PMI-ACP PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) Questions and Answers

Agile teamsembrace changeandcollaborate with customersto deliver value. ThePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 2.1: Agile Mindset)supports responding to change—even late in the development cycle—if it results in business value. The team shouldaccept the new goal, replan with the product owner, andadjust scope or priority if needed, rather than resist or escalate.

Option Ais correct: it reflects the agile value ofresponding to change and delivering early value.

Option Bis too rigid and contrary to agile principles.

Option Cimplies a punitive model that does not align with collaborative agile contracts.

Option Dintroduces unnecessary cost and overhead without first trying to replan collaboratively.

To create a high-performing team, the project manager should foster an environment where the team is aligned on a shared vision and empowered to make decisions collaboratively. Promoting consensus-driven decision-making helps team members feel involved and respected, and a shared vision ensures that everyone is working towards the same goal. This approach encourages teamwork, open communication, and collective ownership of the project’s success, which is crucial for a high-performing team.

Agile teams areself-organizingand should strive forconsensus-based decision making. ThePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 4.3.1 Team Empowerment)supports facilitative leadership where leadersguide decision-making, not override it. Mike Griffiths in thePMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 3: Team Performance)emphasizes that leaders shouldfoster collaboration and respectdiverse views to prevent disengagement.

Option Ais correct: encouraging consensus builds ownership, trust, and engagement.

Option BandCstill place control with the leader, reducing team empowerment.

Option Dis too passive; agile leaders participate actively as facilitators.

The correct answer is C – Work with the stakeholder directly rather than go through different layers of people. Agile emphasizes direct communication and collaboration with stakeholders to reduce miscommunication and ensure clarity. When requirements differ depending on who is asked, the agile practitioner must go directly to the source for clarification and alignment.

From PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Face-to-face conversation is the most effective method of conveying information to and within a development team. Agile encourages working directly with stakeholders and product owners to minimize miscommunication.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.2 – Stakeholder Engagement; Agile Manifesto Principle #6)

From Mike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book:

“To reduce noise and confusion, agile practitioners are encouraged to engage stakeholders directly rather than relying on intermediaries or second-hand interpretations.”

(Mike Griffiths, Chapter 1 – Agile Principles and Mindset)

Option A contradicts agile’s value of responding to change. Option B is an indirect solution that does not eliminate confusion. Option D is internal to the team and doesn’t resolve inconsistencies from stakeholder communication.

Answer: C

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The correct answer is A — Conduct a requirements gathering workshop.

In Agile, workshops such as story-writing or backlog refinement sessions help the team and stakeholders collaboratively explore requirements. These sessions are interactive and iterative and allow for joint discovery, prioritization, and clarification of user needs.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Collaborative workshops enable teams to gather requirements and clarify expectations in an iterative fashion. They engage stakeholders in prioritizing and decomposing work into user stories.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.2 – Backlog Refinement)

Mike Griffiths writes:

“Workshops are a key practice for backlog development. They are particularly useful when initiating complex projects with minimal requirements, allowing the team to iteratively develop stories with stakeholders.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

B assumes delivery before refinement, risking misalignment.

C places the burden on the product owner alone.

D is waterfall-oriented and contradicts iterative backlog evolution.

Answer: A

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If a story isnot completed, it isnot counted toward the current sprint velocity. When carrying the story forward to the next sprint, teams shouldre-evaluate the story size, especially if part of the work is already done. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.4: Velocity and Estimation)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Adaptive Planning), agile teams are encouraged tore-estimatesuch items based on remaining work.

Option Dis correct: incomplete stories should be re-estimated based on new size or effort.

Option Aviolates velocity principles—onlyfully completedstories count.

Option Bundermines the fixed-length timebox principle of sprints.

Option Cis not directly relevant unless the story’s complexity necessitates research, which is not stated here.

Large user stories, also known as "epic" user stories, can be challenging to manage and lead to difficulties in tracking progress and delivering value incrementally. The Scrum Master should work with the team to break down large user stories into smaller, more manageable pieces. These smaller stories can be completed within a single sprint, allowing the team to deliver value more frequently and with greater clarity. This practice aligns with Agile principles by ensuring that work is broken into digestible chunks that can be iteratively built, tested, and delivered.

In agile, theProduct Owner is the ultimate decision-makerregarding backlog prioritization and scope changes. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.1: Backlog Prioritization), any changes thataffect value delivery, schedule, or scopeshould be discussed with the Product Owner, who evaluates the business impact.

Mike Griffiths in thePMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Value-Driven Delivery)reinforces that product direction and scope decisions must be handled through collaboration between the team and the Product Owner.

Option Dis correct: seeking Product Owner input ensures value-based decision-making and customer alignment.

Option A(re-estimating the entire project) is unnecessary and burdensome.

Option Brejects valuable input and ignores iterative flexibility.

Option Cgoes against agile principles of focus and sustainable pace.

The correct answer is A — Make sure the product owner is fully embedded into the project team so that they are readily available to make quick decisions.

One of the major benefits of agile is that decision-making is streamlined by having empowered roles, such as the product owner, closely embedded with the team. This reduces delays and improves the responsiveness and accuracy of decisions, especially for prioritization and clarification.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Empowering the product owner and embedding them with the team ensures faster decision-making, increased feedback loops, and reduces delays.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.2 – Stakeholder Engagement)

Mike Griffiths:

“Agile teams thrive when key decision-makers, especially the product owner, are available to provide clarification and approval on the spot.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

B is too broad and may slow decision-making further.

C adds overhead and delays.

D misplaces decision authority; the Scrum Master is not responsible for product decisions.

Answer: A

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The correct answer is C — The team should have conducted more demonstrations with the product owner during the iteration.

Continuous feedback is essential in Agile. Regular product demos or interim check-ins during the sprint (not just at the end) allow the product owner to validate progress and course-correct early. This ensures that expectations are aligned and surprises are avoided at the sprint review.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Stakeholder feedback should be gathered continuously throughout the sprint. Regular engagement and interim demos reduce the risk of misalignment at iteration end.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.7 – Reviews and Demos)

Mike Griffiths:

“Waiting until the sprint review to validate features with the product owner increases risk. Frequent collaboration and demonstrations ensure the work remains on target.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

A is helpful but doesn't guarantee alignment.

B is testing-focused and misses early collaboration.

D places all responsibility on the product owner, ignoring shared ownership.

Answer: C

Agile valuesactive stakeholder collaboration and transparency. The best way to address stakeholder concerns is toengage them directlyin the feedback loop. ThePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 7.2: Stakeholder Engagement)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 4: Stakeholder Engagement)both recommend inviting stakeholders toiteration reviewsor demos to provide updates and gather feedback.

Option Cis correct: inviting the regional sales manager to the review fosters transparency and collaboration.

Option AandBdismiss valid stakeholder input, which goes against agile principles.

Option Dis overly cautious and does not proactively resolve the issue.

The correct answer is B — The stakeholder who can prevent the project from achieving its goals.

Stakeholder prioritization is based on power and influence. Those who can significantly impact or block project success (positively or negatively) should be prioritized. This ensures their concerns are addressed and their support is cultivated early.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Stakeholder engagement is critical in agile. The team must identify those who have the most influence over project outcomes and ensure early and frequent communication.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.1 – Stakeholder Engagement)

PMBOK® Guide:

“Stakeholder prioritization involves assessing who has the greatest influence on project success.”

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The correct answer is C – Ensure that members begin to self-organize as small teams with efficiently distributed skills.

Agile emphasizes self-organizing teams. When teams are too large, splitting into smaller teams is a good practice (Scrum recommends 5–9 members per team). However, rather than top-down assignment, the Scrum Master should enable and support self-organization. Teams should be encouraged to form organically while ensuring knowledge-sharing and cross-functional capabilities.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile leaders support team self-organization by creating an environment of trust and encouraging the team to determine how best to accomplish their work.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.2 – Team Composition)

Mike Griffiths writes:

“Agile teams are self-organizing, and the role of the leader is to facilitate the conditions for that to occur, not to direct assignments.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 4 – Team Performance)

Why other options are less appropriate:

A suggests command-and-control behavior, which is contrary to Agile values.

B makes assumptions about comfort levels and may ignore skill diversity.

D disregards team input and imposes a solution, limiting buy-in and trust.

Answer: C

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The correct answer is D – Fishbone diagram. Also known as an Ishikawa or cause-and-effect diagram, this analysis tool helps teams identify root causes of delays or inefficiencies. In this scenario, the team needs to understand the causes of delayed release cycles to make process improvements.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Root cause analysis tools such as fishbone diagrams can help teams identify underlying causes of inefficiencies or failures, supporting continuous improvement.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 6.5 – Problem Detection and Resolution)

Mike Griffiths also writes:

“A fishbone diagram helps the team brainstorm and categorize the potential causes of a problem, enabling a structured investigation into delays or bottlenecks.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 6 – Problem Resolution)

Incorrect options:

A is for identifying and managing risks, not diagnosing root causes.

B analyzes progress metrics but doesn’t provide root cause insights.

C is for understanding customer satisfaction, not operational delays.

Answer: D

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The correct answer is D – Estimating the relative size of stories by using story points.

Planning poker is a consensus-based estimation technique used in Agile to assign relative size (often using story points) to product backlog items. Each team member selects a card to indicate their estimate, and the group discusses discrepancies to reach agreement.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Planning poker is a consensus-based estimation technique that helps teams estimate the size of user stories using story points. It supports collaboration and shared understanding.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.3 – Estimation Techniques)

Mike Griffiths writes:

“Planning poker helps teams perform relative sizing using a modified Fibonacci sequence. The goal is not precision, but shared understanding and relative complexity comparison.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Why other options are incorrect:

A describes analogy-based estimation, not planning poker.

B refers to “bucket system” estimation, a separate technique.

C refers to dot voting, which is a prioritization—not estimation—tool.

Answer: D

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The correct answer is D — Engaged key stakeholders periodically to collect requirements.

Agile is based on frequent stakeholder collaboration. Continuous engagement ensures evolving needs are captured and prevents misalignment. Waiting for planning meetings or demos is too late to catch missing input.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams ensure stakeholder engagement is ongoing throughout the project. This helps validate requirements and prevent surprises during reviews.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.2 – Stakeholder Engagement)

Mike Griffiths:

“Stakeholders should be consulted early and often. Relying on static requirements leads to gaps. Agile teams maintain constant feedback loops.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

A is too early and one-time.

B may help but is reactive.

C is a predictive approach inconsistent with agile.

Answer: D

The correct answer is C — Ask the team to determine how to adapt to this increase in the next retrospective.

The retrospective is the ideal agile forum to inspect and adapt. It allows the team to identify root causes of issues (such as rising defects), reflect on their quality practices, and collaboratively propose solutions like adding more testing, refining definitions of done, or changing working agreements.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Teams should use retrospectives to analyze quality issues, adapt processes, and commit to continuous improvement.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.8 – Retrospectives)

Mike Griffiths:

“Quality issues like increasing defect rates should be addressed through team introspection and adaptation in retrospectives, not by command-style fixes.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 7 – Continuous Improvement)

Incorrect options:

A is reactive and bypasses team collaboration.

B encourages unsustainable practices.

D disrupts the team’s current sprint focus and contradicts agile flow.

Answer: C

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Iteration reviews (or sprint reviews) are designed to demonstratecompleted, potentially shippable product increments. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.3 Sprint Review and Acceptance), the purpose of the iteration review is toshowcase work that meets the Definition of Done (DoD)and to receivestakeholder feedback. Demonstrating incomplete or in-progress stories can mislead stakeholders about progress and reduce trust in the team.

