PMI Agile, Scrum & Kanban Methods 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which Agile ceremony is specifically designed for the team to reflect on how they work together and identify improvements?
- Sprint Review
- Daily Scrum
- Sprint Retrospective (Correct answer)
- Backlog Refinement
Correct answer: Sprint Retrospective
The Sprint Retrospective is a dedicated ceremony for the Scrum Team to inspect its own process and create a plan for improvements.
Question 2: A user story follows the format 'As a [user], I want [goal] so that [reason].' What does the 'so that' clause represent?
- The acceptance criteria for the story
- The business value or motivation behind the request (Correct answer)
- The technical implementation approach
- The priority ranking of the story
Correct answer: The business value or motivation behind the request
The 'so that' clause captures the why — the business value or benefit the user expects to receive from the feature.
Question 3: In Scrum, what is the maximum recommended duration for a Sprint?
- 2 weeks
- 4 weeks (Correct answer)
- 6 weeks
- 8 weeks
Correct answer: 4 weeks
The Scrum Guide specifies that a Sprint should be no longer than one calendar month (4 weeks) to limit risk and maintain focus.
Question 4: Which Agile estimation technique uses a non-linear sequence like 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 to size work items?
- T-shirt sizing
- Planning Poker (Correct answer)
- Bucket system
- Dot voting
Correct answer: Planning Poker
Planning Poker uses Fibonacci-like sequences, encouraging discussion and consensus while reflecting the inherent uncertainty in larger estimates.
Question 5: What is the primary purpose of a Kanban board?
- To track individual employee performance metrics
- To visualize workflow and identify bottlenecks (Correct answer)
- To document project requirements and scope
- To manage the project budget and resources
Correct answer: To visualize workflow and identify bottlenecks
A Kanban board visualizes the state of work in progress, making bottlenecks and flow problems immediately visible to the entire team.
Question 6: In SAFe, what is the role of the Release Train Engineer (RTE)?
- Writing code for the most complex features
- Managing individual team backlogs
- Facilitating the Agile Release Train processes and execution (Correct answer)
- Approving all feature releases to production
Correct answer: Facilitating the Agile Release Train processes and execution
The RTE is a servant leader who facilitates ART events, helps resolve impediments, and coaches teams to improve their Agile practices at scale.
Question 7: Which of the following best describes a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in an Agile context?
- The smallest product release with enough features to satisfy early customers and gather learning (Correct answer)
- The product delivered at the end of the first sprint
- A prototype used solely for internal testing before development begins
- The final product stripped of all optional features
Correct answer: The smallest product release with enough features to satisfy early customers and gather learning
An MVP is the smallest functional product that delivers enough value to early customers while enabling teams to gather validated learning for future iterations.
PMI Agile, Scrum & Kanban Methods 3
Which Agile ceremony is specifically designed for the team to reflect on how they work together and identify improvements?