DAC Lean Portfolio Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In DA's Lean Portfolio Management, what is the primary purpose of a Portfolio Kanban system?
- To replace project charters with user stories
- To visualize and manage the flow of epics from ideation to implementation (Correct answer)
- To track individual developer velocity across teams
- To schedule sprint reviews for all teams simultaneously
Correct answer: To visualize and manage the flow of epics from ideation to implementation
A Portfolio Kanban system visualizes the flow of large initiatives (epics) so portfolio stakeholders can identify bottlenecks and manage WIP limits.
Question 2: Which DA principle most directly supports the Lean Portfolio Management practice of limiting work in progress at the portfolio level?
- Delight customers
- Be pragmatic
- Optimize flow (Correct answer)
- Enterprise awareness
Correct answer: Optimize flow
Optimize flow is the DA principle that drives reducing WIP, shortening feedback loops, and removing bottlenecks to improve throughput.
Question 3: When applying DA's Lean Portfolio Management, how should portfolio budget allocation differ from traditional annual project budgeting?
- Budgets are assigned per sprint rather than per quarter
- Funding follows value streams or long-lived teams rather than individual projects (Correct answer)
- All budget decisions are delegated to Scrum Masters
- Budgets are replaced entirely by a pay-per-feature model
Correct answer: Funding follows value streams or long-lived teams rather than individual projects
DA recommends funding stable value streams and teams rather than temporary projects, reducing start/stop overhead and enabling faster delivery.
Question 4: A Disciplined Agile Coach observing a portfolio team notices they have 47 active epics simultaneously. Which Lean Portfolio Management technique should the coach recommend first?
- Increase the number of teams to handle the load
- Apply WIP limits to reduce the number of concurrent initiatives (Correct answer)
- Convert all epics to user stories immediately
- Implement a daily standup at the portfolio level
Correct answer: Apply WIP limits to reduce the number of concurrent initiatives
Excessive WIP is a primary cause of slow delivery; applying WIP limits forces prioritization and improves flow through the portfolio.
Question 5: In the context of DA Lean Portfolio Management, what does 'participatory budgeting' mean?
- All employees vote on the annual budget allocation
- Stakeholders from across the organization collaborate to allocate funds to value streams (Correct answer)
- Teams self-fund their own initiatives through internal chargebacks
- Product owners submit budget bids in a competitive process
Correct answer: Stakeholders from across the organization collaborate to allocate funds to value streams
Participatory budgeting in DA involves broad stakeholder collaboration to allocate portfolio funding, increasing transparency and buy-in.
Question 6: Which metric is most aligned with Lean Portfolio Management's focus on outcomes over outputs?
- Number of story points completed per sprint
- Percentage of portfolio budget spent
- Business value delivered relative to investment (ROI) (Correct answer)
- Number of features released per quarter
Correct answer: Business value delivered relative to investment (ROI)
Lean Portfolio Management emphasizes measuring actual business outcomes and return on investment rather than activity-based metrics.
Question 7: A DA Coach is asked how to handle a large portfolio initiative that spans multiple value streams. What is the recommended approach?
- Create a separate project management office for each value stream involved
- Define a lightweight coordination mechanism such as a portfolio epic with cross-team dependencies mapped (Correct answer)
- Assign one Scrum Master to oversee all teams for the duration
- Break the initiative into separate unrelated projects managed independently
Correct answer: Define a lightweight coordination mechanism such as a portfolio epic with cross-team dependencies mapped
DA recommends lightweight coordination approaches that make cross-stream dependencies visible without creating heavyweight governance overhead.
DAC Lean Portfolio Management 2
In DA's Lean Portfolio Management, what is the primary purpose of a Portfolio Kanban system?