PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) — Questions and Answers

Question 1: What is a 'rolling wave' release plan?

A plan that covers all sprints in equal detail
A waterfall plan adapted for Agile teams
A plan where near-term releases are detailed and future releases are high-level (Correct answer)
A plan updated only at the end of each release

Correct answer: A plan where near-term releases are detailed and future releases are high-level

Rolling wave planning keeps near-term releases in detail while treating future releases at a higher level, refining as more is learned.

Question 2: A manager who oversees several Scrum teams wants to use velocity as the primary metric to compare their performance. Which of the following is the most significant reason this is a flawed approach?

Teams may artificially inflate their velocity if they know they are being compared.
Comparing velocities is misleading because each team's estimation scale is unique and relative to that team. (Correct answer)
Velocity does not account for the quality of the work delivered by each team.
Velocity can only be measured accurately using story points, which are subjective.

Correct answer: Comparing velocities is misleading because each team's estimation scale is unique and relative to that team.

Velocity is a measure of a team's capacity based on its own relative estimation scale (e.g., story points). Because each team develops its own understanding of what a 'story point' represents, their scales are not comparable. Comparing the velocity of two teams is like comparing apples to oranges and provides no meaningful insight into performance.

Question 3: A software development team using Kanban holds a brief, daily meeting in front of their board to coordinate their activities for the day. This meeting is an example of which core Kanban practice?

Implementing Feedback Loops (Correct answer)
Limiting WIP
Managing Flow
Making Policies Explicit

Correct answer: Implementing Feedback Loops

The daily stand-up meeting, often called the 'Kanban Meeting', is a key type of feedback loop. It provides a frequent, short cycle of inspection and adaptation, allowing the team to review the state of the workflow, identify blockers, and synchronize their efforts to keep work flowing smoothly.

Question 4: During a Sprint Review, the Scrum Team presents the work completed in the Sprint. Key stakeholders are present and provide feedback. What is the primary purpose of this event?

To hold a demonstration of the new features for the management team.
To provide a status update and get formal sign-off on the Increment.
To assess the team's velocity and plan the capacity for the next Sprint.
To inspect the outcome of the Sprint and determine future adaptations to the Product Backlog. (Correct answer)

Correct answer: To inspect the outcome of the Sprint and determine future adaptations to the Product Backlog.

According to the Scrum Guide, the primary purpose of the Sprint Review is to inspect the Increment and adapt the Product Backlog. It is a working session where the Scrum Team and stakeholders collaborate on what to do next, which may result in adjustments to the Product Backlog.

Question 5: Which of the following is a Scrum Master service to the Product Owner?

Assigning tasks to Developers
Helping with effective Product Backlog management techniques (Correct answer)
Approving the budget
Writing all the code

Correct answer: Helping with effective Product Backlog management techniques

The Scrum Master helps the Product Owner with backlog management techniques and goal definition.

Question 6: Which of the following is NOT a primary goal of implementing feedback loops (Kanban cadences)?

To compare individual team member performance for annual reviews and compensation. (Correct answer)
To coordinate dependencies and manage the flow of work between different process stages.
To provide opportunities for the customer to give input and steer the product.
To review and adapt the workflow and policies at regular intervals.

Correct answer: To compare individual team member performance for annual reviews and compensation.

Kanban feedback loops, such as the daily stand-up, service delivery review, and retrospectives, are designed to improve the system, the process, and the flow of value. Using metrics and discussions from these meetings for individual performance reviews is counterproductive, as it can discourage transparency and create a culture of fear, undermining the goal of collaborative process improvement.

Question 7: During active listening, evaluate your progress in listening skills.

1) Internal listening, 2) Focused listening, 3) Global listening (Correct answer)
1) Global listening, 2) Focused listening, 3) Intuitive listening
. A) 1) Self-centered listening, 2) Focused listening, 3) Intuitive listening
1) Interested listening, 2) Focused listening, 3) Global listening

Correct answer: 1) Internal listening, 2) Focused listening, 3) Global listening

These three stages represent a progression in active listening skills. Internal listening is self-focused, where one is primarily thinking about their own thoughts and responses. Focused listening involves paying close attention to the speaker's words and immediate message. Global listening is the highest level, where one not only hears the words but also perceives non-verbal cues, emotions, and the broader context, understanding the speaker holistically.

Question 8: ROTI is best described by which of the following?

Measure of required effort to deliver in an iteration
Measure of product backlogs remaining
Measure of quality of features delivered in an iteration
Measure of effectiveness of the retrospective meeting (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Measure of effectiveness of the retrospective meeting

ROTI stands for 'Return on Time Invested' and is a quick feedback mechanism used to gauge the perceived value and effectiveness of a meeting, particularly retrospectives. Participants typically rate how worthwhile the meeting was, helping the team understand if their time was well spent and identify areas for improving future meeting structures and content. It directly measures the meeting's impact.

Question 9: How should teams handle scope changes during a release in Agile?

Accept all scope changes to satisfy the customer
Escalate all changes to the PMO for approval
Use trade-off analysis to swap in new items by removing equivalent scope elsewhere (Correct answer)
Reject all scope changes once the release begins

Correct answer: Use trade-off analysis to swap in new items by removing equivalent scope elsewhere

Agile teams handle mid-release scope changes by trading new items against existing ones of equal size to protect capacity and delivery commitments.

Question 10: A team is using the Planning Poker technique to estimate a user story. The initial estimates from the developers are 3, 5, 5, 8, and 13. What is the most valuable next step for the team to take?

Ask the two developers who gave the highest and lowest estimates (3 and 13) to discuss their reasoning. (Correct answer)
Ask the Product Owner to break the tie and choose the correct estimate.
Remove the highest and lowest estimates and use the most common number, 5.
Take the average of the numbers to determine the final estimate.

Correct answer: Ask the two developers who gave the highest and lowest estimates (3 and 13) to discuss their reasoning.

The primary goal of Planning Poker is not just to produce a number, but to foster conversation and create a shared understanding. A wide divergence in estimates, like a 3 and a 13, indicates that team members have different assumptions or information about the work. The discussion between the high and low estimators is crucial for uncovering these differences and clarifying the story's scope.

Question 11: What is the name of the XP technique in which two workers partner up, with one person coding and the other thinking as the Navigator?

Planning Poker
Coding Technique
Pair Programming (Correct answer)
Planning Technique

Correct answer: Pair Programming

Pair programming is an Extreme Programming (XP) practice where two developers work together at one workstation. One person, the 'driver,' writes the code, while the other, the 'navigator,' continuously reviews the code, thinks about the overall design, and identifies potential issues. This collaborative approach enhances code quality, facilitates knowledge transfer, and reduces defects.

Question 12: Which Agile artifact best represents the long-term vision of a product for release planning purposes?

Release burndown chart
Product roadmap (Correct answer)
Definition of Done
Sprint backlog

Correct answer: Product roadmap

The product roadmap provides the long-term vision and direction of the product, serving as the strategic foundation for release planning.

Question 13: How should an Agile team handle a key stakeholder who is frequently unavailable for feedback sessions?

Identify a proxy stakeholder who can represent their interests (Correct answer)
Proceed with assumptions and document them for later review
Escalate to project management to enforce participation
Delay the sprint until the stakeholder becomes available

Correct answer: Identify a proxy stakeholder who can represent their interests

Identifying a proxy stakeholder ensures the team maintains the continuous feedback needed to deliver value without blocking progress.

Question 14: A team is using T-Shirt Sizing (XS, S, M, L, XL) for high-level backlog estimation. How does this technique typically relate to more granular estimation methods like Story Points?

Each T-shirt size is universally equivalent to a specific number of hours.
Story Points are used to estimate Epics, and T-Shirt sizes are used for the individual stories within those Epics.
T-Shirt Sizing is often used for initial, coarse-grained estimation, which can later be converted to Story Points as items get closer to implementation. (Correct answer)
T-Shirt Sizing replaces the need for Story Points entirely.

