SSM SSM (6.0) - SAFe Scrum Master Questions and Answers

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.

One way a Scrum Master/Team Coach can support productive team Backlog Refinement sessions is to ensure subject matter experts are invited. Subject matter experts (SMEs) are people who have specialized knowledge or skills related to the domain or technical aspects of the product or solution. They can provide valuable input and feedback to the team during Backlog Refinement, such as clarifying requirements, validating assumptions, identifying dependencies, and suggesting solutions. SMEs can also help the team to split, estimate, and prioritize the backlog items more effectively and accurately. By inviting SMEs to the Backlog Refinement sessions, the Scrum Master/Team Coach can facilitate better collaboration, communication, and alignment among the team and the stakeholders.

One of the main responsibilities of a Scrum Master/Team Coach is to facilitate team events, such as Iteration Planning, Daily Stand-up, Iteration Review, and Iteration Retrospective. These events help the team to plan, execute, inspect, and adapt their work throughout the Iteration. By facilitating these events, the Scrum Master/Team Coach ensures that the team follows the Agile principles and practices, collaborates effectively, and delivers value to the customers and stakeholders.

One example of Scrum Masters/Team Coaches helping without diminishing the commitment of others is facilitating necessary meetings for the team. Facilitating means providing guidance and support to the team in conducting effective and productive meetings, such as Iteration Planning, Daily Stand-up, Iteration Review, and Iteration Retrospective1 Facilitating does not mean taking over the meeting or making decisions for the team. Rather, it means creating a safe and respectful environment, ensuring clear and shared objectives, encouraging participation and collaboration, managing time and agenda, resolving conflicts and issues, and summarizing outcomes and action items23 By facilitating necessary meetings for the team, Scrum Masters/Team Coaches help the team to achieve their goals, improve their processes, and deliver value to the customers and the organization14 At the same time, they respect and empower the team’s autonomy, self-organization, and self-management, and do not interfere with their commitment or accountability14 

One Iteration Retrospective anti-pattern is when the team only brings up issues that are outside of their control to address, such as organizational policies, external dependencies, or stakeholder expectations. This can lead to frustration, helplessness, and cynicism among the team members, as well as a loss of focus on their own improvement opportunities12 

Hackathons are one of the activities that can be done during the IP Iteration to foster innovation and learning. They allow the team members to work on whatever they want, with whomever they want, as long as the work reflects the mission of the company. The teams then demo their work to others at the end of the hackathon. Hackathons can help the team explore new ideas, technologies, and solutions that can benefit the business and the customers. They can also increase the team’s engagement, creativity, and collaboration. References: Innovation and Planning Iteration - Scaled Agile Framework, Exam Study Guide: SSM (6.0) - SAFe® Scrum Master

Norming is the stage of team development where team members stop focusing on their own goals and begin focusing on developing better ways of working together. Norming occurs after the team has gone through the Forming and Storming stages, where they have established their roles and responsibilities, and have resolved their initial conflicts and disagreements12 In the Norming stage, the team starts to build trust, respect, and cohesion among themselves. They also align on a common vision, mission, and goals, and agree on the norms and expectations for their collaboration and communication12 The team becomes more productive, efficient, and effective, as they leverage their collective strengths and skills, and support each other in overcoming challenges and delivering value12 The team also develops a sense of identity and pride, and celebrates their achievements and learnings12 

The intended value of the Backlog Refinement event is that the team is able to prepare requirements for Iteration Planning. Backlog Refinement is an ongoing process where the team collaborates with the Product Owner and other stakeholders to review, split, prioritize, and estimate the stories in the Team Backlog1 One of the main objectives of Backlog Refinement is to ensure that the stories are ready for Iteration Planning, which means they are clear, feasible, testable, and small enough to be completed in a single Iteration2 By doing so, the team can improve the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of their work, as well as deliver value to the customers and the organization123

One of the best practices Scrum Masters/Team Coaches can use to run successful meetings is to leave meetings with clear action items. Action items are specific tasks that need to be done by a certain person or group by a certain deadline. They help the team to follow up on the outcomes of the meeting, track progress, and ensure accountability. Action items should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Scrum Masters/Team Coaches should document and communicate the action items to the team and stakeholders, and review them in the next meeting.

According to the SAFe 6 Scrum Master documentation, one of the important attendees to the PI System Demo is the Business Owners. Business Owners are a small group of stakeholders who have the primary business and technical responsibility for governance, compliance, and return on investment (ROI) for a Solution developed by an Agile Release Train (ART). They are key stakeholders on the ART who must evaluate fitness for use and actively participate in certain ART events. The PI System Demo provides them an opportunity to see the integrated view of new features delivered by the ART, give feedback, and influence the future direction of the solution.

According to the SAFe 6 Scrum Master documentation, one of the metrics that are reported at the Inspect and Adapt event is the ART predictability measure. This metric shows how well the ART delivers on its PI objectives, which are the SMART commitments made by the teams during PI planning. The ART predictability measure is calculated by dividing the total actual business value achieved by the total planned business value, as shown in the PI system demo. The ART predictability measure helps the ART to assess its performance, identify gaps, and improve its forecasting accuracy and reliability.