Agile PMI-ACP Exam Prep Boot Camp

PMI-ACPSM Examination
Boot Camp
Study Guide
42600SG_5.0 2019
aspetraining.com
877-800-5221

PMI‐ACP
Agile Certified Practitioner Examination
Boot Camp
Study Reference and

Practice Exams
Version 5.0, May 2019
2019, ASPE Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

All trademarks are owned by their respective companies
and referred to herein for identification purposes only.

PMI‐ACP Study Guide
©2019 ASPE, Inc.

ii/Table of Contents
Table of Contents

PMI‐ACPSM Study Reference and Practice Exams ..................................................... 3
Abbreviations for Referenced Texts ....................................................................................... 5
Examination Structure ............................................................................................................ 6
Preparing for and Taking the PMI‐ACP Exam ......................................................................... 7
Domains and Tasks ............................................................................................................... 13
Tools and Techniques ............................................................................................ 25
Student Guide Index ............................................................................................................. 25
Tools and Techniques (Q&A) ................................................................................................ 26
Knowledge and Skills .............................................................................................. 31
Student Guide Index ............................................................................................................. 31
Knowledge and Skills (Q&A) ................................................................................................. 33
Final Practice Exam 1 ............................................................................................. 49
Final Practice Exam 1 ............................................................................................................ 50
Final Practice Exam 1 Correct Responses ............................................................................. 79
Final Practice Exam 2 ........................................................................................... 125
Final Practice Exam 2 .......................................................................................................... 126
Final Practice Exam 2 Correct Responses ........................................................................... 154

PMI‐ACP Study Reference and Practice Exams
©2019 ASPE, Inc.

PMI‐ACP Examination Boot Camp /3
PMI-ACPSM Study Reference and

Practice Exams

Welcome to the PMI‐ACPSM Study Reference and
Practice Exams! We’re excited to have you with
us. This journey will take you through the tools,

techniques, knowledge, and skills you will need
to analyze and study in order to pass the exam.

As with any preparation materials for a
certification; it is impossible to be 100 percent
comprehensive of all the literature available.
We encourage you to consider additional
resources, such as the references noted in this
study reference to help you prepare to pass the
exam.

We wish you success on this endeavor!

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

4/PMI‐ACP Examination Boot Camp

Project Management Institute – Agile Certified
Practitioner
PMI‐ACP Examination Boot Camp
June, 2016

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Abbreviations for Referenced Texts

 Lean‐Agile Software Development: Achieving Enterprise Agility (Lean) by
Alan Shalloway, Guy Beaver, and James R. Trott
 User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development (User Stories) by
Mike Cohn
 Agile Estimating and Planning (Estimating) by Mike Cohn
 The Software Project Manager’s Bridge to Agility (Bridge) by Michele Sliger
and Stacia Broderick
 Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great (Retrospectives) by Esther
Derby and Diana Larsen
 Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game – Second Edition
(Game) by Alistair Cockburn
 Coaching Agile Teams (Coaching) by Lyssa Adkins
 Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products – Second Edition
(Creating) by Jim Highsmith
 Exploring Scrum: The Fundamentals (Exploring) by an Rawsthorne
 Kanban in Action (Action) by Marcus Hammarberg
 Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme (Effective) by
Robert K. Wysocki
 Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business
(Kanban) by David J. Anderson

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Examination Structure

Domain Percentage of
Items on the Test
Domain I. Agile Principles and Mindset 16%
Domain II. Value‐Driven Delivery 20%
Domain III. Stakeholder Engagement 17%
Domain IV. Team Performance 16%
Domain V. Adaptive Planning 12%
Domain VI. Problem Detection and Resolution 10%
Domain VII. Continuous Improvement 9%

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Preparing for and Taking the PMI-ACP Exam

Timeline of the PMI-ACP Certification Process
• 90 days to complete the application once you start
• 10 day application completeness review (if submitted online)
• 90 days to submit materials for an audit; PMI processes audit materials in 5‐7 business days
• 1 year examination eligibility from application acceptance date
• 3 times to take the exam during the 1 year examination eligibility timeframe
• 3 years to earn and report 30 PDUs to maintain certification once exam is passed. Must pay
renewal fee.
The Certification Exam Tests…

• Knowledge of 12 Agile books
• Terms used in Agile
• Your application of Agile knowledge in a variety of situations
• Your understanding of how the code of ethics applies to Agile work
• Your ability to read, parse, and understand a question
Referenced Texts
• Lean‐Agile Software Development: Achieving Enterprise Agility (Lean) by Alan Shalloway, Guy
Beaver, and James R. Trott
• User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development (User Stories) by Mike Cohn
• Agile Estimating and Planning (Estimating) by Mike Cohn
• The Software Project Manager’s Bridge to Agility (Bridge) by Michele Sliger and Stacia Broderick
• Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great (Retrospectives) by Esther Derby and Diana
Larsen
• Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game – Second Edition (Game) by Alistair
Cockburn
• Coaching Agile Teams (Coaching) by Lyssa Adkins
• Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products – Second Edition (Creating) by Jim
Highsmith
• Exploring Scrum: The Fundamentals (Exploring) by Dan Rawsthorne
• Kanban in Action (Action) by Marcus Hammarberg
• Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Scrum (Effective) by Robert K. Wysocki
• Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business (Kanban) by David J.
Anderson
• The Agile Practice Guide, PMI 2017
The Certification Exam Doesn’t Test…

• General intelligence
• Common sense
• Your Agile experience
• Knowledge of industry practices
• Knowledge of software tools

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Requirements for PMI-ACPSM Certification

Requirements
Educational Background Secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree, or global
equivalent).
General Project *2,000 hours (12 months) working on team projects earned in the past 5 years.
Experience
Agile Project Experience 1,500 hours (8 months) working on project teams using agile methodologies in
the past 3 years. These hours are in addition to the 2,000 hours above.
Training in Agile Practices 21 contact hours earned in Agile practices.
PMI Code of Ethics and Read and agree during the application process
Professional Conduct
PMI-ACP Application Process

• Document your general project experience (if applicable) and Agile project experience
• Contact hours of training on Agile practices – 21 PDUs
• Fill out online or paper – 10 business days process time (20 business days for paper applications
by corporations)
Certification Fees
CBT – Member $435
CBT – Nonmember $495
PBT – Member $385
PBT – Nonmember $445

Reexamination CBT – Member $335
Reexamination CBT – Nonmember $395
Reexamination PBT – Member $285
Reexamination PBT – Nonmember $345

Certification Renewal – Member $60
Certification Renewal – Nonmember $150

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

After the Application is Submitted

• Exam eligibility timeframe – one year
• Member vs. Non‐Member fees – must be a member in good standing
• Scheduling the exam
– Try to schedule 6 weeks ahead or your preferred test date
– Sit for the exam at least 3 months before your eligibility period expires
– Retain your unique PMI identification code
PMI Exam Security & Confidentiality

• The exam, answer sheets, worksheets, and any other test or test‐related materials remain the
sole and exclusive property of PMI.
• Pass/fail results are confidential
• When you submit your application, you agree: “…Furthermore, I agree not to discuss, debrief or
disclose, in any manner, the specific content of PMI examination questions and answers, to
any individual.”
Exam Overview
• CBT is the standard and you get instant feedback
• 120 multiple choice questions – 20 are pre‐test and 100 are scored test questions
• 3 hours
• Answer every question
• Optional online tutorial before the exam and optional survey after the exam do not count
toward the 3 hours.
• No scheduled breaks
Exam Blueprint
Topic Areas Percentage of Questions
Agile Tools and Techniques 50%
Agile Knowledge and Skills 50%

The Day of the Exam

• Arrive 30 minutes early
• Bring identification – examples of ID are listed on the PMI Website
• You cannot bring into the exam area:

• Food • Beverages • Book bags
• Coats • Sweaters • Luggage
• Calculators • Eyeglass cases • Pagers
• Cellular telephones • Tape recorders • Dictionaries
• Any other personal
items

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

• No children
• Calculators are built into the CBT exam
• Scrap paper and pencil are provided by testing center administrator
Or
• Erasable boards and marker are provided by testing center administrator
Best Practice Studying Tips

• Take the entire practice exam and grade yourself.
• Take the practice exams until you consistently score 85‐90 percent.
• When reviewing your practice tests, examine the reasoning behind both your right and wrong
answers.
• Be careful of downloading test questions from the web. Verify the sample test questions are
from reliable sources.
• Determine how to prep yourself based on your learning style. You can use self‐study, study
groups, flash cards, private tutors, coaches, additional classes, etc.
• Schedule the exam date based on your learning style.
• Schedule the exam time when you are at your best – morning or afternoon.
• Schedule the exam based on the day of the week when you will have the most time to review
the information.
• If you do not plan on taking the exam shortly after completing this workshop, try to study every
day, even if it is for 15‐30 minutes. It is very difficult to regain momentum once you lose it.
Understanding the Test Questions

• Read the question and think about it thoroughly before looking at the answers. Look for key
words in the question that will lead you to the right answer (e.g., principal, major, primary, best,
nearest, incorrect).
• Try to anticipate the correct answer before you review the responses.
• Read the answers from the bottom up. This prevents you from keying in on the first answer.
• Practice eliminating the completely unlikely options first.
• Beware of answers that represent true statements but are not relevant.
• Beware of answer choices that represent generalizations, for example always, never, must, or
completely; these are often the incorrect choices.
• Watch for choices that represent special cases. These choices tend to be correct and are
characterized by words such as often, sometimes, may, generally, and perhaps.
• The correct answer might not be grammatically correct in relation to the stem question.
• You will probably run across a few questions that were not in any of the materials you used to
prepare for the test or you have no idea what the question is asking. Use educated guessing to
select the most appropriate option.
• If you do not know the answer of a question, flag it and move on so you can revisit it later if you
have time.
• Some of the questions have diagrams, charts, or other exhibits associated with them. Be
prepared that you might be asked more than one question about the diagram, chart, or other
exhibit.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

During the Exam

• Use the 15 minute tutorial time in the way that suits you best.
• Do Not Panic if you don’t know the first answer on the exam. Look for scoring opportunities.
• When marking test questions, write the test question number down on your scrap paper and
write down the two responses you think are correct.
• Most successful candidates say the first guess is your best guess.
• Try not to mark test questions you are confident you answered correctly.
• You will have to refer to information you learned during your exam preparation.
• Before responding to a question, always analyze the other alternatives just in case these, too,
have valid points.
• Try not to linger on one question just because you are determined to answer it, no matter what.
Sometimes it takes time to establish rhythm during the test.
• Sometimes the answer to a question will be found in another question on the exam.
• You will need to prepare yourself mentally for this event. Refresh yourself at regular intervals.
• When taking breaks the time clock will keep ticking during your break. It is helpful to develop
your break strategy during your mock practice exams.
• When you are finished with the relatively easy questions, go back to the unanswered ones. If
you have narrowed the responses down to the two you think are correct, you will have a 50‐50
chance of getting the answer right.
General Tips
• Eat foods that will digest well with you and drink fluids that will not upset your stomach on the
day of your exam.
• Dress in layers since you will not know the temperature comfort level in the testing room.
• There may be several people taking tests at the same time as you. Not all of the tests are of
equal length, so do not panic if you see people coming and going during your exam.
• Try not to focus on getting an “A” on the test. The test is difficult and no one gets rewarded for
their overall score, they get rewarded for passing.
• Consider only telling a few select people that you are taking the exam. If you tell everyone you
are sitting for the exam, this creates extra pressure to pass and you do not need that feeling.
There is nothing wrong with taking the test in secret and then revealing to everyone that you
passed it!
• Many people take a ½ day or full day of vacation the day before the exam so they are not
distracted by work the day before.
• It is not the end of the world if you do not pass the exam.
Examination Report
• Proficient – indicates performance is above the average level of knowledge in this domain.
• Moderately Proficient – indicates performance that is at the average level of knowledge in this
domain.
• Below Proficient – indicates performance is below the average level of knowledge in this
domain.
When you pass, the performance information will help identify specific chapters to focus on for
continuing education purposes. If you fail, the performance information will identify specific
chapters where improvement or further study may be required in order to successfully complete the
examination in the future.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Certificate Package
Within six to eight weeks, you will receive a credential package that includes:
– Congratulatory letter
– Information on how to maintain and/or renew your credential
– Credential certificate
Both of these documents list your:
– Credential number – a unique identification number used by PMI to maintain your
individual certification records
– Your credential cycle dates

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Domains and Tasks
Domain I. Agile Principles and Mindset (9 tasks)
Explore, embrace, and apply agile principles and mindset within the context of the project team and
organization.

Domain I Agile Principles and Mindset
Task 1 Advocate for agile principles by modeling those
principles and discussing agile values in order to
develop a shared mindset across the team as well
as between the customer and the team.
Task 2 Help ensure that everyone has a common
understanding of the values and principles of
agile and a common knowledge around the agile
practices and terminology being used in order to
work effectively.
Task 3 Support change at the system or organization
level by educating the organization and
influencing processes, behaviors, and people in
order to make the organization more effective
and efficient.
Task 4 Practice visualization by maintaining highly visible
information radiators showing real progress and
real team performance in order to enhance
transparency and trust.
Task 5 Contribute to a safe and trustful team
environment by allowing everyone to experiment
and make mistakes so that each can learn and
continuously improve the way he or she works.
Task 6 Enhance creativity by experimenting with new
techniques and process ideas in order to discover
more efficient and effective ways of working.
Task 7 Encourage team members to share knowledge by
collaborating and working together in order to
lower risks around knowledge silos and reduce
bottlenecks.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Domain I Agile Principles and Mindset
Task 8 Encourage emergent leadership within the team
by establishing a safe and respectful environment
in which new approaches can be tried in order to
make improvements and foster self‐organization
and empowerment.
Task 9 Practice servant leadership by supporting and
encouraging others in their endeavors so that
they can perform at their highest level and
continue to improve.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Domain II. Value‐Driven Delivery (4 sub‐domains, 14 tasks)
Deliver valuable results by producing high‐value increments for review, early and often, based on
stakeholder priorities. Have the stakeholders provide feedback on these increments, and use this
feedback to prioritize and improve future increments.
Domain II Value‐Driven Delivery
Define Positive Value
Task 1 Define deliverables by identifying units that can
be produced incrementally in order to maximize
their value to stakeholders while minimizing non‐
value added work.
Task 2 Refine requirements by gaining consensus on the
acceptance criteria for features on a just‐in‐time
basis in order to deliver value.
Task 3 Select and tailor the team’s process based on
project and organizational characteristics as well
as team experience in order to optimize value
delivery.
Avoid Potential Downsides
Task 4 Plan for small releasable increments by
organizing requirements into minimally
marketable features/minimally viable products in
order to allow for the early recognition and
delivery of value.
Task 5 Limit increment size and increase review
frequency with appropriate stakeholders in order
to identify and respond to risks early on and at
minimal cost.
Task 6 Solicit customer and user feedback by reviewing
increments often in order to confirm and
enhance business value.
Prioritization
Task 7 Prioritize the units of work through collaboration
with stakeholders in order to optimize the value
of the deliverables.
Task 8 Perform frequent review and maintenance of the
work results by prioritizing and maintaining
internal quality in order to reduce the overall cost

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Domain II Value‐Driven Delivery
of incremental development.
Task 9 Continuously identify and prioritize the
environmental, operational, and infrastructure
factors in order to improve the quality and value
of the deliverables.
Incremental Development
Task 10 Conduct operational reviews and/or periodic
checkpoints with stakeholders in order to obtain
feedback and corrections to the work in progress
and planned work.
Task 11 Balance development of deliverable units and risk
reduction efforts by incorporating both value
producing and risk reducing work into the
backlog in order to maximize the total value
proposition over time.
Task 12 Re‐prioritize requirements periodically in order to
reflect changes in the environment and
stakeholder needs or preferences in order to
maximize the value.
Task 13 Elicit and prioritize relevant non‐functional
requirements (such as operations and security)
by considering the environment in which the
solution will be used in order to minimize the
probability of failure.
Task 14 Conduct frequent reviews of work products by
performing inspections, reviews, and/or testing
in order to identify and incorporate
improvements into the overall process and
product/service.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Domain III. Stakeholder Engagement (3 sub‐domains, 9 tasks)
Engage current and future interested parties by building a trusting environment that aligns their needs
and expectations and balances their requests with an understanding of the cost/effort involved.
Promote participation and collaboration throughout the project life cycle and provide the tools for
effective and informed decision making.