Correct answer: T-Shirt Sizing is often used for initial, coarse-grained estimation, which can later be converted to Story Points as items get closer to implementation.

T-Shirt Sizing is excellent for quick, high-level planning of large backlog items or early-stage roadmapping. As these larger items are broken down and refined, teams often convert the T-shirt sizes into the more granular Story Point scale (e.g., M = 8 points) for more precise sprint planning and velocity tracking.

Question 15: Who is primarily responsible for maximizing the value of the product backlog?

Product Owner (Correct answer)
Scrum Master
Project Sponsor
Development Team

Correct answer: Product Owner

The Product Owner owns and prioritizes the backlog to maximize the product's value.

Question 16: Who is responsible for managing and ordering the Product Backlog?

Product Owner (Correct answer)
Developers
Stakeholders
Scrum Master

Correct answer: Product Owner

The Product Owner is accountable for effective Product Backlog management and ordering.

Question 17: What is 'swarming' in Agile team practice?

A planning technique for estimating large epics
Assigning one person to monitor team communication channels
Holding all meetings on the same day to free up the rest of the week
Multiple team members simultaneously working on the same item to complete it faster (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Multiple team members simultaneously working on the same item to complete it faster

Swarming is when multiple team members focus on the same work item simultaneously to remove blockers and complete it quickly, reducing WIP and cycle time.

Question 18: What is the role of trust in an Agile team?

Trust eliminates the need for sprint reviews
Trust means the team never questions the product owner's decisions
Trust is built by the scrum master assigning roles clearly
Trust enables teams to self-organize, collaborate openly, and take risks without fear of blame (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Trust enables teams to self-organize, collaborate openly, and take risks without fear of blame

Trust is foundational in Agile — it enables self-organization, honest retrospectives, collective decision-making, and a safe environment for experimentation.

Question 19: Why should story estimation involve the whole development team rather than just one person?

It assigns blame for missed work
It speeds up the meeting
It lets the manager set the numbers
Diverse perspectives surface risks and produce more accurate estimates (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Diverse perspectives surface risks and produce more accurate estimates

Collective estimation captures different expertise and reduces individual bias.

Question 20: What is a 'cross-functional' Agile team?

A team that works across multiple projects simultaneously
A team made up of members from different companies
A team where every member performs every role
A team with all the skills needed to deliver a working product increment without depending on external teams (Correct answer)

Correct answer: A team with all the skills needed to deliver a working product increment without depending on external teams

A cross-functional team has all the skills — development, testing, design, etc. — needed to deliver a complete, working product increment independently.

Question 21: What is 'feature freeze' in Agile release planning?

A sprint where no new code is written
Stopping all work until the customer approves the current build
The point at which no new features are added so the team can focus on stability and quality (Correct answer)
Freezing the product backlog permanently

Correct answer: The point at which no new features are added so the team can focus on stability and quality

Feature freeze is the point in a release cycle when no new features are added so the team can focus on stabilizing, testing, and hardening the product.

Question 22: A marketing team is using a Kanban board to manage their content creation process. They want to improve their ability to deliver articles to customers faster. Which Kanban metric would provide the most direct insight into the total time elapsed from a customer's request to its fulfillment?

Throughput
Cycle Time
Lead Time (Correct answer)
Work in Progress (WIP)

Correct answer: Lead Time

Lead Time is the total time a work item spends in the system, from the moment it is requested (committed to) until it is delivered to the customer. This is distinct from Cycle Time, which measures the time from when work actively begins on an item. To understand the full customer experience, Lead Time is the most appropriate metric.

Question 23: Which of the following is identified by the Agile Manifesto as the primary measure of progress?

Adherence to the initial project plan
Completed project documentation
Working software (Correct answer)
Hours logged by the development team

Correct answer: Working software

One of the twelve principles behind the Agile Manifesto explicitly states, 'Working software is the primary measure of progress.' This means the ultimate indicator of success is a functional product that delivers value, not intermediate deliverables like documentation or plan adherence.

Question 24: During a project retrospective, team members openly discuss a mistake that led to a significant setback in the last iteration. An Agile mindset supports which of the following responses from leadership?

Viewing the mistake as a valuable learning opportunity for the entire team to improve its process. (Correct answer)
Implementing a new, more rigid process to prevent any future mistakes.
Canceling retrospectives as they seem to highlight only negative events.
Identifying the individual responsible for the mistake to ensure accountability.

Correct answer: Viewing the mistake as a valuable learning opportunity for the entire team to improve its process.

A core tenet of the Agile mindset is creating a culture of trust and continuous improvement. Mistakes and failures are seen as opportunities for learning and growth, not for placing blame. The retrospective's purpose is to reflect on how to become more effective, and a healthy response is to analyze the process that allowed the mistake and adapt, rather than punishing individuals.

Question 25: A team completes 20, 25, and 23 story points in its first three sprints. What is the team's calculated average velocity, and how should it primarily be used?

22.67; to commit to delivering exactly 23 points in the next sprint.
22.67; to compare the team's performance with other teams in the organization.
25; to use the highest number for planning to push the team to improve.
22.67; to help with forecasting how much work the team can likely complete in future sprints. (Correct answer)

Correct answer: 22.67; to help with forecasting how much work the team can likely complete in future sprints.

The average velocity is (20+25+23)/3 = 22.67. Its primary purpose is to serve as a data-driven guide for long-term planning and forecasting. It helps predict how many sprints might be needed to complete a backlog, but it is not a performance metric for comparison between teams or a rigid commitment for a single sprint.

Question 26: Which of the following is an anti-pattern, or misuse, of the team velocity metric?

Comparing the velocity of Team A (30 points/sprint) to Team B (50 points/sprint) to determine which team is more productive. (Correct answer)
Using the average velocity over the last three sprints to help forecast the next sprint's capacity.
Using historical velocity to create a rough forecast for a multi-sprint release plan.
Observing a downward trend in velocity as an indicator to investigate potential impediments.

Correct answer: Comparing the velocity of Team A (30 points/sprint) to Team B (50 points/sprint) to determine which team is more productive.

Velocity is a team-specific metric based on its unique estimation scale and context. Because story points are relative and not standardized across teams, comparing the velocity of different teams is a meaningless and harmful practice that can lead to unhealthy competition and inaccurate conclusions. [14, 15]

Question 27: A product owner reorders the backlog mid-sprint. According to Scrum, the current sprint backlog should:

Be doubled in size
Be immediately changed to match
Remain stable, with changes applying to future sprints (Correct answer)
Be cancelled and restarted

Correct answer: Remain stable, with changes applying to future sprints

The sprint backlog stays stable during the sprint to protect the team's commitment; changes apply later.

Question 28: For value stream analysis, choose the right sequence.

Examine the present process's value stream map and compare it to the project charter's objectives.
Make a value stream map of the current process, noting steps, queues, delays, and data flows. (Correct answer)
Create a value stream map to track delays and time wasters like meetings and coffee breaks.
Examine how to make the value stream charter more adaptable.

Correct answer: Make a value stream map of the current process, noting steps, queues, delays, and data flows.

Value stream analysis begins by creating a 'current state' value stream map. This involves meticulously documenting all steps, handoffs, queues, delays, and information flows involved in delivering a product or service. The purpose is to visualize the entire process, identify waste, and understand where value is being added or lost, before attempting to optimize it.

Question 29: The Agile principle of 'Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential' primarily encourages teams to:

Avoid creating any documentation for the project.
Focus on delivering the simplest solution that meets the immediate need. (Correct answer)
Choose the easiest tasks from the backlog first.
Reduce the number of team members to simplify communication.

Correct answer: Focus on delivering the simplest solution that meets the immediate need.

