POPM Leadership for PI Planning — Timed 15 Questions

Question 1

During PI Planning, which THREE of the following represent the responsibilities of Business Owners during the draft plan review? (Choose three)

Accepted Answer

Evaluate the draft plans to ensure they align with the strategic intent and business priorities.. Business Owners are vital during the draft plan review because they provide the necessary check between technical plans and business value. Their presence ensures that the proposed objectives align with the overall vision, and they help negotiate scope when team capacity is insufficient. This collaborative process ensures that the final PI commitments are both realistic and aligned with the enterprise's strategic priorities for the coming period.

Answer

Approve the technical implementation details for every feature to ensure architectural integrity.

Answer

Manage the team's daily stand-ups to ensure the plan is being followed exactly as written.

Question 2

During PI Planning, a leader notices that a team is not speaking to other teams about their dependencies. What is the best leadership action?

Accepted Answer

Interrupt the planning session to demonstrate how to initiate cross-team communication.. Collaboration is the foundation of PI Planning. When a team works in isolation, they are likely to create hidden dependencies that will cause major issues later. The leader must step in to encourage and facilitate these conversations, showing the team that the 'big picture' requires active cross-team communication. This not only solves the immediate problem but also reinforces the importance of the ART-level planning mindset.

Answer

Let the team continue, as they will learn from their mistakes during the PI.

Answer

Write the dependencies for them and place them on the program board.

Answer

Report the team's lack of collaboration to their department manager.

Question 3

Which TWO actions should a leader take if the 'Program Board' shows a significant, unmitigated dependency?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion with both teams to negotiate a solution.. When an unmitigated dependency exists on the Program Board, it represents a high risk to the PI. A leader must take swift action to ensure the team has the help they need. By facilitating communication and adjusting the plan, the leader fulfills the role of removing obstacles and ensures the train's success, preventing the dependency from becoming a surprise blocker later.

Answer

Inform the team they must resolve it alone to show maturity.

Answer

Wait until the next PI to handle the dependency.

Answer

Update the board with a note saying it will resolve itself.

Question 4

During PI Planning, a team's Product Owner realizes that a critical feature depends on a component owned by another team that is not present at the event. The dependency was not identified in the Program Board. What is the most appropriate action for the Product Owner to take?

Accepted Answer

Work with the other teams present to identify a workaround or adjust the plan to eliminate the dependency.. Collaborating with present teams to adjust the plan or find a workaround is the most effective action. It leverages the collective knowledge at PI Planning, maintains team empowerment, and keeps the plan on track. This approach aligns with SAFe's principles of decentralized decision-making and applying cadence and synchronization.

Answer

Remove the feature from the plan to avoid dependency and focus on other work.

Answer

Proceed with the plan as is, assuming the dependency will be resolved later since the other team is not present.

Answer

Escalate to the Release Train Engineer to contact the absent team and negotiate a solution after PI Planning.

Question 5

You are a Product Manager for an ART that is about to conduct PI Planning. You want to ensure that the Business Owners are effectively engaged throughout the event. Which two of the following are key responsibilities of Business Owners during PI Planning? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Provide feedback on draft PI Objectives during the draft plan review.. Business Owners are key participants in PI Planning. They provide feedback on draft objectives to ensure alignment with business goals and ultimately approve the final plan. These responsibilities are critical for ensuring that the ART delivers value and that teams have the necessary support and direction.

Answer

Assign business value to each team's PI Objectives.

Answer

Facilitate the team breakout sessions to keep teams on schedule.

Answer

Resolve technical dependencies between teams during the management review.

Question 6

During the management review and problem-solving session at PI Planning, a Product Manager notices that two teams have conflicting plans for a shared component. The teams are not present in the session. What should the Product Manager do?

Accepted Answer

Ask the Release Train Engineer to invite the teams to the session to discuss and resolve the conflict collaboratively.. The management review and problem-solving session is the right forum to resolve cross-team conflicts. Inviting the teams to discuss the issue collaboratively ensures that decisions are informed, accepted, and technically feasible. The Product Manager should facilitate this, not make unilateral decisions or defer the problem.

Answer

Document the conflict as a program risk and defer resolution to the next PI Planning.

Answer

Decide which team's plan takes precedence and inform them after the session.

Answer

Escalate the conflict to the Chief Product Owner for a final decision.

Question 7

An Agile Release Train is conducting its PI Planning event. The Business Owners are present and actively engaged. Which TWO of the following are key responsibilities of the Business Owners during PI Planning? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Review and approve the team's PI Objectives during the draft plan review.. Business Owners play a vital leadership role in PI Planning. They are responsible for providing the business context and vision at the beginning of the event, which helps teams align their objectives with strategic goals. Additionally, they review and approve team PI Objectives during the draft plan review, ensuring that the planned work delivers the highest business value. These two responsibilities are essential for aligning the ART with the enterprise's mission.

Answer

Facilitate the breakout sessions to ensure teams stay on schedule.

Answer

Assign each team their PI Objectives based on the program backlog priorities.

Answer

Determine the technical architecture for the upcoming PI.

Question 8

During PI Planning, a Business Owner expresses concern that the proposed PI Objectives do not align with the strategic intent for the next quarter. What is the most effective leadership action to resolve this?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion between the Business Owner and the teams to adjust objectives based on realistic capacity and value.. Effective leadership during PI Planning requires immediate collaboration between Business Owners and teams to bridge the gap between strategic intent and execution plans. By facilitating a direct dialogue, leaders ensure that the PI Objectives reflect the highest business value and are realistically achievable, preventing a misalignment that would waste team capacity on low-priority work throughout the entire program increment duration.

