are some of the biggest challenges to implementing SAFe within an enterprise?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Organizations that implement comprehensive methodologies such as SAFe experience challenges alongside the benefits they gain. Interviewers who ask this question are curious to know what the interviewer believes these challenges might entail.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to add a positive spin to each of the challenges within your answer. Interviewers appreciate honesty but are also interested in candidates that know how to transcend challenges and help their teams balance both perspectives.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"One of the biggest challenges I have experienced with the adoption of SAFe is that the creative freedom that teams grew to love in various agile methodologies is significantly affected. In a traditional scrum model product owners and development teams were mostly autonomous and responsible for their own processes and improvements. Under SAFe, there is a hierarchy that drives their work assignments and tracks metrics on their output. Creative types sometimes feel like they are just a piece of the process instead of driving change. I feel it is important to remind teams that one of the main principles of SAFe is decentralized decision-making and that they have freedom in many areas. I find it helps to realign the team around the positive aspects that add perceived value to their experience.
The other main challenge I have witnessed when adopting SAFe is that it takes a long time to see real benefits. SAFe implementations require the adoption of new roles and new types of thinking that take time to establish. Even when employees are trained, it then takes time to gain the experience and wisdom necessary to be truly effective. In my experience, this is where an experienced SAFe agilist adds tremendous value. Enterprises who hire seasoned and positive coaches who know how to facilitate the process properly help the others come up to speed more quickly than they would otherwise."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Discovery
2. Describe your experience working on SAFe government initiatives.
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
SAFe implementations for government are different from SAFe implementations within the private sector. Interviewers who ask this question are potentially seeking to hire a SAFe agilist that is familiar with the differences and how to work within a SAFe government environment.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to mention any private sector work you have done that served government clients who use SAFe. This type of experience may be acceptable in lieu of direct SAFe for government experience.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"I have not worked within the government directly. My understanding of government SAFe is that it has most of the components of the private sector, but there are specific allowances for required government-related workflows and budgetary processes.
The last company I worked for developed several private-sector AI solutions for the Department of Defense. We used the SAFe Essential model and it worked well for integration initiatives with their development teams who were in the process of adopting their own version of SAFe."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Discovery
3. What process management tools do you have experience using in a SAFe environment?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Enterprises use process management tools to track progress and manage workflows within the various levels of a SAFe implementation. Interviewers ask this question to ensure a candidate has experience leveraging the types of solutions they will be required to use in the event they are hired.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to be clear about any tools you used that were not scaled for SAFe. Some of the smaller tools that Scrum teams use to manage team-level work are not suitable for enterprise use, but they have similar features that may be applicable to your role as a SAFe agilist.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"I used ServiceNow in my last role for a number of functions. We used it for task management, change management, incident management, and asset management. I was involved in the team that reviewed and configured the solution. I mostly weighed in on the task management structure of the workflows and the review and approval processes for change management.
I also have experience with Jira. I used it when I worked as a scrum master for a smaller SaaS company to manage the work of a development team. We managed our backlogs, tracked tasks, and used the reporting features. I have seen demos of Jira Align as well. It is the enterprise functionality meant to extend the capabilities of Jira to a SAFe level model. I like how they integrated the solutions in a way that scaled well for individual use, team use, Agile Release Train use, and portfolio level use."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Discovery
4. What types of leadership work best for a Release Train Engineer?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Interviewers ask this question to gain insight into the type of leadership skills a SAFe agilist feels a Release Train Engineer should have. This is an opinion question, but interviewers use it to ensure candidates understand the need for facilitative and servant qualities to be part of a successful Release Train Engineer's leadership style.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to demonstrate that you understand Release Train Engineers are not autocratic or authoritative. They use their extensive expertise to mentor, coach, and inspire without demanding a specific outcome.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"Release Train Engineers benefit from being able to leverage various leadership styles depending on the situation and the people involved. RTEs are mostly servant leaders. They are not autocratic. They serve as coaches and facilitators who offer solid guidance based on experience and expertise. They encourage teams to find effective solutions to their issues and inspire them to continually improve. Release Train Engineers also need transformational and strategic leadership skills. The extent to which these leadership skills are required typically depends on the products they work on and the maturity levels of the teams they work with."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Discovery
5. Describe an Agile Release Train you were a member of. What was your role, and how did it fit within the whole?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
The Agile Release Train is the basic enterprise structure of the Scaled Agile Framework. Interviewers are interested in candidates that have experience working within an ART and ask this question to assess a candidate's level of experience.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to provide the details of the business purpose for the Agile Release Train you participated in. In the event the concept is advanced from a technical perspective, or not applicable to the business of your interviewer, include an easy-to-understand metaphor to help explain it.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"I worked as a scrum master of a development team for a banking corporation. My team was responsible for the user online bill pay functions of our banking app. We were a part of an Agile Release Train that included the teams that managed similar functions on the website, teams that handled integrations with third parties, the team responsible for the necessary accounting functions that were engaged when a bill was processed online, and the team that handled the automated help features for these functions.