Domain III Stakeholder Engagement
Understand Stakeholder Needs
Task 1 Identify and engage effective and empowered
business stakeholder(s) through periodic reviews
in order to ensure that the team is
knowledgeable about stakeholders’ interests,
needs, and expectations.
Task 2 Identify and engage all stakeholders (current and
future) by promoting knowledge sharing early
and throughout the project to ensure the
unimpeded flow of information and value
throughout the lifespan of the project.
Ensure Stakeholder Involvement
Task 3 Establish stakeholder relationships by forming a
working agreement among key stakeholders in
order to promote participation and effective
collaboration.
Task 4 Maintain proper stakeholder involvement by
continually assessing changes in the project and
organization in order to ensure that new
stakeholders are appropriately engaged.
Task 5 Establish collaborative behaviors among the
members of the organization by fostering group
decision making and conflict resolution in order
to improve decision quality and reduce the time
required to make decisions.
Manage Stakeholder Expectations
Task 6 Establish a shared vision of the various project
increments (products, deliverables, releases,
iterations) by developing a high level vision and
supporting objectives in order to align
stakeholders’ expectations and build trust.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Domain III Stakeholder Engagement
Task 7 Establish and maintain a shared understanding of
success criteria, deliverables, and acceptable
trade‐offs by facilitating awareness among
stakeholders in order to align expectations and
build trust.
Task 8 Provide transparency regarding work status by
communicating team progress, work quality,
impediments, and risks in order to help the
primary stakeholders make informed decisions.
Task 9 Provide forecasts at a level of detail that balances
the need for certainty and the benefits of
adaptability in order to allow stakeholders to
plan effectively.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Domain IV. Team Performance (3 sub‐domains, 9 tasks)
Create an environment of trust, learning, collaboration, and conflict resolution that promotes team self‐
organization, enhances relationships among team members, and cultivates a culture of high
performance.

Domain IV Team Performance
Team Formation
Task 1 Cooperate with the other team members to
devise ground rules and internal processes in
order to foster team coherence and strengthen
team members’ commitment to shared
outcomes.
Task 2 Help create a team that has the interpersonal
and technical skills needed to achieve all known
project objectives in order to create business
value with minimal delay.
Team Empowerment
Task 3 Encourage team members to become
generalizing specialists in order to reduce team
size and bottlenecks, and to create a high‐
performing cross‐functional team.
Task 4 Contribute to self‐organizing the work by
empowering others and encouraging emerging
leadership in order to produce effective solutions
and manage complexity.
Task 5 Continuously discover team and personal
motivators and de‐motivators in order to ensure
that team morale is high and team members are
motivated and productive throughout the
project.
Team Collaboration and Commitment
Task 6 Facilitate close communication within the team
and with appropriate external stakeholders
through co‐location or the use of collaboration
tools in order to reduce miscommunication and
rework.
Task 7 Reduce distractions in order to establish a
predictable outcome and optimize the value
delivered.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Domain IV Team Performance
Task 8 Participate in aligning project and team goals by
sharing project vision in order to ensure the team
understands how their objectives fit into the
overall goals of the project.
Task 9 Encourage the team to measure its velocity by
tracking and measuring actual performance in
previous iterations or releases in order for
members to gain a better understanding of their
capacity and create more accurate forecasts.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Domain V. Adaptive Planning (3 sub‐domains, 10 tasks)
Produce and maintain an evolving plan, from initiation to closure, based on goals, values, risks,
constraints, stakeholder feedback, and review findings.

Domain V Adaptive Planning
Levels of Planning
Task 1 Plan at multiple levels (strategic, release,
iteration, daily) creating appropriate detail by
using rolling wave planning and progressive
elaboration to balance predictability of outcomes
with ability to exploit opportunities.
Task 2 Make planning activities visible and transparent
by encouraging participation of key stakeholders
and publishing planning results in order to
increase commitment level and reduce
uncertainty.
Task 3 As the project unfolds, set and manage
stakeholder expectations by making increasingly
specific levels of commitments in order to ensure
common understanding of the expected
deliverables.
Adaptation
Task 4 Adapt the cadence and the planning process
based on results of periodic retrospectives about
characteristics and/or the
size/complexity/criticality of the project
deliverables in order to maximize the value.
Task 5 Inspect and adapt the project plan to reflect
changes in requirements, schedule, budget, and
shifting priorities based on team learning,
delivery experience, stakeholder feedback, and
defects in order to maximize business value
delivered.
Agile Sizing and Estimation
Task 6 Size items by using progressive elaboration
techniques in order to determine likely project
size independent of team velocity and external
variables.
Task 7 Adjust capacity by incorporating maintenance

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Domain V Adaptive Planning
and operations demands and other factors in
order to create or update the range estimate.
Task 8 Create initial scope, schedule, and cost range
estimates that reflect current high level
understanding of the effort necessary to deliver
the project in order to develop a starting point
for managing the project.
Task 9 Refine scope, schedule, and cost range estimates
that reflect the latest understanding of the effort
necessary to deliver the project in order to
manage the project.
Task 10 Continuously use data from changes in resource
capacity, project size, and velocity metrics in
order to evaluate the estimate to complete.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Domain VI. Problem Detection and Resolution (5 tasks)
Continuously identify problems, impediments, and risks; prioritize and resolve in a timely manner;
monitor and communicate the problem resolution status; and implement process improvements to
prevent them from occurring again.

Domain VI Problem Detection and Resolution
Task 1 Create an open and safe environment by
encouraging conversation and experimentation,
in order to surface problems and impediments
that are slowing the team down or preventing its
ability to deliver value.
Task 2 Identify threats and issues by educating and
engaging the team at various points in the project
in order to resolve them at the appropriate time
and improve processes that caused issues.
Task 3 Ensure issues are resolved by appropriate team
members and/or reset expectations in light of
issues that cannot be resolved in order to
maximize the value delivered.
Task 4 Maintain a visible, monitored, and prioritized list
of threats and issues in order to elevate
accountability, encourage action, and track
ownership and resolution status.
Task 5 Communicate status of threats and issues by
maintaining threat list and incorporating
activities into backlog of work in order to provide
transparency.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Domain VII. Continuous Improvement (Product, Process, People) (6 tasks)
Continuously improve the quality, effectiveness, and value of the product, the process, and the team.

Domain VII Continuous Improvement (Product, Process,
People)
Task 1 Tailor and adapt the project process by
periodically reviewing and integrating team
practices, organizational culture, and delivery
goals in order to ensure team effectiveness
within established organizational guidelines and
norms.
Task 2 Improve team processes by conducting frequent
retrospectives and improvement experiments in
order to continually enhance the effectiveness of
the team, project, and organization.
Task 3 Seek feedback on the product by incremental
delivery and frequent demonstrations in order to
improve the value of the product.
Task 4 Create an environment of continued learning by
providing opportunities for people to develop
their skills in order to develop a more productive
team of generalizing specialists.
Task 5 Challenge existing process elements by
performing a value stream analysis and removing
waste in order to increase individual efficiency
and team effectiveness.
Task 6 Create systemic improvements by disseminating
knowledge and practices across projects and
organizational boundaries in order to avoid re‐
occurrence of identified problems and improve
the effectiveness of the organization as a whole.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Tools and Techniques

Student Guide Index

Tools and Techniques Page
Agile analysis and design 142
These tools Agile estimation 147
illustrate the
breadth of the Communications 153
toolkit, but are not
meant by PMI to
Interpersonal skills 178
provide an Metrics 188
exhaustive list of all
of the techniques Planning, monitoring, and adapting 207
and tools that might
Process improvement 215
be in the toolkit.
Product quality 222
Risk management 231
Value‐based prioritization 242

Please note: Examples for each of these areas is included
in the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI‐ACP)SM
Examination Content Outline. The tools and techniques
identified in this document do not include a complete list
of the tools and techniques on the exam.
The page numbers above refer to the student manual
page numbers. Use these to find the first slide in the
student manual corresponding to the topic listed in the
table.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Tools and Techniques (Q&A)

Agile Analysis and Design

1. Correct Response: B
A user story is a brief description of functionality as viewed by a user or customer of the
system.

2. Correct Response: D
Avoid splitting a user story into the development tasks that will be necessary to
implement the feature.

The Product Backlog is a list of functional and nonfunctional requirements that, when
turned into functionality will deliver the project vision.

Agile Estimation

1. Correct Response: A
Story points are a unit of measure for expressing the overall size of a user story, feature,
or other piece of work.

Ideal time is the amount of time that something takes when stripped of all peripheral
activities.

3. Correct Response: C
The impact of the overhead of the environment in which the team works is not
considered when performing ideal time estimates.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.


Communications


Agile processes attempt to maximize face‐to‐face communications because it is the
richest form of communications.

An information radiator displays information in a place where passersby can see it
without having to ask questions.

The ScrumMaster is responsible for moving the reporting along briskly, from person to
person.

Interpersonal Skills

1. Correct Response: False

Servant leadership includes mentoring, guidance, facilitation, and roadblock removal.

Compromise/Reconcile is used to search for solutions that bring some degree of
satisfaction to all parties in order to temporarily or partially resolve the conflict.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.


Metrics

Velocity is a measure of a team's rate of progress and is calculated by summing the
number of story points assigned to each user story that the team completed during the
iteration.

A burndown chart shows the amount of work remaining at the start of each iteration.

When the bottom of the bar is below the horizontal axis at 0, it means that overall work
has been added to the release.

Planning, Monitoring, and Adapting


The team decomposes each story into the tasks necessary to actually deliver the User
Story’s functionality during the iteration.

2. Correct Response D

A release plan helps the Agile project manager understand the viability of the project


The story cards developed during release planning help the team with iteration
planning.

Process Improvement

©2019 ASPE, Inc.



Value stream mapping is a Lean tool that includes creating models of the process
streams and using those models to find waste.

Partially done work is a story that is not finished according to the “Definition of Done”.

Product Quality


The entire team is responsible for avoiding buggy code and improving the process.

3. Correct Response: True

Risk Management


The Expected Value calculation is numerical probability times the impact in days – in this
case 40% x 5 days.


Only those risks which are unique to that project are included in the risk census.

Try to defer low‐value, high‐risk items right out of the project.

Value‐based Prioritization


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Retained revenue considers the revenue a project will generate from customers who
might have otherwise gone to a competitive product.

Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is a measure of how quickly the money invested in a
project/theme will increase in value.

Threshold features are those that must be present in the product for it to be successful ‐
often referred to as must‐have features.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Knowledge and Skills

Student Guide Index

Knowledge and Skills Content Page
1 Agile values and principles 262
33 knowledge and skills
have been identified by PMI 2 Agile frameworks and terminology 266
as being key to passing the
PMI‐ACP examination.
3 Agile methods and approaches 278
4 Assessing and incorporating community and 282
stakeholder values
5 Stakeholder management 290
6 Communication management 296
7 Facilitation methods 305
8 Knowledge sharing/written communication 311
9 Leadership 319
10 Building agile teams 328
11 Team motivation 336
12 Physical and virtual co‐location 346
13 Global, cultural, and team diversity 352
14 Training, coaching, and mentoring 358
15 Developmental mastery models (for example, 364
Tuckman, Dreyfus, Shu Ha Ri)
16 Self‐assessment tools and techniques 377
17 Participatory decision models (for example, 384
convergent, shared collaboration)
18 Principles of systems thinking (for example, 390
complex adaptive, chaos)
19 Problem solving 401

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

20 Prioritization 409

21 Incremental delivery 419
22 Agile discovery 423
23 Agile sizing and estimation 429
24 Value based analysis and decomposition 436
25 Process analysis 455
26 Continuous improvement 460
27 Agile hybrid models 465
28 Managing with agile KPIs 470
29 Agile project chartering 475
30 Agile contracting 481
31 Agile project accounting principles 489
32 Regulatory compliance 496
33 PMI's Code of Ethics and Professional 501
Conduct

Not every form of the exam will contain each knowledge
and skill.
The page numbers above refer to the student manual
page numbers. Use these to find the first slide in the
student manual corresponding to the topic listed in the
table.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Knowledge and Skills (Q&A)

Agile Manifesto Values and Principles

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools is the only value worded correctly;
the other three are phrased backwards.

Welcoming changing requirements, even late in development is the only principle
phrased correctly according to the Agile Manifesto.

Agile principles state that individuals are motivated and can be trusted to get the job
done when they have the environment and support they need.

Agile Frameworks and Terminology

The Sprint retrospective meeting is conducted to encourage the Scrum Team to revise,
within the Scrum process framework and practices, its development process to make it
more effective and enjoyable for the next Sprint.

The output of the Sprint Planning Meeting is called the Sprint Backlog composed of
tasks, task estimates and assignments the Scrum Team will work on developing.

One of the benefits of timeboxed iterations is it is a time period the team can control.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.


Agile Methods and Approaches


Paired programming involves two developers working together to improve code quality.

The Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, and Increment are three major artifacts of Scrum
another is Burndown Charts.

Lean principles include Seeing/Avoiding Waste, Create Knowledge, Build Quality In, Fast
Delivery, Respect, and Improve.

Assessing and Incorporating Community and Stakeholder Values


There are three levels of participants. Critical participants can prevent your project
from achieving success before or after implementation.

