SAFe RTE 5.0 [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

As RTE- what does the PI Burndown Chart show?

The progress being made toward the program increment timebox. Shows aggregated amount of work (story points) to Iterations within the PI

As RTE, why would I care about a Pareto Analysis?

The Pareto Chart is an output of the Fishbone effort, where Agile team(s) list all root causes statistically on a chart (X axis) and vote for the highest causes (y-axis). This is what is meant by the 80/20 rule or Pareto (meaning that 20% of the root causes will likely cause 80% of the problems). (hint: check it out some more and really understand how you as RTE can facilitate this)

At the end of each Iteration, the RTE collects and aggregates the agreed upon ART metrics to....

Better understand PI progress and ART health; Continuous Integration; Lean Flow accelerates delivery

DevOps and Release on Demand is the responsibility of Who?

All, shared responsibility

Do NFR's occur in every Backlog? True or False

True. NFR's are associated with all backlogs in SAFe. From the Team Backlog, up to the Program Backlog and then to the Solution backlog and even up to the Portfolio backlog (keep this in mind). As RTE this is important as it impacts the flow of the ART, or Solution Train if multiple ARTs

During PI Planning the teams produce a PI Plan. What is the aim of that deliverable?

1. Current capacity and load for each iteration 2. Draft PI objectives 3. Identified Risks and Impediments

Funny comparison: If you're a great RTE, what other 2 jobs could you do that will be in high demand?

Wedding planner!! and a Football performance coach, edging the team ever forward.

How can the RTE support Decentralized Decision-making?

Empower knowledge workers to manage the dependencies with other teams

How do you prepare & facilitate for large DISTRIBUTED team in PI Planning where large time zone difference occur?

Hold the PI event over 2.5-3 days, allowing for overlapping hours. You must honour team culture and people.

How is scoring assigned by teams once Risks and Dependencies are resolved?

Confidence vote (hint 1-5 fingers) done initially on their own team PI plan......then again in the wider PI audience "Given what you now know, how confident are you that we as a team can deliver on this plan together?"

How is scoring assigned to Business Value chart for Agile teams, when they show the PI Objectives?

ART Business Owners assign a value between 1-10 in the various Team breakout rooms. Note the BO's are walking the rooms

How long is the Daily session?

15 min

How long is the Inspect & Adapt (I &A) session?

0.5 day

How long is the main PI Event?

2 days

How long is the PI event for Distributed Teams (different Time zones)

2.5-3 days

How long is the PO Synch session?

30-60min

How long is the Scrum of Scrum session?

30 min

How long is the System Demo?

2 hours

How many iterations does one Program Increment (PI) have in SAFe

PIs are typically 8 - 12 weeks long. The most common pattern for a PI is four development Iterations, followed by one Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration

If a team's vote on the confidence level is high enough the aggregate set of objectives becomes

ART Plan

In order to evolve as a Leader in SAFe, what practices can the RTE recommend?

Encourage personal development

In what way is a Value stream map different than a Process flow?

A value stream map measures the FLOW OF VALUE....and identifies bottlenecks for improvement

List 3 types of meetings held, in which ART representatives, come together regularly to assess the progress of PI Objectives

SoS, PO Synch, ART Synch

Metrics: What does the Cumulative Flow Diagram provide?

It shows the amount of work in the various Kanban states (columns such as Funnel, Analyzing etc). One quickly can view any bottlenecks in througput, Lead times and WIP in the system

Metrics: What does the PI BurnDown chart provide?

Shows the amount of work completed and total work remaining in that PI timebox. think of a visual Glide-slope moving down. There is an X and Y axis (story points vs Iterations) - Nice for showing any scope creep.

Metrics: What does the Program Predictability Measure do?

It captures actual business objectives achieved vs planned business value in a visual tabular manner. - It measures all PIs at one axis and progress to objectives on the other axis. It reflects ALL teams variances to meeting program objectives.

Name 3 assessment used in PI Execution? (hint think what's in the toolkit)

1. Agile Product Delivery Self assessment 2. Team and Technical Agility Self-Assessment 3. SAFe DevOps Health Radar

Name 3 tools to use in Problem Solving?

Ishikawa diagrams The 5 Why's Pareto Analysis

on (DAY 1) PI event , what outcomes can we expect the Agile team breakout sessions to produce?

Create PI plan for ALL their iterations; write DRAFT PI objectives and identify risks and impediments

The Program Board will focus on what?

Feature delivery; Team dependencies & Milestones (note: Program Board is also then used during PI planning and after it as well - its the visual board)

Release Train Engineer (RTE)?

The RTE facilitates Agile Release Train processes and execution. The RTE escalate impediments, helps manage risk, helps ensure value delivery, and drives continuous improvement.

The RTE is a servant leader who displays which two actions or behaviors?

