SAFe Release Train Engineer RTE 6.0 Exam Questions

Topic 1: RTE Characteristics and Responsibilities

What behavior is an important part of the Release Train Engineer (RTE) role?

⬜ Manage dependencies for teams
✅ Encourage teams to self-organize
⬜ Drive teams to specific outcomes
⬜ Provide teams with answers about Features

A Release Train Engineer (RTE) would like to try a new retrospective technique at the next Inspect and Adapt event. However, the RTE is unsure how to prepare for it and thinks there may be some pitfalls. How could an RTE get help?

✅ Share and receive feedback from other RTEs in a community of practice
⬜ Start a discussion with the Architects to see how they would re-design the retro-spectives
⬜ Post it in an internal communications forum and inspire others to try this technique as well
⬜ Ask leadership to decide whether or not this technique should be used with the Agile Release Train

What are two responsibilities of the Release Train Engineer as chief Scrum Master for the Agile Release Train (ART)? (Choose two.)

⬜ Provide the go/no-go decision for large initiatives
⬜ Analyze Epics in the Portfolio Kanban
✅ Escalate ART impediments
⬜ Break down Features into Stories
✅ Facilitate Program Increment (PI) Planning

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Topic 2: SAFe Concepts

Which Core Competency of Business Agility includes aligning strategy with execution?

⬜ Lean-Agile Leadership
⬜ Agile Product Delivery
⬜ Organizational Agility
✅ Lean Portfolio Management

How can a Release Train Engineer (RTE) support decentralized decision-making?

⬜ Evaluate the strategy for the Value Stream
✅ Empower knowledge workers to manage their dependencies with other teams
⬜ Change the cadence of the ART
⬜ Update team PI Objectives when handling a time-critical release

Which SAFe Principle is applied when a Release Train Engineer (RTE) treats Suppliers as partners?

⬜ Assume variability; preserve options
✅ Apply systems thinking
⬜ Decentralize decision-making
⬜ Build incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles

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Topic 3: PI Planning - Preparation Activities

While facilitating Program Increment (PI) Planning readiness activities, the Release Train Engineer (RTE) notices a Feature that is risky to the teams because the technology is new. Which of the following could reduce the risk?

⬜ Ensure engineering managers are directing the development process
✅ Coach the teams to create exploration Enablers
⬜ Ask for a presentation of a detailed design before the PI Planning meeting
⬜ Make sure all the technical specifications are written before PI execution

What is one key responsibility of the Release Train Engineer (RTE) during PI Planning preparation?

⬜ Prioritize the Features in the Program Backlog
✅ Ensure that the PI Planning agenda is distributed to all Agile Teams
⬜ Assign user stories to individual team members
⬜ Finalize the architectural runway

Which two actions should the RTE take to ensure facility readiness for PI Planning? (Choose two.)

✅ Engage audio-visual technical support
⬜ Assign seating arrangements for all participants
✅ Secure communication channels for remote participants
⬜ Prepare individual workstations for each team member

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Topic 4: PI Planning - Facilitation Activities

During PI Planning, the Release Train Engineer (RTE) sees that the team’s excitement deviates from Product Management priorities, including for the top ten Features, at the ART Planning. In addition, Product Management is asking for new estimations, timelines, and scope changes. What is the likely reason for this behavior?

⬜ People are over-committed and under-utilized
⬜ Cadence and synchronization are not in alignment
✅ Lack of training and preparation for PI Planning
⬜ Management stakeholders are not involved in changing the system

What are the three key items communicated on the ART planning board? (Choose three.)

⬜ ART PI risks
✅ Feature delivery dates
⬜ Team velocity
✅ Dependencies between teams
⬜ PI Objectives
✅ Milestones

During the management review and problem-solving meeting, one team raises the risk of not finishing a Feature before the end of the Program Increment (PI). How can the management team help ensure they complete the Feature within the PI?

⬜ Redefine the definition of done (DoD)
⬜ ROAM the risk appropriately
⬜ Use buffer resources as a guard band
✅ Negotiate a reduction in the scope

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Topic 5: PI Planning - Planning Development and Commitment

Which activity occurs during Team Breakout #2 on the second day of PI Planning?