A persona is an imaginary representation of a user role.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Stakeholder Management


A Sprint review meeting is used by the Team to present what was developed during the
Sprint.

The Product Owner, ScrumMaster, and Scrum Team are all management roles, other
stakeholders in an organization are chickens who have a vested interest in the project,
but have to work through the pigs.

Communications Management

Having programming pairs sit at the same workstation will result in less delays,
diminished lost opportunity costs, and increased communication.

Drafts are used to describe hearing unwanted information.

Information radiators are marvelous for passing along information quietly, with little
effort, and without disturbing the people whose status is being reported.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Facilitation Methods

The ScrumMaster helps facilitate the Scrum Team's search for better ways for the Scrum
process to work.


Delegating is not an important facilitation skill for an Agile leader to possess.

Knowledge Sharing/Written Communication

Relearning is not tapping into the knowledge readily available within the Agile team or
sharing that knowledge within the team.

An exponential increase in productivity for a team continues until the team reaches
seven people, give or take two.

Paper documentation is the least richest form of the communications channel.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Leadership

Agile leaders are "light" in terms of top‐down decision making and are "heavy" in the
other characteristics.

Given the circumstances, this is the most appropriate response when a team member or
anyone starts yelling during a daily stand‐up meeting.


Building Agile Teams

True self‐organization involves giving the whole team the task and asking the team to
complete the task without specifying who should do what.

The Scrum Team owns the Daily Scrum and conducts the meeting.

In high‐performance teams, the leaders manage the principles, and the principles
manage the team.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Team Motivation

Rewarding the team with financial bonuses for increased velocity is an extrinsic
motivator not an intrinsic motivator.

Working agreements belong to the team and are monitored during the retrospective.

Teams experience loss as the first phase, followed by chaos, transforming idea, then
practice and integration.

Physical and Virtual Co‐location

The Cone of Silence strategy is where one or more people are sequestered away from
everyone else for the sole purpose of avoiding communication.

Erg‐seconds captures the cost in both labor and time to get a question answered.

In the absence of face‐to‐face osmotic communication, using microphones and web
cams would be the best choice.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Global, Cultural, and Team Diversity

Diversity in backgrounds helps to generate innovation in a project.

Technology increases effectiveness when it lets people express their thoughts more
easily.

Trust, respect, and communication are most important when teams are comprised of
different cultures and locations.

Training, Coaching and Mentoring

A ScrumMaster following Agile practices does not use command and control tactics.

Effective project leaders focus on people, product, and process ‐ in that order.

The ScrumMaster is ultimately responsible for teaching others how to use the Scrum
process.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Development Mastery Models (e.g., Tuckman, Dreyfus, Shu Ha Ri)

The five stages of Tuckman’s team development are forming, storming, norming,
performing, and adjourning

Self Assessment Tools and Techniques

Servant leadership characteristics to self‐assess include listening, empathizing, accepting
others, and developing others.


Emotional wake is the impact ‐ whether harm was intended and whether you think the
other person should feel hurt or not.

Participatory Decision Models (e.g., Convergent, Shared Collaboration)

Participatory decision making is a process of reconceiving a solution to a problem based
on information from all team members.

Convergence means that not everyone is in complete agreement, but that everyone has
participated and will support the final decision.

Consensus does not imply unanimous agreement, but it does mean that people
understand the decision rationale.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.


Principles of Systems Thinking (e.g., Complex Adaptive, Chaos)

The three steps of systems thinking lead naturally to a fourth step ‐ formulating an
answer to the question, what can we do about this? (Answer)

Begin with the evidence. What are some of the facts and why are they an issue? (Events)

Systems thinking studies systems as a whole being composed of subsystems with
repeating patterns of behavior between the subsystems.

Problem Solving


The purpose of the Ishikawa (Fishbone) diagram is to perform root cause analysis.

Complex problem solving requires frequent inspection and adaption because these are
the only known control mechanisms.

Let the team tell diagnose the problem, identify the root cause, and implement a
solution.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Prioritization

The Product Owner frequently prioritizes the Product Backlog to queue up the most
valuable requirements for the next iteration.

When stakeholders identify any new functionality during the Sprint Review they need to
request the functionality is added to the Product Backlog for prioritization.

MoSCoW analysis uses won't haves for prioritization purposes.

Incremental Delivery

Incremental delivery helps the team made orderly progress toward completing the
release since each increment is tested as it is coded. The team performs frequent
inspection and adaptation which empowers them to find their own way through
complex situations and have a sense of accomplishment.


The results of the Iteration does not have to reflect the early understanding of the
product, it needs to reflect the current understanding of the product.

An increment of product functionality needs to be well‐structured, well‐written, and
thoroughly tested.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Agile Discovery


Questions need to be asked and answers need to be given, but it is not really discovery
unless there is understanding.


Project Scope Descriptions are an artifact of Predictive (Waterfall) project management.


Establishing KPIs should begin with discovery.

Agile Sizing and Estimation

Estimates are not created by a single individual on the team; estimates are best derived
collaboratively by the team.

From the estimate of size ‐ 200 points, and known velocity value ‐ 20 points every 4
weeks, we can derive there will be 10 iterations lasting 40 weeks.

Teams should re‐estimate when their opinion of the relative size of one or more stories
has changed.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Value‐based Analysis and Decomposition

A Minimal Marketable Feature (MMF) is the smallest amount of functionality that
makes sense to market; it adds value to the user.

2. Correct Answer: B
The Vision describes why the project is being undertaken and what the desired end
state is.

Time‐bound is not part of the INVEST model; testable is part of the model.

Process Analysis

Teams should usually wait to modify practices until after they've tried them for an
iteration or two.


The PDCA cycle stands for Plan‐Do‐Check‐Act.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Continuous Improvement

Effective Agile teams cover the team ‐ as in how well the processes and practices being
used by the team are working, not how individuals are performing.

Every team member has a responsibility to improve teamwork.


Agile Hybrid Models



TDD is Test Driven Development, a development methodology used in XP.


XP uses TDD and Pair Programming (among others) development methodologies.

Managing with Agile KPIs



For a project, KPIs are for software and the development process.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Agile Project Chartering

The Vision on the Project Charter reminds everyone of the main business goals during
the project.

The creation of the Project Charter is the responsibility of the Product Owner, with input
from the team.

The content of a Project Charter usually fits onto one page, sometimes two so it can be
quickly reviewed.

Agile Contracting


Fixed cost contracts assume that all requirements can be established and documented
prior to the beginning of work, which works well for Waterfall types of projects but not
Agile projects with evolving requirements.


Technical competence is more important than experience with the Agile methodology.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Agile Project Accounting Principles

Agile EVM is a valuable technique when cost performance must be measured.


Budgeting is easier because of fixed time and resources, the costs become more
controllable because of flexible scope.

Regulatory Compliance

The most common way of handling imposed regulations is to consider them to be
additional User Stories.


Additional User Stories created to address imposed government regulations should be
added to the Product Backlog and prioritized by the Product Owner (customer).

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

Responsibility, Respect, Fairness, and Honesty are the four key areas of ethical behavior.

Programmers can detect mismatches in pay and organizational values and this type of
mismatch will lead to programmers behaving in ways that will hurt the organization.

If the Scrum Team feels itself unable to complete all of the Sprint Backlog during the Sprint,
they can consult with the Product Owner on which items to remove from the current Sprint.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

PMI‐ACP Examination Boot Camp/49
Final Practice Exam 1

Domain Percentage of Items on
the Test
Domain I. Agile Principles and 16%
The exam is 3 hours long Mindset
with 120 questions. You
will be scored on 100 of Domain II. Value‐Driven 20%
those questions. Delivery
Domain III. Stakeholder 17%
Engagement
Domain IV. Team 16%
Performance
Domain VI. Problem 10%
Detection and Resolution
Domain VII. Continuous 9%
Improvement

The PMI‐ACPSM exam will have 120 questions; 20 of
those questions will not count toward your pass/fail
grade. The other 100 questions will be scored and do
count toward your pass/fail grade. You will not be
able to tell which questions count and which ones do
not.

You will have 3 hours to take the real exam. Since the
passing score is not made public, we encourage your
goal score should be 82% or better.

Use the following practice exam as a way to simulate
the day of the exam.

PMI‐ACP Study Guide
©2019 ASPE, Inc.


1. Which of the following is used to describe the cadence of work that can be
maintained indefinitely?

a) Sustainable Pace
b) Project Schedule
c) Resource Allocation
d) Continuous Integration

2. Which of the following audiences was the Declaration of Interdependence created
for?

a) Software Development
b) Project Team Members
c) Project Leaders
d) Project Stakeholders

3. Which of the following Agile business objectives focuses on lowering technical debt?

a) Continuous Innovation
b) Reliable Results
c) People and Process Adaptability
d) Product Adaptability

4. An Agile team member is incorporating multiple team member view points and
insights in order to resolve a conflict. Which approach are they using?

a) Smooth / Accommodate
b) Compromise / Reconcile
c) Collaborate / Problem Solve
d) Force / Direct

5. An Agile team is working on a project to improve the way orders are processed for
their customers by eliminating almost all of the manual intervention currently being
used. What dominant source of return is this project seeking?

a) Retained Revenue
b) Operational Efficiencies
c) New Revenue
d) Incremental Revenue

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

6. Which of the following factors is NOT taken into account when determining the
length of a retrospective?

a) Number of stories
b) Complexity
c) Team size
d) Level of conflict or controversy

7. Which Scrum role is responsible for initial and ongoing funding for the project?

a) Product Owner
b) Sponsor
c) ScrumMaster
d) Project Manager

8. Which type of decision making approach is the most damaging to the team's ability
to self‐organize?

a) Unilateral decision making
b) Compromising decision making
c) Participatory decision making
d) Collaborative decision making

9. An Agile Coach is meeting with a team member and after listening begins to interpret
what was said through their own view. Based on the Levels of Listening from the
school of coactive coaching, at what level is the Agile Coach listening?

a) Level II ‐ Focused Listening
b) Level III ‐ Global Listening
c) Level IV ‐ Super Listening
d) Level I ‐ Internal Listening

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

10. One of the senior managers at your organization has asked you (the ScrumMaster)
to complete an end‐of‐iteration summary at the conclusion of each sprint. Should
this type of report and documentation even be considered on an Agile project?

a) No, this senior manager does not understand Agile practices. You as the
ScrumMaster need to let him know the rules of Agile.
b) Yes, this request is acceptable on an Agile project and as the ScrumMaster
you should delegate this responsibility to one of the team members.
c) Yes, because the end‐of‐iteration summary can be helpful for communicating
current information and can be used as a historical document for future use.
As the ScrumMaster you should communicate what the senior manager has
requested.
d) No, this senior manager has been a problem throughout the entire project.
Escalate this issue to your Product Owner and let him/her communicate to
the senior manager that the summary will not be completed.

11. What information is depicted on the vertical axis of a release burndown chart?

a) Number of activities and tasks completed
b) Number of story points or ideal days remaining
c) Number of major milestones completed
d) Number of activities and tasks remaining

12. Which of the following is the best team strategy to create early and regular delivery
on a project?

a) Hardest‐last strategy
b) Worst‐things‐first strategy
c) Simplest first, worst second strategy
d) Most difficult first, easy second strategy

13. Which of the following techniques is NOT useful in helping multiple Agile teams
work on the same project?

a) Agile teams should establish a common basis for their estimates.
b) On highly complex projects with many interteam dependencies, it can be
helpful to incorporate feeding buffers into the plan.
c) Multiple teams benefit from incorporating a rolling lookahead plan into their
Release Planning.
d) When multiple teams need to work together, it is useful to wait to add detail
to user stories until later in the project planning.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

14. During the Daily Scrum, two of the Scrum Team members get into a side
conversation about what they are going to do this weekend. What should happen in
this instance?

a) Scrum Team members are self‐organized and should correct the unabiding
Scrum Team members.
b) The ScrumMaster needs to remind the Scrum Team of the rule that only one
person talks at a time during the Daily Scrum.
c) The ScrumMaster should wait to speak with the Scrum Team members until
the Daily Scrum is over.
d) The ScrumMaster should escalate this issue to the Product Owner.

15. Which of the following is used to document the economic feasibility study as a basis
for authorization of additional project management activities?

a) Project Charter
b) Business Case
c) Cost‐Benefit Analysis
d) Vision Document

16. Which of the following are NOT aspects of empirical process control?

a) Adaptation
b) Development
c) Visibility
d) Inspection

17. An Agile team is surveying users to determine which features to include in their
project. They receive feedback about a feature the customers expect to have and
they want more and more of these types of features in the product. According to
the Kano Model of Customer Satisfaction, which category have the customers
described?

a) Exciters and delighters
b) Linear features
c) Threshold features
d) Dissatisfiers

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

18. A project retrospective is scheduled to last an entire day. One of the stakeholders
asks if they can drop‐in and dropout throughout the day. What should the
retrospective leader tell this stakeholder?

a) Tell the stakeholder full‐time attendance is necessary because each part of
the retrospective structure builds on the preceding portion.
b) Tell the stakeholder it's okay to drop‐in and dropout since their feedback is
important.
c) Ask the stakeholder to still attend the retrospective and bring their other
work with them to do in private.
d) Reschedule the retrospective until every participant's schedule allows for
full‐day attendance.

19. Which of the following is used to measure the amount of time that passes?

a) Elapsed time
b) Bottom‐up Estimates
c) Top‐down Estimates
d) Ideal time

20. Which of the following testing is NOT performed in Agile projects?

a) Automated regression testing
b) Unit testing
c) End‐to‐end testing
d) Manual regression testing

21. Which of the following plans is the most precise?

a) Release Plan
b) Daily Plan
c) Iteration Plan
d) Project Plan

22. Which Scrum artifact evolves as the product, the requirements, and the
environment in which it will be used evolves?

a) Sprint Backlog
b) Gantt Chart
c) Burndown Chart
d) Product Backlog

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

23. Which of the following is NOT a key value for an Agile Leader?

a) Leading the team over managing tasks.
b) Delivering value over meeting constraints.
c) Managing tasks over leading the team.
d) Adapting to change over following a plan.

24. Which of the following approaches is NOT used to estimate velocity?

a) Run an iteration
b) Use historical values
c) Make a forecast
d) Compare to other Agile teams

25. What type of meeting does the Scrum Team use to synchronize the work of all
Team members and to schedule any meetings the Team needs to forward its
progress?

a) Sprint Review
b) Sprint Retrospective
c) Sprint Planning Meeting
d) Daily Scrum

26. Which of the following is a common root cause analysis technique used by Agile
teams?

a) Value Stream Mapping
b) The Five Whys
c) Monte Carlo Simulation
d) Six Sigma

27. Which Scrum role is responsible for being self‐managed and self‐organized?

a) Scrum Team
b) ScrumMaster
c) Project Manager
d) Product Owner

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

28. When the person paying for a project requests a written report of the project
retrospective, which role is responsible for creating the report?

a) The ScrumMaster or Agile Project Manager
b) The Product Owner
c) The Team Lead
d) The Team

29. An Agile team working on their estimates decides to use a new technique where
they compare a user story against a couple of other stories that have been
estimated. What technique is the team using?

a) Triangulation
b) Expert opinion
c) Disaggregation
d) PERT

30. What should the Agile team do if the executive sponsor is not attending the
iteration demos?

a) Ask the Product Owner to fill‐in for the Executive Sponsor.
b) Keep the iteration demos short and have the Product Owner conduct a
private demo at least once a month whenever the Executive Sponsor cannot
attend.
c) Request a new Executive Sponsor.
d) Nothing, the customer's feedback is the most important feedback needed for
the demo.