This principle is about avoiding over-engineering and 'gold-plating'. It encourages the team to build exactly what is needed to deliver value now, rather than building complex solutions for problems that may not exist in the future. It's about efficiency and focusing on the highest value features.

Question 30: What is 'release burndown' used to track?

The team's daily progress within a single sprint
The remaining work (story points or features) across sprints until a release is complete (Correct answer)
The number of defects found in each sprint
The number of releases deployed per quarter

Correct answer: The remaining work (story points or features) across sprints until a release is complete

A release burndown chart tracks remaining work across multiple sprints, showing whether the team is on track to complete the planned release scope.

Question 31: What is a 'team working agreement' in Agile?

A list of tasks assigned to each team member for the sprint
A set of norms and expectations the team creates collaboratively to guide how they work together (Correct answer)
A formal document approved by the project manager
A legal contract between the team and the client

Correct answer: A set of norms and expectations the team creates collaboratively to guide how they work together

A team working agreement is a collaboratively created set of norms — such as communication preferences and meeting rules — that guides how the team operates.

Question 32: The Agile principle of 'Simplicity' is best described as:

The art of maximizing the amount of work not done. (Correct answer)
Only developing the most basic, core features.
Using the easiest available technology.
Avoiding all forms of documentation.

Correct answer: The art of maximizing the amount of work not done.

The tenth principle of the Agile Manifesto is 'Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.' This encourages teams to focus on delivering what is necessary and valuable right now, avoiding over-engineering and unnecessary complexity.

Question 33: A customer submits a feature request on May 1st. The product team prioritizes it and adds it to the product backlog on May 5th. The development team starts working on it on May 15th and completes the work on May 25th. What is the Lead Time for this feature?

25 days (Correct answer)
14 days
10 days
20 days

Correct answer: 25 days

Lead Time measures the total time from the initial customer request to the final delivery of the completed work. In this scenario, the clock starts when the request was made on May 1st and ends when the work was completed on May 25th, resulting in a total Lead Time of 25 days. Cycle Time, in contrast, would be 10 days (from May 15th to May 25th). [2, 4, 5]

Question 34: What does the Agile Manifesto's principle on face-to-face communication emphasize?

Daily standups held in person only
Video conferencing as a replacement for email
The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team (Correct answer)
Executive-level presentations to key stakeholders

Correct answer: The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team

The Agile Manifesto states that face-to-face conversation is the most efficient and effective method for conveying information within a development team.

Question 35: How does Agile encourage knowledge sharing within a team?

By holding quarterly training sessions off-site
By rotating team leads each sprint
By requiring all team members to write detailed technical documentation daily
Through pair programming, cross-training, mob programming, and collaborative code reviews (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Through pair programming, cross-training, mob programming, and collaborative code reviews

Agile promotes pair programming, mob sessions, and collaborative reviews to continuously share knowledge, reduce silos, and build team resilience.

Question 36: A key principle of the Kanban Method is to 'Start with what you do now.' What does this principle imply for a team beginning their Kanban adoption?

The team must immediately discard their existing processes and adopt a predefined Kanban workflow.
The team is required to define all roles, such as Service Delivery Manager, before starting.
The team must first complete a comprehensive process re-engineering project before visualizing their workflow.
The team should overlay Kanban practices on their current workflow, respecting existing roles and responsibilities. (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The team should overlay Kanban practices on their current workflow, respecting existing roles and responsibilities.

The 'Start with what you do now' principle emphasizes that Kanban is an evolutionary, non-disruptive method for change. It advocates for applying Kanban principles and practices to the current process, respecting the value of existing roles, responsibilities, and processes, and then making incremental changes over time.

Question 37: What is 'team velocity' and how does it support collaboration?

The rate at which new members join the team
The number of meetings the team holds per sprint
The speed at which the team resolves merge conflicts
The average amount of work a team completes per sprint, used to plan collaboratively and set realistic expectations (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The average amount of work a team completes per sprint, used to plan collaboratively and set realistic expectations

Team velocity measures average story points completed per sprint, giving the whole team a shared, empirical basis for planning future work collaboratively.

Question 38: What does 'T-shaped skills' mean for Agile team members?

Avoiding specialization to stay fully cross-functional
Being trained in both technical and management roles
Switching between two roles every sprint
Having deep expertise in one area and broad enough knowledge to contribute across disciplines (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Having deep expertise in one area and broad enough knowledge to contribute across disciplines

T-shaped skills describe a team member with deep expertise in one discipline (the vertical bar) and broad capability to collaborate across other areas (the horizontal bar).

Question 39: A Product Owner presents a user story that reads, "As a shopper, I want a search bar." The development team states that the story isn't ready to be worked on because it lacks the 'Confirmation' aspect of the 3 Cs. What is missing?

A discussion about the story's business value.
A detailed technical design document.
Clear, testable acceptance criteria. (Correct answer)
The estimated number of story points.

Correct answer: Clear, testable acceptance criteria.

The '3 Cs' of a user story are Card, Conversation, and Confirmation. The Confirmation refers to the acceptance criteria, which are the conditions that must be met for the story to be considered complete. Without acceptance criteria, the team does not have a clear, shared understanding of what 'done' looks like for the search bar.

Question 40: Which of the following is the primary accountability of the Product Owner?

Maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team. (Correct answer)
Facilitating all Scrum events and ensuring they are productive.
Directing the daily tasks of the Developers.
Managing the project budget and timeline.

Correct answer: Maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team.

The Scrum Guide explicitly states that the Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product that the Scrum Team produces. This involves managing the Product Backlog to best achieve the Product Goal.

Question 41: A team observes on their Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) that the band for the 'In Progress' stage is widening significantly over time, while the 'Done' band is growing very slowly. What does this pattern most likely indicate?

Work is arriving into the 'In Progress' stage much faster than it is being completed, indicating a bottleneck. (Correct answer)
The team's overall throughput is increasing rapidly.
The team needs to immediately add more people to the 'In Progress' stage.
The policies for entering the 'Done' state are too lenient.

Correct answer: Work is arriving into the 'In Progress' stage much faster than it is being completed, indicating a bottleneck.

On a Cumulative Flow Diagram, the vertical width of a band represents the amount of Work in Progress (WIP) for that stage. A widening band for 'In Progress' means that the number of items in that stage is increasing. This happens when the arrival rate into the stage is greater than the departure rate, which is a classic indicator of a bottleneck in the workflow.

Question 42: In the context of Kanban flow metrics, what is the key difference between Lead Time and Cycle Time?

Cycle Time measures the total calendar days a task takes, while Lead Time only measures the working days.
There is no practical difference; the terms are used interchangeably.
Lead Time measures the time from when work is completed to when it is delivered, while Cycle Time is the time from start to finish.
Lead Time is the total time from a customer request to delivery, while Cycle Time is the time from when work actively begins on that request until it is completed. (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Lead Time is the total time from a customer request to delivery, while Cycle Time is the time from when work actively begins on that request until it is completed.

This is the standard definition used in Kanban. Lead Time represents the entire customer experience, from the moment they make a request to the moment they receive the value. Cycle Time is a subset of Lead Time that measures the internal process efficiency—the time the team is actively working on the item.

Question 43: A Developer wants to add a new feature directly to the Product Backlog and reprioritize it. What is the correct approach?

Add and reorder it themselves
Discuss it with the Product Owner who owns backlog ordering (Correct answer)
Ask the Scrum Master to approve it
Wait for management sign-off

Correct answer: Discuss it with the Product Owner who owns backlog ordering

Backlog ordering is the Product Owner's accountability, so changes go through them.

Question 44: During a Planning Poker session, the team discusses a user story. When the cards are revealed, the estimates are wildly different, with one developer showing a '3', another a '13', and a third showing a '?'. What is the most appropriate next step?

Ask the Product Owner to make the final decision on the estimate.
Use the highest estimate to be safe.
Have the developers with the highest and lowest estimates explain their reasoning to foster discussion. (Correct answer)
Take the average of the numbers and move to the next item.

