4.4: PMI-ACP Style Sample Questions

Sample Questions

1. During the Daily Scrum, each developer gives a status update to the project manager. The meeting takes 40 minutes and does not result in any adjustment to the team's plan. What should the Scrum Master do?
   1. Continue the meeting because status reporting is the purpose of the Daily Scrum.
   2. Coach the team that the Daily Scrum is for Developers to inspect progress and adapt their plan.
   3. Ask the Product Owner to assign tasks during the meeting.
   4. Cancel the Daily Scrum permanently.
2. A stakeholder wants to add several new items to the current Sprint. What is the best Agile response?
   1. Add the items immediately because Agile welcomes all change.
   2. Ask the team to work overtime.
   3. Discuss the request with the Product Owner and evaluate impact on the Sprint Goal.
   4. Reject all changes until the end of the project.
3. A team estimates a story as 13 points, but two Developers estimate it as 3 points. What should the team do?
   1. Average the numbers and move on.
   2. Let the manager decide.
   3. Discuss the difference to uncover assumptions and clarify the work.
   4. Remove the story from the backlog permanently.
4. A team's velocity increased after the manager started comparing teams publicly. What is the most likely risk?
   1. The team has definitely become more productive.
   2. The team may inflate estimates or reduce quality to appear faster.
   3. Velocity is now more accurate.
   4. The team no longer needs retrospectives.
5. A Product Backlog contains hundreds of outdated and unclear items. Sprint Planning is taking too long and Developers are confused about priorities. What should happen next?
   1. Start the Sprint anyway.
   2. Conduct backlog refinement and reorder items based on value and clarity.
   3. Move all items into the Sprint Backlog.
   4. Ask Developers to ignore the Product Owner.
6. During the Sprint Review, the team shows slides instead of working product because the increment is not fully integrated or tested. What is the best response?
   1. Continue using slides because stakeholders only need a summary.
   2. Strengthen the Definition of Done so future increments are usable and inspectable.
   3. Cancel Sprint Reviews until the product is complete.
   4. Ask stakeholders to provide feedback without seeing anything.
7. A Scrum Team keeps discussing the same problem in every retrospective, but nothing changes. What should the Scrum Master encourage?
   1. Stop holding retrospectives.
   2. Choose one specific improvement action and carry it into the next Sprint.
   3. Use the retrospective to assign blame.
   4. Ask management to write the retrospective notes.
8. A team faces uncertainty about whether a third-party API can support a planned feature. What is the best Agile response?
   1. Build the entire feature and hope the API works.
   2. Create a timeboxed spike to investigate feasibility.
   3. Stop all development until the vendor guarantees success.
   4. Ignore the risk until the Sprint Review.
9. A manager asks the Scrum Master to assign tasks to Developers to improve accountability. What should the Scrum Master do?
   1. Assign the tasks because the Scrum Master manages the team.
   2. Explain that Developers manage the Sprint Backlog and decide how to do the work.
   3. Ask stakeholders to assign the tasks instead.
   4. Cancel Sprint Planning.
10. The team has many blocked items, but stakeholders are unaware of the delays. What would help most?
    1. Hide the blockers until the end of the Sprint.
    2. Create an impediment board or other information radiator to make blockers visible.
    3. Increase velocity targets.
    4. Add more work to the Sprint Backlog.