31. Once an Agile team has completed an iteration, when is the ideal time to hold an
iteration retrospective??

a) Right after a release
b) Right before iteration planning
c) Right after iteration planning
d) Right before a release

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

32. An Agile team is using an estimating technique that involves the Product Owner
reading the description of the user story and answering questions from the team.
The team members then privately select a card representing their estimate and
reveal them simultaneously. What estimating technique is the team using?

a) Triangulation
b) Planning Poker
c) Storyboarding
d) PERT

33. During a Sprint the Scrum Team completed all of the tasks early. What should be
done in this instance?

a) Nothing should be done; the Scrum Team has accomplished their velocity for
this Sprint.
b) The Scrum Team should consult with each other as to which additional
Product Backlog items can be added to this Sprint.
c) The Scrum Team should consult with the ScrumMaster as to which additional
d) The Scrum Team should consult with the Product Owner as to which
additional Product Backlog items can be added to this Sprint.

34. Which of the following conflict resolution techniques is used to describe
emphasizing areas of agreement rather than areas of difference?

a) Collaborate / Problem Solve
c) Force / Direct
d) Smooth / Accommodate

35. Why is it oftentimes dangerous to estimate in ideal days?

a) Because it's easier to get started with estimating in story points than ideal
days.
b) Because ideal days are equal among team members.
c) Because there is pressure to make an actual day closer to an ideal day.
d) Because ideal day estimates do not decay.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

36. A project manager is presented with a different strategy for managing projects
than the waterfall strategy he/she has been using for years. The project manager
decides not to try the new strategy. Which failure mode has the project manager
fallen into?

a) Making mistakes
b) Preferring to fail conservatively
c) Inventing rather than researching
d) Being creatures of habit

37. What is the correct order for the Agile Project Management Delivery Framework?

a) Explore‐Envision‐Speculate‐Close‐Adapt
b) Envision‐Speculate‐Explore‐Adapt‐Close
c) Initiate‐Plan‐Execute‐Control‐Close
d) Explore‐Initiate‐Plan‐Adapt‐Close

38. Which of the following is NOT part of The Declaration of Interdependence?

a) We increase return on investment by making process our focus.
b) We boost performance through group accountability for results and shared
responsibility for team effectiveness.
c) We deliver reliable results by engaging customers in frequent interactions
and shared ownership.
d) We expect uncertainty and manage for it through iterations, anticipation,
and adaptation.

39. Which of the following is used to describe a single‐page summary of key business
and quality objectives, product capabilities, and project management information
for the Envision phase?

a) Project Management Plan
b) Vision Document
c) Scope Definition Document
d) Project Data Sheet

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

40. An Agile team estimated story points for the following user stories:
User Story A 5 story points
User Story B 3 story points
User Story C 2 story points
User Story D 1 story point

The team's velocity in the prior sprint was 11. Due to unforeseen risks in this
sprint, the team was only able to finish User Stories A and B. What is their velocity
for this sprint?

a) 3
b) 8
c) 11
d) 0

41. Which of the following is the correct order of phases used during a retrospective?

a) Set the stage, Gather data, Generate insights, Decide what to do, and Close
the retrospective
b) Gather data, Set the stage, Generate insights, Decide what to do, and Close
the retrospective
c) Gather data, Set the stage, Generate insights, Decide what not to do, and
Close the retrospective
d) Generate insights, Gather data, Set the stage, Decide what not to do, Close
the retrospective

42. An Agile team is working on a project to encourage customers to purchase more
licenses. What dominant source of return is this project seeking?

a) Retained Revenue
c) New Revenue

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

43. During the second week of a sprint the Product Owner asks the team to include a
change to the functionality they are working on. Is this considered good practice
in Agile?

a) Yes, this is acceptable in Agile practice.
b) Yes, as long as the Product Owner okays this decision with the ScrumMaster.
c) Yes, because the Product Owner determines the priorities based on
customer and business needs.
d) No, the Product Owner should document the change in the Product Backlog.

44. Who is responsible for driving Agile development?

a) Customers and Product Managers
b) Product Owner
c) Scrum Team
d) ScrumMaster

45. The Product Owner on an Agile team has asked the ScrumMaster to begin tracking
individual velocity for the team. Should this practice be implemented by the
ScrumMaster?

a) Yes, this is acceptable in Agile practice because it will help individuals
become better at estimating and the Product Owner should be supported by
the ScrumMaster in this practice.
b) No, individuals should be given every incentive possible to work
collaboratively as a team and the ScrumMaster should explain this rule to the
Product Owner.
c) Yes, because the Product Owner is responsible for the rules the Agile team
follows and the ScrumMaster answers to the Product Owner.
d) No, the Product Owner should not be changing the rules for the Agile team in
the middle of a project. It's okay to change the rules after the project ends.

46. Which of the following roles is responsible for eliminating waste in an Agile
project?

a) The Agile Leader
c) The Team
d) The Product Manager

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

47. During which meeting does the Scrum Team consider changing any of the rules of
Scrum?

a) Sprint Retrospective
b) Sprint Planning
c) Daily Scrum
d) Sprint Review

48. An Agile team and ScrumMaster are working together on the Release Plan. Which
of the following should be done during this planning process?

a) Creating a plan that shows which team members will work on which user
stories.
b) Creating a plan that shows which team members will work on specific tasks.
c) Selecting an iteration length.
d) Creating a plan that shows how much the user stories will cost.

49. Which of the following is the correct scope to consider for Agile projects?

a) Articulated Product Vision
b) Defined Requirements
c) Project Scope Statement
d) BHAGs ‐ Big Hairy Audacious Goals

50. Recently during the Daily Scrum meetings, there have been several chickens
attending the meeting that have caused the meetings to exceed the 15‐minute
limit. What should be done in this instance?

a) The ScrumMaster should escalate this issue to the Product Owner.
b) The ScrumMaster needs to change the time of the Daily Scrum meeting so
the chickens miss it.
c) The ScrumMaster should ask the chickens to immediately leave the meeting.
d) The ScrumMaster needs to limit the attendance so the meeting is orderly and
focused.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

51. A template written in this form ‐ "As a <type of user>, I want <capability> so that
<business value>" is used to create which of the following?

a) Activities
b) Epics
c) Themes
d) User Stories

52. Which Scrum role creates the initial overall requirements, ROI objectives, and
release plans?

a) Scrum Team
b) ScrumMaster
c) Sponsor
d) Product Owner

53. During an iteration retrospective one of the team members, Kim is continuously
talking about every point and is not allowing other team members to provide
input/feedback. What should the retrospective leader do first?

a) Be direct by asking Kim to immediately leave the retrospective.
b) Be indirect by showing Kim through your body language to tone it down.
c) Be direct by asking Kim privately to talk less and listen more.
d) Let the team members correct Kim since they are self‐organized.

54. Once the Release Plan is done, how often should it be revisited and updated?

a) Once the Release Plan is complete it doesn't need to be revisited unless a
change control request is issued.
b) The Release Plan should be revisited and updated with regular frequency ‐
after each iteration or as long as every 4‐6 weeks.
c) The Release Plan should be revisited and updated every week.
d) The Release Plan should be revisited and updated every day.

55. Which of the following Scrum roles have the option to attend the Sprint
Retrospective meeting?

a) ScrumMaster
b) Scrum Team
c) Product Champion
d) Product Owner

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

56. Company XYZ has just begun using Scrum practices. They recently had a meeting
where customers and other key stakeholders were involved in functionality
demonstrations. Which type of meeting was being conducted?

b) Sprint Planning Meeting
c) Sprint Review
d) Daily Scrum

57. Which of the following is NOT performed during Iteration Planning?

a) Individual task assignments are made.
b) User stories are organized.
c) User stories are decomposed into tasks.
d) Tasks are estimated in ideal hours.

58. Which of the following is the most important aspect of self‐organized teams?

a) Self‐discipline
b) Accountability
c) Collaboration
d) Respect

59. Which of the following roles is NOT considered a "pig"?

a) ScrumMaster
b) Project Stakeholders
c) Product Owner
d) Scrum Team

60. Which types of features should be developed first in an Agile project?

a) Low‐value, high‐risk
b) High‐value, low‐risk
c) Low‐value, low‐risk
d) High‐value, high‐risk

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

61. Which of the following audiences was the Manifesto for Agile Software
Development created for?

a) Project Team Members
b) Project Leaders
c) Project Stakeholders
d) Software Development

62. What time of day is best to hold the Daily Scrum meeting?

a) First thing in the day
b) Last thing in the day
c) Before lunch
d) After lunch

63. The Product Owner is trying to determine which themes to select and fund for
cash flow streams and decided to measure the amount of time required to earn
back the initial investment by taking into account the time value of money. Which
way did the Product Owner evaluate the cash flow streams?

a) Payback Period
b) Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
c) Net Present Value (NPV)
d) Discounted Payback Period

64. An Agile team has created a chart that includes a rectangular box for each theme
depicting the name of the theme, the number of stories in the theme, the number
of story points, and percentage of story points completed. What is the name of
this chart?

a) Burndown Chart
b) Burnup Chart
c) Burndown Bar Chart
d) Parking‐Lot Chart

65. Which of the following information radiators works best for an Agile team that has
12 people?

a) Paper
b) Digital cameras
c) Printing whiteboards
d) Wall charts

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66. When using Commitment‐Driven Iteration Planning, how long does is it typically
take for a team to get a feel for how many hours they should plan for an iteration?

a) Approximately 7 iterations
b) Approximately 10 iterations
c) Approximately 2 iterations
d) 1 iteration

67. What is happening to an Agile project when the top of the bar is lowered on the
burndown chart?

a) Work has been added
b) Work has been completed
c) Work has been removed
d) No work has been added to or removed from the release

68. Which of the following is NOT a valid reason for terminating a Sprint?

a) When business conditions change and the Sprint holds no value for the
business.
b) When the Scrum Team is interfered with during the Sprint by anyone outside
the Scrum Team.
c) When the ScrumMaster is controlling and directing the work of the Scrum
Team.
d) When the technology proves unworkable.

69. Which of the following practices is considered to use line‐of‐sight‐and‐hearing
learning?

a) Scrum
b) Lean Software Development
c) Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)
d) eXtreme Programming (XP)

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

70. An Agile team has created a list of the product's requirements, prioritized them
and determined that not every feature will be delivered. In fact, the team
recommends that 30 percent of the effort of the project be considered optional.
What is the Agile team doing?

a) Creating a feeding buffer
b) Creating a feature buffer
c) Creating a schedule buffer
d) Putting together a scope management plan

71. Which Scrum role is responsible for prioritizing the order in which to discuss
potential Scrum improvements during the Sprint Retrospective?

a) ScrumMaster
b) Product Owner
c) Scrum Team
d) Product Champion

72. Which of the following techniques is used to split a story or feature into smaller,
easier‐to‐estimate pieces?

a) Triangulation
b) Expert opinion
c) Disaggregation
d) Analogy

back the initial investment. Which way did the Product Owner evaluate the cash
flow streams?

a) Payback Period
d) Expected Monetary Value (EMV)

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

74. Which of the following concepts refers to the creation of two zones in the room
set‐up: one zone to maximize osmotic communication/information transfer and
the second zone to provide a private place for team members to make phone calls,
check email, and have a separate space?

a) Osmotic Zone and Quiet Zone
b) Osmotic Communication and The Cone of Silence
c) Drafts and Hot Air
d) Caves and Common

75. An Agile team has determined they want to use Gantt charts for communicating
the Agile plan. Which of the following approaches do they need to avoid?

a) Stopping at the feature level and not decomposing each user story into its
constituent tasks.
b) Showing each feature as taking the full length of the iteration in which it's
scheduled.
c) Not allocating resources to the identified features.
d) Allocating resources to each of the identified features.

76. Which of the following terms is used to describe a period of time that cannot be
exceeded and within which an event or meeting occurs?

a) Timebox
b) Time limit
c) Duration
d) Sprint / Iteration

77. Which of the following numbers is assigned to tiny features?

a) 1
b) 0.5
c) 0
d) 0.25

78. Which of the following is NOT a benefit of moving QA closer to the front of the
value stream?

a) To reduce or eliminate delay
b) To reduce or eliminate the need for testing
c) To reduce or eliminate redundancy
d) To reduce or eliminate miscommunication

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

79. How long does a Sprint review meeting last?

a) 1 hour
b) 8 hours
c) 4 hours
d) It depends on the length of the Sprint and whether the Demo is included

80. When a team is using planning poker for estimating user stories, how many rounds
does it usually take for the estimates to converge?

a) As many rounds as it takes
b) 7 rounds
c) 5 rounds
d) 2 rounds

81. Which of the following concepts is NOT part of simplicity?

a) Delivery versus Compliance
b) Generative Rules
c) Barely Sufficient Methodology
d) Prescriptive Principles

82. Which of the following is used to describe the time from when the team begins
work on a feature until that feature delivers value to users?

a) Duration
b) Schedule
c) Project Plan
d) Cycle Time

83. Company XYZ has just implemented Scrum practices. The development team
members on an Agile project are assigned tasks by the ScrumMaster according to
their role, including analysis, design, coding, testing, and documentation, with a
different team member fulfilling each role. What approach is the team using?

a) Scrum
b) XP
c) Test Driven Development
d) Waterfall

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

84. In Lean, at what point does the team form, assign roles, determine logistics for
meetings, and decide how to work together?

a) During Iteration 1
b) During Release Planning
c) After the Project Charter has been approved
d) During Iteration 0

cash flow streams and decided to measure how much money each theme is
expected to return in today's present value. Which way did the Product Owner
evaluate the cash flow streams?

a) Payback Period

86. Which of the following constraints are NOT considered when using a tradeoff
matrix?

a) Risk
b) Scope
c) Schedule
d) Cost

87. Which role owns the learnings from a retrospective?

a) The Agile Leader
c) The Product Manager
d) The Team

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

project. They receive feedback about a feature the customers would love to have
in your product to differentiate your company from other companies and they are
willing to pay extra for this feature. According to the Kano Model of Customer
Satisfaction, which category have the customers described?

b) Linear features
d) Dissatisfiers

89. During an iteration a developer runs into a problem and begins performing a rapid
experiment to investigate. What is the developer working on?

a) Spike
b) Feature
c) Task
d) Minimal Marketable Feature

90. How long should an iteration demo last?

a) 1 hour
b) 1/2 day
c) 10‐30 minutes
d) It depends on the length of the iteration.

