CAE Retrospectives & Continuous Improvement 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of the 'Sailboat' retrospective technique?
- To visualize team velocity trends over time
- To identify forces that help the team move forward and obstacles that slow them down (Correct answer)
- To assign story points to improvement tasks
- To rank team members by contribution level
Correct answer: To identify forces that help the team move forward and obstacles that slow them down
The Sailboat metaphor uses wind (helpers) and anchors (obstacles) to categorize what accelerates or impedes the team's progress.
Question 2: When should a team consider holding an 'emergency retrospective' outside the normal sprint cadence?
- Whenever a team member misses a daily standup
- When a significant unexpected event disrupts the team's ability to work effectively (Correct answer)
- At the request of any single stakeholder
- After every failed build in CI/CD
Correct answer: When a significant unexpected event disrupts the team's ability to work effectively
An emergency retrospective is warranted when a critical incident, conflict, or disruption is severe enough that waiting until the end of the sprint would cause ongoing harm.
Question 3: Which statement BEST describes psychological safety in the context of retrospectives?
- Team members feel safe from performance reviews during the meeting
- Team members can raise concerns and take risks without fear of punishment or embarrassment (Correct answer)
- The Scrum Master guarantees no negative feedback will be shared
- Only positive feedback is permitted to maintain morale
Correct answer: Team members can raise concerns and take risks without fear of punishment or embarrassment
Psychological safety means people can speak honestly about problems and risks without fear of retaliation, which is essential for retrospectives to surface real issues.
Question 4: The 'STAR' format for documenting retrospective action items stands for:
- Situation, Task, Action, Result
- Specific, Timely, Assignable, Reviewable (Correct answer)
- Start, Track, Assess, Refine
- Sprint, Team, Agenda, Retrospect
Correct answer: Specific, Timely, Assignable, Reviewable
STAR action items are Specific, Timely, Assignable, and Reviewable, ensuring each improvement task is clear and measurable.
Question 5: A distributed team struggles with retrospective participation because remote members feel unheard. The BEST mitigation is:
- Cancel remote participation and only gather input asynchronously via email
- Use digital collaboration tools that give all participants equal visual and input access (Correct answer)
- Have the Scrum Master relay remote feedback on behalf of remote members
- Hold separate retrospectives for co-located and remote subgroups
Correct answer: Use digital collaboration tools that give all participants equal visual and input access
Digital tools like virtual whiteboards equalize participation by giving every person—regardless of location—the same ability to post, vote, and be seen.
Question 6: In the context of continuous improvement, 'kaizen' means:
- A Japanese project management methodology replacing Agile
- A philosophy of small, incremental improvements made continuously (Correct answer)
- A large-scale transformation event held annually
- The elimination of all waste in a single improvement sprint
Correct answer: A philosophy of small, incremental improvements made continuously
Kaizen, from Japanese meaning 'change for better,' is the practice of making many small ongoing improvements rather than infrequent large overhauls.
Question 7: Which action BEST helps a Scrum Master ensure retrospective action items are completed before the next retrospective?
- Add action items to the Sprint Backlog so they are visible and planned (Correct answer)
- Keep action items in a separate spreadsheet only the Scrum Master can access
- Mention action items verbally at the next retrospective to refresh memory
- File action items in the project wiki for future reference
Correct answer: Add action items to the Sprint Backlog so they are visible and planned
Adding improvement items to the Sprint Backlog makes them part of the team's committed work, giving them visibility, priority, and accountability during sprint execution.
CAE Retrospectives & Continuous Improvement 3
What is the primary purpose of the 'Sailboat' retrospective technique?