Correct answer: Have the developers with the highest and lowest estimates explain their reasoning to foster discussion.

The core purpose of Planning Poker is to build a shared understanding through discussion. When estimates vary significantly, the developers with the outlier estimates (highest and lowest) should explain their rationale. This conversation uncovers different assumptions, hidden complexities, or misunderstandings about the work, leading to a more accurate, consensus-based estimate.

Question 45: Horizontal Market Software is best described by which of the following?

Developed for a dedicated customer
Developed for one organization
Developed for many organizations
Developed and used across many industries (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Developed and used across many industries

Horizontal market software is designed to address common business needs that are applicable across a wide variety of industries, rather than being tailored for a specific niche. Examples include accounting software, CRM systems, or project management tools that can be used by businesses regardless of their particular sector. This broad applicability makes it valuable to many different types of organizations.

Question 46: What is an epic in Agile backlog terms?

A bug report
A large body of work that can be broken into multiple stories (Correct answer)
A single one-point task
A completed user story

Correct answer: A large body of work that can be broken into multiple stories

An epic is a large story too big for one sprint, decomposed into smaller stories.

Question 47: Small stand-alone applications that demonstrate what you've learnt are called spike solutions. If you need to test an approach to your production code, which of the following spike kinds will you use?

Scheduling Spikes
Design Spike (Correct answer)
Iteration Spikes
Development Spike

Correct answer: Design Spike

A design spike is a short, time-boxed investigation specifically aimed at exploring a technical approach or solution to a problem before committing to its full implementation. Its purpose is to reduce risk and uncertainty by testing assumptions, evaluating technologies, or understanding complex design challenges. This allows the team to make informed decisions about how to proceed with production code.

Question 48: Which of the following statements regarding Retrospective is NOT correct?

It chooses who will work on the following project. (Correct answer)
It aids in determining how the team will work in the future.
It empowers the team to take control of and direct their own development.
It aids in the process of reflection and learning from the past.

Correct answer: It chooses who will work on the following project.

A retrospective meeting is a key Agile ceremony focused on continuous improvement within a team. Its purpose is to reflect on a past iteration or project, identify what went well, what could be improved, and how to implement those improvements in future work. It does not involve making decisions about team staffing or who will work on subsequent projects; that is typically a management or product owner responsibility.

Question 49: What is the recommended size for an Agile Scrum team?

5–9 people (excluding scrum master and product owner) (Correct answer)
15–20 people
2–3 people
Any size, as long as everyone has a defined role

Correct answer: 5–9 people (excluding scrum master and product owner)

Scrum recommends teams of 5–9 developers, small enough to communicate easily and large enough to complete meaningful work each sprint.

Question 50: What is the Agile principle regarding sustainable pace?

Overtime is encouraged during every sprint to meet commitments
Agile promotes a sustainable, consistent pace that teams can maintain indefinitely without burnout (Correct answer)
Sustainable pace only applies to the product owner, not developers
Teams should work at maximum capacity to deliver the most value

Correct answer: Agile promotes a sustainable, consistent pace that teams can maintain indefinitely without burnout

The Agile Manifesto emphasizes sustainable development, meaning sponsors, developers, and users should maintain a constant, indefinite pace without burning out.

Question 51: How should an Agile team handle a situation where one member has significantly more work than others?

The team swarms to help the overloaded member so the sprint goal is met collectively (Correct answer)
Leave it for the next sprint since it is the member's responsibility
Allow the overloaded member to work overtime to catch up
Reassign the work to the product owner

Correct answer: The team swarms to help the overloaded member so the sprint goal is met collectively

Agile promotes collective ownership, so the team swarms on overloaded tasks to ensure sprint goals are met as a group effort.

Question 52: What does 'time-boxing' mean in Agile release planning?

Estimating how many hours each task will take
Limiting work in progress to reduce context switching
Setting a fixed duration for a sprint or release, regardless of how much work is completed (Correct answer)
Blocking time on the calendar for meetings

Correct answer: Setting a fixed duration for a sprint or release, regardless of how much work is completed

Time-boxing sets a fixed, non-negotiable duration for a sprint or release, forcing the team to prioritize and deliver the most valuable work within that window.

Question 53: According to the 12 Principles behind the Agile Manifesto, what is the primary measure of progress?

Working software (Correct answer)
Approval of comprehensive documentation
Hours logged by the team
Percentage of tasks completed

Correct answer: Working software

One of the key principles of the Agile Manifesto is that 'Working software is the primary measure of progress.' This shifts the focus from intermediate deliverables, like documentation or task completion charts, to the ultimate goal of delivering functional value to the customer.

Question 54: Which of the following best describes the primary purpose of using story points for estimation?

To create a relative measure of the effort, complexity, and uncertainty of a user story. (Correct answer)
To measure the individual performance of each developer on the team.
To provide a precise measure of the development time in hours for a user story.
To track the business value delivered to the customer at the end of each sprint.

Correct answer: To create a relative measure of the effort, complexity, and uncertainty of a user story.

Story points are an abstract, relative unit of measure used in Agile. They are not tied to specific hours but instead encapsulate the overall effort required for a task, including complexity, risks, and the volume of work. This relative sizing helps teams make forecasts and plan sprints more effectively without the false precision of time-based estimates.

Question 55: What is 'osmotic communication' in Agile teams?

Using email to keep all team members informed
A structured daily communication meeting
Information absorbed passively by team members sitting near each other (Correct answer)
Sharing meeting notes with the entire organization

Correct answer: Information absorbed passively by team members sitting near each other

Osmotic communication refers to the passive absorption of relevant information by co-located team members who overhear conversations happening around them.

Question 56: In Agile release planning, what is a 'release' typically defined as?

A deployable increment of working software that delivers value to stakeholders (Correct answer)
A milestone in the project charter
A document listing all completed features
A single sprint deliverable

Correct answer: A deployable increment of working software that delivers value to stakeholders

A release is a deployable increment of working software that delivers meaningful value to stakeholders, often spanning multiple sprints.

Question 57: Which of the following alternatives best represents User Stories?

Support tools for analysis (Correct answer)
Use Cases
None of the above
Interaction Design Scenarios

Correct answer: Support tools for analysis

User stories are short, simple descriptions of a feature told from the perspective of the person who desires the new capability, usually a user or customer. They serve as a primary tool for requirements gathering and analysis in Agile development, helping teams understand user needs, facilitate conversations, and break down work into manageable, value-driven chunks. They are a lightweight way to capture and analyze requirements, not formal use cases themselves.

Question 58: What is the role of the product owner in Agile release planning?

To manage the development team's workload
To schedule sprint ceremonies
To write all user stories and estimate their effort
To prioritize the product backlog and decide what is included in each release (Correct answer)

Correct answer: To prioritize the product backlog and decide what is included in each release

The product owner prioritizes the backlog and decides which features are included in each release based on business value and stakeholder needs.

Question 59: During a retrospective, a team decides to experiment with a new branching strategy for their code repository, believing it will reduce merge conflicts. They agree to try it for one sprint and then evaluate the results. This decision is a direct application of which fundamental Agile principle?

Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done.
Inspect and adapt. (Correct answer)
Business people and developers must work together daily.
Working software is the primary measure of progress.

Correct answer: Inspect and adapt.

The principle of 'inspect and adapt' is at the core of all Agile frameworks and continuous improvement. The team is inspecting their current process (identifying merge conflicts), proposing an adaptation (new branching strategy), and planning to inspect the outcome in the next retrospective. This cycle of trying something new and evaluating its effect is the essence of inspecting and adapting.

Question 60: Which Agile artifact shows the amount of work remaining over the course of a sprint?

Kanban board
Product roadmap
Gantt chart
Burndown chart (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Burndown chart

A burndown chart tracks remaining work against time within a sprint.

