LPM Lesson 5 - Managing Portfolio Flow

Question 1

What is the Portfolio Kanban?

Answer 1

Visual tool for monitoring and managing workflow.

Question 2

Is the Portfolio Kanban a “Push” or “Pull” system?

Answer 2

Pull - Epics are pulled across the Kanban as WIP limits and other policies permit.

Question 3

What are the 5 benefits to a Portfolio Kanban?

Answer 3

1. Makes the largest business and technical initiatives visible
2. WIP limits ensure that the teams review and analyze responsibly, preventing unrealistic expectations
3. Helps drive collaboration among key stakeholders
4. Transparency in evaluating the business outcome hypothesis
5. Brings structure to Epic analysis and go/no-go decisions.

Question 4

What are the 6 stages in the Portfolio Kanban?

Answer 4

1. Funnel
2. Reviewing
3. Analyzing
4. Portfolio Backlog
5. Implementing
6. Done

Question 5

Which Kanban stage identifies new big ideas?

Answer 5

Funnel

Question 6

True/False - all work intake is captured in the Funnel stage?

Answer 6

False. Only potential Epics should go in the funnel; it is not a central intake for all work.

Question 7

Which Kanban stage creates the Epic Hypothesis statement?

Answer 7

Reviewing

Question 8

What is the purpose of the Reviewing stage?

Answer 8

Where stakeholders agree on the Epic’s intent and definition.

Refine understanding, create Epic hypothesis statement, preliminary cost estimate with WSJF, and WIP limited

Question 9

True/False, all Epics are pulled into the Reviewing state when WIP limits permit.

Answer 9

False. Only those Epics that exceed the Epic threshold criteria are pulled.

Question 10

When does an Epic Owner assemble the group of stakeholders who will help analyze the Epic (Kanban stage).

Answer 10

Analyzing is for Epics that deserve more rigorous analysis and investment.

Activities include:

1. Identify Solution alternatives
2. Define MVP
3. Create Lean Business Case
4. Refine cost estimates and WSJF
5. WIP Limited
6. Go/No Go decision

Question 11

What Kanban stage holds Epics once they have been approved for implementation?

Answer 11

Portfolio Backlog.

After approved by LPM and sequenced using WSJF

Question 12

What Kanban stage includes a Go/No Go decision?

Answer 12

Analyzing

Question 13

What are the two phases in the Implementation Kanban stage?

Answer 13

MVP and Persevere

Question 14

If the Epic Hypothesis is proven, do you (A) Persevere until WSJF determines otherwise or (B) Pivot to a new Epic?

Answer 14

A - When the hypothesis is proven, the Epic moves to the Persevere state where ARTs continue development of the new offering.

Question 15

What are the 2 options if the Epic Hypothesis is not proven?

Answer 15

Pivot (a structured course correction designed to test a new hypothesis) or Stop (development stops).

Question 16

What are 2 conditions for an Epic to be considered done?

Answer 16

1. Business outcome hypothesis is proven false
2. The hypothesis is proven true and LPM has determined that additional Portfolio governance is no longer required for the Epic.

Question 17

True/False - New work can only originate at the Portfolio level.

Answer 17

False - Work originates at all levels of SAFe - it is not just a top-down system.

Question 18

What are the 2 things needed to know when applying WSJF?

Answer 18

1 - Cost of Delay (CoD) - the amount of money lost due to delaying the delivering of value
2 - Duration - the time it takes to deliver the epic.

Question 19

Since it is difficult the know the Epic’s duration, what is a good proxy we can use?

Answer 19

Cost of an Epic. Larger Eics typically take longer to deliver than smaller ones

Question 20

What is the WSJF forumula?

Answer 20

WSFJ = Cost of Delay (value) / Duration (cost)

Question 21

How do you calculate value in WSJF?

Answer 21

Cost of Delay is the metric for value

Question 22

What are the 3 components to Cost of Delay?

Answer 22

1 - User-Business Value
2 - Time Criticality
3 - Risk Reduction & Opportunity Enablement (RR&OE)

Question 23

How do you normalize costs to simplify WSJF?

Answer 23

Give the lowest cost Epic a 1.0, then divide the cost of subsequent Epics by the cost of the first Epic

Question 24

How do you calculate the Cost of Delay?

Answer 24

CoD = User Busines Value + Time Criticality + RR/OE