PMP Agile and Hybrid Approaches 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A Scrum team consistently fails to complete all sprint backlog items by the end of each sprint. What should the team do FIRST?
- Add more team members to increase capacity
- Reduce sprint length to create more frequent deadlines
- Inspect and adapt by examining why items are not completed (Correct answer)
- Escalate the issue to the project sponsor
Correct answer: Inspect and adapt by examining why items are not completed
The Scrum retrospective is the appropriate forum to inspect what prevents sprint goal completion and adapt accordingly.
Question 2: In a hybrid project, the team uses Kanban for ongoing maintenance work alongside a waterfall phase for a major regulatory deliverable. What is the PRIMARY benefit of this arrangement?
- It eliminates the need for a project charter
- Each work stream uses the method best suited to its nature (Correct answer)
- It removes the need for risk management
- It allows the team to skip retrospectives
Correct answer: Each work stream uses the method best suited to its nature
Hybrid approaches allow organizations to apply the most suitable method to each distinct type of work within the same project.
Question 3: Which artifact in Scrum represents the team's understanding of what 'done' means for a product increment?
- Sprint Backlog
- Product Backlog
- Definition of Done (Correct answer)
- Sprint Goal
Correct answer: Definition of Done
The Definition of Done is a formal description of the state of the increment when it meets the quality standards required for the product.
Question 4: A product owner wants to add a high-priority feature mid-sprint. What is the CORRECT Scrum response?
- Immediately add it to the current sprint backlog
- The Scrum Master overrides the decision and rejects it
- The Development Team decides whether to accept it or negotiate with the Product Owner (Correct answer)
- Cancel the sprint and start a new one with the new feature
Correct answer: The Development Team decides whether to accept it or negotiate with the Product Owner
Only the Development Team can decide what goes into a sprint; they may negotiate scope with the Product Owner while protecting the sprint goal.
Question 5: In SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), what is a Program Increment (PI)?
- A single user story delivered by one team
- A timebox of 8–12 weeks during which multiple Agile teams deliver value (Correct answer)
- A release plan spanning one fiscal year
- A meeting cadence for the project management office
Correct answer: A timebox of 8–12 weeks during which multiple Agile teams deliver value
A PI is a fixed timebox, typically 8–12 weeks, in which Agile Release Train teams plan, commit to, and deliver increments of value.
Question 6: A team practicing Extreme Programming (XP) is debating whether to implement a feature that may be needed in the future. What XP principle should guide their decision?
- Build it now to avoid future technical debt
- YAGNI — You Aren't Gonna Need It (Correct answer)
- Develop it in a spike to assess effort
- Defer to the customer's intuition
Correct answer: YAGNI — You Aren't Gonna Need It
YAGNI (You Aren't Gonna Need It) advises teams not to implement features until they are actually needed.
Question 7: Which metric BEST indicates the predictability of an agile team's delivery?
- Number of defects found in testing
- Velocity variance across multiple sprints (Correct answer)
- Total story points in the product backlog
- Customer satisfaction score after each release
Correct answer: Velocity variance across multiple sprints
Low velocity variance across sprints indicates a stable, predictable team; high variance signals unpredictability in delivery.
PMP Agile and Hybrid Approaches 2
A Scrum team consistently fails to complete all sprint backlog items by the end of each sprint.
What should the team do FIRST?