⬜ The RTE modifies the PI Iteration schedule, if needed, based on the scope of high priority Features
⬜ All Feature delivery and dependencies are visualized on the ART planning board
⬜ Business Owners independently assign business value to normalize business value across all teams
✅ The Release Train Engineer (RTE) combines all Team PI Objectives into ART PI Objectives

What information is covered during the final plan review?

⬜ Team Features, Stories, and team-level Enablers
⬜ Changes to capacity and load, final PI Objectives, ART PI Risks, and impediments
⬜ Changes to Iteration Goals, measured velocity, and dependencies
✅ Planned Features, uncommitted objectives, and ROAMed risks

A confidence vote is taken at the end of PI Planning after dependencies are resolved and risks are addressed. What best describes the process of the confidence vote?

⬜ Each person votes
⬜ The managers vote
✅ The teams and the ARTs vote
⬜ The business owners vote

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Topic 6: PI Planning - Multi-location Facilitation

When planning for a distributed PI Planning with a significant difference in time zones, what is a key preparation and facilitation focus?

⬜ Share the outcomes of preparation meetings with local Scrum Masters/Team Coaches (SM/TC) so they can arrange local rooms
✅ Adjust the PI agenda to 2.5–3 days, allowing for overlapping hours
⬜ Have a single Release Train Engineer (RTE) and technical support person that acts as a central point of communication for all locations
⬜ Split up the PI Planning event per time zone and then have the final plan review, confidence vote, and planning retrospective as one centralized meeting

Which two actions can enhance the effectiveness of distributed PI Planning? (Choose two.)

✅ Assigning a dedicated RTE proxy and tech support person at each location
⬜ Centralizing all decision-making to the primary location
✅ Utilizing collaborative digital tools for real-time planning and documentation
⬜ Restricting breakout sessions to a single time zone

Why is it beneficial to rotate key stakeholder’s physical presence across different locations during distributed PI Planning?

⬜ To centralize authority and decision-making
✅ To foster inclusivity and ensure all teams feel equally supported
⬜ To reduce travel expenses
⬜ To delegate planning responsibilities to local teams

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Topic 7: ART and Team Roles and Responsibilities

Which statement describes what stream-aligned teams do?

⬜ Analyze Value Streams and transform them using Lean-Agile Principles
⬜ Promote a better flow of communications between leadership, ARTs, and teams
⬜ Use process-mapping to identify and eliminate process bottlenecks
✅ Build and deliver Customer value with minimal dependencies on other teams

A Release Train Engineer (RTE) should build a relationship with which SAFe role to effectively assign business value to a team PI Objective?

⬜ Lean Agile Leaders
⬜ Objective Owners
✅ Business Owners
⬜ Solution Managers

The Release Train Engineer (RTE) collaborates with which other two roles to help focus the ART on delivering value and operational excellence?

⬜ Solution Management and Solution Architect
⬜ Enterprise Architect and Solution Management
⬜ Solution Architect and Enterprise Architect
✅ Product Management and System Architect

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Topic 8: ART and Team Iteration Events

Which statement is true about the definition of done (DoD)?

✅ The DoD should evolve as system capabilities evolve
⬜ The DoD is used as a method to manage technical debt across the ART
⬜ At the higher levels there is only one DoD for everything that passes through the ART to a Solution increment
⬜ The teams share one common DoD

What is one benefit of an Iteration and PI calendar?

⬜ Ability to know the cycle time between important team and ART events
⬜ Ability to ensure that key events do not conflict with non-SAFe events
✅ Ability to visualize the ART cadence and synchronization
⬜ Ability to create a big visible information radiator (BVIR) of the important team and ART milestones

Which statement is true about SAFe Iteration Goals?

✅ They enable teams to keep aligned with PI Objectives
⬜ They provide key performance indicators (KPIs) for tracking progress and value realization
⬜ They provide quantifiable metrics to be used in retrospectives
⬜ They describe the value of planned Features and Enablers

What are two of the Agile Release Train Sync meetings? (Choose two.)

✅ PO Sync
⬜ System Demo
⬜ Solution Demo
✅ Coach Sync
⬜ Inspect and Adapt

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Topic 9: Optimizing ART Flow

An ART frequently discovers compatibility issues between the developed Solution and the Enterprise information architecture. What can the Release Train Engineer (RTE) do to prevent this from occurring?