Mike Griffiths in thePMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Value-Driven Delivery)emphasizes the importance of showing only completed work to maintain transparency and clarity in stakeholder communication.

Option Ais correct: only completed stories should be demoed to ensure expectations are managed effectively.

Option BandCare not part of the typical iteration review agenda unless explicitly required.

Option Dis incorrect, as it blurs the line between done and in-progress work.

The correct answer is C — The stakeholders will learn whether or not the implementation has worked by getting immediate feedback so they can correct their assumptions for the next sprint.

Agile welcomes stakeholder involvement throughout the project lifecycle. Demos (also called sprint reviews) are critical opportunities for stakeholders to inspect the product increment and provide feedback, which helps teams pivot or adapt early and often. Immediate feedback reduces the risk of building features that do not meet business needs.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Iteration reviews/demos provide stakeholders with the opportunity to see working product increments and offer feedback while there is still time to make changes.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.7 – Reviews and Demos)

Mike Griffiths supports this by stating:

“Engaging stakeholders during sprint reviews allows assumptions to be challenged early. This feedback loop ensures value alignment and reduces the likelihood of rework.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Other options:

A incorrectly distances stakeholders from essential agile feedback cycles.

B shifts focus away from value to effort-based metrics.

D is more about long-term ROI, not immediate iterative feedback.

Answer: C

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The team lead should facilitate a constructive discussion by restating both perspectives clearly, which can help ensure that all team members understand each other's viewpoints. Asking for more details about both approaches allows the team to analyze each method's pros and cons, fostering a collaborative, solution-focused discussion. Creating a chart of similarities and differences can provide a visual representation that helps the team make an informed decision, highlighting which elements from both approaches might be beneficial. This approach encourages open communication, avoids escalation, and leads to a productive exploration of options without dismissing either side.

The correct answer is B — Establish a live video feed between the dispersed teams to enable spontaneous engagement and collaboration on issues.

Agile encourages face-to-face communication as the most effective form of knowledge sharing. For distributed teams, this means using video conferencing, virtual whiteboards, and real-time collaboration tools to replicate co-located team dynamics. This improves clarity, reduces misinterpretation, and accelerates problem-solving.

PMI Agile Practice Guide states:

“For distributed teams, using video conferencing, shared tools, and real-time collaboration platforms helps bridge communication gaps and maintains team cohesion. Face-to-face communication, even via video, remains the most effective method.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.2 — Stakeholder Engagement)

Mike Griffiths also notes:

“Distributed teams must invest in communication technologies to reduce barriers. Real-time, visual communication enables faster resolution of issues and a shared understanding of tasks.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 4 — Team Performance)

Incorrect Options:

A involves centralized control and status reporting — not Agile.

C demands co-location, which may not be feasible.

D accepts poor performance instead of addressing root causes.

Answer: B

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Stakeholder participation, especially during sprint reviews, iscritical to agile success. ThePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 7.2: Stakeholder Engagement)emphasizes the importance ofactively engaging stakeholdersthroughout the project lifecycle, particularly during key ceremonies like sprint reviews, where feedback shapes the product.

Mike Griffiths in thePMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 4: Stakeholder Engagement)states that stakeholders need tounderstand the value of their inputand how it influences product direction. The agile practitioner or Scrum Master should educate and influence stakeholders bydemonstrating the tangible impact of their participation.

Option Dis correct: aligning stakeholders with thebenefits of engagementfosters participation.

Option A,B, andCare passive substitutes and don’t address the root issue of stakeholder disengagement.

The correct answer is A — Communicate the importance of the business need to the team and refine the product backlog.

One of Agile’s core strengths is responding to change. The product owner owns the product backlog and should adjust it when external factors shift priorities. Transparent communication about the business need ensures that the development team understands the context and can support the new direction.

PMI Agile Practice Guide states:

“The product owner is responsible for maintaining and adjusting the product backlog to reflect new information and changes in business needs. Agile welcomes changing requirements, even late in development, to provide competitive advantage.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 2.2 — Agile Manifesto Principles)

Mike Griffiths supports this:

“When market or customer needs change, the product owner refines the backlog and communicates the business context to the team so priorities are adjusted accordingly.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 5 — Adaptive Planning)

Other options:

B and C shift product owner responsibilities elsewhere.

D involves the team but omits the critical first step — communicating business rationale and refining the backlog accordingly.

Answer: A

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As a scrum master, the goal is to foster a collaborative and self-organizing environment. When conflicts arise, it is essential to guide the team in resolving the issue on their own rather than making unilateral decisions. The scrum master should:

Coach the team individually to understand the root causes of the conflict and ensure each team member feels heard.

Then, bring the team together in a more structured environment, such as the Sprint review, to discuss the disagreement openly and constructively. This helps the team resolve conflicts and learn how to handle similar situations in the future.

The correct answer is A – Prioritize the stakeholder feedback, considering the impact on strategic objectives and current workload, and discuss these priorities with the team in the next sprint planning meeting to collaboratively decide on the next steps.

Agile promotes adaptive planning and continuous stakeholder engagement. While feedback is highly valuable, especially from a sprint review, changes to the product backlog must be carefully prioritized and collaboratively discussed with the team. The product owner’s responsibility is to maintain and refine the backlog, ensuring alignment with stakeholder needs while also preserving team focus and avoiding unnecessary disruption during an ongoing sprint.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Product backlog refinement is an ongoing process in which the product owner and the team collaborate on the details of backlog items. This includes analyzing, estimating, and prioritizing items to reflect the latest feedback and business needs.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.2 – Product Backlog Refinement)

“Agile teams embrace change, especially when it delivers value. However, they also maintain sustainable pace and focus by avoiding mid-sprint scope changes unless absolutely necessary. Backlog items are reviewed and reprioritized before the next sprint begins.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 3.4 – Value-Driven Delivery)

From Mike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book:

“While agile encourages responding to change, disrupting sprint commitments can erode team trust and productivity. Sprint planning is the correct forum to reprioritize work based on new stakeholder insights.”

(Mike Griffiths, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Why the other options are incorrect:

B introduces mid-sprint disruption and disregards agile best practices for maintaining sprint integrity and team focus.

C eliminates team collaboration and risks breakdowns in communication, violating agile’s emphasis on transparency and teamwork.

D disregards valuable feedback and delays addressing important stakeholder needs, which could compromise customer satisfaction and strategic alignment.

Answer: A

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The correct answer is B — Communicate this to the product owner, and offer to help facilitate discussions with the team.

Agile promotes collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement. The agile practitioner (e.g., Scrum Master) should first address challenges at the team level. Facilitating better communication and helping the product owner articulate requirements clearly is part of fostering a high-performing team environment.

PMI Agile Practice Guide states:

“Agile practitioners serve the team by removing impediments and improving communication. When conflicts or misunderstandings occur, the practitioner should engage with team members to resolve issues collaboratively before escalating externally.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 6.2 — Coaching the Agile Team)

Mike Griffiths further explains:

“Scrum Masters or Agile Coaches are servant-leaders. Their role includes helping product owners improve interactions and serve the development team more effectively.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 4 — Team Performance)

Other options:

A and D involve escalation without first attempting resolution.

C avoids direct action and leaves responsibility to someone else.

Answer: B

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The daily standup is focused on ensuring the team stays synchronized on their commitments for the sprint, and it is meant to be a short meeting where team members quickly discuss what they did the previous day, what they plan to do today, and any blockers they are facing. It is not a forum for external stakeholders to ask detailed questions about the sprint backlog or delivery timelines, as this can disrupt the team's focus and hinder the meeting's efficiency.

By explaining that the standup is about synchronizing commitments, the project manager helps the business partners understand the purpose of the meeting and suggests an appropriate time and place for discussing more detailed or strategic topics.

The daily scrum is the appropriate forum for team members to raise and discuss any impediments or blockers they are facing. By addressing the impediments directly in the daily scrum, the team can collaborate and work together to find solutions in real time. This ensures that issues are identified early and are dealt with in a timely manner. Relying solely on emails for communication can lead to missed opportunities for immediate resolution and may cause frustration, as seen in this case. Encouraging the team member to raise the impediments during the daily scrum will help ensure they are addressed quickly and effectively.

The correct answer is A – High-risk features can be prioritized to fit into releases with less work in progress. Agile emphasizes risk-driven delivery: high-risk and high-value features should be addressed early to reduce uncertainty. Managing WIP also helps improve focus and throughput.

From PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams often deliver the highest risk or highest value items early in the project. This helps reduce uncertainty and allows for faster feedback and adaptation.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 3.4 – Value Delivery and Risk)

From Mike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book:

“Prioritizing high-risk features early is a proactive risk management strategy. Teams can reduce the likelihood of failure by discovering major issues early and correcting them while time and budget allow.”

(Mike Griffiths, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Option B delays addressing risk.

Option C focuses on low-value items and may not satisfy customer concerns.

Option D adjusts WIP but doesn’t directly address prioritizing the risky features.

Answer: A

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The correct answer is C – Priority list of desired features and functions.

Agile emphasizes customer collaboration and delivering the highest-value features early. The product owner works closely with the customer to prioritize the backlog so that the most valuable items are delivered first. A prioritized list ensures clarity and alignment with stakeholder expectations.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Work is prioritized to deliver the greatest value as early as possible. The product owner and stakeholders continuously collaborate to ensure that the backlog reflects current priorities.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.2 – Prioritization and Backlog Refinement)

Mike Griffiths explains:

“Agile teams deliver customer value incrementally by implementing high-priority items first. Prioritization is based on value, risk, and feedback.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Why other options are incorrect:

A is a traditional project artifact and not used in Agile backlog planning.

B emphasizes cost over value and may create waste.

D is predictive rather than adaptive; Agile favors short-term planning based on priority.

Answer: C

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In Kanban, lead time is a key performance indicator (KPI) that should be regularly monitored. Lead time measures the amount of time it takes for a work item to move from the start of the process to its completion. By monitoring lead time, the team lead can assess how efficiently work is flowing through the system and identify areas where bottlenecks or delays may be occurring. Reducing lead time is one of the primary goals in Kanban to improve overall process efficiency and delivery speed.

In Agile, it's important to continuously refine and prioritize requirements while managing dependencies. The team should work collaboratively to identify and prioritize the key dependencies that must be resolved to ensure that the user stories meet the Definition of Ready (DoR) criteria. By focusing on the highest priority dependencies first, the team can maintain progress while adapting to changes, rather than getting stalled trying to resolve all dependencies at once. This allows for more flexibility and efficient delivery.

In an agile environment, conflicts are seen as opportunities for collaboration and finding the best solution. The project manager should help the team by restating the positions of the team members to clarify their viewpoints and identify common ground. This approach encourages active listening, fosters understanding, and helps the team focus on shared goals rather than individual positions. Once the commonalities are identified, the team can collaboratively find a resolution that benefits the project, leveraging diverse perspectives to improve the outcome.

The burndown chart displayed shows two lines:

Adiagonal guideline (ideal trend line)representing the expected or planned burndown rate.

Aline with plotted black squaresrepresenting the actual progress of work completed during the iteration (typically in story points or hours).

The actual progress line (with black squares) staysconsistently abovethe ideal line throughout the iteration.

This indicates thatless work was completed than plannedat each point in time.

Toward the end of the iteration (around the 30th or 31st), the chart shows thatthe total remaining work does not reach zero—implyingincomplete workby the iteration’s end.

