Agile Project Management Continuous Improvement Process 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which retrospective format asks 'What went well, what didn't, and what to try next'?
- Start-Stop-Continue (Correct answer)
- Glad-Sad-Mad
- Sailboat
- 4Ls (Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed for)
Correct answer: Start-Stop-Continue
Start-Stop-Continue structures feedback around behaviors to begin, end, or keep doing.
Question 2: A team's cycle time has steadily increased over several Sprints. What is the best continuous improvement response?
- Ignore it as normal variation
- Investigate bottlenecks in the workflow (Correct answer)
- Add more work to each Sprint
- Stop measuring cycle time
Correct answer: Investigate bottlenecks in the workflow
Rising cycle time signals a workflow bottleneck that should be investigated and addressed.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of a 'Five Whys' analysis in continuous improvement?
- To assign blame to individuals
- To drill down to a problem's root cause (Correct answer)
- To estimate story points
- To prioritize the backlog
Correct answer: To drill down to a problem's root cause
Five Whys repeatedly asks 'why' to move past symptoms toward the underlying root cause.
Question 4: Which principle from the Agile Manifesto most directly supports continuous improvement?
- Working software over documentation
- At regular intervals, the team reflects and tunes its behavior (Correct answer)
- Business people and developers work together
- Welcome changing requirements
Correct answer: At regular intervals, the team reflects and tunes its behavior
The Manifesto principle about reflecting at regular intervals and adjusting behavior underpins continuous improvement.
Question 5: A team adopts a new process change but reverts after one Sprint because results looked worse. What is the likely mistake?
- The change was too small
- They abandoned it before giving it enough time to take effect (Correct answer)
- They documented it too thoroughly
- They involved the whole team
Correct answer: They abandoned it before giving it enough time to take effect
Many process changes need several iterations before benefits appear, so premature abandonment undermines improvement.
Question 6: In Lean thinking, which activity is considered 'waste' that continuous improvement aims to eliminate?
- Delivering value to the customer
- Waiting and handoff delays (Correct answer)
- Collaborating with the team
- Inspecting outcomes
Correct answer: Waiting and handoff delays
Waiting and handoff delays add no value and are classic forms of waste to reduce.
Question 7: What role does psychological safety play in an effective retrospective?
- It is irrelevant to process improvement
- It enables honest discussion of problems without fear (Correct answer)
- It speeds up the meeting
- It eliminates the need for a facilitator
Correct answer: It enables honest discussion of problems without fear
Psychological safety lets team members raise real issues openly, which is essential for genuine improvement.
Agile Project Management Continuous Improvement Process 3
Which retrospective format asks 'What went well, what didn't, and what to try next'?