I often met with the Release Train Engineer to discuss challenges and ensure the work my team was engaged in was in alignment with the vision for the ART. I also led demos for our features during inspect and adapt meetings. Most of our metrics were transparent and readily available for the RTE or other senior managers on-demand, but I got involved from time to time if there were questions about a particular decision or data point.
Our organization relied on an Essential SAFe model at the time I was there. We did not yet have a defined Portfolio or Value Stream level to align with."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Discovery
6. What experience do you have working with Kanban boards?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
SAFe allows for the adoption of various agile development models within Agile Release Trains. Kanban is one of these models. Additionally, Kanban boards are frequently used at the program and portfolio levels to track progress and limit work in progress. Interviewers ask this question to ensure candidates have experience working with this integral tool.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to include the purpose and benefits of a Kanban board in your answer. Demonstrating that you understand that Kanban boards are intended to provide visualization, promote collaboration, and limit work in progress is key.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"A team I worked on as an engineer used a Kanban board to manage our support and maintenance work for a suite of applications. We used the board to limit our work in progress and gain visualization of everything we had in flight at a given time. The system worked well for us and helped us to collaborate effectively.
At my last company, I was a scrum master for a SAFe team. Our team was given a list of features to work on that was managed by architects and product managers on a higher level within a program epic Kanban board. I had access to their board and used it to see what items I could encourage my team to think about in advance. I appreciated the transparency of the process and I was able to provide feedback and ask questions early and often within the planning and development processes."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Discovery
7. What experience do you have incorporating user experience best practices into the features your team(s) develop?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Some organizations rely on user experience professionals to participate in the development process by assisting in the design of intuitive and value-driven feature sets. Interviewers ask this question when they anticipate a SAFe agilist will interact with this important role within their organization.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to highlight any knowledge you have regarding the Lean UX model. SAFe organizations rely on the core principles of Lean UX to add value while maintaining lean best practices.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"I served as a release train engineer at my last company. I am not a user experience expert, but I was responsible for ensuring that lean user experience best practices were in place and we leveraged the basic Lean UX model in our approach. This included making an initial benefit hypothesis, incorporating a collaborative design approach, developing a minimally marketable feature that could be tested and drive user feedback, and evaluating the results. These concepts allowed our teams to insert user experience-driven thinking into our approach without investing too much time or money until the benefit we expected to receive was proven in a live environment."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
8. What is the purpose and value of an iteration review meeting in SAFe?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
SAFe agilists that work at the team level of a SAFe implementation will participate in iteration review meetings often. Interviewers ask this question of candidates that are expected to participate in or monitor the results of these meetings.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to state that iteration review meetings help to avoid future costs and delays in future development. The reduction of delay and cost is an integral component of SAFe and the application of this core concept on a team level demonstrates awareness of important lean values organizations appreciate and look for in candidates.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"An iteration review meeting is a team level ceremony in which the work a team accomplished over the course of an iteration is demoed for the stakeholders, product owners, and/or product managers. The backlog is typically updated during this meeting to ensure the team is in alignment with other teams and incorporates changes in direction that are applicable to their work.
This meeting is valuable because it gives teams a chance to gather feedback early in the process, and on a continual basis. This creates the opportunity to incorporate necessary changes before the development process is too far along to absorb change without significant delay or cost."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
9. What is a Portfolio within SAFe and what roles manage it?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Some organizations exceed the Essential SAFe model and implement Full SAFe to define portfolios and align development practices with additional business functions within their organization. Interviewers ask this question to assess the quality of a candidate's basic knowledge of this concept.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to use appropriate SAFe terminology such as Agile Release Train and Value Stream in your response. Additionally, be sure to mention the three core competencies that are introduced at the Portfolio level of SAFe.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"A Portfolio in SAFe represents a collection of Agile Release Trains that drive a Value Stream. The Portfolio is business-oriented and introduces three additional competencies into the SAFe process. They are Lean Portfolio Management, Continuous Learning Culture, and Business Agility.
