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

Question 1: What is the recommended size range for a Scrum development team?

3 to 9 members (Correct answer)
20 to 30 members
1 to 2 members
10 to 15 members

Correct answer: 3 to 9 members

Scrum recommends roughly 3 to 9 developers to stay small enough for agility but large enough to deliver value.

Question 2: Which Kanban practice most directly helps a team make its process policies clear to everyone?

Limiting WIP
Measuring cycle time
Visualizing the workflow
Making policies explicit (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Making policies explicit

Making process policies explicit is the core practice ensuring shared, transparent rules for how work flows.

Question 3: Who is responsible for ordering the items in the Product Backlog?

The Developers
The Product Owner (Correct answer)
The stakeholders
The Scrum Master

Correct answer: The Product Owner

The Product Owner is solely accountable for ordering Product Backlog items to best achieve goals.

Question 4: What is a 'rolling wave' release plan?

A plan that covers all sprints in equal detail
A waterfall plan adapted for Agile teams
A plan where near-term releases are detailed and future releases are high-level (Correct answer)
A plan updated only at the end of each release

Correct answer: A plan where near-term releases are detailed and future releases are high-level

Rolling wave planning keeps near-term releases in detail while treating future releases at a higher level, refining as more is learned.

Question 5: A team finishes a feature exactly as specified, but the market has shifted and customers no longer need it. Which Agile principle was neglected?

Build projects around motivated individuals
Deliver working software frequently
Welcome changing requirements, even late in development (Correct answer)
Maximize work not done

Correct answer: Welcome changing requirements, even late in development

Agile welcomes changing requirements to keep delivering relevant value.

Question 6: What is 'team velocity' and how does it support collaboration?

The number of meetings the team holds per sprint
The rate at which new members join the team
The average amount of work a team completes per sprint, used to plan collaboratively and set realistic expectations (Correct answer)
The speed at which the team resolves merge conflicts

Correct answer: The average amount of work a team completes per sprint, used to plan collaboratively and set realistic expectations

Team velocity measures average story points completed per sprint, giving the whole team a shared, empirical basis for planning future work collaboratively.

Question 7: A Product Owner wants a chart that not only tracks the team's progress towards a release goal but also clearly visualizes the impact of scope changes over time. Which reporting tool is most effective for this purpose?

Cycle Time Scatterplot
Velocity Trend Chart
Sprint Burndown Chart
Release Burnup Chart (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Release Burnup Chart

A Release Burnup Chart is ideal for visualizing scope changes. It has two primary lines: one showing the cumulative work completed and another showing the total scope of the release. When scope is added, the total scope line moves up, making the impact on the release plan immediately apparent in relation to the completed work. [20, 24, 29]

Question 8: What does a steadily widening band on a Cumulative Flow Diagram indicate?

A perfectly balanced workflow
That throughput is constant and ideal
That the team is shrinking
Increasing WIP and likely growing lead times (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Increasing WIP and likely growing lead times

A widening band means items are entering faster than they leave, signaling rising WIP and lengthening lead times.

Question 9: Which of the following best describes 'inspect and adapt' as a continuous improvement concept?

Adapt only when a crisis occurs
Regularly examine work and process, then adjust (Correct answer)
Plan everything upfront and never change
Inspect only the final product at release

Correct answer: Regularly examine work and process, then adjust

Inspect and adapt means frequently examining both product and process and making adjustments.

Question 10: In a Kanban system, which of the following is the primary purpose of making process policies explicit?

To enforce a strict, unchangeable set of rules for the workflow.
To eliminate the need for team meetings and discussions.
To create a common understanding of how work flows through the system. (Correct answer)
To assign blame when work items are delayed.

Correct answer: To create a common understanding of how work flows through the system.

Making process policies explicit, such as defining what 'Done' means for each stage or when an item can be pulled into the next column, creates a shared and transparent understanding for everyone on the team. This clarity helps to reduce ambiguity and ensures consistency in how work is performed, which is essential for managing flow and enabling collaborative improvement.

Question 11: A stakeholder repeatedly interrupts Developers mid-Sprint with new requests. Who should help address this impediment?

The Scrum Master, by coaching and protecting the team's focus (Correct answer)
The Product Owner adds every request immediately
The stakeholder joins the daily standup to assign tasks
The Developers ignore all requests

Correct answer: The Scrum Master, by coaching and protecting the team's focus

The Scrum Master helps remove impediments and protects the team's focus.

Question 12: What does the Agile Manifesto's principle on face-to-face communication emphasize?

Video conferencing as a replacement for email
Executive-level presentations to key stakeholders
Daily standups held in person only
The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team

The Agile Manifesto states that face-to-face conversation is the most efficient and effective method for conveying information within a development team.

Question 13: What does it mean for an Agile team to be 'self-organizing'?

The team writes its own user stories without product owner input
The team has no manager or accountability
The team decides internally how best to accomplish its work without being micromanaged (Correct answer)
The team selects its own members and sets its own salaries

Correct answer: The team decides internally how best to accomplish its work without being micromanaged

Self-organizing teams determine how to best accomplish their goals internally, fostering ownership and accountability without top-down micromanagement.

Question 14: A team repeatedly identifies the same impediment across retrospectives but never resolves it. What is the most likely root cause?

The Sprint length is wrong
Improvement actions are not tracked or owned (Correct answer)
The retrospective is too short
The team has too many members

Correct answer: Improvement actions are not tracked or owned

Without assigned owners and follow-up, improvement actions get lost and recurring issues persist.

Question 15: In Planning Poker, why are Fibonacci-like numbers used instead of a linear 1-10 scale?

They reflect growing uncertainty as size increases (Correct answer)
They map directly to calendar days
They force every story to be the same size
They are easier for managers to total

Correct answer: They reflect growing uncertainty as size increases

The widening gaps acknowledge that larger items carry more uncertainty, discouraging false precision.