91. An Agile team is working on an enhancement project and adds new features to
attract different customers. What dominant source of return is this project
seeking?

a) Retained Revenue
c) New Revenue

92. When an Agile team is tailoring their documentation practices, which of the
following should they be careful with?

a) Level of ceremony
b) Permanent documentation
c) Working papers
d) Zero or burdensome documentation

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

93. At what point on an Agile project are stakeholders allowed to provide criticism,
comments, or observations.

a) During the Sprint
b) During the Daily Scrum
c) During the Sprint Review
d) During the Sprint Retrospective

94. Which of the following is used to describe technical debt?

a) Partially done work
b) Writing poor quality code that makes future changes difficult or not using
learning to improve design
c) Work‐in‐process (WIP)
d) Extra features

95. In the second iteration of a project, the Agile team planned to do 20 story points of
work. During this iteration the Product Owner identified another 20 points of
work that is needed in the release. How would the additional 20 points of work
appear in the burndown chart?

a) As a change request
b) As a burndown
c) As scope creep
d) As a burnup

96. During an iteration the Agile project team forgot about an impending risk. What
should the Agile project team do next?

a) Get the product team and development team together to create a risk
register.
b) Stop the iteration and include risk response strategies for the next iteration.
c) Determine if this is a significant need that requires adding a supplementary
practice.
d) Ask the ScrumMaster what he/she recommends the team should do.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

97. An Agile team has created a margin of safety to their project schedule by adding to
the sum of their estimates and removing local safety. What is the Agile team
doing?

a) Padding their estimates
b) Estimating using story points or ideal days
d) Creating a feature buffer

98. During a project retrospective several managers were in attendance and before
team members had an opportunity to contribute regarding improvements, the
managers began dominating and hijacking the agenda. What is the best approach
the retrospective leader can take to correct this situation?

a) Let the managers contribute so the project gets back in control.
b) Meet with managers before the next retrospective; coach them on
appropriate participation, including signals to communicate when managers
are being too assertive.
c) Prompt the Product Owner to take control of the managers and their
behavior.
d) Ask the managers to listen since they are supposed to be observers during
the retrospective and not participants of the retrospective.

99. An Agile project team is starting to identify and discuss their strengths and
weaknesses and determine roles that best suit their abilities and needs. Which of the
following stages is the team encountering?

a) Storming
b) Performing
c) Norming
d) Forming

100. During a sprint one of the key stakeholders keeps providing instructions to one of
the Scrum Team members. What should be done in this instance?

a) The ScrumMaster needs to remind the stakeholder of the Scrum rules and
ask them to refrain from interrupting the Scrum Team member.
b) The ScrumMaster should escalate this issue to the Product Owner.
c) The ScrumMaster should allow the interruptions to continue because this
shows collaboration.
d) Scrum Team members are self‐organized and should correct the unabiding
stakeholder.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

101. Which of the following approaches is usually the best option to select when
estimating velocity?

a) Run an iteration
c) Make a forecast

102. Which of the following is FALSE regarding the core beliefs of Agile?

a) Working code is the most accurate way of seeing the progress of the
development effort.
b) Groups working together minimizes delays as well as the loss of information
between people.
c) You cannot know everything required to build a software product at the start
of the project.
d) You can test at the end of a project and achieve the required quality.

103. When an organization is moving toward Agile practices, which type of meeting
tends to be challenged the most?

a) Daily Standup Meetings
b) Release Planning Meetings
c) Iteration Planning Meetings
d) Retrospective Meetings

104. Which of the following conflict response modes is assertive and not cooperative?

a) Avoiding / Withdrawing
b) Forcing / Directing
c) Collaborating / Problem Solving
d) Compromising / Reconciling

105. Which of the following practices does NOT use strict iteration lengths for the
completion of stories?

a) Scrum
b) Kanban
c) eXtreme Programming
d) Lean‐Agile

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

106. Which of the following feedback forms is NOT valuable when using eXtreme
Programming (XP)?

a) Feedback from automated tests.
b) Feedback from the continuous integration process.
c) Feedback during paired programming.
d) Feedback that is delayed.

107. Which of the following is the best description of servant leadership?

a) Having the team serve and work for the project leader.
b) Ensuring the team serves each other by becoming self‐organized.
c) Having the project leader ensure that everyone has the resources to do his or
her work and providing services to the team.
d) Ensuring the team serves and works for the customer.

108. An Agile team is working on improving the product's design without changing
externally visible functionality to make the product more reliable and adaptable.

a) Refactoring
b) Continuous Integration
c) Reducing Technical Debt
d) Team Code Ownership

109. Which of the following best describes the planning process in Agile projects?

a) Following a rolling wave approach using top‐down planning.
b) Specifying requirements upfront.
c) Identifying tasks upfront and estimating those tasks.
d) Preparing a project scope document.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

110. The Product Owner on an Agile project has been attempting to micromanage the
team by getting into the details of how team members are performing their work.
What is the best thing the Agile Project Manager can do in this instance?

a) Explain to the Agile team the Product Owner has every right to micromanage
the team.
b) Report the Product Owner's behavior to the Sponsor.
c) Coach the Product Owner to focus on how much work he/she asks the team
to do, not on how they are doing it.
d) Ask the Product Owner to take Agile training.

111. Which of the following is the most powerful way of reporting the team's progress?

a) Demos of working software
b) Progress reports
c) Status meetings
d) Iteration retrospectives

112. Which of the following is used to describe a fixed start date and a fixed end date
for Agile teams to complete their work?

a) Duration
b) Timebox
c) Network Diagram
d) Gantt Chart

113. Which of the following is NOT used as part of the empirical inspection and
adaptation practices of Scrum?

a) Sprint Review
b) Daily Planning Meeting
c) Daily Scrum
d) Sprint Retrospective

114. An Agile team is experiencing different opinions, misunderstandings, and
conflicting values. According to the five levels of conflict, what level of conflict is
this team experiencing?

a) Level 3
b) Level 1
c) Level 4
d) Level 5

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

115. An Agile team is facing crunch time during a release and the Agile Project
Manager made the decision to hold two‐a‐day standup meetings. Is this
considered good practice?

a) No, this process would need to be created and supported by the team, not
because the Agile Project Manager is creating the process out of fear.
b) Yes, the Agile Project Manager knows and reinforces Agile principles.
c) No, the Agile Project Manager needs to conduct fewer daily standups during
crunch time.
d) Yes, the Agile Project Manager is leading the Agile team to be successful
during a stressful part of the release.

116. The customer is having difficulty prioritizing a story. Which of the following is the
best choice in this situation?

a) Tell the customer you will determine the priorities.
b) Re‐estimate the story.
c) Consider splitting the story.
d) Ask the customer to flip a coin between the stories.

117. During a sprint retrospective a team member states, "We need more people on
our side; they're wrong, plain and simple". According to the five levels of conflict,
what level of conflict is this Agile team experiencing?

a) Level 4
b) Level 1
c) Level 5
d) Level 3

118. An Agile team is using a signaling system in their scheduling process where a limit
is set on WIP and new work is "pulled" through the system. What practice is the
Agile team using?

a) Scrum
b) Dynamic Systems Development Method
c) Feature Driven Development
d) Kanban

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

119. Which of the following is true about Agile projects?

a) The triple constraints can be traded off for one another to correct for
unknowns.
b) A plan gets more accurate over time because it is constantly revised and
trued up to the team's actual performance.
c) Scope can be locked down with later discoveries being handled as change
requests against the scheduled end date.
d) A plan gets more accurate over time as the team fleshes out the project
through phases of activity: requirements, design, development, testing, etc.

120. An Agile Project Manager suspects the Product Owner has prioritized the product
backlog based on who they promised a particular feature to instead of prioritizing
on value, cost, risk, and knowledge gained. What is the best thing for the Agile
Project Manager to do in this instance?

a) Demand the Product Owner prioritize User Stories based on value, cost, risk,
and knowledge gained.
b) Ask the Product Owner open‐ended questions about what's behind the
ranking of one User Story vs. another.
c) Tell the project Sponsor that the Product Owner does not know how to
prioritize User Stories correctly.
d) Accept the Product Owner's prioritized backlog because he/she represents
the customer's needs.

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Correct Responses

This section includes the correct responses to the
questions, the rationale behind the correct
responses, and book/chapter references where
The practice exam correct the question was obtained.
responses include

explanations and references
to help you learn. Make sure you read through the rationale on
questions you get correct as well as questions you
miss to solidify your learning.

Final Practice Exam 1 Correct Responses

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

1. Which of the following is used to describe the cadence of work that can be
maintained indefinitely?
a) Sustainable Pace
b) Project Schedule
c) Resource Allocation
d) Continuous Integration

Correct Response: A
Sustainable pace is the cadence of work that can be maintained indefinitely by
the Agile team.

‐ Lyssa Adkins, Coaching Agile Teams, Chapter 8

2. Which of the following audiences was the Declaration of Interdependence created
for?
a) Software Development
b) Project Team Members
c) Project Leaders
d) Project Stakeholders

Correct Response: C
The Declaration of Interdependence was developed with project leaders in mind.

‐ Jim Highsmith, Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products,
2nd edition, Chapter 1

3. Which of the following Agile business objectives focuses on lowering technical debt?
a) Continuous Innovation
b) Reliable Results
c) People and Process Adaptability
d) Product Adaptability

Correct Response: D
Agile technical practices focus on lowering technical debt (improving the ability
to adapt) as an integral part of the development process.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

4. An Agile team member is incorporating multiple team member view points and
insights in order to resolve a conflict. Which approach are they using?
a) Smooth / Accommodate
c) Collaborate / Problem Solve
d) Force / Direct

Correct Response: C
Collaborate/Problem Solve is incorporating multiple view points and insights
from differing perspectives; requires a cooperative attitude and open dialogue
that typically leads to consensus and commitment.

‐ PMBOK Guide, Chapter 9

5. An Agile team is working on a project to improve the way orders are processed for
their customers by eliminating almost all of the manual intervention currently being
used. What dominant source of return is this project seeking?
a) Retained Revenue
c) New Revenue

Correct Response: B
Operational efficiency considers the revenue a project will generate through
process improvement.

‐ Mike Cohn, Agile Estimating and Planning, Chapter 10

6. Which of the following factors is NOT taken into account when determining the
length of a retrospective?
a) Number of stories
b) Complexity
c) Team size
d) Level of conflict or controversy

Correct Response: A
The number of user stories is not taken into account to determine length of a
retrospective. Length of the iteration, complexity, size of the team, and level of
conflict or controversy are all considered.

‐ Esther Derby & Diana Larsen, Agile Retrospectives, Chapter 1

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

7. Which Scrum role is responsible for initial and ongoing funding for the project?
a) Product Owner
b) Sponsor
c) ScrumMaster
d) Project Manager

Correct Response: A
The Product Owner achieves initial and ongoing funding for the project.

8. Which type of decision making approach is the most damaging to the team's ability
to self‐organize?
a) Unilateral decision making
b) Compromising decision making
c) Participatory decision making
d) Collaborative decision making

Correct Response: A
Leaders at any level who are making more than three or four unilateral decisions
a month are adversely impacting their team's ability to self‐organize.

‐ Jim Highsmith, Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products
2nd Edition, Chapter 9

9. An Agile Coach is meeting with a team member and after listening begins to interpret
what was said through their own view. Based on the Levels of Listening from the
school of coactive coaching, at what level is the Agile Coach listening?
a) Level II ‐ Focused Listening
b) Level III ‐ Global Listening
c) Level IV ‐ Super Listening
d) Level I ‐ Internal Listening

Correct Response: D
The Agile Coach who hears the speaker's words and only interprets them
through their own lens is listening at Level I ‐ Internal Listening


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

10. One of the senior managers at your organization has asked you (the ScrumMaster)
to complete an end‐of‐iteration summary at the conclusion of each sprint. Should
this type of report and documentation even be considered on an Agile project?
a) No, this senior manager does not understand Agile practices. You as the
ScrumMaster need to let him know the rules of Agile.
b) Yes, this request is acceptable on an Agile project and as the ScrumMaster
you should delegate this responsibility to one of the team members.
c) Yes, because the end‐of‐iteration summary can be helpful for communicating
current information and can be used as a historical document for future use.
As the ScrumMaster you should communicate what the senior manager has
requested.
d) No, this senior manager has been a problem throughout the entire project.
Escalate this issue to your Product Owner and let him/her communicate to
the senior manager that the summary will not be completed.

Correct Response: C
On some projects an end‐of‐iteration summary can be useful, both in
disseminating information and as a historical document for use in the future.


11. What information is depicted on the vertical axis of a release burndown chart?
a) Number of activities and tasks completed
b) Number of story points or ideal days remaining
c) Number of major milestones completed
d) Number of activities and tasks remaining

Correct Response: B
The vertical axis of a release burndown chart shows the number of story points
(or the number of ideal days) remaining.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

12. Which of the following is the best team strategy to create early and regular delivery
on a project?
a) Hardest‐last strategy
b) Worst‐things‐first strategy
c) Simplest first, worst second strategy
d) Most difficult first, easy second strategy

Correct Response: C
The repaired strategy is simplest first, worst second. With one victory under its
collective belt, the team is in a stronger position to attack the worst problem.

‐ Alistair Cockburn, Agile Software Development, 2nd edition, Chapter 2

13. Which of the following techniques is NOT useful in helping multiple Agile teams
work on the same project?
a) Agile teams should establish a common basis for their estimates.
b) On highly complex projects with many interteam dependencies, it can be
helpful to incorporate feeding buffers into the plan.
c) Multiple teams benefit from incorporating a rolling lookahead plan into their
Release Planning.
d) When multiple teams need to work together, it is useful to wait to add detail
to user stories until later in the project planning.

Correct Response: D
When multiple teams need to work together, it is often useful to add detail to
their user stories sooner.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

14. During the Daily Scrum, two of the Scrum Team members get into a side
conversation about what they are going to do this weekend. What should happen in
this instance?
a) Scrum Team members are self‐organized and should correct the unabiding
Scrum Team members.
b) The ScrumMaster needs to remind the Scrum Team of the rule that only one
person talks at a time during the Daily Scrum.
c) The ScrumMaster should wait to speak with the Scrum Team members until
the Daily Scrum is over.
d) The ScrumMaster should escalate this issue to the Product Owner.

Correct Response: B
During the Daily Scrum, only one person talks at a time and there are no side
conversations. The ScrumMaster is responsible for ensuring the Scrum Team
follows the rules.