The Portfolio is managed by epic owners and enterprise architects. Individual teams, release train engineers, architects, product managers, and product owners feed information upward to the owners of the Portfolio."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
10. What are the core values of SAFe?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Interviewers ask this question to help them eliminate candidates that do not understand the basics of SAFe. The core values are integral to all of the facets of SAFe and it is expected that any SAFe agilist will understand the concepts behind them.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to give a brief description of each of the four values within your response. Interviewers value candidates that can demonstrate understanding in addition to their ability to memorize the core values.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"There are four core values of SAFe. Alignment is a core value that represents the need to align vision and solutions across an enterprise. This ensures solutions are scalable and reusable and that the right solutions are built based on the senior-level vision that is properly translated into an end product.
The second core value is Built-in Quality. This value ensures that quality measures are taken at each step of the product development and maintenance process. This includes establishing quality information and value stream flows as well as continued use of DevOps best practices.
The third core value is Transparency. The transparency value is built upon trust across verticals and various management levels within an enterprise. Backlogs are open and accessible across all levels to help establish a shared vision. The fourth and last core value is Program Execution. All of the quality, alignment, and transparency measures of SAFe enhance this value and lay the framework for successful execution. SAFe has mechanisms for continually assessing the level of execution of various release trains and defining action plans to improve when results are less than optimal."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
11. What are the four levels of SAFe an organization can implement and how are they measured?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Interviewers ask this question to help them eliminate candidates that do not understand the basics of SAFe. It is expected that any SAFe agilist will understand the basic implementation models that companies choose to adopt.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to give a brief description of each of the four levels within your response. Interviewers value candidates that can demonstrate understanding in addition to their ability to memorize the four levels. Additionally, be sure to mention the purpose of the metrics used at each level.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"The four levels of SAFe are Team, Program, Value Stream, and Portfolio. The team level represents small cross-functional teams responsible for solution development. The program level represents the Agile Release Train which consists of a series of teams. The Value Stream or large solutions level represents the interaction of architects and value stream engineers who refine the executive vision and ensure alignment between various release trains. Finally, the Portfolio level is driven by business and technology leaders who drive the high-level vision for the business goals and direction of the products they are responsible for.
The three lower levels use flow, outcome, and competency metrics that are specific to their level. For example, a scrum team would use velocity as a measurement of flow. At the Portfolio level, metrics such as revenue, customer satisfaction ratings, marketing campaign success rate, etc. are used. The metrics are specific to the line of business the portfolio is meant to drive."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
12. What are the elements of a successful user story within a product backlog?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Scrum product backlogs are composed of user stories that drive what is ultimately developed on behalf of the business owners or end-users. Interviewers ask this question to ensure that a SAFe agilist candidate is familiar with the components required for a quality user story.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to include any story metadata that is helpful to have when managing a backlog. This might include items like the requester, a list of stakeholders, or the date the story was requested.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"A good user story should clearly communicate the user who the story is intended to serve, the functionality to be built, and the business value the story should generate. The statements should be as concise as possible and should resonate with the customers they are written to serve as well as the development team. It is also helpful to capture information regarding related epics, the priority, the requester, the date it was requested, scope notes, and the known acceptance criteria."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
13. What is an enabler story?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
SAFe agilists are often called upon to help stakeholders understand the value in investing in work that is not user-driven, but technically necessary for the development of a successful product. Interviewers who ask this question want to ensure that the candidate they hire is aware of this important concept.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to include an example of an enabler story in your response. Select an example that is easily understood by all interviewers regardless of their technical experience.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"An enabler story represents work that is typically technical in nature and enables user stories to be developed. For example, an enabler story for a product might include the work to research a new web services solution or implement a new architecture standard. Enabler stories might also represent compliance-related work to meet company, technological, or regulatory standards."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
14. How does the concept of Release on Demand work in SAFe?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
SAFe aims to ensure that the right product increments are developed and ready for deployment at the right time. Interviewers who ask this question seek SAFe agilist candidates who understand how to apply this concept at the program increment level.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to include the four activities included within Release on Demand in your answer. Additionally, offer a brief description of what each of these activities entail.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"Release on Demand is a concept where solutions are packaged and ready for release as soon as the customer is ready to accept them. It is a part of the Continuous Delivery Pipeline. For example, a release train may go through several iterations and develop several increments before a customer accepts the new features into a production environment. The goal is to anticipate when various increments will be needed and to have them fully tested and ready for deployment with minimal delay.