Question 61: A stakeholder requests a feature that conflicts with the product vision. Who is primarily responsible for addressing this?

The project sponsor, by overriding the stakeholder's request
The Scrum Master, by facilitating a compromise meeting
The Product Owner, by managing the backlog and stakeholder expectations (Correct answer)
The development team, by evaluating technical feasibility

Correct answer: The Product Owner, by managing the backlog and stakeholder expectations

The Product Owner owns the product backlog and is responsible for balancing stakeholder needs against the product vision.

Question 62: Which technique is commonly used in Agile to forecast when features will be completed?

Velocity-based forecasting (Correct answer)
Gantt chart tracking
Critical path method
Earned value management

Correct answer: Velocity-based forecasting

Velocity-based forecasting uses the team's average story points per sprint to predict when backlog items will be completed.

Question 63: An Agile Coach is reviewing a team's Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD). They notice that over the last several weeks, the band representing the 'Testing' phase is progressively widening, while the 'Done' band's slope is much flatter by comparison. What is the most likely conclusion?

The Product Owner is adding new work to the sprint at an unsustainable rate.
Work is entering the testing phase faster than it is being completed, indicating a bottleneck. (Correct answer)
The team's overall velocity is increasing steadily.
The development team is completing their work ahead of schedule.

Correct answer: Work is entering the testing phase faster than it is being completed, indicating a bottleneck.

A widening band on a Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) for a specific stage, like 'Testing', signifies that the number of work items in that stage is increasing over time. This happens when the entry rate into the stage exceeds the exit rate. This pattern is a classic indicator of a bottleneck in the workflow. [7, 12, 17]

Question 64: Who decides how to turn Product Backlog items into a working Increment during the Sprint?

The customer
The Product Owner
The Developers (Correct answer)
The Scrum Master

Correct answer: The Developers

The Developers are self-managing and decide how the work gets done.

Question 65: What is 'continuous delivery' in Agile?

Assigning a delivery team to each developer
Running daily standups with the customer
Delivering all features in one large release
The practice of keeping code in a deployable state so it can be released at any time (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The practice of keeping code in a deployable state so it can be released at any time

Continuous delivery is the practice of ensuring software is always in a deployable state, enabling teams to release to production at any time with minimal manual effort.

Question 66: A team has adopted the Kanban method and is using a board to visualize their workflow. They notice that work items are piling up in the 'Testing' column, and developers are frequently idle. Which core Kanban practice should the team implement to address this issue directly?

Implement feedback loops
Limit Work in Progress (WIP) (Correct answer)
Make process policies explicit
Encourage acts of leadership at all levels

Correct answer: Limit Work in Progress (WIP)

Limiting Work in Progress (WIP) is a fundamental practice in Kanban designed to prevent bottlenecks and improve flow. By setting a limit on the number of items allowed in the 'Testing' column, the team would be forced to address the testing bottleneck before pulling new work into the system, thereby creating a smoother, more predictable workflow.

Question 67: A team wants to make their process improvement ideas more visible and ensure they are actioned systematically. What is the most appropriate tool for managing these items?

The daily stand-up meeting notes.
The Product Backlog.
A dedicated Improvement Backlog. (Correct answer)
The project's risk register.

Correct answer: A dedicated Improvement Backlog.

An Improvement Backlog is a prioritized list specifically for tracking identified improvements, process changes, and technical debt. It provides visibility and allows the team to dedicate capacity to these items, often by pulling them into sprints just like Product Backlog Items, thus ensuring they are not forgotten.

Question 68: How does Agile handle team conflict?

The team is encouraged to resolve conflicts at the lowest level using open communication (Correct answer)
Conflict is avoided by assigning tasks individually to prevent overlap
The scrum master makes all final conflict decisions
Conflicts are escalated directly to management to resolve

Correct answer: The team is encouraged to resolve conflicts at the lowest level using open communication

Agile encourages teams to surface and resolve conflicts directly and transparently at the team level, supported by the scrum master as a facilitator.

Question 69: When splitting a story, which split typically delivers the most value?

Splitting by team member
A horizontal slice by technical layer only
Splitting by estimated hours
A vertical slice delivering working end-to-end functionality (Correct answer)

Correct answer: A vertical slice delivering working end-to-end functionality

Vertical slices deliver usable, demonstrable functionality each iteration.

Question 70: What does 'co-location' mean for Agile teams, and why is it valued?

Storing all project files on a shared server
Team members physically working in the same location, enabling richer communication and faster collaboration (Correct answer)
All team members must be in the same time zone
Having the product owner sit with developers during sprint planning

Correct answer: Team members physically working in the same location, enabling richer communication and faster collaboration

Co-location means the team works in the same physical space, which enables face-to-face communication, osmotic information sharing, and faster decision-making.

Question 71: What does 'Ha' stand for in Shu Ha Ri's Agile Team Stages?

None of the above
Follow the rule
Be the rule
Break the rule (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Break the rule

Shu Ha Ri describes stages of learning and mastery, often applied to Agile teams. 'Shu' means to follow the rules, 'Ha' means to break the rules or adapt them, and 'Ri' means to transcend the rules and innovate. In the 'Ha' stage, the team has a solid understanding of the foundational principles and can begin to experiment, modify, and adapt practices to better suit their specific context.

Question 72: Which Agile practice best supports transparent communication with stakeholders about project progress?

Formal written status reports submitted monthly
Information radiators such as task boards and burndown charts (Correct answer)
Detailed Gantt charts updated weekly
Stakeholder approval gates before each phase

Correct answer: Information radiators such as task boards and burndown charts

Information radiators make project status continuously visible to all stakeholders without requiring formal reporting cycles.

Question 73: Which of the following best describes Story Points?

A commitment from the team to complete work within a specific timeframe.
A measure of business value delivered to the customer.
A unit of time, equivalent to one ideal developer day.
A relative unit of measure for the effort required to implement a work item. (Correct answer)

Correct answer: A relative unit of measure for the effort required to implement a work item.

Story points are a relative measure of the effort needed to complete a user story. This 'effort' includes the complexity of the task, the amount of work involved, and any risk or uncertainty. They are intentionally abstract and not tied to specific hours or days to avoid the pitfalls of absolute time-based estimation.

Question 74: A 'Definition of Done' primarily serves to:

Define the project budget
Set the sprint length
Prioritize the backlog
Establish shared criteria for when work is complete (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Establish shared criteria for when work is complete

The Definition of Done is a shared agreement on the quality criteria a work item must meet to be considered complete.

Question 75: Which statement best embodies the Agile principle of building projects around motivated individuals?

Assigning individual performance bonuses based on lines of code written.
Providing the team with the environment and support they need, and trusting them to get the job done. (Correct answer)
Mandating specific tools and processes that every team member must follow without deviation.
Micromanaging team members' tasks to ensure they are always productive.

Correct answer: Providing the team with the environment and support they need, and trusting them to get the job done.

This principle directly states, 'Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.' This reflects a servant-leadership approach where management's role is to empower the team and remove impediments, fostering an environment of autonomy and ownership.

Question 76: Which of the following graphs depicts the total number of story points accomplished by each iteration's end?

Cumulative story point burndown chart (Correct answer)
Burn up chart
Daily Burndown chart
Iteration burndown chart

Correct answer: Cumulative story point burndown chart

A cumulative story point burndown chart, often functioning similarly to a burn-up chart, tracks the total amount of work completed (e.g., in story points) over time. It shows a rising line as story points are 'burned down' or completed across iterations, thereby depicting the accumulated progress of the team. This chart provides a clear visual of the total accomplishment by the end of each iteration.

Question 77: A development team is in the final week of a sprint when the product owner presents a new, high-priority requirement from a key stakeholder. According to the principles of the Agile Manifesto, what is the MOST appropriate response?