Analysis of the Chart:Interpretation According to Agile Standards:According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.4: Tracking Iteration Progress)andMike Griffiths' PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Adaptive Planning):

A burndown chart that remainsabove the ideal lineanddoes not reach the baseline (zero)by the end of the iteration reflects that theteam is behind scheduleanddid not complete all planned work.

The burndown chart is a primaryinformation radiatorfor evaluating scope completion versus time and is a critical tool for monitoring iteration performance.

Therefore:

Option Cis correct:

"It trended behind schedule and did not complete everything on time."

Option Ais incorrect — the chart clearly shows a lag behind schedule.

Option Bis incorrect — there is no indication that the iteration time box was extended.

Option Dis incorrect — the team did not finish early or complete all tasks.

The correct answer is B – Suggest the Product Owner prioritize the work items by feature to maximize value.

In Agile, the Product Owner is responsible for backlog prioritization. When multiple stakeholders have differing priorities, it is the Product Owner’s job to evaluate business value and ROI to determine which features deliver the most value and should be addressed first.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“The Product Owner works closely with stakeholders to ensure that the most valuable work is prioritized in the backlog. When multiple stakeholders have competing interests, the Product Owner helps mediate and prioritize based on value delivery.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 3.4 – Value-Based Prioritization)

Mike Griffiths adds:

“Agile avoids trying to define all requirements up front. Instead, the backlog is groomed regularly, and the Product Owner ensures that the team is working on the highest value features.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Other options are less effective:

A contradicts Agile principles by suggesting complete upfront requirement definition.

C puts responsibility on the customer instead of the empowered Product Owner.

D implies a waterfall approach by requiring clarity before starting.

Answer: B

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The primary reason for delivering a minimally viable product (MVP) is to reduce risk as quickly as possible. By releasing a version of the product with just the essential features, the team can quickly test assumptions, gather feedback from users, and make necessary adjustments before investing more time and resources. This approach allows the team to identify and address potential risks early in the process, ensuring that the product is on the right track and meets user needs before full-scale development continues.

The correct answer is C — During the retrospective, discuss the issue and create an action plan to avoid it in the future.

When teams misestimate or experience incomplete work, it’s important to reflect during the retrospective and create action items. This is a fundamental aspect of agile: continuous inspection, adaptation, and team-driven improvement.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Retrospectives help identify opportunities for improvement. The team reviews its estimation accuracy and adjusts processes or practices based on patterns observed.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.8 — Retrospectives)

Mike Griffiths elaborates:

“Estimating complexity is an area for ongoing learning. Teams use retrospectives to improve their sizing, identify knowledge gaps, and refine their planning techniques.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 5 — Adaptive Planning)

Other options:

A unnecessarily involves a project manager (non-agile).

B assumes one-size-fits-all rules, which limits team agility.

D ignores the structured opportunity the retrospective provides for team learning.

Answer: C

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Pair programmingis aproven agile techniquefor improving quality, sharing knowledge, and ramping up less experienced developers. ThePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.5: Quality and Engineering Practices)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 3: Team Performance)recommend using pair programming to improve team cohesion and performance when skill gaps are affecting velocity.

Option Ais correct: pair programming supports learning and improves delivery quality.

Option Bmisuses the retrospective—it’s not for backlog prioritization.

Option Cmay be helpful, butestimation changesdon’t directly address the skill gap.

Option Dmay reduce risk short-term but doesn’t help the team improve or grow.

The correct answer is A – Cross-train some members in the automation framework to broaden their capacity with that skill. Agile teams are cross-functional and self-organizing. Cross-training helps build resilience, reduce skill bottlenecks, and ensure continuous delivery without unnecessary delays or dependence.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Cross-training improves team performance and flexibility. Agile encourages developing T-shaped skills—broad knowledge across functions and deep knowledge in one.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.3 – Team Performance and Cross-Functionality)

Mike Griffiths explains:

“High-performing agile teams actively cross-train to address skill gaps and reduce dependencies. This enhances velocity and self-sufficiency.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 4 – Team Performance)

Incorrect options:

B undermines team self-management and is not the PO’s responsibility.

C delays the needed skill improvement.

D sacrifices quality and value.

Answer: A

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The correct answer is B – The entire team is responsible for quality, but each team member's role may vary as stated in the definition of done (DoD).

In Agile, quality is a shared responsibility. While specialists like QA may have defined roles, all team members are expected to contribute to maintaining and improving product quality. The Definition of Done (DoD) captures shared criteria for acceptance and completion.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams are cross-functional and collectively accountable for quality. Specific roles may perform different tasks, but everyone contributes to ensuring the product meets the agreed-upon standards.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.2 – Quality and Definition of Done)

Mike Griffiths clarifies:

“Quality is everyone’s responsibility. Teams should define what 'done' means and ensure that all members understand and uphold those standards during development.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 4 – Team Performance)

Why other options fall short:

A implies all members must be involved in every component, which may not be efficient or realistic.

C incorrectly assigns surprises or gaps solely to QA.

D misrepresents the Product Manager's role and overemphasizes top-down functionality.

Answer: B

In Agile and user-centered design, creating user personas is a valuable way to represent the different types of users who will interact with the application. By identifying these personas, the project manager can ensure that the development team better understands the varying needs, behaviors, and goals of different user groups. This approach helps create a more effective and tailored user experience for the application. It also provides clear guidance to the team on how to prioritize features and functionality for diverse user groups.

The correct answer is D – Write tests that will be used to know when a story has been correctly developed. This practice aligns with Test-Driven Development (TDD) and Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD), which are common in agile environments. Agile promotes defining “done” through clear acceptance criteria and tests before coding begins.

From PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams use test-first practices, such as TDD or ATDD, where acceptance tests are written before development begins. This ensures that functionality is built to meet agreed expectations.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.5 – Agile Testing and Quality Strategies)

From Mike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book:

“Defining acceptance criteria or tests before development is a core agile practice. It ensures the team understands what success looks like and builds quality in from the start.”

(Mike Griffiths, Chapter 6 – Problem Detection and Resolution)

Option A may be useful but is unrelated to the new requirements.

Option B is not standard—customers help define acceptance criteria but rarely write tests.

Option C skips an important quality control step and doesn’t align with test-first practices.

Answer: D

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The sprint retrospective is a key Scrum ceremony where the team reflects on the sprint, identifies what went well, what didn’t, and discusses ways to improve their processes. The focus is on continuous improvement, and the team makes plans to implement those improvements in future sprints. Stakeholders are typically not involved in the retrospective, but it’s important for them to understand that the meeting is about helping the team improve their collaboration, efficiency, and performance.

The Definition of Done (DoD) is a crucial agile practice that outlines the agreed-upon criteria for when a deliverable is considered complete and ready for release. It ensures that all aspects of the deliverable meet the necessary standards and requirements before it is finalized. Additionally, the team should demonstrate the deliverable, typically during a sprint review or other appropriate meeting, to confirm that it meets stakeholder expectations and aligns with the project goals. This practice helps ensure that the deliverables are truly complete and ready for release, avoiding rework and maintaining a high level of quality.

Social awareness—a key element ofemotional intelligence (EI)—is the ability to understand and respect others' feelings, perspectives, and dynamics, especially indiverse teams. ThePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 4.3.2: Emotional Intelligence and Team Collaboration)highlights that social awareness is essential when planning inclusive team-building activities, as it helps the leader consider cultural and personal differences.

Mike Griffiths also discussesEQ (Emotional Quotient)in thePMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 3: Team Performance)as vital to managingdiverse, high-performing teams.

Option Bis correct: social awareness allows the leader to design inclusive and engaging team activities.

Option A(networking) is more external-facing.

Option C(communication) is important but not specific to diversity sensitivity.

Option Dis broad and not specific to the interpersonal nuance required here.

Agile fosters asafe-to-fail environmentwhere experimentation is encouraged. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.6: Retrospectives and Process Improvement)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 7: Continuous Improvement), teams should be empowered totest new ideasandlearn from outcomes, regardless of whether those experiments succeed or fail.

Option Dis correct: promoting experimentation supports learning and innovation.

Option Adiscourages risk-taking and limits growth.

Option Bcreates fear and undermines psychological safety.

Option Cmixes accountability with experimentation, which can discourage honest learning.

The correct answer is B – Have team members work in pairs to learn from each other and develop new skills. Pairing encourages collaboration, knowledge sharing, and skill development, which helps reduce dependency on specific individuals and enhances engagement through variety.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Pair programming and other collaborative work methods help reduce repetition, promote learning, and improve motivation. These techniques allow for shared ownership and skill diversity.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.3 – Continuous Learning and Team Development)

Mike Griffiths adds:

“Cross-training and pairing reduce boredom, eliminate knowledge silos, and increase team flexibility. They are effective responses to reduced motivation from repetitive work.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 7 – Continuous Improvement)

Incorrect options:

A may temporarily help morale but doesn’t address the root cause.

C is more suitable for analyzing inefficiencies, not directly resolving monotony.

D adds cost and doesn’t solve the underlying engagement problem.

Answer: B

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If the team members are already communicating regularly with each other and the customer, the daily coordination meetings may not be necessary. The project manager should adapt to the team's needs by reducing the frequency of these meetings, allowing the team to focus more on delivering work. This approach supports Agile principles of minimizing waste and encouraging efficient communication, ensuring that meetings are only held when they add clear value. The team can use alternative methods (e.g., a digital board or asynchronous communication) to stay aligned.

When an agile team's velocity is slowing down, it is essential to regularly evaluate and adjust how the team is performing. By using feedback loops in every sprint, the team lead can continuously assess the team's progress, identify bottlenecks, and address issues early on. These feedback loops, typically discussed in sprint retrospectives, provide an opportunity for the team to identify the root causes of challenges, such as miscommunications, and make improvements to ensure better performance in future iterations. This approach promotes ongoing reflection and adaptation, which are core principles of Agile.

The correct answer is B — They most likely discussed the best approach for this project with the team and will adapt and tailor the approach periodically by reviewing and verifying the scope with the customer.

In Agile, tailoring and adaptiveness are key. Agile projects are not "one-size-fits-all" — teams assess the context and collaboratively select and continuously tailor the best-fit practices. Agile also emphasizes engaging stakeholders frequently and iteratively refining scope.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams tailor their processes and continually adapt to changing needs. The decision to use agile practices should be based on the nature of the work and team collaboration.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 2.1 – Tailoring Agile)

Mike Griffiths:

“Agile promotes adaptive planning and continuous stakeholder engagement to ensure alignment and responsiveness to change.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 1 – Agile Principles and Mindset)

—

Agile promotestransparency and ongoing communicationwith all stakeholders, including legal and compliance teams. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 7.1 Communications), one of the Scrum Master's responsibilities is tokeep stakeholders informedof project progress and projections using tools like burnup/burndown charts, velocity trends, or product roadmaps.

Mike Griffiths in thePMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 4: Stakeholder Engagement)emphasizes thatsharing the trajectoryof progress and scope delivery builds trust and provides clarity to non-technical stakeholders.

Option Cis correct: sharing actual progress and trends with legal ensures alignment and transparency.

Option Amisplaces the responsibility—it's the stakeholders who need visibility.

Option Bshifts product decisions prematurely.

Option Dassumes satisfaction trumps contractual obligations—this can cause legal issues.

The correct answer is C — Introduce agile principles and processes, then make the change an experiment to obtain buy-in.

Agile transformation succeeds when it is driven through team engagement and experimentation, not top-down enforcement. Experimentation aligns with the principle of “failing fast” and encourages teams to experience the value of agile themselves before full adoption.

