PMBOK Agile and Hybrid Methodologies 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In Scrum, what is the primary purpose of the Sprint Retrospective?
- Review completed work with stakeholders
- Inspect and adapt the team's process for continuous improvement (Correct answer)
- Plan the next sprint backlog
- Demonstrate the product increment to customers
Correct answer: Inspect and adapt the team's process for continuous improvement
The Sprint Retrospective is a time-boxed event for the Scrum Team to inspect itself and create a plan for improvements to be enacted during the next Sprint.
Question 2: Which Agile principle states that 'working software is the primary measure of progress'?
- Principle 1 of the Agile Manifesto
- Principle 7 of the Agile Manifesto (Correct answer)
- Principle 3 of the Agile Manifesto
- Principle 12 of the Agile Manifesto
Correct answer: Principle 7 of the Agile Manifesto
Principle 7 of the Agile Manifesto explicitly states that working software is the primary measure of progress.
Question 3: A project manager is leading a hybrid project that combines waterfall phases with agile sprints. During which phase would agile practices most commonly be applied?
- Requirements gathering and project initiation
- Detailed design and architecture
- Development and testing of features (Correct answer)
- Project closure and lessons learned
Correct answer: Development and testing of features
In hybrid models, agile practices are most commonly applied during development and testing phases where iterative delivery and feedback loops provide the greatest value.
Question 4: What does 'velocity' measure in an agile project?
- The speed at which team members complete individual tasks
- The amount of work a team completes in a single iteration (Correct answer)
- The rate of defect discovery during testing
- The number of stakeholder meetings held per sprint
Correct answer: The amount of work a team completes in a single iteration
Velocity measures the amount of work (typically in story points) a Scrum team completes during a single sprint, used to forecast future capacity.
Question 5: In Kanban, what is the purpose of setting Work In Progress (WIP) limits?
- To restrict the number of team members working on the project
- To cap the number of items in any workflow stage to reduce bottlenecks (Correct answer)
- To limit the total budget allocated to each sprint
- To control the number of stakeholders who can submit requests
Correct answer: To cap the number of items in any workflow stage to reduce bottlenecks
WIP limits cap the number of items allowed in a workflow stage at any time, forcing the team to finish work before pulling new items and exposing bottlenecks.
Question 6: A Product Owner wants to prioritize the backlog. Which technique ranks items by calculating the ratio of business value to effort?
- MoSCoW method
- WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First) (Correct answer)
- Kano model analysis
- Affinity grouping
Correct answer: WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First)
WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First) prioritizes items by dividing the Cost of Delay by job duration (effort), maximizing economic value delivered first.
Question 7: Which statement best describes the role of the Scrum Master in an agile team?
- Assigns tasks to team members and tracks completion
- Acts as a servant-leader who facilitates processes and removes impediments (Correct answer)
- Owns the product vision and prioritizes the backlog
- Makes final decisions on technical architecture
Correct answer: Acts as a servant-leader who facilitates processes and removes impediments
The Scrum Master is a servant-leader who ensures the Scrum framework is followed, facilitates events, and removes impediments that block the Development Team.
In Scrum, what is the primary purpose of the Sprint Retrospective?