1. Creates an environment of mutual influence 2. Listens and supports teams in problem identification and decision-making

RTEs collaborate to ensure strategy alignment with?

System Architect/Engineering and Product and Solution Management

Situational Question: What could you typically expect after being in an RTE role, say after say 1 month?

It's a personal journey, when I joined, the focus was within the Scrum level, the team level, while jumping into the SAFe framework and getting ready for the PI planning event, getting up on stage in front of many people and building the program boards & objectives. It did not take long until we had a team of excellent Scrum masters and a community of practice, on top of our Agile Comm of Practice. And now after many PI events later, our challenges are still there in many forms, but everyone can now feel the change as we drive value down the ART and what we now call the new normal

Situation Question: During PI planning, the RTE sees the excitement of the team quickly decline as Product Management starts making sudden changes to Priorities - including the Top 10 Features - in the Program Backlog! What do you think is the cause?

1. Lack of Training, and; 2. Preparation for PI Planing

Situation Question: The RTE has recently facilitated a session to bring people from different teams together on the ART to discuss updating Engineering practices. What stage is the team likely in? a. Teaming b. Storming c. Forming d. Norming e. Virtual

d. Norming (why: the team has likely already establish internal agreement about their roles and responsibilities, individuals are adapting to it)

The Teams DRAFT plan review consists of which three items at the end of the 1st DAY of the PI planning event, (choose 3) a. Risks and Impediments b. Capacity and Load Estimates c. Agile team assessment d. Draft PI Objectives

Risks and Impediments; Capacity and Load Estimates and Draft PI Objectives

What are Kanban WIP Limits? (hint: think of the visual board and sticky notes)

The Work in Progress (WIP) limits are displayed above each column. there are limits how many cards are in each column. They adjust demand to capacity and hep the flow through the board. The implementation of WIP limits allows you to complete single work items faster, by helping your team to focus only on current tasks.

What are my personal Observations on being a RTE?

For me, an RTE is a Scrum master at Program level; a Principle Scrum master if you ask me. Someone who can look at all the different Scrum teams that compose an ART and is able to track and coordinate all dependencies, risks, goals and features that compose it. But more than that - The RTE should champion the Agile culture and promote it through the Scrum masters while enforces a second layer of communication and relationships between team members, Scrum masters, Product owners and Stakeholders.

What are NFR's?

Non-Functional Requirements define system attributes such as security, reliability, performance, maintainability, scalability, and usability. They serve as constraints or restrictions on the design of the system across the different backlogs. Proper definition and implementation of NFRs is critical

What are the 3 parts of Inspect & Adapt?

PI System Demo; Quantitative Measurement ; Problem Solving workshop

What are the common principles that ARTs operate on?

The schedule is fixed, new system increments every two weeks, the PI timebox is fixed, the train has a known velocity, there are Agile Team, Dedicated people, Face-toface PI Planning, Innovation and Planning (IP) iteration in the PI, Inspect and Adapt (I&A) is held, and they Develop on Cadence. Release on Demand

What are the three key items communicated on the Program Board?

Dependencies, Features delivery dates, Milestones

What are two purposes of a Community of Practice (CoP)?

To Network ; Share Knowledge and Skills

What are two ways Program Risk can be Categorized? (choose two) a. Reliable b. Owned c. Leaning out d. Resolved

Owned, Resolved

What does the IP iterations provide to an ART?

A guard band (buffer) for estimating and a dedicated time for PI planning, innovation, continuing education, and infrastructure work

What does the Program Predictability Measure provide as an indicator?

Program Performance & Reliability

What does the RTE coach leaders, teams, and Scrum Masters in?

Lean-Agile practices and mindsets

What do the 3 self assessments accomplish in SAFe (PI Execution)?

Help quantify overall Lean-Agile journey of the ART using the collective intelligence on the train

What do we call multiple ARTs all serving a common vision?

Solution Train

What is a a Scaled definition of Done? (DoD)

The continuous development of incremental system functionality requires a scaled DoD. (note: read section 5.5 of Scaled Agile training notes) my observation is that there is always confusion about what Done is Done means - please read more on this!

What is the "5 Why's" approach?

It's a proven problem-solving method, used to explore cause-andeffect relationships underlying a specific problem. You start off by asking a simple why (example) "We can't seem to implement SSO for our SaaS app" to which you ask Why? "We need specific code from our internal IT team to embed into our SaaS software" and again Why? "Well, we haven't really had much response back from our IT department? They said it s easy enough to do it ourselves" Why? "Well, we believed them and now t seems we need more time to get the teams together!" Why....."I haven't setup enough time between our supplier and IT Security SSO department to test it out" and finally "John, can you please stop ask me all these Whys." I now know what the problem is I need to solve

What is the format of the PI Objectives developed by Teams?

S.M.A.R.T.