15. Which of the following is used to document the economic feasibility study as a basis
for authorization of additional project management activities?
a) Project Charter
b) Business Case
c) Cost‐Benefit Analysis
d) Vision Document

Correct Response: B
The business case is a documented economic feasibility study used to establish
validity of the benefits of a selected component lacking sufficient definition and
is used as a basis for the authorization of further project management activities.

‐ Project Management Body of Knowledge, Glossary

16. Which of the following are NOT aspects of empirical process control?
a) Adaptation
b) Development
c) Visibility
d) Inspection

Correct Response: B
The three aspects of empirical process control are visibility, inspection, and
adaptation.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

project. They receive feedback about a feature the customers expect to have and
they want more and more of these types of features in the product. According to
the Kano Model of Customer Satisfaction, which category have the customers
described?
b) Linear features
d) Dissatisfiers

Correct Response: B
Linear features are ones the customer will generally expect and are often known
as satisfiers. The more satisfiers the better.


18. A project retrospective is scheduled to last an entire day. One of the stakeholders
asks if they can drop‐in and dropout throughout the day. What should the
retrospective leader tell this stakeholder?
a) Tell the stakeholder full‐time attendance is necessary because each part of
the retrospective structure builds on the preceding portion.
b) Tell the stakeholder it's okay to drop‐in and dropout since their feedback is
important.
c) Ask the stakeholder to still attend the retrospective and bring their other
work with them to do in private.
d) Reschedule the retrospective until every participant's schedule allows for
full‐day attendance.

Correct Response: D
Drop‐ins slow down the retrospective process; dropouts send a different, often
puzzling message. Set the expectation for full‐time attendance as recommended
in this answer choice. A key word in the question is project. If this was Iteration
retrospective then the answer would be different. In that case rescheduling
might not be a good option. Remember to read the questions carefully.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

19. Which of the following is used to measure the amount of time that passes?
a) Elapsed time
b) Bottom‐up Estimates
c) Top‐down Estimates
d) Ideal time

Correct Response: A
Elapsed time is the amount of time that passes on a clock or on a calendar.


20. Which of the following testing is NOT performed in Agile projects?
a) Automated regression testing
b) Unit testing
c) End‐to‐end testing
d) Manual regression testing

Correct Response: D
The Agile team doesn't perform any manual regression testing.

21. Which of the following plans is the most precise?
a) Release Plan
b) Daily Plan
c) Iteration Plan
d) Project Plan

Correct Response: B
The daily plan, as committed to by each participant in a team's daily meeting is
fairly precise.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

22. Which Scrum artifact evolves as the product, the requirements, and the
environment in which it will be used evolves?
a) Sprint Backlog
b) Gantt Chart
c) Burndown Chart
d) Product Backlog

Correct Response: D
The Product Backlog evolves as the product and the environment in which it will
be used evolves.

23. Which of the following is NOT a key value for an Agile Leader?
a) Leading the team over managing tasks.
b) Delivering value over meeting constraints.
c) Managing tasks over leading the team.
d) Adapting to change over following a plan.

Correct Response: C
Managing tasks is not a key value for Agile Leaders, while leading the team is a
key value.

‐ Jim Highsmith, Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative
Products, 2nd edition, Chapter 1

24. Which of the following approaches is NOT used to estimate velocity?
a) Run an iteration
c) Make a forecast

Correct Response: D
Comparing velocities between Agile teams is not a good indicator of estimating
velocity and should be avoided.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

25. What type of meeting does the Scrum Team use to synchronize the work of all
Team members and to schedule any meetings the Team needs to forward its
progress?
a) Sprint Review
b) Sprint Retrospective
c) Sprint Planning Meeting
d) Daily Scrum

Correct Response: D
The Daily Scrum synchronizes the work of all Team members daily and is used to
schedule any meetings the Team needs to forward its progress.

26. Which of the following is a common root cause analysis technique used by Agile
teams?
a) Value Stream Mapping
b) The Five Whys
c) Monte Carlo Simulation
d) Six Sigma

Correct Response: B
The “Five Whys” is a common root cause analysis technique used on Agile
projects.

‐ Alan Shalloway, Guy Beaver, & James Trott, Lean‐Agile Software
Development, Chapter 1

27. Which Scrum role is responsible for being self‐managed and self‐organized?
a) Scrum Team
b) ScrumMaster
c) Project Manager
d) Product Owner

Correct Response: A
Scrum Teams are self‐managing, self‐organizing, and cross functional.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

28. When the person paying for a project requests a written report of the project
retrospective, which role is responsible for creating the report?
a) The ScrumMaster or Agile Project Manager
c) The Team Lead
d) The Team

Correct Response: D
The person paying for a large retrospective may want a written report. The
report should come from the team, not the retrospective leader. As part of the
closing, decide who will create the report. When a retrospective leader writes
the report, it reduces team ownership. (key word in the question is project)


29. An Agile team working on their estimates decides to use a new technique where
they compare a user story against a couple of other stories that have been
estimated. What technique is the team using?
a) Triangulation
b) Expert opinion
c) Disaggregation
d) PERT

Correct Response: A
Triangulation involves comparing the story being estimated against a couple of
other stories that have already been estimated.


30. What should the Agile team do if the executive sponsor is not attending the
iteration demos?
a) Ask the Product Owner to fill‐in for the Executive Sponsor.
b) Keep the iteration demos short and have the Product Owner conduct a
private demo at least once a month whenever the Executive Sponsor cannot
attend.
c) Request a new Executive Sponsor.
d) Nothing, the customer's feedback is the most important feedback needed for
the demo.

Correct Response: B
You can increase the likelihood of the Executive Sponsor attending by keeping
the demo short. If the Executive Sponsor doesn't come, conduct a private demo
at least once a month.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

31. Once an Agile team has completed an iteration, when is the ideal time to hold an
iteration retrospective?
a) Right after a release
b) Right before iteration planning
c) Right after iteration planning
d) Right before a release

Correct Response: B
Holding your iteration retrospective right before iteration planning is ideal.

32. An Agile team is using an estimating technique that involves the Product Owner
reading the description of the user story and answering questions from the team.
The team members then privately select a card representing their estimate and
reveal them simultaneously. What estimating technique is the team using?
a) Triangulation
b) Planning Poker
c) Storyboarding
d) PERT

Correct Response: B
The team is playing planning poker that combines expert opinion, analogy, and
disaggregation into one estimating approach.


33. During a Sprint the Scrum Team completed all of the tasks early. What should be
done in this instance?
a) Nothing should be done; the Scrum Team has accomplished their velocity for
this Sprint.
b) The Scrum Team should consult with each other as to which additional
c) The Scrum Team should consult with the ScrumMaster as to which additional
d) The Scrum Team should consult with the Product Owner as to which
additional Product Backlog items can be added to this Sprint.

Correct Response: D
When the Scrum Team determine they can address more Product Backlog during
the Sprint than it selected during the Sprint Planning meeting, it can consult with
the Product Owner on which additional Product Backlog items can be added to
the Sprint.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

34. Which of the following conflict resolution techniques is used to describe
emphasizing areas of agreement rather than areas of difference?
a) Collaborate / Problem Solve
c) Force / Direct
d) Smooth / Accommodate

Correct Response: D
The Smooth/Accommodate conflict resolution technique emphasizes areas of
agreement rather than areas of difference; conceding one's position to the
needs of others to maintain harmony and relationships?

‐ Project Management Body of Knowledge Guide, Chapter 9

35. Why is it oftentimes dangerous to estimate in ideal days?
a) Because it's easier to get started with estimating in story points than ideal
days.
b) Because ideal days are equal among team members.
c) Because there is pressure to make an actual day closer to an ideal day.
d) Because ideal day estimates do not decay.

Correct Response: C
Because ideal days are so easily understandable in some organizations there will
be pressure to make an actual day closer to an ideal day.


36. A project manager is presented with a different strategy for managing projects
than the waterfall strategy he/she has been using for years. The project manager
decides not to try the new strategy. Which failure mode has the project manager
fallen into?
a) Making mistakes
b) Preferring to fail conservatively
c) Inventing rather than researching
d) Being creatures of habit

Correct Response: B
The project manager is afraid to try the risky new strategy and selected the
normal conservative strategy, a guaranteed standard outcome which is the
failure mode of preferring to fail conservatively rather than to risk succeeding
differently.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

37. What is the correct order for the Agile Project Management Delivery Framework?
a) Explore‐Envision‐Speculate‐Close‐Adapt
b) Envision‐Speculate‐Explore‐Adapt‐Close
c) Initiate‐Plan‐Execute‐Control‐Close
d) Explore‐Initiate‐Plan‐Adapt‐Close

Correct Response: B
The Agile Project Management Delivery Framework consists of Envision‐
Speculate‐Explore‐Adapt‐Close.


38. Which of the following is NOT part of The Declaration of Interdependence?
a) We increase return on investment by making process our focus.
b) We boost performance through group accountability for results and shared
responsibility for team effectiveness.
c) We deliver reliable results by engaging customers in frequent interactions
and shared ownership.
d) We expect uncertainty and manage for it through iterations, anticipation,
and adaptation.

Correct Response: A
We increase return on investment by making continuous flow of value our focus.


39. Which of the following is used to describe a single‐page summary of key business
and quality objectives, product capabilities, and project management information
for the Envision phase?
a) Project Management Plan
b) Vision Document
c) Scope Definition Document
d) Project Data Sheet

Correct Response: D
The Project Data Sheet (PDS) is a single‐page summary of key business and
quality objectives, product capabilities, and project management information
from the Envision Phase.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

40. An Agile team estimated story points for the following user stories:
User Story A 5 story points
User Story B 3 story points
User Story C 2 story points
User Story D 1 story point

The team's velocity in the prior sprint was 11. Due to unforeseen risks in this
sprint, the team was only able to finish User Stories A and B. What is their velocity
for this sprint?
a) 3
b) 8
c) 11
d) 0

Correct Response: B
If a story is done (coded, tested, and accepted by the Product Owner), the
team earns all the points, but if anything on the story isn't done, they earn
nothing.


41. Which of the following is the correct order of phases used during a retrospective?
a) Set the stage, Gather data, Generate insights, Decide what to do, and Close
the retrospective
b) Gather data, Set the stage, Generate insights, Decide what to do, and Close
the retrospective
c) Gather data, Set the stage, Generate insights, Decide what not to do, and
Close the retrospective
d) Generate insights, Gather data, Set the stage, Decide what not to do, Close
the retrospective

Correct Response: A
The correct sequence of retrospective phases is: Set the stage, Gather data,
Generate insights, Decide what to do, and Close the retrospective.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

42. An Agile team is working on a project to encourage customers to purchase more
licenses. What dominant source of return is this project seeking?
a) Retained Revenue
c) New Revenue

Correct Response: D
Incremental revenue considers the revenue a project will generate from current
customers buying more copies or additional services.


43. During the second week of a sprint the Product Owner asks the team to include a
change to the functionality they are working on. Is this considered good practice
in Agile?
a) Yes, this is acceptable in Agile practice.
b) Yes, as long as the Product Owner okays this decision with the ScrumMaster.
c) Yes, because the Product Owner determines the priorities based on
customer and business needs.
d) No, the Product Owner should document the change in the Product Backlog.

Correct Response: D
Changes and interruptions during a Sprint keep the adaptations from turning
meaningful progress into floundering, as overadaptation overwhelms the
project.

44. Who is responsible for driving Agile development?
a) Customers and Product Managers
b) Product Owner
c) Scrum Team
d) ScrumMaster

Correct Response: A
Customers and Product Managers drive Agile development.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

45. The Product Owner on an Agile team has asked the ScrumMaster to begin tracking
individual velocity for the team. Should this practice be implemented by the
ScrumMaster?
a) Yes, this is acceptable in Agile practice because it will help individuals
become better at estimating and the Product Owner should be supported by
the ScrumMaster in this practice.
b) No, individuals should be given every incentive possible to work
collaboratively as a team and the ScrumMaster should explain this rule to the
Product Owner.
c) Yes, because the Product Owner is responsible for the rules the Agile team
follows and the ScrumMaster answers to the Product Owner.
d) No, the Product Owner should not be changing the rules for the Agile team in
the middle of a project. It's okay to change the rules after the project ends.

Correct Response: B
Teams should not calculate or track individual velocity because this discourages
collaboration and working together as a team. The ScrumMaster is responsible
for ensuring everyone follows Agile rules.


46. Which of the following roles is responsible for eliminating waste in an Agile
project?
a) The Agile Leader
c) The Team
d) The Product Manager

Correct Response: C
The responsibility for eliminating waste lies with the team.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

47. During which meeting does the Scrum Team consider changing any of the rules of
Scrum?
b) Sprint Planning
c) Daily Scrum
d) Sprint Review

Correct Response: A
If someone wants to change the rules of Scrum, use the Sprint retrospective
meeting as a forum for discussion.

48. An Agile team and ScrumMaster are working together on the Release Plan. Which
of the following should be done during this planning process?
a) Creating a plan that shows which team members will work on which user
stories.
b) Creating a plan that shows which team members will work on specific tasks.
c) Selecting an iteration length.
d) Creating a plan that shows how much the user stories will cost.

Correct Response: C
The other three responses are too detailed for Release Planning.


49. Which of the following is the correct scope to consider for Agile projects?
a) Articulated Product Vision
b) Defined Requirements
c) Project Scope Statement
d) BHAGs ‐ Big Hairy Audacious Goals

Correct Response: A
The correct scope to consider for Agile projects is the articulated product vision ‐
a releasable product.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

50. Recently during the Daily Scrum meetings, there have been several chickens
attending the meeting that have caused the meetings to exceed the 15‐minute
limit. What should be done in this instance?
a) The ScrumMaster should escalate this issue to the Product Owner.
b) The ScrumMaster needs to change the time of the Daily Scrum meeting so
the chickens miss it.
c) The ScrumMaster should ask the chickens to immediately leave the meeting.
d) The ScrumMaster needs to limit the attendance so the meeting is orderly and
focused.

Correct Response: D
If too many chickens attend the meeting, the ScrumMaster can limit attendance
so the meeting can remain orderly and focused.

51. A template written in this form ‐ "As a <type of user>, I want <capability> so that
<business value>" is used to create which of the following?
a) Activities
b) Epics
c) Themes
d) User Stories

Correct Response: D
It can be useful to think of a story generally fitting this form: "As a <type of
user>, I want <capability> so that <business value>."


52. Which Scrum role creates the initial overall requirements, ROI objectives, and
release plans?
a) Scrum Team
b) ScrumMaster
c) Sponsor
d) Product Owner

Correct Response: D
The Product Owner creates the project's initial overall requirements, return on
investment (ROI) objectives, and release plans.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

53. During an iteration retrospective one of the team members, Kim is continuously
talking about every point and is not allowing other team members to provide
input/feedback. What should the retrospective leader do first?
a) Be direct by asking Kim to immediately leave the retrospective.
b) Be indirect by showing Kim through your body language to tone it down.
c) Be direct by asking Kim privately to talk less and listen more.
d) Let the team members correct Kim since they are self‐organized.