Reject the change as it is too late in the development cycle.
Insist on a formal contract negotiation before considering the new requirement.
Complete the current sprint as planned and address the new requirement in the next one.
Welcome the changing requirement and work to incorporate it, even late in development. (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Welcome the changing requirement and work to incorporate it, even late in development.

An Agile principle is to 'Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.' This highlights the adaptive nature of Agile, prioritizing customer value over rigidly sticking to an initial plan.

Question 78: Which Scrum artifact has the Product Goal as its commitment, providing a long-term objective for the Scrum Team to plan against?

The Increment
The Sprint Backlog
The Definition of Done
The Product Backlog (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The Product Backlog

The Scrum Guide explicitly links each artifact to a commitment. The commitment for the Product Backlog is the Product Goal. The Product Goal describes a future state of the product and serves as a target for the Scrum Team.

Question 79: Which of the following statements about the differences between burn up charts that also monitor overall scope and burn down charts is false?

Changes in the rate of effort are indicated by burn down charts, which show whether the changes are attributable to changes in progress rates or scope. (Correct answer)
Burn up and burn down charts have a vertical trend in the opposite direction.
WIP can be added to burn up charts to turn them to cumulative flow diagrams.
The rate of advancement is separated from the scope fluctuations using burn up charts.

Correct answer: Changes in the rate of effort are indicated by burn down charts, which show whether the changes are attributable to changes in progress rates or scope.

Burn-down charts primarily show the remaining work over time, indicating the rate of progress towards completion. While they reflect changes in the rate of effort, they do not inherently distinguish whether these changes are due to progress rate fluctuations or scope changes. Burn-up charts, by showing both completed work and total scope, are better at separating these two factors, as they have distinct lines for total scope and completed work.

Question 80: Which of the following is a core value of the Agile Manifesto?

Comprehensive documentation over working software
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation (Correct answer)
Processes and tools over individuals and interactions
Following a plan over responding to change

Correct answer: Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

The Agile Manifesto has four core values. One of these is 'Customer collaboration over contract negotiation', which emphasizes building a partnership with the customer throughout the development process. The other options are inversions of the actual values.

Question 81: What is the purpose of a daily standup (daily scrum) in fostering team collaboration?

To review and update the product backlog
To synchronize the team's work, identify blockers, and adapt the day's plan (Correct answer)
To assign new tasks to team members
To report progress to management

Correct answer: To synchronize the team's work, identify blockers, and adapt the day's plan

The daily standup synchronizes the team around progress, surfaces impediments early, and enables quick coordination to adapt the plan for the day.

Question 82: How does Agile address the challenge of distributed or remote teams?

The product owner travels to each location weekly
Distributed teams use video calls, collaboration tools, and overlapping hours to replicate the benefits of co-location (Correct answer)
Remote teams run sprints of longer duration to compensate for communication delays
Agile only works for co-located teams

Correct answer: Distributed teams use video calls, collaboration tools, and overlapping hours to replicate the benefits of co-location

Distributed Agile teams use video conferencing, shared digital boards, and overlapping working hours to maintain the communication richness Agile requires.

Question 83: Which of the following statements about the Iteration Demos is NOT correct?

The demo is an opportunity to solicit regular feedback from the customers
It's a concrete demonstration of the team's progress
The demos help the team be honest about its progress.
Iteration demos are a closed affair and are shown only to a selected set of stakeholders (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Iteration demos are a closed affair and are shown only to a selected set of stakeholders

Iteration demos (or Sprint Reviews in Scrum) are designed to be open and transparent events where the development team showcases the completed work from the iteration to a wide audience. This audience typically includes customers, stakeholders, and other interested parties, not just a selected few. The goal is to gather broad feedback, foster collaboration, and ensure alignment, making them far from a 'closed affair'.

Question 84: A Kanban team wants to improve the predictability of their delivery. They decide to track the number of work items finished per week to understand their delivery rate. What is this metric called?

Cycle Time
Work in Progress (WIP)
Velocity
Throughput (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Throughput

Throughput is a key flow metric that measures the number of work items completed within a specific time period (e.g., per day or per week). It provides a direct measure of the team's delivery rate and is often used for forecasting.

Question 85: What is 'collective code ownership' in Agile engineering practices?

Only senior developers are allowed to review code
Any team member can modify any part of the codebase, shared responsibility for quality (Correct answer)
Each developer owns and maintains a separate module independently
The entire company owns the IP rights to the code

Correct answer: Any team member can modify any part of the codebase, shared responsibility for quality

Collective code ownership means any team member can change any part of the codebase, distributing responsibility and preventing knowledge silos.

Question 86: What is psychological safety in the context of Agile teams?

A secure login system for team collaboration tools
The belief that team members will not be punished for speaking up with ideas, questions, or mistakes (Correct answer)
Having an anonymous feedback system
Conducting background checks on all team members

Correct answer: The belief that team members will not be punished for speaking up with ideas, questions, or mistakes

Psychological safety is the shared belief that the team environment is safe for interpersonal risk-taking, enabling honest communication and learning.

Question 87: An Agile team holds a meeting at the end of each iteration to discuss what went well, what could be improved, and how to adjust their processes for the next iteration. This practice directly supports which Agile principle?

Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly. (Correct answer)
Build projects around motivated individuals.
The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.

Correct answer: At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

The twelfth principle of the Agile Manifesto states, 'At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.' This principle is the foundation for retrospective meetings, which are a key practice for continuous improvement in Agile frameworks like Scrum.

Question 88: Which of the following statements best describes the Kanban principle of 'Start with what you do now'?

It mandates the immediate adoption of specific roles like Product Owner and Scrum Master.
It suggests that the current process is perfect and should not be changed.
It requires a complete reorganization of teams and roles before implementation.
It encourages understanding the current process and respecting existing roles as the initial step for evolutionary change. (Correct answer)

Correct answer: It encourages understanding the current process and respecting existing roles as the initial step for evolutionary change.

This foundational principle emphasizes an evolutionary, non-disruptive approach. Instead of a radical, revolutionary shift, Kanban implementation begins by first understanding and visualizing the current workflow and respecting the existing structure and roles. Improvements are then made incrementally over time.

Question 89: An Agile team wants to estimate the effort for a small batch of prioritized user stories for the upcoming sprint. They value collaboration and want to ensure everyone's perspective is heard to avoid anchoring bias. Which technique is most appropriate?

Planning Poker (Correct answer)
Bottom-Up Estimating
Affinity Estimating
T-Shirt Sizing

Correct answer: Planning Poker

Planning Poker is specifically designed for collaborative, consensus-based estimation of a limited number of items. By having all team members reveal their estimates simultaneously, it prevents the opinion of one person from unduly influencing others (anchoring bias). The subsequent discussion about differing votes ensures all perspectives are considered.

Question 90: What does the acronym INVEST describe regarding well-formed user stories?

Criteria for good user stories (Correct answer)
A testing methodology
A risk assessment framework
A budgeting model

Correct answer: Criteria for good user stories

INVEST stands for Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, and Testable—criteria for quality user stories.

Question 91: In Agile, what is a 'hardening sprint'?

A sprint used to stabilize, test, and fix defects before a release (Correct answer)
A sprint dedicated to adding new major features
A sprint focused solely on documentation
A sprint where the team increases velocity by working overtime

Correct answer: A sprint used to stabilize, test, and fix defects before a release

A hardening sprint (also called a stabilization sprint) is used to fix defects, improve performance, and prepare the product for a stable release.

Question 92: The prioritized requirements list is created by DSDM using the MoSCoW approach. The 'M' in the MoSCoW method stands for:

Medium
Must Not Have
Minimum Marketable Features
Must Have (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Must Have

The MoSCoW method is a prioritization technique used in Agile, particularly DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Method), to categorize requirements. The 'M' in MoSCoW stands for 'Must Have,' indicating requirements that are absolutely essential for the solution to be considered viable and delivered successfully. These are non-negotiable features.

