PMBOK Agile and Hybrid Methodologies 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In the context of hybrid project management, what is a 'rolling wave' planning approach?
- Planning all project phases in detail at the start
- Planning near-term work in detail while leaving future phases at a higher level (Correct answer)
- Continuously rolling back to a previous plan when risks emerge
- Alternating between agile and waterfall phases on a fixed schedule
Correct answer: Planning near-term work in detail while leaving future phases at a higher level
Rolling wave planning elaborates near-term deliverables in detail while keeping future work at a higher level, progressively refining plans as more information becomes available.
Question 2: What is the Definition of Done (DoD) in agile frameworks?
- A checklist of tasks assigned to individual developers
- A shared understanding of the quality criteria a Product Backlog Item must meet to be considered complete (Correct answer)
- The acceptance criteria written by the Product Owner for a specific story
- A stakeholder sign-off form required before sprint closure
Correct answer: A shared understanding of the quality criteria a Product Backlog Item must meet to be considered complete
The Definition of Done is a shared, transparent checklist of quality criteria that every Product Backlog Item must satisfy before the team can declare it complete.
Question 3: Which agile scaling framework uses the concept of a 'Program Increment (PI)' as its primary planning cadence?
- Scrum of Scrums
- SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) (Correct answer)
- LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum)
- Disciplined Agile (DA)
Correct answer: SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)
SAFe uses Program Increments (PIs), typically 8–12 weeks long, as the primary cadence for planning and delivering value across multiple agile teams.
Question 4: A team practicing Extreme Programming (XP) is writing tests before writing production code. What practice are they following?
- Pair programming
- Test-Driven Development (TDD) (Correct answer)
- Continuous Integration
- Refactoring
Correct answer: Test-Driven Development (TDD)
Test-Driven Development (TDD) requires writing a failing automated test before writing the production code that makes it pass, ensuring design is driven by requirements.
Question 5: In an agile project, the team consistently fails to complete all sprint backlog items. What is the BEST first step for the Scrum Master?
- Extend the sprint duration to accommodate remaining work
- Facilitate a retrospective to identify the root cause of the overcommitment (Correct answer)
- Escalate to the Product Owner to reduce backlog scope permanently
- Reassign incomplete items to the most senior developer
Correct answer: Facilitate a retrospective to identify the root cause of the overcommitment
The Scrum Master should facilitate a retrospective to inspect why the team is overcommitting and create actionable process improvements for the next sprint.
Question 6: What does 'timeboxing' mean in agile project management?
- Setting a fixed budget for each feature developed
- Allocating a fixed maximum unit of time to an activity or event (Correct answer)
- Scheduling team breaks to avoid burnout during sprints
- Limiting the number of meetings to a fixed count per week
Correct answer: Allocating a fixed maximum unit of time to an activity or event
Timeboxing allocates a fixed, maximum time period to an activity; when the time expires the activity ends regardless of completion, promoting focus and predictability.
Question 7: Which metric in agile projects helps visualize remaining work over time and predicts whether the team will meet the sprint goal?
- Cumulative flow diagram
- Sprint burndown chart (Correct answer)
- Velocity chart
- Lead time histogram
Correct answer: Sprint burndown chart
A sprint burndown chart plots remaining work (story points or tasks) against days remaining in the sprint, giving the team a visual forecast of sprint completion.
PMBOK Agile and Hybrid Methodologies 3
In the context of hybrid project management, what is a 'rolling wave' planning approach?