What is the Inspect and Adapt (I&A) workshop?

A larger, cadence-based opportunity for the ART to come together to address the systemic impediments they're facing

What is the term Alignment in SAFe?

Alignment must rely on the Enterprise business objectives. It starts with the strategy and investment decisions at the Portfolio level and is reflected in Strategic Themes, Portfolio Vision, and the Portfolio Backlog. In turn, this informs the Vision, Roadmap, and the backlogs at all levels of SAFe.

What periodic synchronization meetings does the RTE facilitate?

ART sync at the Program Level and the value stream sync for Solution Trains

What SAFe principle is being applied when a RTE treats suppiers as Partners?

Apply Systems Thinking

What's an ANTI-PATTERN, for an RTE, facilitating a Scrum of Scrum?

Reviewing Individual team Performance

What's an ART Synch?

Sometimes the Scrum of Scrum meeting and PO Synch meeting can be combined and handled together. Remember now that both SoS and PO Synch truly keep things at a program-level conversation. So now that said, as denominator... we can actually combine SOS and POPM Synch ... SAFe calls this the ART Synch

What's one way to secure Stakeholder commitment to the ART?

Have them attend the Program Increment (PI) event

What's the best way for the RTE to show progress in the current PI to Management?

Use a System Demo

What's the best way for the RTE to support teams having challenges with problem identification and decision making?

By listening to the Team

What's the Best way to foster flow of value, innovation and apply Lean Budgeting in the enterprise?

Implement the Lean Portfolio core Competency

What's the duration of a Iteration?

2 weeks

What's the duration of an ART?

8-12 weeks

Whats the duration of an ART Synch? (Think carefully)

1 hour

What's the only true OBJECTIVE measure of an ART?

System Demo (hint: make sure you know difference between a Solution demo and System demo)

What's the size of an Agile team?

5-11 people (all cross functional, they build, design test, deploy)

What's the size of an ART?

50-125+ people (virtual organization)

What two items should be kept under VERSION control? (choose two) a. SAFe tool b. Test data c. PI objectives d. Configuration items

Test data; Configuration Items

What types of potential bottlenecks does the RTE help manage, track and escalate?

Risks and dependencies; escalate and track impediments

Which activity takes place during Team Breakout #2 on the second day of Program Increment (PI) Planning?

Feature deliveries dependencies visualized; / SMART PI objectives developed

Which primary role should emphasize LIFELONGLEARNING?

Lean Agile Leaders

Which role facilitates the PO Synch?

The RTE or PO can facilitate this event for Product Owners or Product Management. (hint: occurs weekly or as needed)

Which role facilitates the Scum of Scrum meeting?

RTE (done weekly) - hint: The SoS helps coordinate the dependencies of the ARTs and provides visibility into progress and impediments

Which tool can the RTE use to visualize the flow of value?

Kanban systems

Which Tool is useful in facilitating Scrum of Scrum meetings?

Program Board

Which two actions must the RTE take when facilitating the PI planning event? (choose two)

1. Distribute the PI planning Agenda to Agile teams 2. Ensure all Audio/Visuals are setup correctly

Which two statements describe the responsibilities of the Product Owner?

Single voice for customer and stakeholders, and to own and manage team backlog

Who's responsible for the PI event logistics and cascading the Agenda?

RTE

Well, he stated that "A problem well defined is a problem half solved" -

Who was Charles Kettering and why's he brought up in SAFe?

He was interestingly enough, an American inventor, held 186 patents, and headed up General Motors back in the day. He knew alot about problems and ways to solve them. Given the SAFe mindset, we can learn from people that know how to solve problems. As an RTE you will be crucial to facilitate problem solving sessions.

Why are Kanban Boards useful?

Helps visualize the flow of work of Features & Enablers through the ART. Helps with PI planning and of course, with ongoing PI progress. Its really great for SoS, PO Synch and ART Synch sessions...and visually great for problem solving. The entire ART can see whats going on

Why do RTE's love shopping?

As RTE you need to plan events very carefully. You cant say, Oh my, we dont have any "Post-It stickies". So plan: a. Post-Its, (multi-colors) b. Audio visual equipment - all rooms c. Red thread for dependencies in PI Planning d. Markers e. Paper roll, Boards f. Masking tape, Scissors g. Digital tool for capturing data h. Cell numbers of all ScrumMasters (text them for SoS meetings)

Why is a Fishbone diagram so important to an ART?

(Also known as Cause and Effect Diagram, Fishbone Diagram, Ishikawa Diagram) it allows Agile teams to conduct problem solving simulation , you agree on the problem to solve, apply root causes to that problem, then identify root causes - restate the problem again and out of this allows team to then brainstorm solutions the result is fantastic as that output goes into improving the Backlog list (long winded answer, I recommend some study on how to use it)