Question 16: In the INVEST mnemonic for good user stories, what does the 'N' stand for?

Numbered
Nominal
Necessary
Negotiable (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Negotiable

INVEST stands for Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, and Testable.

Question 17: Which practice most directly reflects the principle of sustainable pace?

Mandatory weekend overtime to hit a deadline
Planning a workload the team can sustain sprint after sprint (Correct answer)
Compressing two sprints into one
Skipping retrospectives to save time

Correct answer: Planning a workload the team can sustain sprint after sprint

Sustainable pace means planning work the team can maintain indefinitely without burnout.

Question 18: What does 'servant leadership' mean in an Agile context?

Leaders remove impediments and support the team's success (Correct answer)
Leaders make all technical decisions
Leaders focus mainly on reporting to executives
Leaders command and control the team's daily tasks

Correct answer: Leaders remove impediments and support the team's success

Servant leaders serve the team by removing impediments and enabling their success.

Question 19: A stakeholder insists on attending daily standups but frequently derails the meeting with questions. What is the recommended Agile approach?

Invite the stakeholder to observe silently and schedule separate time for their questions after the standup (Correct answer)
Convert the daily standup to a longer weekly status meeting
Ask the stakeholder to submit all questions in writing only
Exclude all stakeholders from daily standups entirely

Correct answer: Invite the stakeholder to observe silently and schedule separate time for their questions after the standup

Stakeholders may observe standups but questions and detailed discussions should happen after the standup to preserve its timebox and team focus.

Question 20: What is the recommended response when a single user story is too large to complete in one sprint?

Split it into smaller vertical slices (Correct answer)
Increase the sprint length
Estimate it in hours instead of points
Assign more developers to it

Correct answer: Split it into smaller vertical slices

Large stories (epics) should be split into smaller, independently valuable slices.

Question 21: How does gathering data (like metrics) before a retrospective improve its effectiveness?

It removes the need for team input
It grounds discussion in facts rather than only opinions (Correct answer)
It guarantees no impediments exist
It makes the meeting longer

Correct answer: It grounds discussion in facts rather than only opinions

Data anchors the conversation in evidence, leading to better-informed improvement decisions.

Question 22: What is the relationship between the product backlog and release planning in Agile?

The product backlog is the source from which release content is selected and prioritized (Correct answer)
Release planning and the product backlog are managed by different teams
Release planning replaces the product backlog
The product backlog is only used during sprint planning, not release planning

Correct answer: The product backlog is the source from which release content is selected and prioritized

Release planning draws directly from the prioritized product backlog, selecting the highest-value items to include in the upcoming release.

Question 23: A team estimates a story they have never done before and has no comparable past work. Which technique best handles this uncertainty?

Skipping the story entirely
A spike to gather information first (Correct answer)
Assigning the highest story point value
Estimating in exact hours

Correct answer: A spike to gather information first

A spike is a time-boxed research task used to reduce uncertainty before estimating.

Question 24: According to Agile principles, what is the most efficient method of conveying information within a development team?

Face-to-face conversation (Correct answer)
Shared spreadsheets
Detailed email threads
Formal status reports

Correct answer: Face-to-face conversation

Face-to-face conversation is the most efficient and effective method of conveying information.

Question 25: Why might a team add an explicit 'Done' sub-column (e.g., 'Dev Done') before the next stage?

To remove the need for testing
To increase WIP limits automatically
To make handoff readiness and pull points visible (Correct answer)
To hide blocked work

Correct answer: To make handoff readiness and pull points visible

Splitting columns into 'doing' and 'done' clarifies when an item is ready to be pulled downstream.

Question 26: Which technique is commonly used in Agile to forecast when features will be completed?

Critical path method
Velocity-based forecasting (Correct answer)
Earned value management
Gantt chart tracking

Correct answer: Velocity-based forecasting

Velocity-based forecasting uses the team's average story points per sprint to predict when backlog items will be completed.

Question 27: What is 'osmotic communication' in Agile teams?

Sharing meeting notes with the entire organization
Information absorbed passively by team members sitting near each other (Correct answer)
Using email to keep all team members informed
A structured daily communication meeting

Correct answer: Information absorbed passively by team members sitting near each other

Osmotic communication refers to the passive absorption of relevant information by co-located team members who overhear conversations happening around them.

Question 28: What is 'swarming' in Agile team practice?

A planning technique for estimating large epics
Holding all meetings on the same day to free up the rest of the week
Assigning one person to monitor team communication channels
Multiple team members simultaneously working on the same item to complete it faster (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Multiple team members simultaneously working on the same item to complete it faster

Swarming is when multiple team members focus on the same work item simultaneously to remove blockers and complete it quickly, reducing WIP and cycle time.

Question 29: Which statement best captures the Agile attitude toward technical excellence?

Refactoring should be avoided to save time
Continuous attention to good design enhances agility (Correct answer)
Quality can be sacrificed to meet deadlines
Design matters only at project start

Correct answer: Continuous attention to good design enhances agility

Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.

Question 30: What is the maximum duration of a single Sprint?

Two months
One month or less (Correct answer)
Three months
Six weeks

Correct answer: One month or less

Sprints are fixed length events of one month or less to create consistency.

Question 31: At regular intervals, what does the team do to become more effective?

Increase the team size
Reflect on how to become more effective and tune its behavior (Correct answer)
Rewrite the project charter
Reassign all roles

Correct answer: Reflect on how to become more effective and tune its behavior

At regular intervals the team reflects on how to become more effective and tunes its behavior accordingly.

Question 32: What is a Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) primarily used to visualize?