⬜ Add data architects to the ART
⬜ Develop more detailed Feature definitions
⬜ Conduct the entire data architecture design upfront
✅ Confirm attendance of architectural representatives at PI Planning

The Release Train Engineer (RTE) learns the teams feel the business value needs to reflect the effort and progress. What is one technique the RTE can use to provide the Business Owners a better understanding of the value the teams have created?

✅ Work with the teams to ensure they are actively involved when the Business Owners view the business value achieved
⬜ Illustrate the link between business values and the market communication/measures tied to the value
⬜ Publish the team business values and coach teams that these values are for tracking such ART deliverables
⬜ Educate teams that business value provides the Enterprise with a metric of how fast the team executed work during the PI

Teams are reporting a high level of success through their individual quantitative measurements, but the system results say otherwise. What should the Release Train Engineer do to help the teams deliver more value?

✅ Coach the Scrum Masters on good retrospective techniques and ensure teams are defining and taking a systems view approach to improvements
⬜ Share the quantitative measurement results with Product Management and leadership and ask for their input
⬜ Diagnose the differences between the measurements and the results and suggest improvement items to each team
⬜ Work with the team that is struggling the most to discover patterns that can be applied to the other teams

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Topic 10: Metrics

What are two main reasons why the ART predictability measure is important? (Choose two.)

✅ It allows the business and other stakeholders to plan effectively
⬜ It identifies under-performing teams
✅ It focuses the Agile Release Train on predictable value delivery
⬜ It demonstrates the need to fix the scope at the beginning of the Program Increment (PI)
⬜ It indicates whether the Solution is ready to be released

Which SAFe tool might the Release Train Engineer (RTE) use to identify areas for an ART to improve how its Continuous Delivery Pipeline (CDP) functions?

⬜ Conduct empathy interviews with system architects/engineers
⬜ Facilitate a CDP sync every Iteration
✅ Agile Product Delivery core competency assessment
⬜ Architectural Runway ART Backlog Enablers

Product Management wants to prioritize a list of Features likely to be planned in the upcoming PI meeting. What metric is used as the denominator (the number under the line) of weighted shortest job first (WSJF) calculations?

⬜ Feature size expressed in a T-shirt size
✅ Job size based on relative estimation
⬜ The actual business value of a Feature
⬜ Feature size expressed in Story points

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Topic 11: Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration

What is the primary goal of the Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration in SAFe?

⬜ To finalize all work from the current Program Increment (PI)
⬜ Finalize the PI Objectives for the upcoming PI
✅ To serve as a buffer for teams to meet PI objectives and provide time for innovation, planning, and learning
⬜ To increase the velocity of the Agile Release Train (ART)

The ART is near the end of the final Iteration of its first PI. Integration into staging is more challenging than estimated. The ART adds a week to the Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration for integration and testing. Why is this action considered an anti-pattern?

⬜ It substantially decreases the predictability of the Solution Intent
⬜ It decreases job satisfaction by removing autonomy and purpose
⬜ Overall, train velocity goes up, and the time-to-market goes down
✅ It reduces the overall predictability established through cadence and synchronization

Which of the following is a bad practice for the IP Iteration?

⬜ Dedicate time for I&A event and PI planning event
⬜ Ensure all Stories and Team’s PI plans are completed before the IP Iteration
⬜ Spend time on innovation, exploration, and tech debt in IP Iteration
✅ Plan work for the IP Iteration during PI Planning and wait for the IP Iteration to fix defects

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Topic 12: Inspect and Adapt (I&A) Event

What can a Release Train Engineer (RTE) use to support relentless improvement for the Program Increment?

⬜ Release management meeting
⬜ Product Owner sync
⬜ Iteration retrospective
✅ Inspect and Adapt event

Which statement is true about the retrospective and problem-solving part of the Inspect & Adapt (I&A) workshop?

⬜ The improvement backlog items resulting from the problem-solving workshop should be items that only leadership can address
⬜ Encourage teams to sit together during the retrospective portion to ensure an effective outcome
✅ Key ART stakeholders, including Business Owners, Customers, and management can participate along with the teams
⬜ The Release Train Engineer (RTE) gathers the list of problems to be solved during the final Coach Sync of the PI

What is one anti-pattern related to System Demos?

