Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) Release Train Engineer Practice Test

What outcome should a Release Train Engineer (RTE) strive for during program increments?

1. Maximizing individual team outputs

2. Ensuring alignment with organizational goals

3. Minimizing stakeholder involvement

4. Establishing strict adherence to schedules

The correct answer is: Ensuring alignment with organizational goals

The focus of a Release Train Engineer (RTE) during program increments is to ensure alignment with organizational goals. This is crucial because the RTE acts as a servant leader and facilitates collaboration among teams to deliver value that aligns with the broader strategic objectives of the organization. By prioritizing alignment, the RTE helps ensure that the work being done by Agile teams contributes effectively towards achieving the company's vision and goals. In this role, the RTE also coordinates the work across multiple teams, ensuring that they remain synchronized and that dependencies are managed effectively. This alignment also fosters a culture of transparency and shared understanding of objectives among all team members and stakeholders, which is essential for delivering cohesive and high-quality product increments. Maximizing individual team outputs, while seemingly beneficial, may lead to silos and misalignment with overall goals, as teams might focus exclusively on their immediate deliverables rather than how these fit into the bigger picture. Minimizing stakeholder involvement undermines one of the fundamental principles of Agile, which advocates for close collaboration with stakeholders to gather feedback and ensure that the product meets their needs. Establishing strict adherence to schedules can lead to rigidity and pressure, diminishing the Agile principles of adaptability and responsiveness to change, which are vital for success in a dynamic environment.