PMI Agile Practice Guide explains:

“To support organizational change, leaders should create safe-to-fail experiments to allow teams to explore and adopt agile in a non-threatening way. Buy-in emerges through shared learning, not forced compliance.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 6.5 – Organizational Change and Culture)

Mike Griffiths reinforces:

“Effective agile leaders lead through influence and create an environment of experimentation and learning. Mandates create resistance, but pilots and feedback loops drive acceptance.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 1 – Agile Principles and Mindset)

Answer A speaks only to executive buy-in. Answer B is directive and not collaborative. Answer D imposes agile through training but skips experiential learning and feedback.

Answer: C

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In this case, the risk description for "Incomplete requirements specification" has been identified as a high likelihood and high impact risk. To mitigate this, the most appropriate strategy would be to conduct thorough requirements analysis and validation. This ensures that the integration of the new tool with the customer relationship management system aligns with the business objectives and avoids misunderstandings or gaps in the product requirements, which could cause delays or rework later in the project. This step addresses the core challenge of ensuring the product meets the business needs and integrates smoothly with existing systems.

When the client needs to release the product earlier than planned to start receiving revenue, the best way to accommodate this request is by focusing on delivering a minimum viable product (MVP). The MVP allows the team to prioritize the most essential features that provide value to the customer, ensuring that the product can be launched quickly, while still addressing the core needs of the business.

By focusing on the MVP, the product can still be launched on time, and the client can start receiving revenue sooner without waiting for the full product to be completed. This aligns with agile principles of delivering valuable, incremental releases.

This situation introduces technical uncertainty. In agile, such scenarios are best addressed byspikesorincremental implementationandearly feedback. ThePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.2 Spikes and Experimentation)suggests that uncertain work should be prototyped, tested early, and shown during sprint reviews for feedback and learning.

Mike Griffiths in thePMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 7: Problem Detection and Resolution)recommends testing high-risk integrations early and iteratively, rather than over-planning.

Option Dis correct: developing, testing, and demonstrating early minimizes risk and aligns with agile principles.

Option Aleans toward waterfall-style planning and over-documentation.

Option Bincorrectly assumes non-functional requirements are less valuable—they’re critical in many systems.

Option Cmay delay necessary architectural work and increase risk.

The correct answer is C — Work with the product owner to assess the impact for reprioritization.

Agile recognizes that new priorities may emerge during a sprint. The product owner owns the backlog and prioritization. If a request threatens sprint commitments, it should be reviewed and discussed with the product owner to determine the trade-offs and make informed decisions.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“New requests should be assessed in collaboration with the product owner. The team should make prioritization trade-offs in a transparent manner to maintain focus on delivering value.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.5 – Iteration Planning and Section 5.7 – Change Management)

Mike Griffiths:

“Product owners are responsible for backlog prioritization. When urgent issues arise, teams should discuss them with the PO rather than unilaterally shifting focus.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

A risks burnout and violates sustainable pace.

B avoids accountability.

D assumes the change can wait, which may not align with customer needs.

Answer: C

—

A key agile principle is that user stories should includeclear acceptance criteria, which must bereviewed and accepted by the product owner. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.2: User Stories and Acceptance Criteria)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Value-Driven Delivery), acceptance criteria ensure that the team and product ownershare a clear understandingof what constitutes “done.”

Option Ais correct: having the product owner validate acceptance criteria ensures alignment.

Option Baddresses technical quality but not stakeholder dissatisfaction.

Option Cunfairly shifts blame without addressing communication.

Option Dgoes against agile’s iterative and flexible nature.

Knowledge sharing and organizational learning are core elements of scaling agile. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 8.4 Organizational Change Management)and thePMBOK® Guide (6th Edition, Section 10.2 Manage Communications), the project manager shouldactively disseminate lessons learned, best practices, and project outcomesto promote agile adoption across the organization.

Mike Griffiths reinforces in thePMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 7: Continuous Improvement)thatcontinuous feedback loops and transparent communicationare essential to agile transformation success.

Option D is correct because regular meetings specifically focused onsharing outcomes and learningfrom the pilot project helpembed agile valuesand improve future implementations.

Agile promotescross-team collaboration and shared understanding of goals, especially when dependencies exist. ThePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 4.3.1: Team Collaboration and Alignment)recommends usingvision alignment and shared objectivesto reduce silos and improve coordination. Avision-sharing sessionensures that all teams understand thebusiness context and mutual interdependencies, helping build accountability and improve collaboration.

Option Bis correct: shared vision fosters alignment and commitment.

Option Ais punitive and against agile values of collaboration.

Option Cdisrupts team stability and should not be a first step.

Option Daddresses the symptom (delivery delay) but not theroot cause(lack of shared vision/accountability).

To identify the features that offer the maximum value, the product owner should focus on understanding the needs and priorities of the product's end users. By identifying the users and their key activities, the product owner can ensure that the features included in the roadmap directly address the most important user needs and deliver the highest value. This user-centric approach ensures that the product delivers tangible benefits to its intended audience and aligns with their requirements.

The correct answer is D — Iteration Burndown Chart.

An iteration burndown chart provides daily updates about the team’s progress during an iteration (or sprint). It tracks the remaining work in the sprint backlog and helps both the team and stakeholders assess if the sprint goal is likely to be met. This visualization helps communicate real-time progress to key stakeholders and supports adaptive planning.

PMI Agile Practice Guide states:

“Burndown charts display work remaining in a timebox and are updated daily. They are effective for communicating iteration progress to the team and stakeholders.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.6, Information Radiators)

PMBOK® Guide (6th Edition) and Mike Griffiths both emphasize using task boards and burndown charts as “information radiators” for transparency.

Mike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book elaborates:

“Iteration burndown charts are the most widely used artifact to track sprint progress. They offer insight into how much work remains and signal whether the team is on track to meet its sprint goal.”

Options A and B are long-term planning tools. Option C (velocity) is a forecasting metric and not updated daily.

Answer: D

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After the product vision is communicated, the product owner should ensure thatthe product backlog is prioritizedso the team canfocus on delivering the most valuable features first. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.1 Product Backlog and Vision Alignment), prioritizing the backlog helps teams understand the product roadmap and plan their efforts accordingly.

Mike Griffiths in thePMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Adaptive Planning)reinforces that the product owner’s key responsibility isbacklog prioritization, not task management or detailed design.

Option Cis correct: prioritizing the backlog enables the team to understand and plan the roadmap.

Option AandBare too detailed for the product owner and move into the team's domain.

Option Dis ateam responsibility, not the product owner’s.

The correct answer is A — Stakeholders should have regularly been engaged to obtain feedback and reduce the functionality risk.

In Agile, stakeholder engagement and iterative feedback loops ensure that the solution being built is aligned with business value. Simply meeting documented requirements is insufficient. Agile practices such as demos and user feedback sessions minimize the risk of building features that fail to deliver value.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile emphasizes ongoing stakeholder engagement. Demonstrating working software at the end of each iteration and gathering feedback ensures that the product is delivering business value.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.2 – Stakeholder Engagement)

Mike Griffiths states:

“Value-driven delivery is achieved not just by delivering what was asked for, but by ensuring it actually meets customer needs. Regular feedback from stakeholders is critical to avoid building low-value features.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

B refers to the lean principle of “decide as late as possible,” but feedback, not delay, would have addressed the issue.

C is unrelated to this context.

D lacks the collaborative engagement approach emphasized in Agile.

Answer: A

—

The correct answer is A – Perform value stream analysis to eliminate the processes with wastage. Value stream mapping is a lean and agile technique used to identify and eliminate non-value-adding activities, optimize flow, and increase delivery efficiency—especially crucial when facing tight deadlines.

From PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Value stream mapping is used to analyze the flow of materials and information required to bring a product or service to a consumer. It helps teams eliminate waste and improve speed and quality.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 6.4 – Continuous Improvement and Feedback Loops)

From Mike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book:

“Value stream analysis is a lean technique that helps agile teams identify delays, bottlenecks, and handoffs that waste time. When velocity lags behind expectations, understanding the end-to-end process is essential to improvement.”

(Mike Griffiths, Chapter 7 – Continuous Improvement)

Option B (removing high-risk stories) may introduce more long-term risk and undermine value.

Option C suggests manipulating metrics instead of addressing root causes.

Option D may help identify risks early, but it doesn’t address why velocity is low.

Answer: A

The correct answer is D – Planning poker.

Planning poker is a consensus-based estimation technique commonly used in Agile projects. During this technique, team members discuss user stories, clarify details, and independently assign story points. The facilitator (often the Scrum Master) ensures balanced participation. This process encourages team collaboration and reduces estimation bias.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Planning poker is a common estimation technique where team members discuss the story, then individually provide estimates using a card deck, reaching consensus over multiple rounds.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.3 – Estimation Techniques)

Mike Griffiths adds:

“Planning poker is based on Wideband Delphi and allows teams to converge on estimates through discussion and consensus. It is particularly useful for relative estimation of story points.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Why other options are incorrect:

A (Lessons learned) applies to retrospective activities, not estimation.

B (Wideband Delphi) is the foundation of planning poker but is more formal and anonymous.

C (Formal point counting) is not a standard Agile estimation technique.

Answer: D

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The correct answer is D — Identify this as a risk, decide on the response, and prioritize spike to determine the solution on the product backlog.

A spike is a time-boxed research activity used in Agile to explore potential solutions to uncertainty. The architectural concern is a technical risk, and it's best addressed by formally identifying it, analyzing potential responses, and scheduling a spike as a backlog item to investigate solutions.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Spikes are stories used for time-boxed research and exploration when the team needs more information to understand technical or functional uncertainty.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.2 – Types of Backlog Items)

Mike Griffiths:

“Agile risk management integrates spikes and prioritization. When risk is detected, the team should identify it transparently and explore mitigation or investigation through a spike.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 6 – Problem Detection and Resolution)

Incorrect options:

A skips backlog prioritization and team alignment.

B deflects the issue without analysis.

C ignores risk and blindly follows the existing priority.

Answer: D

—

According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 7.2: Stakeholder Engagement), managing stakeholder expectations starts with establishing ashared visionand involving stakeholders in key activities likeiteration reviews. This ensures transparency, feedback, and alignment on progress and priorities.

Mike Griffiths in thePMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 4: Stakeholder Engagement)supports the idea that acommon vision and shared goalsfoster trust and improve stakeholder relationships.

Option Ais correct: a shared vision and active involvement lead to better stakeholder alignment.

Option BandCare partially right butlimit collaborationor dismiss stakeholder input.

Option Dis inconsistent with agile’s emphasis onopen, continuous communication.

Agile teams areself-organizingand responsible for determining how to deliver their commitments. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 4.3.3: Self-Organizing Teams)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Adaptive Planning), the best course of action is tosupport the team in evaluating trade-offs—especially when innovation like a spike canenhance efficiency. The project leader shouldenable, not dictatedecisions.

Option Ais correct: it respects team autonomy while supporting innovation.

Option Bdiscourages innovation and learning.

Option Cmay delay needed improvement and demotivates team initiative.

Option Dremoves the team's ability to decide and self-manage priorities.

The correct answer is A – To participate in establishing a shared vision as a member of the team.

Stakeholder engagement ensures alignment between the team and business needs. Early and continuous involvement helps define product vision, clarify priorities, and ensure that the delivered product meets customer expectations.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Engaging stakeholders early and often increases transparency, encourages shared ownership, and ensures that the product being developed aligns with business value.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.2 – Stakeholder Engagement)

Mike Griffiths reinforces:

“Projects are more successful when stakeholders co-create the product vision and maintain involvement. Agile teams encourage active participation to ensure delivery of value.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 3 – Stakeholder Engagement)

Why other options fall short:

B (acceptance criteria) is mainly defined by the Product Owner, not all stakeholders.