The project budget burn rate
Customer satisfaction scores
Work distribution across stages and flow stability over time (Correct answer)
Individual developer performance rankings

Correct answer: Work distribution across stages and flow stability over time

A CFD shows how many items are in each stage over time, revealing bottlenecks and growing WIP.

Question 33: What are the three types of coaches?

Mentoring, Teaching and Advising
Teaching, Coaching and Advising (Correct answer)
Coaching, Informator, Advising
Coaching, Mentoring and Advising

Correct answer: Teaching, Coaching and Advising

In professional development and Agile contexts, coaching often encompasses a spectrum of approaches to support growth. 'Teaching' involves imparting specific knowledge or skills, 'Coaching' focuses on guiding individuals to discover their own solutions and improve performance, and 'Advising' offers expert recommendations or suggestions based on experience. These three roles represent different ways a coach can support an individual or team's development.

Question 34: How does a 'fixed-date' class of service differ from a standard one?

It has a hard deadline that influences when it must be prioritized (Correct answer)
It can never be expedited
It is always the lowest priority
It is exempt from WIP limits permanently

Correct answer: It has a hard deadline that influences when it must be prioritized

Fixed-date items carry a firm due date, so they are scheduled and prioritized to avoid missing that deadline.

Question 35: Which communication approach aligns best with Agile values when sharing project status?

Frequent, lightweight, and transparent communication through conversations and visual tools (Correct answer)
Structured executive briefings held at major milestones
Formal change requests submitted for stakeholder review
Comprehensive written reports sent at planned intervals

Correct answer: Frequent, lightweight, and transparent communication through conversations and visual tools

Agile favors frequent, transparent communication that keeps stakeholders informed without heavy documentation overhead.

Question 36: What is the role of trust in an Agile team?

Trust is built by the scrum master assigning roles clearly
Trust means the team never questions the product owner's decisions
Trust enables teams to self-organize, collaborate openly, and take risks without fear of blame (Correct answer)
Trust eliminates the need for sprint reviews

Correct answer: Trust enables teams to self-organize, collaborate openly, and take risks without fear of blame

Trust is foundational in Agile — it enables self-organization, honest retrospectives, collective decision-making, and a safe environment for experimentation.

Question 37: What is the purpose of an Agile information radiator in relation to stakeholders?

To provide real-time, always-visible project status without needing to request reports (Correct answer)
To replace sprint review meetings with self-service dashboards
To automate stakeholder notification emails
To limit information access to approved stakeholders only

Correct answer: To provide real-time, always-visible project status without needing to request reports

Information radiators give stakeholders on-demand visibility into project progress, fostering transparency without requiring formal reporting cycles.

Question 38: Which artifact best helps a team spot trends in WIP, throughput, and lead time over time?

An org chart
A cumulative flow diagram (Correct answer)
A Gantt chart
A burndown of story points only

Correct answer: A cumulative flow diagram

The cumulative flow diagram visualizes WIP, throughput, and approximate lead time trends together.

Question 39: What typically happens when a column's WIP limit is reached and a worker becomes free?

They increase the WIP limit on the spot
They wait idle until the next day
They immediately pull a brand new item anyway
They help clear the bottlenecked work rather than starting new items (Correct answer)

Correct answer: They help clear the bottlenecked work rather than starting new items

When WIP is full, idle workers swarm to unblock the constraint instead of starting new work, keeping flow smooth.

Question 40: Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to do what?

Maintain a constant pace indefinitely (Correct answer)
Avoid all meetings
Finish in one sprint
Work overtime indefinitely

Correct answer: Maintain a constant pace indefinitely

Agile promotes a constant, sustainable pace that can be maintained indefinitely.

Question 41: Little's Law relates average lead time to which two quantities?

Team size and salary
Backlog size and sprint length
WIP and throughput (Correct answer)
Story points and velocity

Correct answer: WIP and throughput

Little's Law states average lead time equals average WIP divided by average throughput.

Question 42: What is the Agile principle regarding sustainable pace?

Sustainable pace only applies to the product owner, not developers
Overtime is encouraged during every sprint to meet commitments
Agile promotes a sustainable, consistent pace that teams can maintain indefinitely without burnout (Correct answer)
Teams should work at maximum capacity to deliver the most value

Correct answer: Agile promotes a sustainable, consistent pace that teams can maintain indefinitely without burnout

The Agile Manifesto emphasizes sustainable development, meaning sponsors, developers, and users should maintain a constant, indefinite pace without burning out.

Question 43: Affinity estimation is most useful when a team needs to size what?

A single critical user story
A large number of backlog items quickly (Correct answer)
The release date precisely
The sprint retrospective actions

Correct answer: A large number of backlog items quickly

Affinity estimation groups many items by relative size rapidly, ideal for large backlogs.

Question 44: Which scenario best illustrates 'responding to change over following a plan'?

Reprioritizing the backlog when a competitor releases a new feature (Correct answer)
Refusing all scope changes after sprint planning
Locking requirements at the contract stage
Rejecting a customer's new market insight to protect the schedule

Correct answer: Reprioritizing the backlog when a competitor releases a new feature

Reprioritizing the backlog in response to market change reflects valuing responsiveness over rigid plans.

Question 45: A customer submits a feature request on May 1st. The product team prioritizes it and adds it to the product backlog on May 5th. The development team starts working on it on May 15th and completes the work on May 25th. What is the Lead Time for this feature?

20 days
25 days (Correct answer)
10 days
14 days

Correct answer: 25 days

Lead Time measures the total time from the initial customer request to the final delivery of the completed work. In this scenario, the clock starts when the request was made on May 1st and ends when the work was completed on May 25th, resulting in a total Lead Time of 25 days. Cycle Time, in contrast, would be 10 days (from May 15th to May 25th). [2, 4, 5]

Question 46: What is 'flow efficiency' in Kanban?

