How does a team calculate its initial velocity during its first PI Planning meeting when teams don't have historic data?

Question

Options

• AAssign 8 points per team member (not counting the Scrum Master and Product Owner) and
• BIt is not recommended to calculate velocity until the team has completed its first PI.
• CAllow teams to establish their own velocity and then roll them up to calculate the velocity of the
• DAssign 10 points per team member (not counting the Scrum Master and Product Owner) and

• A
  89% (62)
• B
  3% (2)
• C
  7% (5)
• D
  1% (1)

Explanation

In SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), the standard starting point for teams with no historical data is to assign 8 story points per contributing team member per iteration, explicitly excluding the Scrum Master and Product Owner, whose roles are facilitative rather than delivery-focused. This provides a conservative, consistent baseline that avoids overcommitting during the first PI.

Option B is wrong because waiting until after the first PI to calculate velocity would leave the team unable to plan any iterations during PI Planning - some estimate is required to commit to PI Objectives.

Option C is wrong because while teams do establish their own velocity in SAFe, "rolling up" individual velocities to calculate an aggregate team velocity describes an ART-level capacity calculation, not the method for establishing an individual team's initial velocity.

Option D is wrong because 10 points per person is simply not the SAFe-prescribed figure - 8 points is the official recommended default, which already accounts for meetings, overhead, and ramp-up time for newer teams.

Memory tip: Think "8 for the developers, 0 for the facilitators" - 8 points per developer (SM and PO don't count), and SAFe chose 8 because it's conservative enough to build trust and avoid early overcommitment.

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