C is typically owned by the development team.

D is not a core stakeholder responsibility in Agile.

Answer: A

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When the team is not confident that the solution will work, delivering the minimum marketable feature (MMF) to customers for feedback is the best approach. The MMF represents the smallest, functional version of the product that can provide value to customers. By delivering this early and obtaining feedback, the team can validate assumptions, identify potential issues, and make necessary adjustments before committing to further development. This approach allows for early course correction and ensures the solution aligns with customer expectations and business needs.

A product roadmap is a strategic plan that outlines the vision for the product, the business objectives that need to be achieved, and the timeframes for delivering key milestones or features. It provides a high-level overview of the product's development, aligning the team and stakeholders on the product's direction and the expected delivery timeline.

Product vision defines what the product aims to achieve and the value it will deliver to customers or the business.

Business objectives outline what the product aims to accomplish in terms of business impact, like increasing revenue or improving customer satisfaction.

Timeframes indicate when key milestones or releases are planned to occur, ensuring that progress can be tracked and expectations set.

This high-level structure is essential for guiding product development and keeping stakeholders aligned, without delving into the specific details of design or project management, which are more suited for other planning documents.

The correct answer is A – Self-organize. One of the fundamental principles of agile is that teams are self-organizing and cross-functional. During iteration planning, once the stories are accepted into the sprint, the team collaborates to break down those stories into tasks and assign work among themselves based on skills and interest.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams are self-organizing, meaning they collectively decide how to accomplish their work, rather than being directed by others. This principle supports autonomy and trust, and enhances team ownership and commitment.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.3 – Team Performance)

Mike Griffiths reinforces:

“Agile teams are trusted to manage themselves. Once user stories are selected during iteration planning, the team decomposes stories into tasks and self-assigns work collaboratively.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 4 – Team Performance)

Incorrect options:

B contradicts agile principles of self-assignment and voluntary collaboration.

C may be valuable for clarification but is not the first action after stories are added.

D identifying the Scrum Master is irrelevant to the task breakdown phase.

Answer: A

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Spikes are meant forexperimentation and learning, not guaranteed outcomes. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.2 Spikes), if a spike does not lead to a clear solution, the team can extend or reframe it, especially when aiming for asustainable long-term solution. Agile supportsencouraging experimentationand learning from failure.

Mike Griffiths (PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 7: Problem Detection and Resolution) recommends adapting when a spike’s results are inconclusive—redefining the scope and collaborating as a teamincreases the chance of a valuable outcome.

Option Bis correct: it continues learning and promotes team collaboration.

Option Aundercuts team ownership.

Option Cprioritizes a short-term fix and undermines agile values.

Option Dis not needed at this early stage—root cause analysis is better for recurring or systemic issues.

The correct answer is B – A product backlog should be created to list the project requirements from all of the project stakeholders.

In Agile, the product backlog serves as a living document where requirements, user stories, and stakeholder feedback are continuously refined. It is the central mechanism for capturing and prioritizing stakeholder needs and ensuring that business value is delivered incrementally.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“The product backlog is a prioritized list of work for the development team that is derived from stakeholder input, user stories, and emerging needs. It evolves as the project progresses and stakeholder feedback is incorporated.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.2 – Product Backlog)

Mike Griffiths writes:

“Product backlogs provide transparency into stakeholder priorities. They enable the team to continuously align work with customer expectations and business needs.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 3 – Stakeholder Engagement)

Why the other options are incorrect:

A refers to the traditional project charter, which is not commonly updated throughout the agile life cycle.

C is a misunderstanding—the Agile Manifesto is a set of principles, not a project-specific document.

D misuses user stories; stories are used for functional requirements, not stakeholder profiles.

Answer: B

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The correct answer is B – Break the story up and focus on the most valuable parts. Agile promotes progressive elaboration, and large or complex stories (epics) should be broken down into smaller, testable user stories. This practice enables clarity, faster feedback, and more accurate planning.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Large stories (epics) should be split into smaller user stories to enable understanding, estimation, and incremental delivery. Stories should be small enough to be completed within an iteration.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.3 – User Stories and Story Splitting)

Mike Griffiths states:

“When a user story is too large or unclear, the team should break it down into smaller pieces, focusing on the most valuable parts first. Story splitting is a key agile practice.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Incorrect options:

A discourages collaboration and learning.

C delays the resolution unnecessarily.

D avoids solving the actual problem and abandons valuable work.

Answer: B

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The correct answer is D – Reestimate all stories including values for A, B, and C. Agile promotes empirical process control, meaning teams adapt based on what they learn. When significant deviations are found in actual effort vs. story point estimates, the team should revisit and refine their estimation process, including reestimating stories to better align with reality.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Estimates are revisited based on experience. Teams inspect and adapt during retrospectives, using data to improve future estimation accuracy.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.3 – Estimation and Planning)

Mike Griffiths writes:

“When estimates prove inaccurate, teams should reestimate affected stories. Estimating is a collaborative process, and learning from past deviations is a key part of adaptive planning.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Incorrect options:

A may distort estimation by comparison and not correct the root issue.

B manipulates velocity data and violates agile principles of transparency.

C attempts to “force fit” effort rather than inspect and adapt.

Answer: D

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When the team is facing difficulties in estimating the scope of work due to unclear or ambiguous requirements, the product owner should collaborate closely with the client to ensure that the requirements are clear and well-defined. By refining the product backlog with more detailed and clarified requirements, the product owner can help the team generate more accurate estimates and better understand the scope of work. This is a fundamental step in ensuring the team can properly plan and execute the project on time.

The correct answer is D – Ask the team to estimate the amount of rework needed so that adjustments can be made to both the project and release plan.

Agile planning is adaptive and iterative. New information, including required rework, must be integrated into updated estimates and plans. Agile teams frequently replan based on the realities of work-in-progress.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

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The correct answer is C — Ask the team member to update daily progress on the information radiators.

In Agile, transparency and self-organization are key. Information radiators (e.g., task boards, digital dashboards) allow all team members and stakeholders to see the current state of work at any time. If a team member cannot attend stand-ups, they should still update their tasks on the board so that others are informed.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Information radiators ensure transparent communication of progress, risks, and blockers to all team members and stakeholders. These should be updated in real-time or daily by those responsible.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.6 – Information Radiators)

Mike Griffiths:

“Task boards and progress charts allow anyone to see project status without waiting for meetings. Team members must take responsibility for keeping them current.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Incorrect options:

A punishes the team for one member’s lack of participation and doesn’t solve the communication issue.

B reintroduces a command-and-control model, reducing team ownership.

D is dishonest and violates agile principles of transparency.

Answer: C

—

Spikes are valuable for reducing uncertainty, but agile discouragesspending multiple sprints solely on spikeswithout delivering value. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.2 Spikes and Exploration)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Adaptive Planning), learning and delivery should occurconcurrentlywhenever possible. Teams should strive toinclude high-priority deliverables alongside spikes, particularly in early sprints, to build momentum and maintain stakeholder engagement.

Option Cis correct: executing high-priority stories in parallel with spikes promotes learning and value delivery.

Option AandDsupport spikes but ignore the risk ofdelayed value.

Option Bis valid but administrative; the better choice is to avoid needing prolonged spike sprints at all.

The project manager should ensure that risks are clearly visible to all team members so that everyone is aware of potential issues and can take action as necessary. Displaying the RAID log visually makes it easy for the team to see the status of risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies in real-time. This encourages the team to follow up on risks and keep them top of mind, facilitating more proactive management of potential threats to the sprint's success. This approach also helps in maintaining transparency and continuous monitoring of risks throughout the sprint.

The in-person demonstration meeting is crucial because it allows the team to directly engage with the product owner, ask clarifying questions, and immediately address any feedback or concerns. This fosters better communication, understanding, and collaboration between the team and the product owner. Being able to have a real-time conversation helps the team ensure they are building the right product, and it allows the product owner to provide nuanced feedback that might not be as clear through asynchronous communication (like sending a link).

The face-to-face interaction provides an opportunity for both parties to align more effectively on the product vision, avoid misunderstandings, and prevent misalignment on priorities, ultimately ensuring that the product being developed meets expectations.

To estimate the project's conclusion using velocity, we use the formula:

Given:

Velocity = 40 story points per sprint

Remaining Work = 240 story points

Sprint Duration = 2 weeks

Since each sprint is 2 weeks, the total duration will be:

6 × 2 weeks = 12 weeks = 3 months

To ensure a smooth transition to SAFe, the agile team lead should have an open discussion with the team about what will change and the reasons behind these changes. Establishing a clear understanding of the transition process and addressing any concerns proactively helps alleviate fears and encourages buy-in. It's also important to discuss the timeline for the transition and how the team will adapt. By providing clarity and a process for addressing concerns, the team will feel more comfortable and confident in adopting the new methodology.

The correct answer is A — Coordinate a collaboration session so all the team members are involved in the solution process.

Agile encourages cross-functional collaboration and collective problem-solving. When technical uncertainty arises, the best course of action is to leverage the team’s combined knowledge through collaboration rather than working in isolation.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams rely on collaboration, especially when solving complex problems. A diversity of input and joint ownership leads to better and faster decisions.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.2 – Communications and Collaboration)

Mike Griffiths notes:

“Agile practitioners should encourage collaborative decision-making. Technical decisions made in isolation can result in integration issues and delay. Collaboration unlocks shared ownership.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 4 – Team Performance)

Other options:

B shifts focus away from current challenges.

C is long-term and not immediately actionable.

D may help, but it introduces external dependency instead of leveraging team knowledge.

Answer: A

—

The correct answer is A — To better listen, serve, and help the team grow their strengths individually and as a team.

An agile coach is a servant-leader whose role is to guide the team by modeling agile values, being present, actively listening, and helping teams grow. Coaching in agile is about enabling—not controlling—the team. A coach’s mindfulness, authenticity, and presence inspire the same behaviors in the team.

PMI Agile Practice Guide notes:

“The agile coach models the agile mindset, including being present, self-aware, and aligned with agile principles. This helps the team build trust, foster collaboration, and grow capabilities organically.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 6.2 – Coaching the Agile Team)

Mike Griffiths emphasizes:

“Effective coaches guide by example. By modeling agile values and demonstrating presence, emotional intelligence, and listening, coaches help teams unlock their full potential.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 4 – Team Performance)

Incorrect options:

B suggests control rather than collaboration.

C is anti-agile and contrary to the servant-leader model.

D is valid but lacks the depth of A, which captures the coach’s mindset and actions.

Answer: A

—

The correct answer is D – Facilitate a product development roadmap workshop. Engaging stakeholders early through a roadmap workshop helps align expectations, prioritize outcomes, and build shared understanding around value delivery.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Product roadmaps provide a high-level view of deliverables and timing. Facilitating roadmap workshops ensures that all stakeholders contribute to and align with the vision.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.4 – Product Roadmap and Planning)

Mike Griffiths further explains:

“Roadmap workshops allow stakeholders to discuss release priorities and business goals, ensuring engagement in the planning process and continuous alignment throughout the project.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Incorrect options:

A reflects a waterfall mindset.

B involves team-level planning, not broad stakeholder engagement.

C is informative but not collaborative or sufficient for planning.

Answer: D

────────────────────────────────────

The correct answer is B — Chair a weekly team retrospective focusing on identifying areas for continuous improvement.