The total count of columns in use
The percentage of the team present each day
The number of items completed per developer
The ratio of active work time to total lead time (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The ratio of active work time to total lead time

Flow efficiency compares value-adding time to total elapsed time, exposing how much time items spend waiting.

Question 47: Which metric measures the total time from when a work item is requested to when it is delivered?

Cycle time
Lead time (Correct answer)
Velocity
Story points

Correct answer: Lead time

Lead time spans the customer request to delivery, while cycle time measures only active work.

Question 48: Cycle time in Agile metrics measures:

Total project duration
The length of a sprint
Time from idea to backlog entry
Time from when work starts to when it is completed (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Time from when work starts to when it is completed

Cycle time measures how long an item takes from the start of active work to completion.

Question 49: According to the Agile Manifesto, which is valued more?

Working software over comprehensive documentation (Correct answer)
Contract negotiation over collaboration
Following a plan over responding to change
Comprehensive documentation over working software

Correct answer: Working software over comprehensive documentation

The Manifesto values working software over comprehensive documentation.

Question 50: What is a 'team working agreement' in Agile?

A legal contract between the team and the client
A set of norms and expectations the team creates collaboratively to guide how they work together (Correct answer)
A list of tasks assigned to each team member for the sprint
A formal document approved by the project manager

Correct answer: A set of norms and expectations the team creates collaboratively to guide how they work together

A team working agreement is a collaboratively created set of norms — such as communication preferences and meeting rules — that guides how the team operates.

Question 51: How should teams handle scope changes during a release in Agile?

Escalate all changes to the PMO for approval
Reject all scope changes once the release begins
Accept all scope changes to satisfy the customer
Use trade-off analysis to swap in new items by removing equivalent scope elsewhere (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Use trade-off analysis to swap in new items by removing equivalent scope elsewhere

Agile teams handle mid-release scope changes by trading new items against existing ones of equal size to protect capacity and delivery commitments.

Question 52: The Agile Manifesto values 'Individuals and interactions over...' what?

Processes and tools (Correct answer)
Contract negotiation
Comprehensive documentation
Following a plan

Correct answer: Processes and tools

The first value of the Agile Manifesto is 'Individuals and interactions over processes and tools'. This emphasizes that while processes and tools have their place, the people driving the development and their ability to collaborate effectively are more critical to success.

Question 53: Kanban is best described as a method that promotes which kind of change?

Mandatory adoption of new job titles
Immediate, radical reorganization of roles
Evolutionary, incremental improvement starting from the current process (Correct answer)
A fixed-length sprint cadence

Correct answer: Evolutionary, incremental improvement starting from the current process

Kanban starts with what you do now and encourages gradual, evolutionary change with minimal resistance.

Question 54: Which statement best embodies the Agile principle of building projects around motivated individuals?

Micromanaging team members' tasks to ensure they are always productive.
Assigning individual performance bonuses based on lines of code written.
Mandating specific tools and processes that every team member must follow without deviation.
Providing the team with the environment and support they need, and trusting them to get the job done. (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Providing the team with the environment and support they need, and trusting them to get the job done.

This principle directly states, 'Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.' This reflects a servant-leadership approach where management's role is to empower the team and remove impediments, fostering an environment of autonomy and ownership.

Question 55: Unlike Scrum, which uses time-boxed Sprints, the Kanban method is characterized by what kind of delivery approach?

A phase-gated, sequential model
A continuous flow model (Correct answer)
A release-driven, quarterly cycle
A project-based, big-bang delivery

Correct answer: A continuous flow model

The Kanban method is fundamentally a continuous flow system. Work items are pulled into the workflow as capacity becomes available, rather than being planned in fixed-length iterations like Scrum Sprints. This allows for a more flexible and continuous delivery of value.

Question 56: An urgent production bug arrives. Which class of service typically applies?

Standard
Fixed-date
Intangible
Expedite (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Expedite

Expedite (or 'silver bullet') class lets critical items bypass WIP limits to be resolved immediately.

Question 57: What role does 'working software' play in stakeholder communication?

It helps the team track velocity more accurately
It serves as the primary measure of progress that stakeholders can directly evaluate (Correct answer)
It is only relevant after final user acceptance testing
It replaces all other forms of documentation and reporting

Correct answer: It serves as the primary measure of progress that stakeholders can directly evaluate

Working software is the most concrete and trustworthy way for stakeholders to evaluate actual progress and validate their investment.

Question 58: What is the primary purpose of a product roadmap in Agile?

To communicate the strategic direction and planned evolution of a product (Correct answer)
To replace the product backlog
To assign tasks to individual developers
To document every sprint's completed work

Correct answer: To communicate the strategic direction and planned evolution of a product

A product roadmap provides a high-level visual summary that communicates the strategic direction and planned evolution of a product over time.

Question 59: What is the time-box for the Daily Scrum?

One hour
10 minutes
15 minutes (Correct answer)
30 minutes

Correct answer: 15 minutes

The Daily Scrum is time-boxed to 15 minutes regardless of Sprint length.

Question 60: What does a story point primarily represent?

Exact hours of coding time
The number of developers needed
The business priority of the item
Relative effort, complexity, and uncertainty (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Relative effort, complexity, and uncertainty

Story points are a relative measure combining effort, complexity, and risk rather than absolute time.

Question 61: According to the 12 Principles behind the Agile Manifesto, what is the primary measure of progress?

Approval of comprehensive documentation
Working software (Correct answer)
Percentage of tasks completed
Hours logged by the team

Correct answer: Working software

One of the key principles of the Agile Manifesto is that 'Working software is the primary measure of progress.' This shifts the focus from intermediate deliverables, like documentation or task completion charts, to the ultimate goal of delivering functional value to the customer.

Question 62: Which technique helps Agile teams identify all relevant stakeholders at the start of a project?