Release on Demand has four components. The first is 'Release' which includes the activities necessary to release. The second is 'Stabilize and Operate' which includes ensuring a solution is up and running as intended. The third is 'Monitor' which includes gathering metrics to test for business value, and the fourth is 'Learn' which involves gathering lessons learned and developing best practices to continually offer an optimal Release on Demand experience."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
15. What is reviewed during an Inspect and Adapt meeting?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
SAFe agilists are expected to have had experience with retrospective meetings throughout their career. Interviewers ask this question to determine if a SAFe agilist understands the application of this concept within a SAFe setting.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to include all three of the main components of the Inspect and Adapt meeting. Each section is critical and helps to minimize delay and add value to future program increments.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"The Inspect and Adapt meeting has three main components. First, the feature sets are reviewed to ensure they meet the needs of the business. The features are scored to determine how valuable they are. Second, the metrics for the increment are reviewed and discussed to determine if there are issues within the process. Necessary backlog changes are also discussed. Finally, there is a retrospective process aimed at solving problems and creating specific action plans to address identified issues."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
16. What is the difference between 'Full SAFe' and 'Essential SAFe'?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Organizations typically begin with an Essential SAFe implementation and proceed to Full SAFe if the size and practices of their organization seek a greater level of business agility in addition to a more integrated and lean agile development process. Interviewers ask this question to assess a SAFe agilist's familiarity with the differences in these two models as they are often applied to any role a SAFe agilist will pay within a new company.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to include the purpose of the two models in your response. Full SAFe competencies are business-oriented whereas Essential SAFe focuses on product development best practices.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"There are four levels of SAFe. Essential SAFe is the first, and Full SAFe is the last. Essential SAFe focuses on four main competencies of SAFe, and the creation of the Agile Release Train. It is a basic model that introduces SAFe to an organization and brings their agile teams together to insert quality into a more streamlined process.
Full SAFe is the most extensive form of SAFe and it is typically adopted over time by large enterprises. It is representative of all of the seven competencies and includes portfolio management and lean budgeting practices. It aligns Agile Release Trains within Value Streams and enables higher-level business functions."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
17. What are the four components of the 'Continuous Delivery Pipeline'?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
The Continuous Delivery Pipeline is a critical piece of the SAFe process as it governs the way in which teams prep for and deploy production releases. Interviewers ask this question to ensure SAFe agilist candidates understand the main aspects of the process and the value it is meant to add to the process.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to provide a brief explanation for each to demonstrate your full understanding of the concept. Additionally, remember to communicate that the Release on Demand aspect of the pipeline relies on the existence of the other three components.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"The Continuous Delivery Pipeline in SAFe consists of Continuous Exploration, Continuous Integration, Continuous Deployment, and Release on Demand. Continuous Exploration is the continual consideration of what should be built using various design thinking and business-driven standards. Continuous Integration involves the process of moving stories out of the program backlog and into development teams. Additionally, this includes the process of full integration into the final solution that is tested and ready to be released.
Continuous Deployment involves the standards for moving products from staging or testing environments into a production setting in an efficient and continuous manner. Finally, Release on Demand is the culmination of the other three aspects. It allows feature sets to be released as soon as the customer is ready for them. It demonstrates that the right features were built, they are integrated properly, and they can be easily deployed or rolled back for fixes if necessary."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
18. What is a Program Increment and how is it applied in a SAFE environment?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
This is a SAFe general knowledge question. Interviewers use this question to eliminate candidates that are not truly educated on the basics of SAFe.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to demonstrate your understanding of the difference between a Program Increment and an agile team's iteration process. It is important to properly demonstrate the hierarchy and the relationship between the two concepts.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"A Program Increment is a time-boxed event that is usually two to three months long. It represents the work of several iterations by the agile teams that make up an agile release train. The goal of a Program Increment is to have fully functional and fully tested working units of product that can be released at the end of the increment.