⬜ People from outside the Agile Release Train attend the System Demo
✅ Team demos are accepted in place of a System Demo to avoid redundancy
⬜ System demo takes more than 15 minutes
⬜ Different team members conduct the demo each Iteration

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Topic 13: DevOps and Release on Demand

What best describes the DevOps?

⬜ A high-performing DevOps Team
⬜ Combine Deployment and Releases
⬜ Strong organizational structure
✅ A culture, a mindset and a set of technical practices

How does “C” in CALMR approach to DevOps help to organize around value and deliver continuous value?

⬜ By automating the continuous delivery pipeline
⬜ By Measuring the flow, quality & value
✅ By creating a culture of shared responsibility
⬜ By accelerating delivery using lean flow

What are the three components of the Continuous Delivery Pipeline? (Choose three.)

⬜ Continuous Planning
⬜ Continuous Improvement
✅ Continuous Integration
⬜ Continuous Cadence
✅ Continuous Deployment
✅ Continuous Exploration

Why is it important to decouple deployment from release?

⬜ To remove the need to respond quickly to production issues
⬜ To allow inspection of Agile maturity based on different cycle times
⬜ To make deploying of assets a business decision
✅ To enable releasing functionality on demand to meet business needs

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Topic 14: Systems Thinking and Value Stream Mapping

Which action describes the behavior of applying Systems Thinking for a Release Train Engineer (RTE)?

⬜ Demonstrates appreciation to team members in many ways
⬜ Facilitates individual decision-making over team-level decision-making
✅ Examines what may be missing to make the environment better for the team
⬜ Encourages the team to express opinions in all circumstances

What is one way to use the results from Value Stream mapping?

⬜ Identify methods for developers to code faster
⬜ Calculate the metrics and share them with the ART
✅ Move from bottleneck to bottleneck, eliminating as many as possible
⬜ Focus on one component to optimize

What practice can help to identify bottlenecks in the flow of work?

⬜ Visualizing the flow of all work and track progress of individual items
⬜ Comparing transaction costs, holding costs and business value realization
⬜ Measuring lead time for all work in progress
✅ Modeling overall process flow during value stream identification

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Topic 15: Facilitation and Coaching Techniques

Why is it important for the Release Train Engineer (RTE) to understand Tuckman’s group dynamic stages?

⬜ Tuckman helps RTEs to better understand Team and ART topologies
✅ An ART is a team of teams and will likely progress through the Tuckman stages
⬜ The Tuckman dynamic nature of the stages requires that we assume variability and preserve options
⬜ The Tuckman four stages should be reflected in the design of the ART Kanban

A group of developers, Scrum Master/Team Coaches (SM/TCs), and Product Owners (POs) are interested in sharing knowledge and learning more about DevOps concepts. How can the Release Train Engineer (RTE) help them collaborate to gain knowledge about DevOps?

⬜ Schedule a DevOps bi-weekly synchronization
⬜ Provide DevOps training
✅ Help them launch a DevOps Community of Practice (CoP)
⬜ Align them with the System Team

Several Scrum Masters/Team Coaches (SM/TCs) disagree on what to do about a shared issue. What is an appropriate coaching technique for the Release Train Engineer (RTE)?

⬜ Being the final decision maker once all feedback has been heard
⬜ Performing an empirical assessment of the problem using metrics
⬜ Bringing new emphasis to Lean-Agile’s Respect for People
✅ Asking powerful questions to invite creativity and new possibilities

Becoming a coach requires a shift from old behaviors to new ones. What are three examples of new coaching behaviors? (Choose three.)

✅ Facilitate team problem-solving
✅ Focus on business value delivery
✅ Ask the team for the answer
⬜ Drive toward specific outcomes
⬜ Fix problems for the team
⬜ Focus on deadlines

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Topic 16: One-Team Culture

What is one technique for building a one-team culture across the ART?

⬜ Rotate team members to new teams to facilitate relationship building
✅ Foster an environment in which the whole ART succeeds and fails together
⬜ Review each teams’ predictability measure with the ART
⬜ Ensure the team leader does not show vulnerability

What is a key characteristic of a “one-team culture” within an Agile Release Train (ART)?

⬜ Each team operates independently with minimal interaction
⬜ Teams prioritize their own goals over ART objectives
✅ Teams collaborate across boundaries to achieve shared ART goals
⬜ Communication is limited to formal meetings only