Sprint retrospective
Stakeholder mapping or stakeholder analysis (Correct answer)
Risk register review
SWOT analysis

Correct answer: Stakeholder mapping or stakeholder analysis

Stakeholder mapping helps identify who has interest in or influence over the project, ensuring no key voice is overlooked.

Question 63: Why is 'maximizing the amount of work not done' considered essential in Agile?

It lets the team avoid responsibility
It eliminates testing
It reduces the need for any planning
Simplicity focuses effort on the highest-value work (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Simplicity focuses effort on the highest-value work

Simplicity—the art of maximizing work not done—focuses the team on what truly adds value.

Question 64: A team's board shows items piling up in the 'Testing' column. What does this most likely indicate?

A bottleneck where testing capacity is constrained (Correct answer)
That developers are working too slowly
That the WIP limit on testing is too high
That the board needs more columns

Correct answer: A bottleneck where testing capacity is constrained

Accumulation in one column signals a bottleneck where that stage cannot keep pace with upstream flow.

Question 65: A key stakeholder is unhappy with the progress on a feature and asks a Developer to change the priority of an item in the Product Backlog. How should the Developer respond?

Organize a meeting with the entire Scrum Team to vote on the stakeholder's request.
Advise the stakeholder to discuss their concerns and desired changes with the Product Owner. (Correct answer)
Ignore the request as only the Scrum Team can alter the Product Backlog.
Make the change, as keeping stakeholders happy is the highest priority.

Correct answer: Advise the stakeholder to discuss their concerns and desired changes with the Product Owner.

The Product Owner is the sole person accountable for effective Product Backlog management, which includes ordering the items. For anyone to make a change, they must convince the Product Owner.

Question 66: Why might a team prefer story points over ideal days?

Ideal days are illegal in Scrum
Points always equal one hour
Ideal days require management approval
Points avoid implying a specific person's working speed (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Points avoid implying a specific person's working speed

Story points abstract away individual speed, making estimates team-shared rather than person-specific.

Question 67: Who is accountable for creating a usable Increment every Sprint?

Scrum Master
Stakeholders
Product Owner
Developers (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Developers

The Developers are accountable for creating a usable Increment each Sprint.

Question 68: A blocked item sits idle waiting on an external vendor. The best Kanban response is to:

Mark it blocked, make the impediment visible, and track it (Correct answer)
Raise the WIP limit to pull more work
Delete it from the board
Ignore it until the vendor responds

Correct answer: Mark it blocked, make the impediment visible, and track it

Visualizing and tracking blockers exposes impediments so they can be actively managed and resolved.

Question 69: A key stakeholder keeps changing requirements after sprint planning. What is the best Agile response?

Channel change requests into the product backlog for prioritization in future sprints (Correct answer)
Accommodate all changes immediately to maintain stakeholder satisfaction
Escalate the behavior to the project steering committee
Freeze all requirements at the start of each sprint and reject changes

Correct answer: Channel change requests into the product backlog for prioritization in future sprints

Agile embraces change but manages it through the backlog, allowing the team to complete committed work while scheduling changes appropriately.

Question 70: How does Agile differ from waterfall in release planning?

Agile requires sign-off from all stakeholders before any release
Agile does not plan releases at all
Agile supports frequent, incremental releases rather than one big release at the end (Correct answer)
Agile releases are always annual

Correct answer: Agile supports frequent, incremental releases rather than one big release at the end

Agile encourages frequent, incremental releases that deliver value continuously, rather than a single large release after all development is complete.

Question 71: What is psychological safety in the context of Agile teams?

Conducting background checks on all team members
The belief that team members will not be punished for speaking up with ideas, questions, or mistakes (Correct answer)
A secure login system for team collaboration tools
Having an anonymous feedback system

Correct answer: The belief that team members will not be punished for speaking up with ideas, questions, or mistakes

Psychological safety is the shared belief that the team environment is safe for interpersonal risk-taking, enabling honest communication and learning.

Question 72: A stakeholder requests a feature that conflicts with the product vision. Who is primarily responsible for addressing this?

The Scrum Master, by facilitating a compromise meeting
The project sponsor, by overriding the stakeholder's request
The development team, by evaluating technical feasibility
The Product Owner, by managing the backlog and stakeholder expectations (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The Product Owner, by managing the backlog and stakeholder expectations

The Product Owner owns the product backlog and is responsible for balancing stakeholder needs against the product vision.

Question 73: What does 'time-boxing' mean in Agile release planning?

Limiting work in progress to reduce context switching
Estimating how many hours each task will take
Blocking time on the calendar for meetings
Setting a fixed duration for a sprint or release, regardless of how much work is completed (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Setting a fixed duration for a sprint or release, regardless of how much work is completed

Time-boxing sets a fixed, non-negotiable duration for a sprint or release, forcing the team to prioritize and deliver the most valuable work within that window.

Question 74: Elapsed Time is defined by which of the following?

Is the same as Ideal Time
Is the amount of time the team spent on the iteration
Is the amount of time that passes on a clock or perhaps a calendar (Correct answer)
Is the amount of time that something takes when stripped of all peripheral activities

Correct answer: Is the amount of time that passes on a clock or perhaps a calendar

Elapsed time refers to the actual duration that passes from the start to the end of an activity, as measured by a clock or calendar. Unlike ideal time, which excludes interruptions, elapsed time accounts for all real-world factors like breaks, meetings, and other non-work activities. It represents the total wall-clock time taken for a task or project to be completed.

Question 75: How does Agile address the challenge of distributed or remote teams?