Program Increments are planned in advance during program increment planning sessions. In these sessions, the basic scope and timing for the increment are decided and resource planning decisions are made."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
19. What is SAFe, and why was it created?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Interviewers ask this question to ensure that SAFe professionals have the ability to explain what SAFe is and why it was established on a basic level. Many SAFe agilists are asked to mentor and teach others about SAFe. This information is used frequently in any coach or leadership role.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to specify the three core bodies of knowledge that are blended together in the SAFe model. SAFe agilists are expected to understand that SAFe is a combination of agile, lean, and systems thinking best practices.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"SAFe stands for Scaled Agile Framework. It is a workflow and organizational model that blends agile software development, lean product development, and systems thinking together in a scaled way that can be adopted at the enterprise level. It was developed to offer a roadmap to leveraging best practices from those three key bodies of knowledge to establish an optimal flow of value and product delivery within an enterprise."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
20. What is a lean guardrail and how does it add value to the SAFe budgetary process?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Some SAFe agilists participate heavily in monitoring cost information for the various products they are responsible for. Interviewers ask this question to determine if a candidate understands how guardrails function in regard to lean budget management.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to provide a brief description of each of the four guardrails. Adding this detail to your answer indicates you have an advanced understanding of the concept.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"Guardrails represent best practices to guide teams when making decisions on how to invest and what to work on. Guardrails set thresholds for spending and define decision points for workflows. There are four guardrail models in SAFe.
The first two guardrails are quantitative. The first determines how to invest based on horizons or the phase that a particular product or program of work is in. The second is guided by capacity allocation and allows a certain amount of funding for various activities like new work, architecture, maintenance, etc.
The last two guardrails are qualitative and process-based. The third guardrail determines when a group needs to seek approval for a particular body of work. Organizations define a spending threshold and if a feature set or epic goes above that amount, it is reviewed by business owners or other stakeholders as appropriate. The fourth and final guardrail relies on continual business owner engagement. This model requires experts within the business to be heavily involved in the review and approval process as increments are completed and as higher-level direction-setting activities occur.
Any one of these models can add value to the development process, and the right model or models depend on the products and the level of expertise of the individuals involved. It is also valuable to analyze larger more strategic decisions through more than one guardrail approach. The goal is to ensure that the right investments are made at the right time."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
21. What are the main responsibilities of a SAFe Release Train Engineer?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
SAFe agilists may work as Release Train Engineers or partner with them in their specific roles. Interviewers ask this question to ensure candidates understand the purpose and value of this critical SAFe role.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to include the meetings, deliverables, and mentoring/coaching responsibilities of a Release Train Engineer in your answer. The RTE SAFe role is included in every SAFe implementation and it is expected that SAFe agilists at all levels understand the full scope of the duties of this critical role.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"Release Train Engineers are facilitators that fully understand agile and lean principles. They help to synchronize the work of the individual teams within an Agile Release Train by conducting Program Increment planning and execution meetings. RTEs also develop and socialize delivery calendars for the ART.
RTEs work to ensure adherence to process and excellence in all areas of the process including reporting upstream to PMOs. They also partner with development leaders and architects to foster continual delivery, improvement, and integration standards.
Finally, RTEs serve as coaches and mentors for individuals within teams. Scrum masters, product owners, and product managers often seek their guidance and work with RTEs to resolve conflicts between teams."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
22. What are the main responsibilities of a product manager and product owner in SAFe?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Interviewers ask this question to ensure SAFe agilist candidates understand the scope of these two roles. The roles are integrated and have cross-over. It is important to know where one ends and the other begins.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to specify the difference in focus for these two roles. The product manager is a business role with technology responsibility and the product owner is a technology role with business responsibility.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"The product manager is customer or business-facing and drives the vision of a product. They develop the roadmap and a program backlog with feature-level acceptance criteria based on the needs of the business, the expected ROI, pricing models, marketing needs, etc. Product managers have responsibility for the entire life cycle including delivery of the final product to the customer. This role is typically more senior and has more responsibility for the overall success of a product than a product owner has.
