Module 10: Preparing for Your SAFe Project

10.1 From Theory to Practice: Hitting the Ground Running

Congratulations on making it to the final module! You have journeyed through the core concepts of SAFe 6.0, from its foundational principles and values to the intricate workings of the Agile Release Train (ART), the Continuous Delivery Pipeline, and Lean Portfolio Management. You now have the theoretical knowledge to understand how and why SAFe works.

This final module is designed to bridge the gap between theory and practice. It’s your go-to guide for navigating the real-world complexities of joining a SAFe project. We will consolidate your learning by exploring common challenges you’re likely to face, providing practical tips for your first 30 days, outlining key questions you should ask, and reviewing top interview questions to help you secure your role as a confident and effective SAFe professional.

10.2 Common Challenges and How to Address Them

Every transformation journey has its obstacles. Being aware of the common challenges in a SAFe implementation will help you anticipate them and navigate them effectively.

• Challenge: Organizational Resistance to Change

• What it looks like: You may encounter skepticism, fear of the unknown, or a preference for old, familiar ways of working. This is a significant barrier, as SAFe requires a substantial shift in both mindset and culture.
• How to address it: Overcoming resistance starts with clear communication and education. ¹ As a new member of the organization, your role is to lead by example. Embrace the Lean-Agile principles in your daily work. Actively participate in SAFe events, ask clarifying questions, and help your team understand the “why” behind the new processes. If you notice resistance, work with your Scrum Master/Team Coach and RTE to ensure there are platforms for team members to feel seen, heard, and valued.
• Challenge: Top-Down, Centralized Decision-Making

• What it looks like: In some organizations transitioning to SAFe, a traditional, top-down management style may persist, where leaders make most decisions, leaving teams feeling disengaged and demotivated. This contradicts the SAFe principle of decentralized decision-making.
• How to address it: SAFe explicitly advocates for decentralizing decisions that are frequent, time-critical, and require local context. As a team member, you can support this by taking ownership of your work and collaborating with your Product Owner and team to make well-informed local decisions. When you see decisions being unnecessarily escalated, gently question if the team has the information and authority to make the call, thereby reinforcing the principle.
• Challenge: Lack of Leadership Buy-in and Engagement

• What it looks like: Leaders may verbally support the transformation but fail to actively participate in key events or model Lean-Agile behaviors. This lack of engagement can cause the implementation to stall.
• How to address it: While you cannot force leaders to engage, you can influence them through transparency. Ensure your team’s progress, successes, and impediments are clearly visible. During System Demos and PI Planning, present your work with clarity and confidence. When leaders see tangible value and objective data, their engagement is more likely to increase. Continuous Business Owner engagement is a formal guardrail in SAFe, highlighting its importance.
• Challenge: Inflexibility and “Doing SAFe by the Book”

• What it looks like: Some organizations treat the SAFe framework as a rigid, unchangeable set of rules, which can stifle the very agility it’s meant to foster.
• How to address it: Remember that SAFe is a framework, not a rigid methodology. It is meant to be adapted to your organization’s specific context. As you join a project, observe the processes. If a particular ceremony or practice seems to be creating waste instead of value, bring it up respectfully in a team retrospective. The goal is to apply the principles of SAFe in a way that works for your team, not to follow dogma blindly.

10.3 Your First 30 Days: A Practical Guide

Your first month on a SAFe project is a critical time for learning, building relationships, and establishing your credibility. Here is a practical plan to help you navigate it successfully.

Week 1: Observe, Absorb, and Understand the “Why”

Your primary goal in the first week is to listen and learn.

• Understand the Business Context: What are the organization’s strategic goals? What value does your Agile Release Train (ART) provide to the customer? ¹⁰
• Learn the Cadence: Familiarize yourself with the schedule of events. When is the next PI Planning? When are the ART Syncs and System Demos?
• Meet the Key Players: Identify the key roles on your ART: the Release Train Engineer (RTE), Product Management, and the System Architect. Within your team, get to know your Product Owner and Scrum Master/Team Coach. 
• Review the Artifacts: Get access to and review the ART Backlog, the ART Planning Board from the current PI, and your Team Backlog. This will give you a clear picture of the current priorities and dependencies. 

Week 2: Engage and Align

Now that you have some context, start participating more actively.

