Utilization refers to the percentage of a team's capacity that is being used. When team members are highly utilized (i.e., their capacity is nearly fully booked), it often leads to longer lead times. This is because:
High utilization reduces the team's flexibility to handle new or unexpected work.
It can cause bottlenecks as individuals or teams become overburdened with tasks.
There is less room for managing variability, leading to delays and increased cycle times.
In contrast, lower utilization rates typically allow for more flexibility and quicker response times, reducing lead times. Therefore, higher utilization generally results in longer lead times due to increased bottlenecks and reduced capacity to handle new tasks efficiently.
SAFe Scrum Master References
SAFe Advanced Scrum Master learning materials
Principles of Lean-Agile development: optimizing flow by managing queue lengths and reducing batch sizes to improve lead times and throughput.
Centralized decision-making is appropriate in scenarios where consolidating decisions can lead to significant economies of scale, which involves:
Economies of Scale:These are cost advantages reaped by companies when production becomes efficient. This can happen through increased production, lower costs per unit, bulk purchasing, and centralized processes.
Consistency and Control:Centralized decisions ensure consistency across large-scale operations and can help in maintaining standards and controls, reducing duplication of effort, and leveraging bulk purchasing power.
In contrast, decentralized decision-making is more suitable for decisions requiring specific local context or those that need to be made frequently and swiftly.
SAFe Scrum Master References:
SAFe Advanced Scrum Master Training Material, Chapter on Decision-Making Frameworks.
Questions 6
What are two benefits of applying cadence? (Choose two.)
Options:
A.
To transform unpredictable events into predictable events
B.
To help teams increase their velocity
C.
To synchronize planningfor multiple teams and ARTs
D.
To ensure teams wait to integrate their changes on cadence boundaries
To transform unpredictable events into predictable events (A): Cadence creates a regular, reliable schedule for events, which helps in managing and mitigating variability. This predictability allows teams to plan and execute their work more effectively, reducing the uncertainty of unforeseen events.
To synchronize planning for multiple teams and ARTs (C): Cadence helps align the planning cycles of multiple teams and Agile Release Trains (ARTs), ensuring that everyone works in a coordinated manner. This synchronization is critical for integrated, cross-team activities and for maintaining a cohesive workflow across the organization.
SAFe Scrum Master References
SAFe Principles: the importance of cadence and synchronization
SAFe 5.0 framework: benefits of applying cadence in Agile teams
Questions 7
An Agile Team decides they want to use pair programming in future Iterations. Where should this be captured?
The decision to implement pair programming in future iterations is a team-level improvement action that stems from reflecting on their current processes and identifying areas for enhancement. This is best captured during the team's retrospective:
Retrospective Purpose:The retrospective is a regular meeting where the team reflects on what went well, what didn’t, and what could be improved.
Action Items:Decisions and action items, such as adopting pair programming, are documented in the retrospective notes to ensure they are followed up in future iterations.
Continuous Improvement:Capturing this in the retrospective notes ensures the team is committed to continuous improvement and has a clear record of their decisions and plans for process enhancements.
SAFe Scrum Master References:
SAFe Advanced Scrum Master Training Material, Chapter on Team Retrospectives.
