SAFe-Agilist Exploring Lean Portfolio Management Practice Question
Exhibit
{
"Epic_Name": "Cloud Migration",
"Status": "Reviewing",
"Economic_Benefit": "High",
"Cost_of_Delay": "Critical",
"Alignment": "High",
"WIP_Limit": 5,
"Items_in_Review": 6
}Refer to the exhibit. Given the current state of the Portfolio Kanban, what is the most appropriate action?
⚠ Common exam trap
Students mistakenly think the correct response to a WIP bottleneck is to accelerate work or increase capacity, ignoring that flow principles require stopping new intake.
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
✓
Stop new items from entering the 'Reviewing' stage until the WIP limit is satisfied.
The exhibit shows that the 'Reviewing' stage is currently at six items, while the WIP limit is set to five. This signals a process violation that threatens the flow of work. By restricting the inflow until one of the current items moves forward or is rejected, the team maintains the integrity of the process and prevents the accumulation of bottlenecks that would eventually stall the entire portfolio.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Add a sixth item to the 'Reviewing' stage to keep teams busy.
Why it's wrong here
Adding more work when the stage is already at capacity increases the total work in progress and lowers the overall efficiency of the flow. It exacerbates the bottleneck, leading to longer wait times and less focus, which is the opposite of the intended outcome of lean management.
- ✓
Stop new items from entering the 'Reviewing' stage until the WIP limit is satisfied.
Why this is correct
Respecting the WIP limit is essential for controlling flow. By stopping the inflow, the team is forced to resolve the existing items in the review stage. This creates a pull system that ensures work is completed before new work is started, improving the speed and quality of delivery.
- ✗
Increase the WIP limit to 6 to accommodate the current volume.
Why it's wrong here
Arbitrarily raising WIP limits to accommodate an overflow ignores the root cause of the congestion. Doing so usually leads to an even larger backlog down the line, as it masks the systemic failure to manage flow effectively and ensures that current work remains in progress too long.
- ✗
Automatically approve all items in the 'Reviewing' stage to clear the backlog.
Why it's wrong here
Automatic approval skips the necessary evaluation steps of the Portfolio Kanban, such as checking for business value and strategic alignment. This risks funding the wrong initiatives and wasting organizational resources on work that may not contribute effectively to the company's strategic goals or overall enterprise value.
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JA
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.