Agile only works for co-located teams
Remote teams run sprints of longer duration to compensate for communication delays
Distributed teams use video calls, collaboration tools, and overlapping hours to replicate the benefits of co-location (Correct answer)
The product owner travels to each location weekly

Correct answer: Distributed teams use video calls, collaboration tools, and overlapping hours to replicate the benefits of co-location

Distributed Agile teams use video conferencing, shared digital boards, and overlapping working hours to maintain the communication richness Agile requires.

Question 76: Stakeholders are typically invited to attend which Scrum event?

Sprint Planning
The Sprint Review (Correct answer)
The Daily Scrum
The Sprint Retrospective

Correct answer: The Sprint Review

The Sprint Review is a collaborative event where stakeholders inspect the Increment and give feedback.

Question 77: How many principles support the Agile Manifesto?

4
10
15
12 (Correct answer)

Correct answer: 12

There are 12 principles behind the Agile Manifesto.

Question 78: How should an Agile team handle a situation where one member has significantly more work than others?

Allow the overloaded member to work overtime to catch up
Reassign the work to the product owner
Leave it for the next sprint since it is the member's responsibility
The team swarms to help the overloaded member so the sprint goal is met collectively (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The team swarms to help the overloaded member so the sprint goal is met collectively

Agile promotes collective ownership, so the team swarms on overloaded tasks to ensure sprint goals are met as a group effort.

Question 79: One of your stakeholders need more information than the vision statement gives, but not as much as the release and iteration plans provide. With which of the following progress reports would you share this stakeholder's information?

Status email
Iteration plan
Productivity chart
Roadmap (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Roadmap

A product roadmap provides a high-level visual summary of the product's vision, strategic direction, and planned evolution over time. It offers more detail than a simple vision statement by outlining key initiatives and features, but it avoids the granular detail found in release or iteration plans. This makes it ideal for stakeholders who need a strategic overview of upcoming goals without getting bogged down in specifics.

Question 80: During Sprint Planning, who is responsible for ensuring the team understands the Product Backlog items well enough to forecast work?

Only senior Developers
The Product Owner clarifies items and the Developers do the forecasting (Correct answer)
An external business analyst
The Scrum Master alone

Correct answer: The Product Owner clarifies items and the Developers do the forecasting

The Product Owner ensures items are understood, and Developers forecast the work they will do.

Question 81: What is a 'cross-functional' Agile team?

A team with all the skills needed to deliver a working product increment without depending on external teams (Correct answer)
A team made up of members from different companies
A team where every member performs every role
A team that works across multiple projects simultaneously

Correct answer: A team with all the skills needed to deliver a working product increment without depending on external teams

A cross-functional team has all the skills — development, testing, design, etc. — needed to deliver a complete, working product increment independently.

Question 82: Which principle supports giving a team a stable, supportive environment?

Build projects around motivated individuals and trust them (Correct answer)
Centralize all decisions with managers
Measure progress by hours logged
Maximize documentation

Correct answer: Build projects around motivated individuals and trust them

The principle of building around motivated individuals stresses providing environment, support, and trust.

Question 83: A team's velocity has been 30, 32, and 28 points over three sprints. What is the most reasonable forecast for the next sprint?

Around 30 points based on the average (Correct answer)
Velocity cannot be used for forecasting
At least 50 to be ambitious
Exactly 90 points combined

Correct answer: Around 30 points based on the average

Average historical velocity gives a reasonable, sustainable forecast.

Question 84: What is the purpose of a daily standup (daily scrum) in fostering team collaboration?

To synchronize the team's work, identify blockers, and adapt the day's plan (Correct answer)
To report progress to management
To assign new tasks to team members
To review and update the product backlog

Correct answer: To synchronize the team's work, identify blockers, and adapt the day's plan

The daily standup synchronizes the team around progress, surfaces impediments early, and enables quick coordination to adapt the plan for the day.

Question 85: The Product Owner may represent the needs of many stakeholders in the Product Backlog. Is the Product Owner one person or a committee?

The entire Developer group
A committee that votes
One person (Correct answer)
Always two co-owners

Correct answer: One person

The Product Owner is one person, not a committee, though they may represent many stakeholders.

Question 86: What is the recommended size for an Agile Scrum team?

5–9 people (excluding scrum master and product owner) (Correct answer)
15–20 people
2–3 people
Any size, as long as everyone has a defined role

Correct answer: 5–9 people (excluding scrum master and product owner)

Scrum recommends teams of 5–9 developers, small enough to communicate easily and large enough to complete meaningful work each sprint.

Question 87: A product owner reorders the backlog mid-sprint. According to Scrum, the current sprint backlog should:

Remain stable, with changes applying to future sprints (Correct answer)
Be cancelled and restarted
Be immediately changed to match
Be doubled in size

Correct answer: Remain stable, with changes applying to future sprints

The sprint backlog stays stable during the sprint to protect the team's commitment; changes apply later.

Question 88: What is the primary purpose of relative estimation with story points rather than absolute time?

It guarantees deadlines are met
It lets managers track individual performance
It compares sizes without forcing precise time commitments (Correct answer)
It removes the need for a backlog

Correct answer: It compares sizes without forcing precise time commitments

Relative estimation focuses on comparative effort and complexity, avoiding false precision of time estimates.

Question 89: Which principle addresses changing requirements?

Changes require formal contracts
Changes are rejected after planning
Welcome changing requirements, even late in development (Correct answer)
Requirements are frozen at kickoff

Correct answer: Welcome changing requirements, even late in development

Agile welcomes changing requirements, even late in development, for the customer's competitive advantage.

Question 90: In Kanban, the 'commitment point' refers to:

The moment the team agrees to deliver an item and begins tracking its lead time (Correct answer)
The start of a sprint
The deadline for the entire project
When an item is archived after delivery

Correct answer: The moment the team agrees to deliver an item and begins tracking its lead time

The commitment point is where an item is pulled into active work, marking the start of customer lead time measurement.