Retrospectives are a core Agile practice used to inspect and adapt the team’s process, foster self-improvement, and enhance performance. If productivity is flat, the best approach is to collaboratively reflect with the team to uncover bottlenecks, identify areas for experimentation, and implement process adjustments.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Retrospectives are a key feedback loop that allow the team to assess their performance and decide how to improve it. The retrospective is a cornerstone for continuous improvement and high-performing teams.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.8 – Retrospectives)

Mike Griffiths adds:

“Rather than externally imposed metrics, agile teams should drive performance improvements through retrospectives where they inspect their own work and collectively identify opportunities for efficiency.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 7 – Continuous Improvement)

Incorrect options:

A is diagnostic but insufficient for process improvement without team involvement.

C introduces hierarchy and undermines team empowerment.

D introduces extrinsic motivation, which may damage team collaboration and intrinsic ownership.

Answer: B

—

A product roadmap is a high-level visual representation of a product's development strategy, highlighting upcoming product releases and the features or goals that will be included in each release. By displaying the roadmap, the agile project manager is ensuring that all stakeholders are aligned on what the product will deliver and when, helping to manage expectations and communicate progress. This is essential for ensuring that everyone involved in the project has a shared understanding of the product's direction and key milestones.

In an adaptive environment, the project manager’s role is focused on facilitating collaboration and communication among stakeholders, teams, and sponsors to ensure that decisions are made quickly and effectively as circumstances change. This aligns with the agile principle of collaboration over contract negotiation and emphasizes adaptability and the ability to respond to changing needs. While project managers may still contribute to planning and other activities, fostering a collaborative and flexible decision-making process is key in an adaptive environment.

Sprint reviews are a crucial Scrum event for obtaining early feedback from stakeholders, which allows the team to inspect the progress and adapt the product accordingly. By skipping sprint reviews in favor of only release reviews, the team loses the opportunity to make adjustments and improvements throughout the project. The scrum master should emphasize the importance of regular feedback and ensure the team stays aligned with Scrum principles for continuous improvement and value delivery.

The correct answer is B – Invite the team to evaluate the suggestion and measure the effectiveness of the implementation.

In Agile, continuous improvement is a shared responsibility, and retrospectives are meant to be collaborative sessions where all team members—regardless of experience—can contribute. Ideas that could enhance performance should be discussed by the team as a whole and, when deemed valuable, tested and evaluated in upcoming sprints.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“The team owns the process and should inspect and adapt at regular intervals. During retrospectives, the team identifies potential improvements and experiments with them in subsequent iterations.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.5 – Continuous Improvement)

Mike Griffiths states:

“Retrospectives empower teams to improve. All suggestions, regardless of origin, should be treated with respect. Teams test ideas and inspect outcomes to improve incrementally.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 7 – Continuous Improvement)

Why other options fall short:

A delays action and discourages innovation.

C makes the product owner responsible for a team process decision, which is outside their role.

D promotes hierarchy, which undermines team collaboration and Agile values.

Answer: B

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According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.2 Requirements and User Stories)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Adaptive Planning),epics are large user storiesthat must be decomposed into smaller user stories for accurate planning and inclusion in sprints.

Thetwo main driversfor breaking down epics are:

Size– Epics are typically too large to be completed in a single iteration and must be divided to create manageable pieces of work.

Priority– High-priority epics are decomposed early to allow the team to work on the most valuable items first.

This makesOption Athe correct answer. The decision to decompose the epic is based on the need to fit it into sprint capacity and to align with backlog prioritization.

The correct answer is D — Ask the agile practitioner to facilitate a story-writing workshop.

When stakeholders have conflicting inputs, a collaborative approach such as a story-writing workshop enables the team to converge on a shared understanding. The agile practitioner (Scrum Master or Agile Coach) plays a key role in facilitating these sessions to ensure productive dialogue and alignment.

PMI Agile Practice Guide explains:

“Facilitated workshops, including story-writing workshops, help surface differences in stakeholder needs and create alignment through structured collaboration. Agile practitioners often lead these sessions to ensure neutrality and focus.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.2 — Backlog Refinement)

Mike Griffiths’ book adds:

“Agile practitioners support product owners in building and refining the backlog, especially when multiple viewpoints or conflicts exist. Facilitated workshops ensure transparency and a collaborative environment.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

A is incorrect because the practitioner’s role is to facilitate, not write the stories.

B is a good idea, but the product owner should not delegate facilitation to the team.

C may assist with clarification but won’t help resolve conflict or prioritize across stakeholders.

Answer: D

—

The correct answer is A because an Agile leader, such as a Scrum Master, is a servant-leader and facilitator. The Scrum Master supports the development team by helping remove impediments and facilitating healthy team dynamics. When there is misalignment or interpersonal conflict, the Scrum Master should help the team explore the root causes and encourage self-directed resolution.

From PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile coaches facilitate conflict resolution by helping individuals understand each other’s perspectives and guiding them to collaborative solutions. The goal is to promote team ownership of outcomes and reinforce healthy communication.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 6.3 – Facilitating Agile Practices)

From Mike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book:

“The role of the Scrum Master is not to direct or micromanage the team, but to facilitate communication and remove barriers that prevent team members from collaborating effectively. In conflict scenarios, the Scrum Master should help the team uncover the root issue, then allow them to resolve it constructively.”

(Mike Griffiths, Chapter 4 – Team Performance)

Option B is slightly less effective than A because it escalates to the whole team before trying a focused resolution.

Option C abdicates responsibility and may allow conflict to worsen.

Option D contradicts agile’s emphasis on self-organizing teams.

Answer: A

=========

Delivering value in agile depends onfrequent prioritization and real-time feedback. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.1 Product Backlog and Prioritization), product owners and agile teams mustcontinuously reprioritize the backlogbased on changing stakeholder needs, market shifts, and feedback. Failure to do so can result in building the wrong product—even if it's "done."

Mike Griffiths (PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 6: Value-Driven Delivery) stresses thatvalue delivery is iterative and depends on current priorities, not static backlogs. It is vital that teams confirm that they're working on thehighest-value itemsbefore committing to a sprint.

Option Ais correct: proper backlog refinement and reprioritization ensures alignment with evolving stakeholder needs.

Option Bis an anti-pattern; agile welcomes change even late in development.

Option CandDare irrelevant or do not address the core issue of prioritization.

The correct answer is C – Seek regular input from project stakeholders, and reflect this input in the backlog’s priorities. Agile is a stakeholder-driven process, and backlog refinement should be informed by continuous feedback. The product owner maximizes value by regularly reviewing stakeholder needs and reprioritizing accordingly.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“The product owner is responsible for maintaining the backlog and ensuring it reflects stakeholder priorities. Ongoing engagement with stakeholders ensures the product delivers maximum value.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.2 – Product Backlog Management)

Mike Griffiths adds:

“Agile product owners engage stakeholders continuously to update priorities and deliver value incrementally.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

A is good practice but doesn’t address the stakeholder engagement challenge.

B confuses story size with business value.

D lacks the agility required in a fast-moving project.

Answer: C

────────────────────────────────────

The most effective way to address and correct defects while maintaining predictability and capacity is by working with the team to establish clear coding and quality standards, as well as comprehensive testing policies. By setting these explicit rules, the team will have a shared understanding of the quality expectations and testing requirements, which will help prevent defects from escaping into production. This approach focuses on building quality into the process, rather than reacting to defects after they occur, and supports the long-term goal of improving software quality and predictability without overburdening the team.

The correct answer is D — Create a space on the board to prioritize the threats, along with an update on the actions that are in progress and what still needs to be done.

Agile promotes visual management and transparency. By using a dedicated section on the team board (information radiator), risks can be prioritized, tracked, and made visible to the entire team, enabling ongoing awareness and proactive response.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Information radiators can be used to display risk burndown charts, prioritization, and mitigation plans, allowing teams to manage and address risk openly.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 7.3 – Risk Management)

Mike Griffiths:

“Making risks visible and tracking them alongside features fosters collective ownership and ensures proactive handling.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 6 – Problem Detection and Resolution)

Incorrect options:

A is reactive and lacks persistent visibility.

B may create fatigue and be seen as micromanagement.

C involves the sponsor unnecessarily and doesn’t address day-to-day risk management.

Answer: D

—

The correct answer is D – Ensured that the team was comprised of cross-functional, generalized specialists.

Agile teams are expected to be cross-functional and self-sufficient. A lack of a required skill that halts progress typically points to an improperly constructed team. Building teams with broad (T-shaped) skills ensures they can collectively deliver value without external dependencies.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams are ideally composed of cross-functional members who have both depth in a specialty and breadth across disciplines. This enables the team to self-organize and deliver complete increments of value.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.1 – Building Agile Teams)

Mike Griffiths elaborates:

“Agile favors generalized specialists or T-shaped professionals who can collaborate across functions. This improves agility, resilience, and continuity within iterations.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 4 – Team Performance)

Why the other options are insufficient:

A is a reactive strategy; proactive skill assessment is preferred.

B may delay critical features unnecessarily.

C creates external dependencies, which agile seeks to avoid.

Answer: D

══════════════════════════════════════════════════

The product owner should work closely with the team to ensure that the most critical features are prioritized and clearly understood. Inviting the customer to the sprint planning meeting helps ensure that the team has a direct understanding of what is most important to the customer and their business needs. This fosters collaboration and ensures the team works on the most valuable features first.

Additionally, refining the product backlog and identifying the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) ensures the team knows the minimum set of features required for the product to provide value to the customer. By focusing on the MVP, the team can quickly deliver a product that addresses the core needs, enabling faster feedback and iterations.

The correct answer is C – Ask the team to collaboratively work out a solution. Agile teams are self-organizing, and problem-solving is most effective when handled collaboratively. The Scrum Master’s role is to facilitate discussions and remove impediments—not to impose solutions.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Problem detection and resolution is a continuous process. Agile teams regularly identify and resolve problems as part of the team’s responsibility. The Scrum Master supports the team by facilitating resolution discussions rather than solving problems directly.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 6.5 – Problem Detection and Resolution)

Mike Griffiths states:

“When technical challenges arise, the team should collaborate to assess the issue and determine the best course of action. The Scrum Master enables this by fostering open communication and guiding the team through the problem-solving process.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 6 – Problem Detection and Resolution)

Incorrect options:

A delays resolution and pushes it into the future unnecessarily.

B undermines team autonomy and ownership.

D introduces unnecessary hierarchy into team-level problem-solving.

Answer: C

────────────────────────────────────

The correct answer is D — Periodically, at both the release and project level.

Agile planning is iterative and layered. When new requirements or constraints emerge, plans should be updated at the appropriate levels—sprint, release, and potentially the overall project level. Periodic adjustments ensure continued alignment with business needs and system dependencies.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile planning is done at multiple levels: product vision, roadmap, release, iteration, and daily. These plans are continually updated based on new learning and stakeholder feedback.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.3 – Adaptive Planning)

Mike Griffiths:

“Effective planning includes periodic updates at all planning horizons. Adjusting at both the project and release levels ensures strategic alignment and tactical feasibility.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Incorrect options:

A misses the iterative nature of Agile planning.

B and C are too narrow in scope.

Answer: D

—

The correct answer is C – Amount of work that can be accomplished in an iteration. To create a release plan, an agile team uses its historical or estimated velocity—how much work the team can complete in a single iteration. This information helps forecast how many iterations will be needed to complete the prioritized work in the product backlog.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Velocity is used to determine how many iterations are required to complete the release backlog. Release planning requires an understanding of how much work can be completed per iteration to forecast delivery timelines.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.3 – Iteration Planning and Velocity)

Mike Griffiths adds:

“Teams use their average velocity—the amount of work completed per iteration—as the basis for release planning. This supports predictable and empirical planning.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Incorrect options:

A focuses too narrowly on a single story, not the full release.

