Retrospectives & Continuous Improvement Flashcards
7 cards from real CAE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Retrospectives & Continuous Improvement flashcards as text
The 'Five Whys' technique is used in retrospectives to:
Answer: Drill down to the root cause of a problem by repeatedly asking 'why'
The Five Whys iteratively asks 'why' for each answer until the root cause of an issue is uncovered, preventing surface-level fixes.
A team has been following the same retrospective format for six months and participation has declined. The BEST course of action is:
Answer: Switch to a new retrospective format to re-engage the team
Format fatigue is a common cause of declining engagement; rotating to a new technique refreshes energy and often surfaces different types of insights.
What does 'Return on Time Invested' (ROTI) measure in retrospectives?
Answer: Participants' perceived value of the meeting relative to time spent
ROTI is a quick vote (usually 1–5) asking participants whether the retrospective was worth their time, used to continuously improve the meeting itself.
During retrospective data gathering, 'silent writing' is valuable because it:
Answer: Ensures all voices contribute before group discussion influences opinions
Silent writing lets each person capture their genuine observations independently before groupthink or dominant voices shape the conversation.
Which of the following is an example of a PROCESS improvement (vs. a PRODUCT improvement) action from a retrospective?
Answer: Implement a definition of 'ready' to improve story quality before sprint planning
A definition of 'ready' improves how the team works (process), whereas the other options change the product or codebase itself.
The Agile principle 'at regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective' directly describes which ceremony?
Answer: Sprint Retrospective
This is the exact language from the Agile Manifesto's 12th principle, which describes the Sprint Retrospective.
When a retrospective action item requires organizational change beyond the team's control, the Scrum Master should:
Answer: Raise it as an impediment and escalate to the appropriate organizational level
The Scrum Master's role includes removing impediments; when a blocker is outside the team's authority, escalating it to the right stakeholder is the correct response.