Question 91: Which statement best describes a self-organizing team?

The team decides how to accomplish its work without external direction (Correct answer)
A manager assigns every task
Only the Product Owner makes decisions
Tasks are randomly assigned

Correct answer: The team decides how to accomplish its work without external direction

Self-organizing teams determine how best to do their work rather than being directed by others.

Question 92: What does 'transparency' mean in the context of Agile stakeholder communication?

Sharing all internal team discussions and conflicts with stakeholders
Providing stakeholders with full access to the team's internal tools and code repositories
Publishing daily status reports to all project participants
Ensuring that work, progress, and impediments are visible and honest with all relevant parties (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Ensuring that work, progress, and impediments are visible and honest with all relevant parties

Transparency in Agile means making work and progress honestly visible so stakeholders can make informed decisions and provide meaningful feedback.

Question 93: What does 'T-shaped skills' mean for Agile team members?

Avoiding specialization to stay fully cross-functional
Switching between two roles every sprint
Being trained in both technical and management roles
Having deep expertise in one area and broad enough knowledge to contribute across disciplines (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Having deep expertise in one area and broad enough knowledge to contribute across disciplines

T-shaped skills describe a team member with deep expertise in one discipline (the vertical bar) and broad capability to collaborate across other areas (the horizontal bar).

Question 94: How should an Agile team respond when a major stakeholder expresses dissatisfaction with delivered features?

Escalate to the project sponsor to manage the stakeholder's expectations
Treat the feedback as valuable input and incorporate it into future sprint backlogs (Correct answer)
Defend the team's work by referencing the original requirements document
Request a change freeze until the stakeholder's concerns are resolved

Correct answer: Treat the feedback as valuable input and incorporate it into future sprint backlogs

Stakeholder dissatisfaction is valuable feedback that Agile teams use to adapt and improve the product in subsequent iterations.

Question 95: Which topic is NOT addressed during Sprint Planning?

How the chosen work will get done
What can be Done this Sprint
What process the team should adopt next year (Correct answer)
Why the Sprint is valuable

Correct answer: What process the team should adopt next year

Sprint Planning addresses the why, what, and how of the Sprint, not long-term process strategy.

Question 96: What is the most efficient method of conveying information to and within a development team?

Email threads
Face-to-face conversation (Correct answer)
Detailed written specifications
Recorded video

Correct answer: Face-to-face conversation

Face-to-face conversation is the most efficient and effective method of conveying information.

Question 97: Can one person on a Scrum Team hold more than one accountability, such as being both a Developer and the Product Owner?

Only with management approval
No, roles must always be separate people
Yes, a person may hold multiple accountabilities (Correct answer)
Only the Scrum Master can hold two roles

Correct answer: Yes, a person may hold multiple accountabilities

The Scrum Guide allows a person to take on more than one accountability if the team chooses.

Question 98: A customer asks for a guarantee that scope will never change once signed. How does an Agile mindset respond?

Refuse to start the project
Agree and freeze scope permanently
Favor collaboration and welcome beneficial changes throughout (Correct answer)
Document everything to prevent change

Correct answer: Favor collaboration and welcome beneficial changes throughout

Agile favors ongoing collaboration and welcomes changes that benefit the customer, rather than freezing scope.

Question 99: What does a burnup chart add compared to a burndown chart?

It only tracks defects
It separately shows total scope, revealing scope changes (Correct answer)
It hides completed work
It replaces the product backlog

Correct answer: It separately shows total scope, revealing scope changes

A burnup chart plots scope as its own line, making scope creep visible alongside progress.

Question 100: Which Agile practice best supports transparent communication with stakeholders about project progress?

Formal written status reports submitted monthly
Stakeholder approval gates before each phase
Detailed Gantt charts updated weekly
Information radiators such as task boards and burndown charts (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Information radiators such as task boards and burndown charts

Information radiators make project status continuously visible to all stakeholders without requiring formal reporting cycles.

Question 101: What is the primary purpose of a Work In Progress (WIP) limit in Kanban?

To assign more work to idle team members
To increase the number of columns on the board
To set a deadline for each task
To reduce multitasking and expose bottlenecks (Correct answer)

Correct answer: To reduce multitasking and expose bottlenecks

WIP limits cap how much work is active at once, reducing context switching and making bottlenecks visible.

Question 102: How often should Agile teams deliver working software, per the principles?

Only when documentation is complete
Every two years
Frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months (Correct answer)
Once at project end

Correct answer: Frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months

The principles favor delivering working software frequently, with a preference for shorter timescales.

Question 103: According to the Agile Manifesto, what is the most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team?

Email communication
Comprehensive documentation
Status reports
Face-to-face conversation (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Face-to-face conversation

The sixth principle of the Agile Manifesto is: 'The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.' This promotes direct, real-time communication to reduce misunderstandings and speed up decision-making.

Question 104: What is the purpose of the Sprint Retrospective?

Reorder the Product Backlog
Estimate upcoming work
Demonstrate the Increment to stakeholders
Plan ways to increase quality and effectiveness (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Plan ways to increase quality and effectiveness

The Retrospective inspects how the last Sprint went regarding people, processes, and tools.

Question 105: According to Little's Law, how can a team reduce average cycle time?

Increase the work in progress
Lengthen the working day
Reduce the amount of work in progress (Correct answer)
Add more columns to the board

Correct answer: Reduce the amount of work in progress

Little's Law shows cycle time equals WIP divided by throughput, so lowering WIP shortens cycle time at a stable throughput.

Question 106: According to the principles, what is the primary measure of progress?

Hours worked
Lines of code written
Number of features documented
Working software (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Working software

Working software is the primary measure of progress.

Question 107: Which value does the Agile Manifesto place above 'comprehensive documentation'?

