SAFe-Agilist Exploring Lean Portfolio Management Practice Question
A portfolio team is using Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) to prioritize epics. If an epic has a Cost of Delay (CoD) of 50 and a Job Duration of 5, what is its WSJF score?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates occasionally confuse the formula, multiplying CoD by duration or subtracting them. They forget the simple ratio: WSJF = Cost of Delay / Job Duration.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
10
WSJF is calculated as the Cost of Delay divided by the Job Duration. In this case, 50 divided by 5 equals 10. By prioritizing work using this ratio, organizations ensure that the jobs with the highest economic impact relative to the time they take to complete are addressed first. This maximizes total portfolio throughput and ensures that the most valuable economic benefits are realized as quickly as possible.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
250
Why it's wrong here
A result of 250 suggests the values were multiplied rather than divided. Multiplying Cost of Delay by Job Duration does not provide a meaningful ratio for prioritization; the goal of WSJF is to understand the cost per unit of time, which requires division to establish an efficiency-based metric.
- ✗
45
Why it's wrong here
A result of 45 indicates that the Job Duration was subtracted from the Cost of Delay. Subtraction is not a standard operation in the WSJF calculation and does not represent the economic principle of prioritizing by cost-per-time, which is the foundational concept behind using WSJF in Lean Portfolios.
- ✓
10
Why this is correct
The WSJF score is correctly calculated by dividing the Cost of Delay (50) by the Job Duration (5), resulting in 10. This metric allows the portfolio team to compare different epics accurately, ensuring that high-value, short-duration work is prioritized ahead of lower-value or longer-duration tasks, maximizing overall economic flow.
- ✗
0.1
Why it's wrong here
A result of 0.1 suggests the values were divided in the reverse order (Duration divided by Cost of Delay). This would give priority to the longest, lowest-value jobs, which is the exact opposite of what WSJF intends to achieve. Prioritization must correctly highlight the most efficient high-value opportunities.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Scaled Agile exam blueprint
This SAFe-Agilist practice question is part of Courseiva's free Scaled Agile certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SAFe-Agilist exam.