Leading SAFe introduces you to the fundamentals of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) and provides principles and practices to advance your Lean-Agile transformation confidently. This Leading SAFe 5.1 certification course also provides the guidance and tools necessary to lead effectively in a remote environment with distributed teams. As the name suggests, Leading SAFe certification will help you lead an Agile team.

Leading the SAFe exam is not an easy exam to crack. But with wise planning and adequate training with the right materials, it can be cleared on your first attempt. A prior experience in IT projects, predominantly in the Agile domain for a minimum of 2 years, is needed to be a Leading SAFe Agilist.

How to prepare Leading SAFe in 2023?

At the very outset, you need to attend a full two days of scaled framework training. You need to participate very proactively and need to interact as much as possible with your trainers to get your doubts cleared in the session itself and make as many notes of important topics as you can. You can jot these down in a workbook, which will be provided to you in the course of the training.

After the completion of this two-day Leading SAFe training program, you will have one month in hand to clear this exam. Your name will be enrolled on the Scaled Agile Institute by your SPC trainer. You will subsequently receive a welcome mail, and your 30 days till the exam starts from the day you receive this mail.

Now you will need to log on to the scaled agile community website and use the credentials sent to you via Email by Scaled Agile. You select the Leading SAFe courses and download the resources. These are your study guides, which you will use to prepare for your Leading SAFe examination.

How to use the Study Guide?

You use the Study Guide to read and the practice exam. When the test is done, it will show your scores for each section. Note down your scores, as the Agile website will not keep this data saved. Now go through the part where you couldn’t score high enough. Refer to the guide and retake the practice exam. If you are consistently scoring more than 85% in the Mock tests, then you can review the Entrance Examination for the Basic Certification. This Certification Examination must be taken and completed within a month of taking the course.

Step-by-step Preparation Guide:

1. Try to go through the workbook a minimum of two times.
2. Use the Scaled Agile website to learn about each framework and spend enough time learning about all components.
3. There are four levels of the framework, namely Team, Program, Value Stream, and Portfolio. You need to thoroughly understand all four levels of the framework.
4. You should be able to know and identify important events and ceremonies from each level.
5. You should devote enough time to know each role at all levels of the framework.
6. You need to master concepts of the Lean-Agile mindset, House of Lean, 12 Agile Principles, 9 SAFe Principles, Built-in- Quality, and Implementing 1-2-3.
7. PI Planning is the most vital component of SAFe. So you need to be thorough with PI Planning and all concepts related to it. This will eventually help you to understand the events and their purpose.
8. You need to know about Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) and the Cost Delay Relation, Lean-Agile budgeting etc.

Useful Books for SAFe Exam Framework:

1. Get SAFe Now
2. SAFe 4.0 Distilled
3. SAFe 4.0 Reference Guide
4. Tribal Unity: Getting from Teams by Creating a One-Team Culture
5. Agile Software Requirements: Lean Requirements Practices for Teams, Programs, and the Enterprise
6. Scaling Software Agility: Best Practices for Large Enterprises (Agile Software Development Series)

Latest Version of SAFe:

From its inception in 2011 till date, SAFe has progressed through several updates, with the latest version, 5.1 coming in February 2021. But that doesn’t make any difference in the way you prepare for Leading SAFe, and the classical method of preparation will suffice now too.

Conclusion:

We can thereby safely conclude that, although the Leading SAFe Exam is a tough exam, with proper planning and the right resources, it can be definitely cleared. This hard work is worth it, considering the vast avenues in the job market a Leading SAFe Agilist enjoys.

At Spoclearn, we provide a wide range of popular SAFe certification courses such as Leading SAFe Training, SAFe Scrum Master Training, SAFe DevOps, SAFe for Teams, SAFe POPM Training, and others for professionals to gain a complete understanding of scaling Agile and Scrum best practices to an entire organization and achieve overall transformation. Check out the SAFe courses listed above to see which suits you best to grow in your career.