Product owners are embedded within a technology team. They take the features from the program backlog and translate them into user stories within the product backlog. This includes defining acceptance criteria for specific stories. Product owners test and accept the product increments and work them into the baseline for the product manager and enablers to release to the end-users on demand."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
23. What is the 'Weighted Shortest Job First' concept?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Weighted Shortest Job First is a key concept used to prioritize work within SAFe. Interviewers ask this question to ensure candidates understand how the lean principle of reducing delay is applied to backlog management.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to include why the Weighted Shortest Job First concept is used in addition to offering the formula. Interviewers appreciate candidates that understand the business impact of applying a workflow concept in addition to the mechanics involved.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"Weighted Shortest Job First, or WSJF, is a concept used to prioritize jobs in SAFe. It is calculated by dividing the cost of not doing a job for a specified period of time by the time the job will take to complete. In other words, the cost of delay is divided by the duration.
When teams are faced with several jobs that have similar priorities, they use the WSJF to determine which job to take on first to maximize the business value of the resulting product by minimizing delay. Additionally, using WSFJ has been beneficial within projects I have worked on because it quantitatively demonstrates the tangible value and reduces political conflicts among business owners."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
24. What are the critical roles within an Agile Release Train?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Interviewers ask SAFe agilists this question to ensure they understand the main roles within the working bodies of SAFe. Candidates will most likely be hired to fill one or more of the roles within an Agile Release Train or coordinate with the members of the ART directly.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to include roles that help to enable the ART such as architects and shared services. These are important roles that are vital to the delivery and maintenance aspects of a product.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"Agile Release Trains represent a collection of several agile development teams that usually consist of 5-10 individuals. The teams are cross-functional and include engineers and testers. Teams may also have a scrum master and a product owner depending on the specific agile methodology they follow. In addition to these teams, Agile Release Trains include business owners, stakeholders, customers, release train engineers, product managers, architects, and shared services."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
25. What is an Agile Release Train (ART)?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Establishing ARTs is one of the first steps of a SAFe implementation. Interviewers ask this question to ensure candidates understand this core concept.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to provide an easy-to-understand example of an Agile Release Train in addition to a basic definition. Sometimes interviews are conducted in panels with participants that are not SAFe or technology experts. Offering this information demonstrates proper understanding and the ability to educate others.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"An ART is a team of agile teams that build, deliver, and support one or more solutions. Agile Release Trains are cross-functional teams that are meant to eliminate silos and reduce time wasted on unnecessary handoffs.
For example, an enterprise like Microsoft may have an Agile Release Train for their product Excel. Within the ART for Excel, there may be a team that handles the user interface development, a team that handles web integration with their online version, a team that handles export, print, and download functionality, etc. All of these teams would coordinate their efforts to deliver functionality on a regular basis per a shared release schedule."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
26. What is meant by the SAFe principle of 'Decentralize Decision Making'?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
The decentralization of decision-making within SAFe helps to avoid unnecessary delays. Interviewers ask SAFe agilists this question to ensure they understand the scope of decisions that are meant to be decentralized in a SAFe organization.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to describe the types of decisions that are candidates for decentralization. Additionally, define the scope of decisions that are meant to remain centralized.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"Decentralize Decision Making is a model that empowers team members to make decisions quickly with limited escalation. In this model, organizations reduce lead time by allowing decisions that are tactical, frequent, require local expertise, or are time-critical to be made by the team members closest to the situation. Only strategic decisions that have significant business impact, require specific expertise, or are long-lasting are centralized."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
General
27. What is meant by the SAFe principle of 'Apply Systems Thinking'?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Apply Systems Thinking is one of the basic principles of SAFe that drives value. Interviewers ask this question to ensure a candidate understands the need to consider the systems, people, and the organization itself as a system when developing solutions.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to include the three main parts of the principle. The goal of Apply Systems Thinking is to leverage a holistic approach to product development, and including all of the parts of the principle in your response will communicate that you understand the big picture perspective that drives this principle.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"Apply Systems Thinking is a principle that aims to encourage organizations to take a holistic approach to solutions development. There are three main aspects of this principle. The first is that the solution itself is a system. Solution designers need to consider the whole of a system when working on any given component. That includes the entire architecture and integration points.