B focuses on individual capacity, which is contrary to agile’s emphasis on team output.

D is vague; capacity is better measured by iteration.

Answer: C

────────────────────────────────────

Step 1: Identify Total Story Points in the Backlog

From the backlog table:

Total story points = 6 + 4 + 8 + 4 + 21 + 7 + 5 + 9 + 3 + 5 = 72

Step 2: Determine the Team's Velocity

The risk register mentions a burn reduction of 1 story point per sprint from sprint 4 to sprint 6 due to a holiday schedule. However, assuming a normal velocity of 5 story points per sprint, we can estimate sprint completion.

Normal sprint velocity: 5 story points per sprint

Reduced velocity for sprints 4-6: 4 story points per sprint

Step 3: Calculate Total Sprints Needed

First 3 sprints: 5 points per sprint → 5 × 3 = 15 story points completed

Sprints 4-6: 4 points per sprint → 4 × 3 = 12 story points completed

Remaining story points after sprint 6: 72 - (15 + 12) = 45 story points

Remaining sprints needed at normal velocity (5 story points per sprint): 45 ÷ 5 = 9 sprints

Total Sprints Required

Sprints 1-6: Already planned.

Additional 9 sprints needed.

Total sprints to complete the backlog: 6 + 9 = 15 sprints.

To improve collaboration, it's essential that the team members understand the importance of the project vision statement and feel empowered to contribute. Setting clear expectations ensures that all participants know the purpose of the meeting and their role in contributing. By encouraging everyone to share their ideas and perspectives, the team can reach a consensus or at least acknowledge differing views in a constructive way. This fosters a collaborative environment where team members feel their input is valued.

As a servant leader, one of the key responsibilities is to protect the team from external distractions and interruptions that could affect their ability to focus and deliver value. This allows the team to work in a productive environment and maintain their focus on the important tasks, such as delivering the minimum viable product (MVP). By removing impediments and guarding against distractions, the servant leader enables the team to be more effective and efficient.

The correct answer is D — By advising the team to remain committed and focused on project goals.

Agile teams should remain focused on the sprint or iteration goals once committed. Outside demands, even from senior stakeholders, can distract the team and cause scope creep or reduced quality. The agile coach plays a vital role in protecting the team from such disruptions and reinforcing their commitment.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile leaders help teams focus on delivering committed work. Coaches work to eliminate distractions and protect the team from external interferences.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 6.2 – Coaching the Agile Team)

Mike Griffiths:

“One of the coach’s roles is to guard the team’s focus. When unrelated demands arise, the coach should guide the team to stay aligned with the current sprint goals.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 4 – Team Performance)

Incorrect options:

A encourages unsustainable practices.

B implies hierarchy not present in Scrum or Agile.

C misuses estimation and undermines trust.

Answer: D

—

The correct answer is D – Ask the team to decide if the task should be reassigned. In agile, the Scrum Master serves as a servant leader and facilitator, not a manager. Task decisions are made by the team through collaboration and self-organization.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams self-organize and make decisions collaboratively. The Scrum Master facilitates discussion and decision-making but does not dictate task assignments.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.3 – Team Empowerment and Self-Organization)

Mike Griffiths adds:

“The Scrum Master’s role is to empower the team to find their own solutions and make informed decisions that support sprint goals. When adjustments are needed, the team should decide how to proceed.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 4 – Team Performance)

Incorrect options:

A undermines self-management and may create fear or pressure.

B implies outside control instead of team autonomy.

C ignores opportunity for improvement and team input.

Answer: D

The correct answer isC – Facilitate a conversation about the user story between the development team and the product owner.In Agile,collaboration,self-organization, andface-to-face conversationare foundational principles for resolving disagreements and achieving a shared understanding.

According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide:

“The agile practitioner facilitates healthy communication and constructive dialogue between the product owner and the development team to align understanding and priorities. Agile coaches and Scrum Masters serve the team by removing obstacles to collaboration, not by acting as decision-makers.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 6.3 – Facilitating Agile Practices)

Further, the guide emphasizes:

“Effective teams discuss issues collaboratively. When disagreements arise, the agile leader’s role is to facilitate communication and resolution through shared understanding, not to dictate decisions.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.1 – Agile Mindset and Behaviors)

Mike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Bookalso states:

“Agile encourages close collaboration between business and technical teams. When conflicts arise regarding a user story, the agile practitioner’s role is to facilitate meaningful discussions to ensure mutual understanding and team-driven resolution.”

(Mike Griffiths, Chapter 4 – Team Performance)

Why the other options are incorrect:

Aundermines team self-organization and implies a command-and-control model.

Bis confrontational and goes against agile values of respect and collaboration.

Dcontradicts the facilitative role of the agile practitioner, who should not act as an authoritative decision-maker.

Thus, the most agile-consistent approach is toenable conversation and clarity between roles.

Answer: C

Velocity is a measure of the amount of work a team can handle during a sprint, typically measured in story points. While it can fluctuate slightly from sprint to sprint, the goal is to have velocity stabilize over time, as this helps in forecasting future sprints and planning. An increase in velocity from 27 to 35 could indicate an improvement in the team's capacity to deliver, which should be celebrated if it aligns with the team's capabilities. However, a stable velocity over time is what typically matters for predictability and planning.

The correct answer is D – Provide a delivery range based on the team's estimated velocity.

In Agile, planning is iterative and inherently uncertain. Rather than committing to a fixed schedule, it is best practice to provide a forecasted delivery window based on the team’s actual measured velocity. This reflects the inspect-and-adapt mindset of Agile.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams forecast delivery using velocity ranges derived from completed work. Ranges reflect uncertainty and promote realistic expectations with stakeholders.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.4 – Adaptive Planning)

Mike Griffiths affirms:

“Planning with ranges rather than fixed commitments respects the uncertainty of estimates and the empirical nature of Agile delivery. Forecasts should be based on velocity trends and updated iteratively.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Why the other options are less suitable:

A suggests triangulating data but wrongly implies a precise commitment.

B is more of a work preparation activity, not a planning technique.

C (analogous estimation) is better suited for initial planning, not for an in-progress agile project with real velocity data.

Answer: D

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Spikes are valuable for reducing uncertainty, but agile discouragesspending multiple sprints solely on spikeswithout delivering value. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.2 Spikes and Exploration)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Adaptive Planning), learning and delivery should occurconcurrentlywhenever possible. Teams should strive toinclude high-priority deliverables alongside spikes, particularly in early sprints, to build momentum and maintain stakeholder engagement.

Option Cis correct: executing high-priority stories in parallel with spikes promotes learning and value delivery.

Option AandDsupport spikes but ignore the risk ofdelayed value.

Option Bis valid but administrative; the better choice is to avoid needing prolonged spike sprints at all.

The correct answer is A – Jointly meet with the team and product owner to discuss options and determine the end date. Agile promotes collaborative decision-making. When significant changes in performance arise, discussions should occur between the team and product owner to assess impact, explore value delivery, and make informed decisions.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams regularly review performance trends. Changes in velocity should prompt discussions between the team and product owner to evaluate implications and opportunities.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.4 – Release Planning)

Mike Griffiths states:

“Forecasting must remain collaborative. Teams and product owners work together to determine whether to ship early, expand scope, or adjust timelines.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Incorrect options:

B skips stakeholder collaboration.

C assumes backlog expansion without value validation.

D contradicts agile principles of delivering value early.

Answer: A

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According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 7.2.2), one of the key responsibilities of the agile practitioner is toactively engage stakeholdersthroughout the development cycle—not just during review meetings. Agile frameworks promote continuous collaboration and frequent feedback. Merely attending sprint reviews is passive participation and may lead to missed alignment on expectations.

Mike Griffiths also emphasizes in hisPMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 4: Stakeholder Engagement)that stakeholder satisfaction requires more than periodic visibility—it requiresongoing interactionand inclusion in decision-making and backlog refinement sessions. This deepens shared understanding and reduces the risk of late-stage surprises.

Hence, answerBis correct because proactivestakeholder engagement with the product ownerfosters mutual understanding, timely feedback, and course correction—ensuring the product aligns with expectations.

Understand the current progress:

The project is halfway through development.

The team has reached a stable velocity after 8 iterations.

Each sprint duration is two weeks.

Determine the remaining number of iterations:

Since the project is halfway completed, an equal amount of work remains.

If 8 iterations have been completed, 8 more iterations are required to complete the project.

Calculate the remaining time:

Each iteration (sprint) lasts 2 weeks.

8 iterations × 2 weeks per iteration = 16 weeks.

16 weeks = 4 months.

Understandingproduct vision and customer goalsis foundational to agile. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 2.1 Agile Mindset and Values), early engagement helps teamsconnect their work to real customer outcomes, which increasesmotivation, alignment, and value delivery.

Mike Griffiths (PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 2: Agile Principles and Mindset) also notes thatclear understanding of business goalsensures that team members build the right thing—not just build things right.

Option Ais correct: aligning the team with the product’s purpose drivesvalue-oriented thinking.

Option Bis secondary—understanding comes before acceptance.

Option Cis unrealistic and not the goal of this meeting.

Option Dmay occur, but the main benefit is deeper alignment with value.

According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 7.1 Communication)andPMBOK® Guide (6th Edition, Section 13.3 Manage Stakeholder Engagement),transparency with stakeholdersis fundamental in agile environments. Delays or deviations from expected outcomes must bepromptly communicatedto affected stakeholders to adjust expectations and plans.

Mike Griffiths in thePMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 4: Stakeholder Engagement)emphasizes that one of the key values in agile isresponding to change over following a plan, and that includes openly discussing risks and delays with impacted parties.

Thus,Option Dis correct: the agile coach shouldproactively engage marketing stakeholdersto inform them about the delay and support revised planning.

The correct answer is D — Up-to-date project radiators.

Information radiators provide at-a-glance visibility into project status, progress, blockers, and other key metrics. Sharing or including these visual tools in extended stakeholder communication ensures transparency and up-to-date awareness, which aligns with agile values.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Information radiators provide immediate and transparent access to project health and status. They reduce the need for formal reporting and keep stakeholders aligned in real time.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.6 – Information Radiators)

Mike Griffiths:

“Using radiators to keep stakeholders informed improves trust, accelerates decision-making, and supports ongoing engagement.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

A and B are not relevant for stakeholder reporting.

C is too narrow and lacks the holistic view offered by radiators.

Answer: D

In an adaptive approach to project management, particularly in agile, empowering team leads to manage their teams’ issues and impediments is a key practice. This allows for more autonomy within the teams, ensures that obstacles are handled promptly, and promotes frequent communication among team leads. By giving the leads the authority to resolve issues, they can ensure smooth collaboration across cross-functional teams and maintain alignment with the overall project goals.

In this situation, the scrum master has already escalated the issue to upper management without resolution, so it's important to collect empirical data to further demonstrate the impact of the external dependency. This data can be used to show the consequences of the dependency on the project’s progress, helping upper management understand the severity of the issue. By influencing management and making them accountable for ensuring the external team delivers, the scrum master helps ensure the problem is addressed at a higher level, which is critical for long-term resolution.

Analyzing theburndown chart, we see:

Points Planned(gray squares): decreasing steadily from 50 to 0 over 10 days (ideal burn).

