Risk Management & Mitigation Flashcards

In agile, risks are often surfaced during which ceremony?

Answer: Daily Standup

The Daily Standup surfaces blockers and risks quickly, enabling the team to address impediments before they escalate.

Which agile practice directly reduces the risk of delivering the wrong product?

Answer: Frequent customer collaboration and feedback loops

Frequent customer collaboration ensures the team validates assumptions early, reducing the risk of building a product that does not meet user needs.

A 'risk-adjusted backlog' refers to:

Answer: A backlog where high-risk items are prioritized for early validation

A risk-adjusted backlog intentionally places high-risk or high-uncertainty items early so the team learns quickly and avoids late surprises.

What is the purpose of a 'spike' in agile risk management?

Answer: To time-box research and reduce uncertainty on a risky item

A spike is a time-boxed investigation that produces knowledge, reducing technical or requirements uncertainty before committing to implementation.

Which risk response strategy involves changing the project plan to eliminate the risk entirely?

Answer: Avoid

Avoidance eliminates the threat by removing the cause or changing plans so the risk can no longer occur.

An agile team discovers a dependency on an external vendor that could delay a release. The best first step is to:

Answer: Make the dependency visible and discuss mitigation options with the team

Transparency is a core agile value; surfacing the dependency allows the team and stakeholders to collaboratively explore mitigation or alternative solutions.

In the context of agile risk management, 'risk burn-down' tracks:

Answer: The reduction in overall risk exposure over time as risks are resolved

A risk burn-down chart shows how total risk exposure decreases sprint-by-sprint as risks are addressed or retired.