• Join the Community: Engage with the broader SAFe and Lean-Agile community within your organization. Join any Communities of Practice (CoPs) or informal learning networks. This is a great way to expand your network and learn from others’ experiences. 
• Participate in Ceremonies: Be an active participant in your team’s Iteration Planning, Daily Stand-ups, and Iteration Reviews. Ask clarifying questions to ensure you understand the work.
• Understand Your Role: Work with your Scrum Master and Product Owner to get a crystal-clear understanding of your specific responsibilities and how you can best contribute to the team’s goals.
• Walk the Gemba (Virtually or Physically): Observe how other teams and SPCs (SAFe Practice Consultants) work. Seeing how other parts of the organization practice SAFe can provide valuable insights.

Weeks 3 & 4: Contribute and Add Value

By now, you should be ready to start making a tangible impact.

• Take Ownership: Pull an item from your team’s backlog and see it through to completion. Focus on delivering high-quality work and collaborating effectively with your teammates.
• Break Down Work: Use your skills to help the team break down large stories into smaller, manageable tasks. This is a key skill for any SAFe practitioner.
• Provide Feedback: Offer constructive feedback during retrospectives and other improvement discussions. Your fresh perspective can be incredibly valuable.
• Build Your Personal Backlog: Based on your observations, create a personal growth backlog of skills you want to develop or areas of the framework you want to understand more deeply.

10.4 Key Questions to Ask Your Team and Stakeholders

Asking thoughtful questions is one of the fastest ways to get up to speed and demonstrate your engagement. Here are some essential questions to ask when you join a new SAFe project. 

Questions for Leadership (RTE, Product Management):

• What does success look like for this Program Increment and for the ART as a whole?
• Who are our key Business Owners and stakeholders, and what are their primary expectations? ¹¹
• What are the biggest risks and dependencies the ART is currently managing?
• How do our current PI Objectives align with the company’s strategic themes?
• What is the vision and roadmap for the solution we are building?

Questions for Your Team (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Peers):

• What is our team’s biggest obstacle right now?
• How does our team define “Done” for our stories?
• What has been our team’s greatest accomplishment in the last PI?
• How do we manage dependencies with other teams on the ART?
• What is one thing we could improve in our team’s process?

10.5 Top Interview Questions for a SAFe Role

Whether you are interviewing for a Business Analyst, Project Manager, Scrum Master, or Product Owner role in a SAFe environment, being prepared for common questions will set you up for success.

• Question: How does SAFe differ from a team-level Agile framework like Scrum?
• How to Answer: Acknowledge that SAFe is built on a foundation of Agile and Lean principles, just like Scrum. The key difference is that SAFe provides the additional roles, events, artifacts, and guidance necessary to scale Agile across multiple teams working together on a large solution. Mention the concept of the Agile Release Train (ART) as the primary mechanism for coordinating this “team of teams.”
  
• Question: Can you explain the hierarchy of work in SAFe (Epics, Features, Stories)?
• How to Answer: Describe the decomposition of work from large, strategic initiatives down to executable tasks. Explain that Epics are large initiatives that require a business case and span multiple PIs. Epics are broken down into Features, which are the primary work item for an ART and are sized to be completed within a single PI. Features are then broken down into Stories, which are small enough for an Agile team to complete in a single iteration. 
  
• Question: As a, how would you handle conflicting requirements from different stakeholders?
• How to Answer: This is a classic question that tests your collaboration and facilitation skills. Your answer should focus on bringing the stakeholders together to find a balanced approach.  Mention facilitating a workshop or meeting to ensure all parties are heard. The goal is to use data and an understanding of the economic view (SAFe Principle #1) to help the group prioritize based on business value, rather than making a unilateral decision. 
  
• Question: How would you prioritize a backlog of features?
• How to Answer: The key phrase to use here is Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF).  Explain that WSJF is SAFe’s model for prioritization based on the economics of product development. Briefly explain the formula (Cost of Delay / Job Size) and mention that it helps the team focus on delivering the most value in the shortest sustainable lead time. You can also mention other techniques like MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have) for team-level story prioritization.
  
• Question: What is the purpose of the System Demo?
• How to Answer: Explain that the System Demo is a critical event that provides objective evidence of the ART’s progress. It’s not just a team demo; it’s a demonstration of the fully integrated work from all teams on the train at the end of every iteration. Its purpose is to get feedback from stakeholders, validate assumptions, and ensure the train is building a cohesive, valuable solution.