Points Completed(gray triangles):plateau between days 3–6, lagging significantly behind planned completion.

This indicates that theteam is behind schedule, and unless they accelerate, they mayfail to complete all committed work.

According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.4: Burndown Charts)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Monitoring Progress), such divergence between the ideal and actual burn lines indicates that the iteration isat risk.

Option Ais correct: the iteration isin jeopardydue to lack of progress mid-sprint.

Option Bis incorrect—scope removal would show a downward shift in planned points.

Option Cis false—the team isbehind, not ahead.

Option Dis misleading—velocity appears inconsistent (e.g., plateau from day 3–6).

The first priority for the Scrum Master should be to ensure the project has a dedicated, cross-functional team. Scrum teams are self-organizing and cross-functional, meaning they have all the skills needed to complete the work without relying on external resources. The Scrum Master should focus on forming a team that can collaboratively work on the product development, ensuring they are committed to the project and understand their roles and responsibilities within the Scrum framework. This is essential for the team to be effective and aligned with the Scrum principles, ensuring that they can deliver value in iterative cycles.

The correct answer is D – Meet with project stakeholders to review the backlog and determine if the scope should be adjusted. Agile emphasizes continuous stakeholder collaboration and delivering maximum value. If the remaining backlog may not contribute significant value, it’s prudent for the Product Owner to reassess scope and validate changes with stakeholders.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Engage stakeholders continuously to review priorities and business value. If the product delivers sufficient value earlier than anticipated, the scope may be reduced or the project closed.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 3.4 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Mike Griffiths adds:

“Early delivery of value allows teams to stop work that no longer serves business objectives. This requires transparent communication with stakeholders to validate scope adjustments.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

A assumes authority without consulting stakeholders.

B doesn’t address the possible need for scope reduction.

C skips stakeholder validation before deployment decisions.

Answer: D

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The correct answer is A — Provide feedback for completed user stories.

Stakeholder involvement in Agile is ongoing. Their primary role is to give timely and actionable feedback on delivered product increments to ensure alignment with their expectations and business value goals. This feedback is then used to refine the product backlog and guide future iterations.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Stakeholders should engage regularly to inspect product increments and provide feedback to guide value delivery.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.2 – Stakeholder Engagement)

Mike Griffiths:

“In agile projects, stakeholders ensure their needs are met by actively reviewing completed work and providing feedback to influence upcoming work.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

B is the team's responsibility; stakeholders should focus on the “what,” not the “how.”

C is the product owner's responsibility.

D is a collaborative task but not solely a stakeholder responsibility.

Answer: A

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The correct answer is C — All stakeholders are responsible for identifying risks during standups, retrospectives, and other team meetings.

Agile promotes collective ownership. Risk identification and mitigation are shared responsibilities involving the entire team, including the product owner, developers, and other stakeholders. Agile meetings (e.g., stand-ups, retrospectives) are excellent forums for surfacing risks early.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“In agile projects, everyone is responsible for identifying and managing risk. Teams inspect frequently, enabling early detection and resolution of issues.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 7.3 – Risk Management)

Mike Griffiths:

“Risk management is embedded in agile events. Teams don’t defer risk analysis to a specialist—they collaborate continuously to identify, discuss, and respond to risks.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 6 – Problem Detection and Resolution)

Incorrect options:

A ignores active risk management needs.

B assumes individual rather than shared responsibility.

D misrepresents the PO’s role—risks may appear in the backlog, but management is team-based.

Answer: C

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A value stream map is an effective tool for identifying and visualizing the flow of work and the associated delays or handoffs in a process. By mapping out the entire value stream, the team can identify inefficiencies, waste, and bottlenecks, which helps them target areas for improvement. This allows the team to optimize the workflow by reducing unnecessary handovers and delays, which is in line with their goal of improving efficiency.

The team lead should work to resolve the conflict by negotiating with the project director. Since the lead developer cannot complete their work due to the request for a detailed testing plan, the team lead should seek to limit the scope of the documentation request. By negotiating for fewer details or a reduced scope of testing documentation, the team can continue their work on the iteration while still meeting the project director's needs. This approach balances the need to progress with development and address the request without causing significant delays.

To reduce stakeholder risk and encourage early investment in high-risk/high-reward projects, agile recommends breaking the solution intosmall, incremental deliverablescalledMinimally Marketable Features (MMFs). According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.1 Product Roadmap and MMFs)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Value-Driven Delivery), delivering MMFs early allows the business to realize value quickly, validate assumptions, and reduce risk—especially helpful for uncertain or experimental projects.

Option Bis correct: MMFs demonstrate business value early, promoting trust and investment confidence.

Option A (PPC)andD (EV)are traditional project tracking metrics, not suited for early-stage agile investment justification.

Option C(story points) is used forcapacity planning, not financial justification.

Relying solely on the developers' experience with similar systems to define functionality can be limiting and potentially result in misaligned expectations with actual user needs. Effective Agile teams should focus on understanding and addressing the needs of end users, leveraging continuous feedback from customers, and engaging stakeholders directly. This ensures the product is built to meet real user expectations and can evolve as necessary based on user input. Instead of relying on previous experience, the team should be focused on co-creating value with customers through collaboration, feedback, and agile practices like user stories and regular testing.

Security features are typically considerednon-functional requirements (NFRs), which should be captured in theproduct backlogand prioritized accordingly. As per thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.1: Product Backlog)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Value-Driven Delivery), any requested functionality—whether business- or system-level—must beclearly defined as a backlog itemso the team can plan for it.

Option Ais correct: security requirements should beadded to the backlog and prioritizedlike other features.

Option Bmay come later if implementation is unclear, but first, the work must be defined and logged.

Option CandDrepresent clarification steps but don’t directlysupport implementationas backlog management does.

The correct answer is D – Present the idea at the next ceremony attended by stakeholders to obtain their input. Agile emphasizes transparency and collaboration with stakeholders. Since the organization values security highly, decisions that impact quality or policy must be discussed openly with stakeholders who have the authority to weigh cost-benefit trade-offs.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams embrace customer collaboration and transparency. When decisions have business or organizational implications—such as security or compliance—stakeholders must be involved in evaluating trade-offs.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.2 – Stakeholder Engagement)

Mike Griffiths states:

“When teams face decisions that could impact non-functional requirements like security, these should be escalated transparently to stakeholders for evaluation.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

A and C could result in bias or lack of organizational alignment.

B is too late and internal-only for a business-critical concern.

Answer: D

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The correct answer is C – Refer to the remaining prioritized backlog items. Agile planning is iterative and based on the product backlog’s prioritization. During iteration planning, once the team has identified most story points to be delivered, it should refer back to the product backlog and select the next highest-priority user stories to fill in the remaining capacity, considering the team’s historical velocity.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Iteration planning begins with the team reviewing the prioritized backlog items. Based on their velocity, they determine how many stories can be completed. Teams select stories from the top of the backlog and stop when they reach their capacity.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.2 – Iteration Planning)

Mike Griffiths also emphasizes:

“Agile teams rely on a prioritized backlog maintained by the product owner. Iteration planning involves pulling the highest-priority stories into the sprint until the team reaches its forecasted velocity.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Other options are incorrect:

A is counter to adaptive planning and proactive engagement.

B focuses on technical feasibility, not business priority.

D ignores prioritization and may add low-value work.

Answer: C

The correct answer is D — Suggest an iterative approach including timely engagement of all key stakeholders and hold regular review meetings.

Engaging stakeholders continuously and using iteration reviews to validate deliverables ensures that misunderstandings are addressed early. This is especially critical in situations where expectations were not met in previous projects. Agile thrives in environments that require responsiveness to feedback.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Early and continuous stakeholder engagement and regular reviews help ensure alignment and satisfaction, especially when past experiences were negative.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.2 – Stakeholder Engagement)

Mike Griffiths:

“Agile promotes iterative delivery and early validation, minimizing the risk of misaligned expectations and unmet requirements.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

A and C are useful, but don’t directly prevent recurrence of the problem.

B is vague and lacks concrete action.

Answer: D

Theproduct owneris responsible formaintaining and prioritizing the product backlogbased on stakeholder input. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.1: Product Backlog and Prioritization)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 4: Stakeholder Engagement), when a sponsor is dissatisfied, the product owner should confirm that their needs are clearly prioritized and represented in the backlog.

Option Bis correct: ensuring priorities are accurately captured aligns delivery with stakeholder expectations.

Option Ais reactive and not productive.

Option Cpresumes funding is the issue without confirming alignment.

Option Dundermines the product owner’s role.

A psychologically safe environment is essential for aproductive retrospective, especially in the presence of team conflict. ThePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.6 Retrospectives)recommends reviewingworking agreements or ground rulesto remind the team of respectful behavior and to promote openness. This helps reset expectations and encourages participation without fear of judgment.

Mike Griffiths in thePMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 7: Continuous Improvement)emphasizes that retrospectives are abouttrust and transparency, and setting the tone properly enables team learning and resolution.

Option Ais correct: reviewing ground rules reinforces team norms and supports safety.

Option Bmay make individuals feel singled out.

Option Cignores the interpersonal issue and postpones resolution.

Option Descalates unnecessarily and bypasses team ownership.

The correct answer is B – Align with stakeholder expectations and releasable product increments.

In Agile, sprint or iteration reviews provide an opportunity for the team to present completed work and validate it against stakeholder expectations. Demonstrations should showcase working, potentially shippable increments that align with business goals and value delivery.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“The purpose of iteration reviews is to showcase a working product increment. The review should focus on what was completed and how it aligns with stakeholder expectations and business objectives.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 3.5 – Iteration Review)

PMBOK® Guide further reinforces this point:

“The team should deliver functional product increments that are valuable to stakeholders. These should be validated for alignment with scope and business value.”

(PMBOK® Guide, 6th Edition, Section 5.5 – Validate Scope)

Mike Griffiths notes:

“Product demonstrations should confirm stakeholder needs are being met. The team’s focus should be on verifying value delivery, product completeness, and stakeholder alignment.”

(Mike Griffiths, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery / Stakeholder Feedback)

Why other options fall short:

A is valuable context, but doesn’t directly ensure demonstration success.

C reflects team improvement but is not the purpose of a product demo.

D speaks to collaboration, not validation of stakeholder alignment.

Answer: B

The correct answer is C – Request that the Product Owner include a spike in the next iteration's backlog so they can perform an initial investigation.

A spike is a time-boxed activity that allows teams to research or experiment to gain knowledge about technical or functional aspects of an upcoming feature or integration. Since the team lacks experience with the new component, using a spike will allow them to explore and reduce uncertainty before actual development begins.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Spikes are research activities that help teams gain the knowledge needed to reduce uncertainty and risk in upcoming stories.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.3 – Backlog Refinement)

Mike Griffiths writes:

“Spikes are used when the team is not confident about how to implement a story due to technical or domain uncertainty. Spikes help mitigate risk and inform estimation.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Other options are suboptimal:

A involves team extension, which contradicts Agile's preference for stable, cross-functional teams.

B is misaligned—technical investigation is a team responsibility, not the Product Owner's.

D avoids learning and may compromise solution quality.

Answer: C

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As a servant leader, it is important to address the root cause of the disruption, which in this case is the director's repeated visits and distracting conversations. Coaching the company director on agile practices and good communication helps them understand the need to minimize interruptions and foster a productive environment for the team. This approach will help align the director's behavior with Agile principles, ensuring that the team can focus on delivering value without unnecessary distractions. By educating the director, the servant leader can improve overall team dynamics and project efficiency.