Correct Response: C
The first response to Kim's behavior should be done in private since Kim may not
be aware of the problem.


54. Once the Release Plan is done, how often should it be revisited and updated?
a) Once the Release Plan is complete it doesn't need to be revisited unless a
change control request is issued.
b) The Release Plan should be revisited and updated with regular frequency ‐
after each iteration or as long as every 4‐6 weeks.
c) The Release Plan should be revisited and updated every week.
d) The Release Plan should be revisited and updated every day.

Correct Response: B
The Release Plan should be revisited and updated with some regular frequency ‐
this could be after each iteration or could go as long as 4‐6 weeks.


55. Which of the following Scrum roles have the option to attend the Sprint
Retrospective meeting?
a) ScrumMaster
b) Scrum Team
c) Product Champion
d) Product Owner

Correct Response: D
The Sprint Retrospective meeting is only attended by the Scrum Team,
ScrumMaster, and the Product Owner. The Product Owner is optional.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

56. Company XYZ has just begun using Scrum practices. They recently had a meeting
where customers and other key stakeholders were involved in functionality
demonstrations. Which type of meeting was being conducted?
b) Sprint Planning Meeting
c) Sprint Review
d) Daily Scrum

Correct Answer: C
A Sprint Review meeting sometimes includes demonstrations of functionality
completed during that Sprint. This is the best answer even though the Demo is
frequently held as a separate meeting.

57. Which of the following is NOT performed during Iteration Planning?
a) Individual task assignments are made.
b) User stories are organized.
c) User stories are decomposed into tasks.
d) Tasks are estimated in ideal hours.

Correct Response: A
While planning an iteration, tasks are not allocated to specific individuals.


58. Which of the following is the most important aspect of self‐organized teams?
a) Self‐discipline
b) Accountability
c) Collaboration
d) Respect

Correct Response: C
Growing and maturing effective Agile teams takes time and dedication to
building relationships and encouraging collaboration. This is the most important
task of the project leader and team members.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

59. Which of the following roles is NOT considered a "pig"?
a) ScrumMaster
b) Project Stakeholders
c) Product Owner
d) Scrum Team

Correct Response: B
The Product Owner, ScrumMaster, and Team are considered to be pigs because
they are committed to a project and have "skin in the game".

60. Which types of features should be developed first in an Agile project?
a) Low‐value, high‐risk
b) High‐value, low‐risk
c) Low‐value, low‐risk
d) High‐value, high‐risk

Correct Response: D
High‐value, high‐risk features should be developed first because they deliver the
most value and working on them eliminates significant risks.


61. Which of the following audiences was the Manifesto for Agile Software
Development created for?
a) Project Team Members
b) Project Leaders
c) Project Stakeholders
d) Software Development

Correct Response: D
The Manifesto for Agile Software Development (Agile Manifesto) was developed
with software development in mind.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

62. What time of day is best to hold the Daily Scrum meeting?
a) First thing in the day
b) Last thing in the day
c) Before lunch
d) After lunch

Correct Response: A
The Daily Scrum is best held first thing in the day so Scrum Team members are
focused for the day.

back the initial investment by taking into account the time value of money. Which
way did the Product Owner evaluate the cash flow streams?
a) Payback Period

Correct Response: D
Discounted payback period is the amount of time required to earn back the
initial investment by taking into account the time value of money and applying
the appropriate discount factor to each item in the cash flow stream.


64. An Agile team has created a chart that includes a rectangular box for each theme
depicting the name of the theme, the number of stories in the theme, the number
of story points, and percentage of story points completed. What is the name of
this chart?
a) Burndown Chart
b) Burnup Chart
c) Burndown Bar Chart
d) Parking‐Lot Chart

Correct Response: D
A parking‐lot chart compresses a great deal of information into a small space by
summarizing information about a release's themes in large boxes.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

65. Which of the following information radiators works best for an Agile team that has
12 people?
a) Paper
b) Digital cameras
c) Printing whiteboards
d) Wall charts

Correct Response: C
Printing whiteboards work best for 12 people when it comes to communicating
information.


66. When using Commitment‐Driven Iteration Planning, how long does is it typically
take for a team to get a feel for how many hours they should plan for an iteration?
a) Approximately 7 iterations
b) Approximately 10 iterations
c) Approximately 2 iterations
d) 1 iteration

Correct Response: C
After as few as a couple of iterations, most teams begin to get a feel for
approximately how many hours they should plan for an iteration.


67. What is happening to an Agile project when the top of the bar is lowered on the
burndown chart?
a) Work has been added
b) Work has been completed
c) Work has been removed
d) No work has been added to or removed from the release

Correct Response: B
Any time work is completed the top of the bar on a burndown chart is lowered.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

68. Which of the following is NOT a valid reason for terminating a Sprint?
a) When business conditions change and the Sprint holds no value for the
business.
b) When the Scrum Team is interfered with during the Sprint by anyone outside
the Scrum Team.
c) When the ScrumMaster is controlling and directing the work of the Scrum
Team.
d) When the technology proves unworkable.

Correct Response: C
All of these are valid reasons except for when the ScrumMaster is controlling and
directing the Sprint. This instance requires coaching of the ScrumMaster, not
termination of the Sprint.

69. Which of the following practices is considered to use line‐of‐sight‐and‐hearing
learning?
a) Scrum
b) Lean Software Development
c) Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)
d) eXtreme Programming (XP)

Correct Response: D
Pair programming has been repopularized through eXtreme Programming (XP)
that provides line‐of‐sight‐and‐hearing learning.


70. An Agile team has created a list of the product's requirements, prioritized them
and determined that not every feature will be delivered. In fact, the team
recommends that 30 percent of the effort of the project be considered optional.
a) Creating a feeding buffer
b) Creating a feature buffer
d) Putting together a scope management plan

Correct Response: B
A feature buffer is created when a product's requirements are prioritized and it
is acknowledged that not every feature may be delivered. If time runs short, the
schedule can still be met by dropping items in the feature buffer.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

71. Which Scrum role is responsible for prioritizing the order in which to discuss
potential Scrum improvements during the Sprint Retrospective?
a) ScrumMaster
b) Product Owner
c) Scrum Team
d) Product Champion

Correct Response: C
The Scrum Team prioritizes in which order it wants to talk about the potential
improvements during the Sprint Retrospective.

72. Which of the following techniques is used to split a story or feature into smaller,
easier‐to‐estimate pieces?
a) Triangulation
b) Expert opinion
c) Disaggregation
d) Analogy

Correct Response: C
Disaggregation splits a story or feature into smaller, easier‐to‐estimate pieces by
breaking the large story or feature down.


back the initial investment. Which way did the Product Owner evaluate the cash
flow streams?
a) Payback Period
d) Expected Monetary Value (EMV)

Correct Response: A
Payback period is the amount of time required to earn back the initial
investment.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

74. Which of the following concepts refers to the creation of two zones in the room
set‐up: one zone to maximize osmotic communication/information transfer and
the second zone to provide a private place for team members to make phone calls,
check email, and have a separate space?
a) Osmotic Zone and Quiet Zone
b) Osmotic Communication and The Cone of Silence
c) Drafts and Hot Air
d) Caves and Common

Correct Response: D
Caves and common refers to the creation of two zones in the room ‐ the
common area is organized to maximize osmotic communication and information
transfer. The caves portion of the room is organized to give people a private
place to do email, make phone calls, and take care of their need for separation.


75. An Agile team has determined they want to use Gantt charts for communicating
the Agile plan. Which of the following approaches do they need to avoid?
a) Stopping at the feature level and not decomposing each user story into its
constituent tasks.
b) Showing each feature as taking the full length of the iteration in which it's
scheduled.
c) Not allocating resources to the identified features.
d) Allocating resources to each of the identified features.

Correct Response: D
No resource allocations should be communicated on the Agile Gantt chart
because the whole team is responsible for delivery of all features.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

76. Which of the following terms is used to describe a period of time that cannot be
exceeded and within which an event or meeting occurs?
a) Timebox
b) Time limit
c) Duration
d) Sprint / Iteration

Correct Response: A
A timebox is a period of time that cannot be exceeded and within which an even
or meeting occurs. For example, a Daily Scrum is time‐boxed to 15 minutes and
terminates at the end of those 15 minutes.

77. Which of the following numbers is assigned to tiny features?
a) 1
b) 0.5
c) 0
d) 0.25

Correct Response: C
Assigning zero values to tiny features helps teams size features appropriately
and avoid having completion of the feature contribute toward its velocity
calculations.


78. Which of the following is NOT a benefit of moving QA closer to the front of the
value stream?
a) To reduce or eliminate delay
b) To reduce or eliminate the need for testing
c) To reduce or eliminate redundancy
d) To reduce or eliminate miscommunication

Correct Response: B
Moving QA closer to the front of the value stream can reduce or eliminate
redundancy, miscommunication, and delay.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

79. How long does a Sprint review meeting last?
a) 1 hour
b) 8 hours
c) 4 hours
d) It depends on the length of the Sprint and whether the Demo is included

Correct Response: D
At the end of the Sprint, a Sprint review meeting is held that sometimes includes
the Demo of completed stories. The Demo is sometimes held as a separate
meeting.

80. When a team is using planning poker for estimating user stories, how many rounds
does it usually take for the estimates to converge?
a) As many rounds as it takes
b) 7 rounds
c) 5 rounds
d) 2 rounds

Correct Response: D
In many cases, the estimates will converge by the second round; it rarely takes
more than three rounds.


81. Which of the following concepts is NOT part of simplicity?
a) Delivery versus Compliance
b) Generative Rules
c) Barely Sufficient Methodology
d) Prescriptive Principles

Correct Response: D
Practices when driven by guiding principles are generative, not prescriptive.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

82. Which of the following is used to describe the time from when the team begins
work on a feature until that feature delivers value to users?
a) Duration
b) Schedule
c) Project Plan
d) Cycle Time

Correct Response: D
Cycle time is the time from when the team begins work on a feature (the start of
a process) until that feature delivers value to users (the end of that process).


83. Company XYZ has just implemented Scrum practices. The development team
members on an Agile project are assigned tasks by the ScrumMaster according to
their role, including analysis, design, coding, testing, and documentation, with a
different team member fulfilling each role. What approach is the team using?
a) Scrum
b) XP
d) Waterfall

Correct Response: D
The development team is using a waterfall way of thinking about their work
instead of Agile practices.

84. In Lean, at what point does the team form, assign roles, determine logistics for
meetings, and decide how to work together?
a) During Iteration 1
b) During Release Planning
c) After the Project Charter has been approved
d) During Iteration 0

Correct Response: D
Iteration 0 is the time to form and locate the team(s), assign roles, determine
logistics, and decide how to work together.

‐ Alan Shalloway, Buy Beaver, James Trott, Lean‐Agile Software

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

cash flow streams and decided to measure how much money each theme is
expected to return in today's present value. Which way did the Product Owner
evaluate the cash flow streams?
a) Payback Period

Correct Response: C
Net Present Value (NPV) is a measure of how much money a project/theme can
be expected to return in today's present value.


86. Which of the following constraints are NOT considered when using a tradeoff
matrix?
a) Risk
b) Scope
c) Schedule
d) Cost

Correct Response: A
The tradeoff matrix indicates relative importance of the three constraints (scope,
schedule, and cost) identified on the Agile triangle (value, quality, constraints).


87. Which role owns the learnings from a retrospective?
a) The Agile Leader
c) The Product Manager
d) The Team

Correct Response: D
Retrospective learnings belong to the team, and team members. The team needs
to own them.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

project. They receive feedback about a feature the customers would love to have
in your product to differentiate your company from other companies and they are
willing to pay extra for this feature. According to the Kano Model of Customer
Satisfaction, which category have the customers described?
b) Linear features
d) Dissatisfiers

Correct Response: A
Exciters and delighters are features that provide great satisfaction, often adding
a price premium to the product.


89. During an iteration a developer runs into a problem and begins performing a rapid
experiment to investigate. What is the developer working on?
a) Spike
b) Feature
c) Task
d) Minimal Marketable Feature

Correct Response: A
A spike is a short exploration into some aspect of the system. A developer
typically writes code that will be discarded just to help understand the problem
at hand.


90. How long should an iteration demo last?
a) 1 hour
b) 1/2 day
c) 10‐30 minutes
d) It depends on the length of the iteration.

Correct Response: D
The entire iteration demo might be 30 to 60 minutes per week of iteration. It’s
not a one‐size‐fits‐all length. If its hard to get stakeholders to attend then a
shorter demo may resolve this.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

91. An Agile team is working on an enhancement project and adds new features to
attract different customers. What dominant source of return is this project
seeking?
a) Retained Revenue
c) New Revenue

Correct Response: C
New revenue considers the revenue the project will generate from new
customers.


92. When an Agile team is tailoring their documentation practices, which of the
following should they be careful with?
a) Level of ceremony
b) Permanent documentation
c) Working papers
d) Zero or burdensome documentation

Correct Response: D
The issue isn't zero or burdensome documentation, it's what documentation
contributes to delivery and what documentation is required for external
compliance.


93. At what point on an Agile project are stakeholders allowed to provide criticism,
comments, or observations.
a) During the Sprint
b) During the Daily Scrum
c) During the Sprint Review
d) During the Sprint Retrospective

Correct Response: C
Stakeholders are free to voice any comments, observations, or criticisms
regarding product functionality between presentations during the Sprint Review
or Sprint Demo. These two are sometimes held as one meeting called the Sprint
Review.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

94. Which of the following is used to describe technical debt?
a) Partially done work
b) Writing poor quality code that makes future changes difficult or not using
learning to improve design
c) Work‐in‐process (WIP)
d) Extra features

Correct Response: B
Technical debt is writing poor quality code that makes future changes more
difficult and not taking advantage of what you've recently learned about the
system to improve the design.


95. In the second iteration of a project, the Agile team planned to do 20 story points of
work. During this iteration the Product Owner identified another 20 points of
work that is needed in the release. How would the additional 20 points of work
appear in the burndown chart?
a) As a change request
b) As a burndown
c) As scope creep
d) As a burnup

Correct Response: D
The burndown chart may show a burnup because work has been added to the
release.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

96. During an iteration the Agile project team forgot about an impending risk. What
should the Agile project team do next?
a) Get the product team and development team together to create a risk
register.
b) Stop the iteration and include risk response strategies for the next iteration.
c) Determine if this is a significant need that requires adding a supplementary
practice.
d) Ask the ScrumMaster what he/she recommends the team should do.

Correct Response: C
Team members and project leaders need to fight the tendency to add
supplementary practices early ‐ they need to wait until a specific and significant
need arises.


97. An Agile team has created a margin of safety to their project schedule by adding to
the sum of their estimates and removing local safety. What is the Agile team
doing?
a) Padding their estimates
b) Estimating using story points or ideal days
d) Creating a feature buffer

Correct Response: C
A schedule buffer is a necessary margin of safety added to the sum of estimates
from which local safety has been removed.


