DA Roles and Responsibilities 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In DA, which role is typically accountable for ensuring the team follows an appropriate process and continuously improves it?
- Product Owner
- Team Lead (Correct answer)
- Architecture Owner
- Stakeholder Representative
Correct answer: Team Lead
The Team Lead is accountable for ensuring the team chooses and continuously improves an appropriate way of working (WoW).
Question 2: The DA role responsible for representing the interests of multiple stakeholders when they cannot all be directly involved is the:
- Architecture Owner
- Enterprise Architect
- Product Owner (Correct answer)
- Program Manager
Correct answer: Product Owner
The Product Owner acts as the voice of the stakeholders and represents their collective interests to the team.
Question 3: In a Disciplined Agile team, who is responsible for making the final call on technical trade-offs when the team cannot reach consensus?
- Team Lead
- Product Owner
- Architecture Owner (Correct answer)
- Senior Developer
Correct answer: Architecture Owner
The Architecture Owner has decision-making authority on technical trade-offs and architectural direction.
Question 4: Which DA role is considered optional and is typically only needed in larger or more complex team environments?
- Product Owner
- Team Lead
- Architecture Owner (Correct answer)
- Stakeholder
Correct answer: Architecture Owner
In very small or simple teams, Architecture Owner responsibilities may be absorbed by senior team members, making the explicit role optional.
Question 5: In Disciplined Agile, 'independent testing and QA' roles are treated as:
- Mandatory on every team to ensure quality gates
- Supporting roles that may be needed depending on context (Correct answer)
- Replaced entirely by developers doing their own testing
- Owned by the Product Owner in all contexts
Correct answer: Supporting roles that may be needed depending on context
DA takes a context-sensitive view; independent testing roles may be needed in some situations but are not mandated on every team.
Question 6: A DA 'Agile Coach' at the enterprise level is BEST characterized as someone who:
- Manages the backlog of multiple teams
- Helps teams and the organization adopt and improve agile ways of working (Correct answer)
- Acts as Product Owner across multiple programs
- Enforces compliance with a specific agile framework
Correct answer: Helps teams and the organization adopt and improve agile ways of working
An enterprise Agile Coach guides teams and leaders in adopting, tailoring, and continuously improving agile practices.
Question 7: In DA, which statement about role assignment is MOST accurate?
- One person must hold only one DA role at a time
- A single person can fulfill multiple DA roles simultaneously if the context allows (Correct answer)
- Roles are permanently assigned at project inception and cannot change
- Only certified professionals can hold named DA roles
Correct answer: A single person can fulfill multiple DA roles simultaneously if the context allows
DA is pragmatic; in smaller teams or certain contexts, one person may wear multiple role hats simultaneously.
DA Roles and Responsibilities 3
In DA, which role is typically accountable for ensuring the team follows an appropriate process and continuously improves it?