Fixed scope
Working software (Correct answer)
Long-term plans
Detailed contracts

Correct answer: Working software

The Manifesto values working software over comprehensive documentation.

Question 108: A team consistently finishes early and has idle capacity. What is the appropriate continuous improvement action?

Stop holding retrospectives
Ignore it to keep morale high
Reduce the team to one person
Examine whether to take on more work or improve estimates (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Examine whether to take on more work or improve estimates

Consistent idle capacity suggests reviewing estimates or capacity to optimize delivery.

Question 109: How often can the Product Backlog be refined?

Only during Sprint Planning
Only at the Sprint Review
At any time as an ongoing activity (Correct answer)
Only once per Sprint

Correct answer: At any time as an ongoing activity

Product Backlog refinement is an ongoing activity, not a formal Scrum event.

Question 110: Which of the following statements best describes the Developers on a Scrum Team?

They are accountable for creating the Sprint Backlog and instilling quality by adhering to a Definition of Done. (Correct answer)
They can only consist of software engineers and programmers.
They are a hierarchical sub-team where a 'lead developer' assigns tasks.
They report their individual progress and status to the Product Owner daily.

Correct answer: They are accountable for creating the Sprint Backlog and instilling quality by adhering to a Definition of Done.

The Developers are accountable for creating a plan for the Sprint (the Sprint Backlog) and ensuring quality by adhering to a Definition of Done. They are a self-managing, cross-functional group with no sub-teams or hierarchies.

Question 111: How can throughput (items completed per sprint) be used for forecasting?

Multiply story points by team size
Add all sprint durations together
Count only the largest stories
Divide remaining item count by average throughput (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Divide remaining item count by average throughput

Forecasting by throughput estimates completion time from how many items finish each sprint on average.

Question 112: Which outcome shows an Agile team has truly internalized the customer-centric mindset?

Customer feedback is gathered only at launch
Features are built to showcase technical skill
Decisions are continually weighed against customer value (Correct answer)
The backlog is ordered by ease of implementation

Correct answer: Decisions are continually weighed against customer value

A customer-centric team continually evaluates decisions by the value delivered to the customer.

Question 113: Which of the following is a core value of the Agile Manifesto?

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation (Correct answer)
Following a plan over responding to change
Comprehensive documentation over working software
Processes and tools over individuals and interactions

Correct answer: Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

The Agile Manifesto has four core values. One of these is 'Customer collaboration over contract negotiation', which emphasizes building a partnership with the customer throughout the development process. The other options are inversions of the actual values.

Question 114: How should an Agile team handle a key stakeholder who is frequently unavailable for feedback sessions?

Delay the sprint until the stakeholder becomes available
Proceed with assumptions and document them for later review
Identify a proxy stakeholder who can represent their interests (Correct answer)
Escalate to project management to enforce participation

Correct answer: Identify a proxy stakeholder who can represent their interests

Identifying a proxy stakeholder ensures the team maintains the continuous feedback needed to deliver value without blocking progress.

Question 115: A team has adopted the Kanban method and is using a board to visualize their workflow. They notice that work items are piling up in the 'Testing' column, and developers are frequently idle. Which core Kanban practice should the team implement to address this issue directly?

Encourage acts of leadership at all levels
Implement feedback loops
Make process policies explicit
Limit Work in Progress (WIP) (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Limit Work in Progress (WIP)

Limiting Work in Progress (WIP) is a fundamental practice in Kanban designed to prevent bottlenecks and improve flow. By setting a limit on the number of items allowed in the 'Testing' column, the team would be forced to address the testing bottleneck before pulling new work into the system, thereby creating a smoother, more predictable workflow.

Question 116: A blocked item should be handled in Kanban by:

Ignoring it until it unblocks itself
Quietly moving it back to the backlog
Deleting it from the board
Marking it visibly as blocked and resolving the impediment quickly (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Marking it visibly as blocked and resolving the impediment quickly

Blockers should be made visible, often with a marker, so the team can prioritize removing the impediment to restore flow.

Question 117: What distinguishes a Kanban cadence from a Scrum cadence?

Kanban uses continuous flow while Scrum uses time-boxed sprints (Correct answer)
Kanban always uses two-week iterations
Kanban forbids any meetings
Kanban requires a Scrum Master role

Correct answer: Kanban uses continuous flow while Scrum uses time-boxed sprints

Kanban delivers continuously without fixed-length iterations, whereas Scrum organizes work into time-boxed sprints.

Question 118: In Agile project management, what is the primary purpose of a sprint retrospective?

To inspect and adapt the team's process and identify improvements (Correct answer)
To assign tasks for the next sprint
To estimate upcoming backlog items
To demo completed work to stakeholders

Correct answer: To inspect and adapt the team's process and identify improvements

The retrospective focuses on inspecting how the team worked and adapting the process for continuous improvement.

Question 119: What is the benefit of keeping user stories small?

Guaranteeing zero defects
Faster feedback, easier estimation, and smoother flow (Correct answer)
Allowing stories to skip the backlog
Eliminating the need for acceptance criteria

Correct answer: Faster feedback, easier estimation, and smoother flow

Small stories are easier to estimate, complete, and validate quickly.

Question 120: Which principle from the Agile Manifesto most directly supports continuous improvement?

Business people and developers work together
Welcome changing requirements
Working software over documentation
At regular intervals, the team reflects and tunes its behavior (Correct answer)

Correct answer: At regular intervals, the team reflects and tunes its behavior

The Manifesto principle about reflecting at regular intervals and adjusting behavior underpins continuous improvement.

PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)

The PMI-ACP exam validates knowledge of agile principles and practices across frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban, Lean, and XP. It covers mindset, leadership, product management, and delivery competencies required for agile project environments.

120

Questions

180 min

Time Limit

70%

To Pass

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