Answer

Instruct the teams to continue planning and address the strategic alignment concerns during the first System Demo.

Answer

Direct the Release Train Engineer to unilaterally modify the team objectives to match the Business Owner's vision.

Answer

Ask the System Architect to rewrite the objectives to ensure they meet the technical standards of the enterprise.

Question 9

Which TWO of the following leadership behaviors effectively support the PI Planning process? (Choose two)

Accepted Answer

Provide clear strategic intent and allow teams to determine the best approach to achieve business objectives.. Effective PI Planning leadership relies on empowering teams to take ownership of their plans while maintaining focus on strategic alignment. By actively removing impediments and fostering an environment of psychological safety, leaders allow teams to be transparent about risks and dependencies. This approach shifts the focus from command-and-control to servant leadership, which is essential for scaling agility and achieving predictable outcomes in a large organization.

Answer

Dictate the specific task-level assignments for each team member to ensure maximum resource utilization.

Answer

Minimize the interaction between Business Owners and teams to ensure the planning stays on schedule.

Answer

Insist that every team plan for 100% of their capacity to guarantee maximum throughput.

Question 10

Refer to the exhibit. Given the high number of blockers and low resolution rate, what is the primary responsibility of Leadership during PI Planning to address this?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate cross-team negotiations to re-prioritize or remove the conflicting dependencies.. When blockers stall planning, leadership must move beyond observation and actively intervene to facilitate negotiation. The role is to resolve conflicts that cross team or department boundaries, which individual teams often cannot address alone. This intervention is crucial for maintaining flow and ensuring the Program Board is cleared before teams finalize their commitments, preventing downstream delays and failure to deliver on PI objectives.

Answer

Extend the PI Planning event by two days to allow teams more time to resolve the dependencies themselves.

Answer

Ignore the blockers and proceed with the confidence vote, as teams are responsible for their own success.

Answer

Report the lack of progress to the PMO to initiate corrective action after the PI Planning event.

Question 11

A team has identified a major dependency on an external supplier that is not committed to the PI plan. How should the Release Train Engineer (RTE) or leader address this?

Accepted Answer

Escalate the dependency to the necessary management levels to negotiate a firm commitment.. Leadership, particularly the RTE, must act as an escalation point for external dependencies that threaten the Program Increment's integrity. By engaging with supplier management or procurement, the RTE can negotiate commitments or identify alternative plans. This ensures that the team's commitment is not based on a hope that the external party will deliver, but on a realistic assessment of the dependency's status.

Answer

Ask the team to remove the dependency from the plan and work around it independently.

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Instruct the team to mark the objective as 'at risk' and continue planning as if the supplier will deliver.

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Cancel the planned feature to maintain the team's velocity and focus on internal work.

Question 12

What is the main goal of the Management Review and Problem Solving session during PI Planning?

Accepted Answer

To adjust the program scope, people, and resources to ensure the PI plan is achievable.. This session is where leadership addresses the issues that arose during the first day of planning. By reviewing the draft plans and resolving dependencies, scope, and resource constraints, leadership ensures that the final day of planning is productive. This is the critical moment where roadblocks are removed so that teams can finalize a realistic plan that they can confidently commit to during the final session.

Answer

To finalize the release dates for the next three years of the product roadmap.

Answer

To celebrate the team's progress and distribute rewards for the previous PI's performance.

Answer

To conduct the confidence vote for all teams on the Agile Release Train.

Question 13

A Business Owner is consistently pushing teams to commit to more features than their calculated capacity allows. What is the best way to handle this situation?

Accepted Answer

Use capacity and velocity data to show the Business Owner that the plan is unrealistic.. Leadership must prioritize sustainability and realism over aggressive, unrealistic commitments. By using data—such as historical velocity and normalized capacity—the PO or RTE can demonstrate why the current demand exceeds capacity. This prevents burnout and ensures that the team's commitment remains reliable, as planning for more than capacity inevitably leads to missed deadlines and a loss of trust from stakeholders.

Answer

Agree to the extra features but plan for mandatory overtime throughout the entire PI.

Answer

Let the teams decide if they want to accept the extra features or not.

Answer

Ignore the capacity planning and hope the team's productivity increases during the PI.

Question 14

Refer to the exhibit. Although Total Capacity equals Total Demand, the team-level distribution is skewed. What should leadership do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a negotiation between the teams to redistribute work according to their specific capacities.. Even when total capacity aligns with demand, the specific distribution often creates bottlenecks. Leadership must facilitate a discussion to rebalance the load or adjust the scope. Simply assuming it will work because the totals align ignores the reality of specialized skills and dependencies. By identifying these misalignments early, leadership can help teams redistribute the work or negotiate changes that ensure all teams have a balanced and realistic plan.

Answer

Force the teams to work in a cross-functional way to balance the load regardless of skill sets.

Answer

Accept the plan as is, because the total capacity matches the total demand.

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Direct the Product Manager to remove all features until the total demand is below capacity.

Question 15

What is the primary role of the Chief Scrum Master or Release Train Engineer (RTE) during the PI Planning process?

Accepted Answer

To ensure the PI Planning process is followed and obstacles are removed.. The RTE acts as the chief facilitator and coach for the Agile Release Train. During PI Planning, their primary responsibility is to ensure the process runs smoothly and that any obstacles to successful planning are removed. By managing the event flow and coaching leaders and teams, the RTE ensures that the planning session results in a viable, high-quality plan that everyone can commit to and execute effectively.

Answer

To decide which features should be implemented in the upcoming PI.

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To write the PI objectives for all of the teams on the train.

Answer

To perform the technical design of all features on the Program Board.