The second aspect of Apply Systems Thinking is to understand that the people, the management, and the organization building the solution are also a system. Solution designers need to consider the social, political, and organizational factors involved. They need to strive to develop cross-functional workflows.
The third aspect of Apply Systems Thinking is to understand and optimize the development value stream. Having awareness of how to develop solutions in the most efficient way possible contributes to the fastest delivery of value."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Operational
28. How is Cost of Delay calculated in SAFe?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Cost of Delay is a lean concept that is applied frequently in the process of backlog management. Interviewers ask this question to ensure SAFe agilists understand how to properly arrive at this critical number.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to include an easy to understand scenario in your answer. Interviewers value candidates that can clearly demonstrate real world application of a concept in addition to reciting a formula.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"Cost of Delay is calculated by considering the business value of the job, the time criticality of the job, and the opportunity enablement or risk reduction of the job.
For example, a team might be weighing several features against each other for release for a Black Friday sale promotion. One of those features might be a marketing feature that needs to be released prior to the sale event. The value would be determined by estimating how many new or existing customers the feature might encourage to make a purchase. The time criticality would be higher for this feature than features that are not needed until the Black Friday sale actually begins. The opportunity enablement/risk reduction number would include understanding that advertising a sale is critical to its success."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Situational
29. Please describe how you would facilitate the process of estimating the size of a user story in SAFe.
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
The process of relative estimation is a key function within any agile methodology. Interviewers ask this question to determine how a candidate would drive this core team process that is continuously used in SAFe.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to include the discussions that occur before actual estimates are given. These are key to helping team members understand the scope and right-size their estimates. Additionally, be sure to mention your preferred approach to conflict resolution when team members disagree on estimates.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"I would begin with a review of the scope of the user story. The team would discuss any assumptions regarding the basic definition of completion and any must-have user expectations or business rules that need to be considered.
From there, I would allow everyone on the team to offer their estimate. The estimates given are not specific to each role. They are estimates for the total size of the user story. Additionally, the estimates are not given in terms of hours or days. They are relative estimates that are made by comparing the size of the new story, to other upcoming stories, or to similar stories that have been completed in the past. The teams I work with use a Fibonacci scale of 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 13. Anything above a 13 typically needs to be decomposed into smaller jobs.
After everyone provides their number, we discuss any sizing disagreements. The parties who disagree offer the logic behind their estimate and the team determines how to proceed. If there is a deadlock, we defer to the individual who is most likely to do the work for the story and go with their estimate."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Situational
30. Imagine that you are asked to convince the executives of your company to invest in the adoption of SAFe. What are the key points they need to consider?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
SAFe agilists are sometimes hired to lend their expertise during the process of determining whether or not SAFe is a good fit for the hiring organization. Interviewers who ask this question are interested in assessing how a candidate would communicate the points that their senior leaders would need to consider.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Remember To
Remember to include the business-oriented benefits of SAFe in addition to the product development efficiency benefits. Senior leaders of large enterprises have responsibilities that extend beyond operations in many cases. Companies are interested in hiring SAFe agilists that understand portfolio and value stream aspects in addition to what the SAFe essential model provides.
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022
Answer Example
"I would start by explaining that SAFe is an incremental, lean and agile solution development model that is designed to deliver valuable assets much faster than the traditional waterfall approach. It allows for continual feedback and ensures that the right solutions are delivered at the right time. I would then explain that SAFe not only focuses on driving product development in an efficient manner, but it also takes an economic and holistic approach. Business drivers that generate the value stream are considered first and incorporated into the process so that they are understood by everyone involved.
Next, I would explain that SAFe also incorporates lean manufacturing and DevOps principles in a way that supports the entire enterprise. The model is scaled and focuses on implementing best practices that are successful for any organization. I would offer the metrics on the business benefits other enterprises have realized through their adoption of SAFe. For example, SAFe offers a 30-75% time to market improvement and a 20-50% increase in productivity.
Finally, I would close by showing an infographic with the roadmap for adopting SAFe within an enterprise. It would demonstrate that there is a well-defined and strategic model for gaining support, training change agents, identifying the value stream, preparing teams, etc. These 5 main presentation points would help the executives in my company understand why agile development makes sense, why the lean and holistic approach of SAFe matters, what the benefits might be, and how our company could transition to the model."
Written by Karrie Day on April 5th, 2022