Question 93: What is the primary purpose of involving stakeholders early in an Agile project?

To gain continuous feedback and align expectations throughout delivery (Correct answer)
To delegate project ownership to the business side
To ensure stakeholders can approve all design decisions
To lock in requirements before development starts

Correct answer: To gain continuous feedback and align expectations throughout delivery

Early stakeholder involvement enables continuous feedback loops that help teams deliver value aligned with actual needs.

Question 94: During the Daily Scrum, a Developer says they are having trouble with a technical task. Who is responsible for figuring out the solution?

The Product Owner, who defines the requirements for the task.
The Scrum Master, who must remove the impediment.
The designated technical lead on the team.
The Developers, as a self-managing unit. (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The Developers, as a self-managing unit.

The Developers are a self-managing team, meaning they internally decide who does what, when, and how. While the Scrum Master is accountable for causing the removal of impediments the team cannot solve themselves, the Developers are responsible for planning their work and solving problems to meet the Sprint Goal.

Question 95: What is the primary purpose of implementing Work in Progress (WIP) limits in a Kanban system?

To ensure every team member is 100% utilized at all times.
To create a pull system and improve the flow of value by preventing bottlenecks. (Correct answer)
To eliminate the need for a prioritized backlog of work.
To provide senior management with precise delivery date forecasts for all items.

Correct answer: To create a pull system and improve the flow of value by preventing bottlenecks.

WIP limits are a core practice of Kanban designed to improve the flow of work. By limiting the number of tasks in any given state, they prevent the system from being overloaded, expose bottlenecks, and force the team to finish work before starting new work. This creates a 'pull system' where new work is only pulled in when there is capacity, leading to a smoother, more predictable delivery of value.

Question 96: The Agile Manifesto values 'Individuals and interactions over...' what?

Comprehensive documentation
Contract negotiation
Processes and tools (Correct answer)
Following a plan

Correct answer: Processes and tools

The first value of the Agile Manifesto is 'Individuals and interactions over processes and tools'. This emphasizes that while processes and tools have their place, the people driving the development and their ability to collaborate effectively are more critical to success.

Question 97: In Agile, how often should stakeholders typically review working software?

Monthly, through formal status reports
Only at project completion
When significant milestones are reached
At the end of each sprint or iteration (Correct answer)

Correct answer: At the end of each sprint or iteration

Sprint reviews at the end of each iteration give stakeholders regular visibility into working software and opportunities to provide feedback and redirect.

Question 98: What is the recommended size range for a Scrum development team?

3 to 9 members (Correct answer)
1 to 2 members
20 to 30 members
10 to 15 members

Correct answer: 3 to 9 members

Scrum recommends roughly 3 to 9 developers to stay small enough for agility but large enough to deliver value.

Question 99: If consumer persona modeling is utilized for stakeholder management, which of the following personas will not be applicable?

Real people
Requirements (Correct answer)
Stereotyped users
Archetypal description

Correct answer: Requirements

Consumer persona modeling focuses on creating detailed representations of *users* or *stakeholders* to understand their needs, behaviors, and motivations. Requirements, on the other hand, are descriptions of what a system or product must do, not a type of person. Therefore, 'Requirements' is not a persona applicable in this context.

Question 100: Which technique helps Agile teams identify all relevant stakeholders at the start of a project?

Stakeholder mapping or stakeholder analysis (Correct answer)
Risk register review
Sprint retrospective
SWOT analysis

Correct answer: Stakeholder mapping or stakeholder analysis

Stakeholder mapping helps identify who has interest in or influence over the project, ensuring no key voice is overlooked.

Question 101: Task Board is best described by which of the following?

Task Boards plot the Velocity
It is a great tool to show the project trend
The task board is always a white board
It serves the dual purpose of giving the team a convenient mechanism for organizing their work and a way of seeing at a glance how much work is left. (Correct answer)

Correct answer: It serves the dual purpose of giving the team a convenient mechanism for organizing their work and a way of seeing at a glance how much work is left.

A task board, such as a Kanban or Scrum board, is a visual tool used by Agile teams to manage and track the progress of their work. It typically categorizes tasks into columns like 'To Do,' 'In Progress,' and 'Done,' providing a clear, real-time overview of the team's workflow, current status, and remaining work. This visual representation aids in organization and transparency.

Question 102: According to the INVEST mnemonic, a good user story should be 'Negotiable'. What does this characteristic imply?

The development team can choose not to work on the story if they disagree with it.
The number of story points assigned to the story can be bargained down by the Product Owner.
The story is a placeholder for a conversation about the solution, not a rigid contract. (Correct answer)
The story's priority can be changed at any time by the stakeholders.

Correct answer: The story is a placeholder for a conversation about the solution, not a rigid contract.

The 'N' in INVEST stands for Negotiable, meaning the user story is not a detailed specification. It's an invitation for the development team and Product Owner to collaborate and discuss the best way to implement the solution. The details are meant to be fleshed out in conversation, allowing for flexibility and leveraging the team's expertise.

Question 103: An Agile team is halfway through a sprint when the product owner identifies a new, high-priority requirement based on urgent market feedback. According to the Agile mindset, what is the most appropriate first step?

Reject the requirement because the sprint plan is already locked.
Add the new requirement to the current sprint without removing any other work.
Immediately stop the current sprint and start a new one to address the requirement.
Complete the current sprint and discuss adding the new requirement to the next sprint's backlog. (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Complete the current sprint and discuss adding the new requirement to the next sprint's backlog.

An Agile mindset involves responding to change, but it also respects the process and the team's focus. The best practice is to complete the current sprint to deliver a potentially shippable increment. The new requirement should then be prioritized with the product owner for inclusion in a future sprint, typically the very next one. This maintains a sustainable pace and protects the team from constant disruption.

Question 104: What does it mean for an Agile team to be 'self-organizing'?

The team decides internally how best to accomplish its work without being micromanaged (Correct answer)
The team writes its own user stories without product owner input
The team selects its own members and sets its own salaries
The team has no manager or accountability

Correct answer: The team decides internally how best to accomplish its work without being micromanaged

Self-organizing teams determine how to best accomplish their goals internally, fostering ownership and accountability without top-down micromanagement.

Question 105: What is the primary purpose of a product roadmap in Agile?

To replace the product backlog
To assign tasks to individual developers
To document every sprint's completed work
To communicate the strategic direction and planned evolution of a product (Correct answer)

Correct answer: To communicate the strategic direction and planned evolution of a product

A product roadmap provides a high-level visual summary that communicates the strategic direction and planned evolution of a product over time.

Question 106: A Product Owner is managing a list of all desired features, functions, requirements, enhancements, and fixes for a product. This emergent, ordered list is the single source of work undertaken by the Scrum Team. What is this artifact called?

The Project Charter
The Product Backlog (Correct answer)
The Release Plan
The Sprint Backlog

Correct answer: The Product Backlog

The Product Backlog is the single source of work for the Scrum Team. It is an emergent, ordered list of everything that is known to be needed in the product. The Product Owner is responsible for its content, availability, and ordering.

Question 107: An Agile team is estimating a large, unrefined backlog for the first time. The goal is to quickly group user stories by size to get a high-level forecast for release planning. Which estimation technique is most suitable for this scenario?

Planning Poker
Dot Voting
Affinity Estimating (Correct answer)
Absolute Estimation in hours

Correct answer: Affinity Estimating

Affinity Estimating is ideal for quickly sizing a large number of items. The team silently and collaboratively sorts backlog items into groups of similar relative size (e.g., Small, Medium, Large), making it much faster than estimating each item one by one, as is done in Planning Poker.

Question 108: You are an Agile leader preparing a status report for stakeholders who are primarily concerned with budget and schedule forecasting for a major release. Which combination of metrics would be most effective for this audience?

