APM Agile Methodologies and Frameworks 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), what is the primary purpose of the Program Increment (PI) Planning event?
- To review completed work and update the backlog
- To align multiple Agile teams around a shared mission and objectives for the next 8-12 weeks (Correct answer)
- To conduct retrospectives across all teams simultaneously
- To assign individual tasks to developers for the upcoming sprint
Correct answer: To align multiple Agile teams around a shared mission and objectives for the next 8-12 weeks
PI Planning is a two-day event that brings all teams in an Agile Release Train together to plan and align on objectives for the next Program Increment.
Question 2: Which Kanban principle directly addresses preventing team members from taking on too much work at once?
- Visualize the workflow
- Limit Work in Progress (WIP) (Correct answer)
- Manage flow
- Make process policies explicit
Correct answer: Limit Work in Progress (WIP)
Limiting Work in Progress (WIP) is a core Kanban principle that prevents multitasking overload and improves throughput by constraining how many items can be in each workflow stage.
Question 3: In the Disciplined Agile (DA) toolkit, what term describes the approach of choosing the right way of working for a specific context rather than following a single prescribed method?
- Hybrid integration
- Context-sensitive agility
- Choose your WoW (Correct answer)
- Adaptive cadence
Correct answer: Choose your WoW
Disciplined Agile uses the phrase 'Choose your WoW (Way of Working)' to emphasize that teams should tailor their process based on their unique situation.
Question 4: A product team using Extreme Programming (XP) wants to reduce integration problems. Which XP practice best addresses this?
- Test-Driven Development
- Continuous Integration (Correct answer)
- Pair Programming
- Collective Code Ownership
Correct answer: Continuous Integration
Continuous Integration in XP requires developers to integrate and test their code into a shared mainline several times per day, catching integration problems early.
Question 5: When comparing Scrum and Kanban, which statement is most accurate?
- Scrum requires WIP limits while Kanban uses fixed-length iterations
- Kanban uses fixed-length sprints while Scrum uses a continuous flow model
- Scrum uses fixed-length iterations while Kanban uses continuous flow with WIP limits (Correct answer)
- Both frameworks require daily standups and sprint reviews
Correct answer: Scrum uses fixed-length iterations while Kanban uses continuous flow with WIP limits
Scrum organizes work into fixed-length sprints (typically 2 weeks), while Kanban uses continuous flow with WIP limits to pull work through a visual board.
Question 6: In LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum), how is the Product Owner role structured when scaling to multiple teams?
- Each team has its own dedicated Product Owner managing a separate backlog
- One Product Owner manages one prioritized Product Backlog for all teams (Correct answer)
- A Chief Product Owner delegates to Area Product Owners who each maintain separate backlogs
- Product Ownership is shared equally among all team members
Correct answer: One Product Owner manages one prioritized Product Backlog for all teams
LeSS maintains a single Product Owner and one Product Backlog across all teams to preserve alignment and avoid local optimization.
Question 7: Which statement best describes the Agile concept of 'timeboxing'?
- Estimating how long each task will take before starting work
- Allocating a fixed, maximum period of time to an activity regardless of whether it is finished (Correct answer)
- Scheduling team meetings within core working hours only
- Limiting the number of story points a team can commit to in a sprint
Correct answer: Allocating a fixed, maximum period of time to an activity regardless of whether it is finished
Timeboxing sets a fixed time period for an activity—when the timebox expires, the team moves on whether the work is complete or not, creating urgency and predictable cadence.
APM Agile Methodologies and Frameworks 2
In SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), what is the primary purpose of the Program Increment (PI) Planning event?