A Release Burn-up Chart and Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) (Correct answer)
Team Velocity and a Sprint Burndown Chart
Escaped Defect Count and Cycle Time
Daily Throughput and a Team Happiness Survey

Correct answer: A Release Burn-up Chart and Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD)

A Release Burn-up chart is excellent for stakeholders as it clearly visualizes progress against the total scope and can be used to forecast a completion date. A Cumulative Flow Diagram provides a higher-level view of the stability of the workflow, showing bottlenecks and the average lead/cycle times, which are crucial for schedule forecasting. This combination directly addresses schedule and progress against the entire scope.

Question 109: A product owner keeps adding implementation details to every story before the sprint. Which INVEST principle does this risk violating?

Small
Testable
Negotiable (Correct answer)
Valuable

Correct answer: Negotiable

Stories should remain negotiable, leaving room for collaborative detail during the sprint.

Question 110: Unlike Scrum, which uses time-boxed Sprints, the Kanban method is characterized by what kind of delivery approach?

A release-driven, quarterly cycle
A continuous flow model (Correct answer)
A phase-gated, sequential model
A project-based, big-bang delivery

Correct answer: A continuous flow model

The Kanban method is fundamentally a continuous flow system. Work items are pulled into the workflow as capacity becomes available, rather than being planned in fixed-length iterations like Scrum Sprints. This allows for a more flexible and continuous delivery of value.

Question 111: What is the relationship between the product backlog and release planning in Agile?

The product backlog is only used during sprint planning, not release planning
Release planning replaces the product backlog
The product backlog is the source from which release content is selected and prioritized (Correct answer)
Release planning and the product backlog are managed by different teams

Correct answer: The product backlog is the source from which release content is selected and prioritized

Release planning draws directly from the prioritized product backlog, selecting the highest-value items to include in the upcoming release.

Question 112: A Kanban team notices that work items are frequently getting stuck waiting for code review. According to Kanban practices for managing flow, what would be the most effective first action to take?

Make the entry and exit policies for the 'Code Review' stage explicit and consider applying a specific WIP limit to it. (Correct answer)
Immediately hire more code reviewers to handle the increased load.
Ask the developers to work faster to produce more code for the reviewers.
Cancel the code review step entirely to speed up the process.

Correct answer: Make the entry and exit policies for the 'Code Review' stage explicit and consider applying a specific WIP limit to it.

Kanban's core practices include 'Make Policies Explicit' and 'Limit WIP'. When a bottleneck appears, the first step is to make the process around that stage clear to everyone. Applying a WIP limit to the 'Code Review' column would make the bottleneck's impact visible and encourage the entire team to collaborate on clearing it (e.g., by having developers help with reviews) before pulling new work into the system.

Question 113: According to the Agile Manifesto, what is the most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team?

Comprehensive documentation
Status reports
Face-to-face conversation (Correct answer)
Email communication

Correct answer: Face-to-face conversation

The sixth principle of the Agile Manifesto is: 'The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.' This promotes direct, real-time communication to reduce misunderstandings and speed up decision-making.

Question 114: In a Kanban system, which of the following is the primary purpose of making process policies explicit?

To assign blame when work items are delayed.
To create a common understanding of how work flows through the system. (Correct answer)
To eliminate the need for team meetings and discussions.
To enforce a strict, unchangeable set of rules for the workflow.

Correct answer: To create a common understanding of how work flows through the system.

Making process policies explicit, such as defining what 'Done' means for each stage or when an item can be pulled into the next column, creates a shared and transparent understanding for everyone on the team. This clarity helps to reduce ambiguity and ensures consistency in how work is performed, which is essential for managing flow and enabling collaborative improvement.

Question 115: Which of the following statements best describes the Developers on a Scrum Team?

They can only consist of software engineers and programmers.
They are accountable for creating the Sprint Backlog and instilling quality by adhering to a Definition of Done. (Correct answer)
They report their individual progress and status to the Product Owner daily.
They are a hierarchical sub-team where a 'lead developer' assigns tasks.

Correct answer: They are accountable for creating the Sprint Backlog and instilling quality by adhering to a Definition of Done.

The Developers are accountable for creating a plan for the Sprint (the Sprint Backlog) and ensuring quality by adhering to a Definition of Done. They are a self-managing, cross-functional group with no sub-teams or hierarchies.

Question 116: The term "incremental delivery" refers to:

Only after testing each increment do we release working software.
With each increment produced, we refine and improve our agile process.
Throughout the project, we deploy functional increments. (Correct answer)
In iteration retrospectives, we deliver nonfunctional increments.

Correct answer: Throughout the project, we deploy functional increments.

Incremental delivery in Agile methodologies refers to the practice of continuously releasing small, functional pieces of working software throughout the project lifecycle. This approach allows for early and frequent feedback, enabling teams to adapt and refine the product based on real-world usage. It contrasts with a single, large release at the end of a project.

Question 117: According to the 2020 Scrum Guide, what is the typical size of a Scrum Team?

Exactly 7, plus or minus 2.
10 or fewer people. (Correct answer)
There is no recommendation on team size.
3 to 9 Developers, plus the Product Owner and Scrum Master.

Correct answer: 10 or fewer people.

The 2020 Scrum Guide states, 'The Scrum Team is small enough to remain nimble and large enough to complete significant work within a Sprint, typically 10 or fewer people.' This includes the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers.

Question 118: For a retrospective meeting, what style of seating arrangement is most effective?

Meeting Room
Tables arranged in U-shape
Circle or semicircle of chairs (Correct answer)
Theatre style arrangement

Correct answer: Circle or semicircle of chairs

A circle or semicircle seating arrangement is most effective for retrospective meetings because it promotes open communication, equality, and active participation among all team members. This setup eliminates hierarchical barriers, allows everyone to see and hear each other clearly, and fosters a sense of shared responsibility and collaboration essential for honest reflection and problem-solving.

Question 119: An Agile coach introduces the 'Improvement Kata' to a team. What is the primary purpose of this practice?

To provide a repeatable, scientific routine for moving from the current state to a new target condition. (Correct answer)
To create a fixed, long-term plan for the entire project.
To document every failure for performance review purposes.
To replace the need for a Sprint Retrospective.

Correct answer: To provide a repeatable, scientific routine for moving from the current state to a new target condition.

The Improvement Kata is a structured, four-step routine for developing scientific thinking and creativity to work through challenges. It provides a pattern for teams to iterate toward a goal or target condition by understanding the direction, grasping the current condition, and then taking small, experimental steps to get to the next target, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement.

Question 120: What does it mean for a user story to be 'Testable' (the T in INVEST)?

You can verify when it is done via clear criteria (Correct answer)
It must include automated tests
It is assigned to a QA tester
It can be estimated in hours

Correct answer: You can verify when it is done via clear criteria

Testable means there are clear criteria to confirm the story is complete.

PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)

The PMI-ACP exam validates knowledge of agile principles and practices across frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban, Lean, and XP. It covers mindset, leadership, product management, and delivery competencies required for agile project environments.

120

Questions

180 min

Time Limit

70%

To Pass

Checking for saved progress...

Exam Rules

You can skip questions and return to them later
Flag questions for review before submitting
No feedback shown until you submit the entire exam
Unanswered questions count as wrong — answer everything
10 pretest questions are mixed in and don't affect your score
Timer auto-submits when time runs out
Your progress is auto-saved every 30 seconds

These practice questions were written with AI tools. They are not real exam questions. Exam facts are checked against the official sources listed below. Not reviewed by a subject-matter expert. Editorial policy

Sources & references

Exam facts on this page (fees, format, dates, passing scores) are checked against these official sources; the date is our last check. Editorial policy

agilebusiness.org — Eligibility, exam format, passing score, time limit · verified Oct 2026
apmg-international.com — Fees, renewal, score validity · verified Oct 2026