©2019 ASPE, Inc.

98. During a project retrospective several managers were in attendance and before
team members had an opportunity to contribute regarding improvements, the
managers began dominating and hijacking the agenda. What is the best approach
the retrospective leader can take to correct this situation?

a) Let the managers contribute so the project gets back in control.
b) Meet with managers before the next retrospective; coach them on
appropriate participation, including signals to communicate when managers
are being too assertive.
c) Prompt the Product Owner to take control of the managers and their
behavior.
d) Ask the managers to listen since they are supposed to be observers during
the retrospective and not participants of the retrospective.

Correct Response: B
The best approach is to be proactive. Agile leaders coach others on the
principles and rules of Agile.

More often managers are not invited to the Iteration Retrospective.

99. An Agile project team is starting to identify and discuss their strengths and
weaknesses and determine roles that best suit their abilities and needs. Which of
the following stages is the team encountering?
a) Storming
b) Performing
c) Norming
d) Forming

Correct Response: C
In the Norming stage, group members begin to identify their individual strengths
and weaknesses, and seek roles that best fit their abilities and desires.

‐ Michele Sliger and Stacia Broderick, The Software Project Manager's
Bridge to Agility, Chapter 13

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

100. During a sprint one of the key stakeholders keeps providing instructions to one of
the Scrum Team members. What should be done in this instance?
a) The ScrumMaster needs to remind the stakeholder of the Scrum rules and
ask them to refrain from interrupting the Scrum Team member.
b) The ScrumMaster should escalate this issue to the Product Owner.
c) The ScrumMaster should allow the interruptions to continue because this
shows collaboration.
d) Scrum Team members are self‐organized and should correct the unabiding
stakeholder.

Correct Response: A
The ScrumMaster needs to remove impediments for the Scrum Team and ensure
Scrum rules are being followed.

101. Which of the following approaches is usually the best option to select when
estimating velocity?
a) Run an iteration
c) Make a forecast

Correct Response: A
An ideal way to forecast velocity is to run an iteration (or two or three) and then
estimate velocity from the observed velocity during the one to three iterations.
This is the best way to predict velocity.

102. Which of the following is FALSE regarding the core beliefs of Agile?
a) Working code is the most accurate way of seeing the progress of the
development effort.
b) Groups working together minimizes delays as well as the loss of information
between people.
c) You cannot know everything required to build a software product at the start
of the project.
d) You can test at the end of a project and achieve the required quality.

Correct Response: D
Testing at the end of a project to achieve the required quality is a core belief of
Waterfall.
‐ Alan Shalloway, Guy Beaver, James R. Trott, Lean‐Agile Software
Development, Introduction

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

103. When an organization is moving toward Agile practices, which type of meeting
tends to be challenged the most?
a) Daily Standup Meetings
b) Release Planning Meetings
c) Iteration Planning Meetings
d) Retrospective Meetings

Correct Response: A
The most contested meeting in an Agile setting is the daily standup. Teams often
complain that they feel as if this is a mechanism only in place so managers can
micromanage.

104. Which of the following conflict response modes is assertive and not cooperative?
a) Avoiding / Withdrawing
b) Forcing / Directing
c) Collaborating / Problem Solving
d) Compromising / Reconciling

Correct Response: B
The forcing / directing conflict response mode is assertive and not cooperative.
‐ PMBOK Guide, Chapter 9

105. Which of the following practices does NOT use strict iteration lengths for the
completion of stories?
a) Scrum
b) Kanban
c) eXtreme Programming
d) Lean‐Agile

Correct Response: B
Kanban systems do have periodic releasable timeframes, but don't use strict
iteration lengths in which all stories are completed.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

106. Which of the following feedback forms is NOT valuable when using eXtreme
Programming (XP)?
a) Feedback from automated tests.
b) Feedback from the continuous integration process.
c) Feedback during paired programming.
d) Feedback that is delayed.

Correct Response: D
XP teams value feedback, and the more immediate the feedback the better.
‐ Mike Cohn, User Stories Applied, Appendix A

107. Which of the following is the best description of servant leadership?

a) Having the team serve and work for the project leader.
b) Ensuring the team serves each other by becoming self‐organized.
c) Having the project leader ensure that everyone has the resources to do his or
her work and providing services to the team.
d) Ensuring the team serves and works for the customer.

Correct Response: C
Servant leadership is a style of project management where the leader provides
services to the team and ensures that everyone has the resources to do his or
her work.

108. An Agile team is working on improving the product's design without changing
externally visible functionality to make the product more reliable and adaptable.
a) Refactoring
c) Reducing Technical Debt
d) Team Code Ownership

Correct Response: A
Refactoring involves updating a product's internal components (improving the
design), without changing externally visible functionality to make the product
more reliable and adaptable.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

109. Which of the following best describes the planning process in Agile projects?
a) Following a rolling wave approach using top‐down planning.
b) Specifying requirements upfront.
c) Identifying tasks upfront and estimating those tasks.
d) Preparing a project scope document.

Correct Response: A
Agile plans follow more of a rolling wave approach using to‐down planning.

110. The Product Owner on an Agile project has been attempting to micromanage the
team by getting into the details of how team members are performing their work.
What is the best thing the Agile Project Manager can do in this instance?

a) Explain to the Agile team the Product Owner has every right to micromanage
the team.
b) Report the Product Owner's behavior to the Sponsor.
c) Coach the Product Owner to focus on how much work he/she asks the team
to do, not on how they are doing it.
d) Ask the Product Owner to take Agile training.

Correct Response: C
When the Product Owner thinks he/she needs to get into the details of how
team members are performing the work, coach him/her that their best control
comes from how much he/she asks the team to do, not how they are doing it.

111. Which of the following is the most powerful way of reporting the team's progress?
a) Demos of working software
b) Progress reports
c) Status meetings
d) Iteration retrospectives

Correct Response: A
Nothing is as powerful at demonstrating progress as working software. Invite
stakeholders to the demos.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

112. Which of the following is used to describe a fixed start date and a fixed end date
for Agile teams to complete their work?
a) Duration
b) Timebox
c) Network Diagram
d) Gantt Chart

Correct Response: B
A timebox is a length of time with a fixed start date and a fixed end date in which
Agile teams complete their work.

113. Which of the following is NOT used as part of the empirical inspection and
adaptation practices of Scrum?
a) Sprint Review
b) Daily Planning Meeting
c) Daily Scrum
d) Sprint Retrospective

Correct Response: B
The Sprint planning meeting, the Daily Scrum, the Sprint review, and the Sprint
retrospective constitute the empirical inspection and adaptation practices of
Scrum. The Daily Scrum might be considered a Daily Planning Meeting but this is
not standard terminology and Daily Scrum is a better term or Daily Standup.

114. An Agile team is experiencing different opinions, misunderstandings, and
conflicting values. According to the five levels of conflict, what level of conflict is
this team experiencing?
a) Level 3
b) Level 1
c) Level 4
d) Level 5

Correct Response: B
At level 1 ‐ Problem to Solve, people have different opinions, misunderstanding
may have happened, conflicting goals or values may exist, and team members
likely feel anxious about the conflict in the air.
The team should get comfortable with this level of conflict as it leads to synergy.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

115. An Agile team is facing crunch time during a release and the Agile Project
Manager made the decision to hold two‐a‐day standup meetings. Is this
a) No, this process would need to be created and supported by the team, not
because the Agile Project Manager is creating the process out of fear.
b) Yes, the Agile Project Manager knows and reinforces Agile principles.
c) No, the Agile Project Manager needs to conduct fewer daily standups during
crunch time.
d) Yes, the Agile Project Manager is leading the Agile team to be successful
during a stressful part of the release.

Correct Response: A
At release time, the team goes into crunch mode, so the manager assumes that
because one daily standup is good, then two much be better. It's fine if this is a
process that the team creates and supports, but it's different if these two‐a‐days
are created by the manager out of fear.

116. The customer is having difficulty prioritizing a story. Which of the following is the
best choice in this situation?
a) Tell the customer you will determine the priorities.
b) Re‐estimate the story.
c) Consider splitting the story.
d) Ask the customer to flip a coin between the stories.

Correct Response: C
If a customer is having trouble prioritizing a story, the story may need to be split.
‐ Mike Cohn, User Stories Applied, Chapter 9

117. During a sprint retrospective a team member states, "We need more people on
our side; they're wrong, plain and simple". According to the five levels of conflict,
what level of conflict is this Agile team experiencing?
a) Level 4
b) Level 1
c) Level 5
d) Level 3

Correct Response: A
At level 4 ‐ Crusade, resolving the situation isn't good enough. Team members
believe the people on the "other side" of the issues will not change.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

118. An Agile team is using a signaling system in their scheduling process where a limit
is set on WIP and new work is "pulled" through the system. What practice is the
Agile team using?
a) Scrum
b) Dynamic Systems Development Method
c) Feature Driven Development
d) Kanban

Correct Response: D
Kanban introduces a signaling system into the scheduling process in which a limit
is set on WIP (depending on resources), and new work (stories or other work
items) is introduced as in‐process work completes. Work is "pulled" through the
system (as an item is completed it pulls the next item off the backlog).

119. Which of the following is true about Agile projects?
a) The triple constraints can be traded off for one another to correct for
unknowns.
b) A plan gets more accurate over time because it is constantly revised and
trued up to the team's actual performance.
c) Scope can be locked down with later discoveries being handled as change
requests against the scheduled end date.
d) A plan gets more accurate over time as the team fleshes out the project
through phases of activity: requirements, design, development, testing, etc.

Correct Response: B
A plan gets more accurate over time because it is constantly revised and trued
up to the team's actual performance.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

120. An Agile Project Manager suspects the Product Owner has prioritized the product
backlog based on who they promised a particular feature to instead of prioritizing
on value, cost, risk, and knowledge gained. What is the best thing for the Agile
a) Demand the Product Owner prioritize User Stories based on value, cost, risk,
and knowledge gained.
b) Ask the Product Owner open‐ended questions about what's behind the
ranking of one User Story vs. another.
c) Tell the project Sponsor that the Product Owner does not know how to
prioritize User Stories correctly.
d) Accept the Product Owner's prioritized backlog because he/she represents
the customer's needs.

Correct Response: B
If you suspect something is amiss regarding the priorities of User Stories in the
backlog, ask open (and powerful) questions about what's behind the ranking of
one vs. another.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

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©2019 ASPE, Inc.


Domain Percentage of Items on
the Test
The exam is 3 hours long Domain I. Agile Principles and 16%

with 120 questions. You Mindset
will be scored on 100 of
those questions. Domain II. Value‐Driven 20%
Delivery
Domain III. Stakeholder 17%
Engagement
Domain IV. Team 16%
Performance
Domain VI. Problem 10%
Detection and Resolution
Domain VII. Continuous 9%
Improvement

The PMI‐ACPSM exam will have 120 questions; 20 of
those questions will not count toward your pass/fail
grade. The other 100 questions will be scored and do
count toward your pass/fail grade. You will not be
able to tell which questions count and which ones do
not.

You will have 3 hours to take the real exam. Since the
passing score is not made public, we encourage your
goal score should be 82% or better.

Use the following practice exam as a way to simulate
the day of the exam.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.


1. A team working in an Agile environment is assigned to a project where the customer
is demanding some requirements documentation prior to signing a contract. In
which iteration should the team place this card?

a) Iteration 1
b) Iteration 0
c) Any Iteration that fits the customer's needs
d) It isn't necessary to complete a card for this work

2. Which of the following is considered to be FALSE regarding servant leaders?

a) Educating others who interact with the team or affect the team's
performance.
b) Assigning roles, responsibilities, and tasks to the team.
c) Removing impediments to the team's progress.
d) Protecting the team from outside distractions.

3. Who is responsible for monitoring the eXtreme Programming (XP) team for burnout?

a) The XP Team
b) The XP Tracker
c) The XP Customer
d) The XP Coach

4. How long does a Sprint typically last?

a) Maximum of 4 weeks
b) As long as it takes
c) 2‐4 months
d) 1 week

5. Which of the following factors are typically considered first when prioritizing the
development of new capabilities?

a) Value and risk
b) Value and cost
c) Cost and risk
d) Value and learning

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

6. Which of the following is used to describe the philosophy of preventing doing more
than is absolutely necessary for documentation that must be submitted prior to
obtaining project approval?

a) Use Barely Sufficient
b) Employ Just Enough
c) Create a Functional Requirements Specification
d) Prepare a Project Scope Document

7. Which of the following plans is subject to review and revision at the end of each
iteration?

a) Iteration Plan
b) Product Plan
c) Daily Plan
d) Release Plan

8. The following chart was put together to estimate the number of hours left in the
iteration. What is the name of this chart?

350
300
250
Hours Remaining
200
150
Hours Remaining
100
50
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Days

a) Daily Burnup Chart
b) Iteration Burnup Chart
c) Release Burndown Chart
d) Daily Burndown Chart

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

9. Which of the following is NOT an example of an impediment that gets in the way of
companies making the transition to Lean‐Agile?

a) Teams are not well formed
b) Integration is done at project's end
c) Large batches of unprioritized requirements are pushed through the
organization
d) Teams are co‐located

10. The Product Owner on an Agile project does not know how to frame up releases or
how to find out the real need of the customer. What is the best thing for the Agile

a) Fill‐in for the Product Owner until he/she can get up‐to‐speed.
b) Sugarcoat the Product Owner's shortcomings to the Agile team and key
stakeholders.
c) Get help from the Product Owner's manager and the project Sponsor.
d) Coach the Product Owner on how to fulfill their role.

11. What type of tool does an Agile team use to organize and visualize their work?

a) Task Board
b) Burnup Chart
c) Burndown Chart
d) WBS & Activity List

12. What are the primary benefits of retrospectives?

a) Performing root cause analysis in order to fix issues.
b) Affixing ownership and accountability.
c) Allowing the team to go back to older more comfortable habits.
d) Inspecting and adapting.

13. Which of the following is the best way to increase throughput?

a) Minimizing the team size to concentrate efforts.
b) Increasing the amount of projects each team member works on to ensure
they are busy.
c) Minimizing multitasking and reducing the number of projects for each team
member.
d) Increasing the amount of work‐in‐process.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

14. During a sprint retrospective a team member states, "Cody always forgets to check
in his code". According to the five levels of conflict, what level of conflict is this
Agile team experiencing?

a) Level 5
b) Level 2
c) Level 4
d) Level 3

15. Which of the following is NOT an effective example of a closed story?

a) A recruiter can manage job listings.
b) A recruiter can review resumes from applicants to one of her ads.
c) A recruiter can change the expiration date of an ad.
d) A recruiter can delete an application that is not a good match for a job.

16. Which Scrum role is responsible for developing functionality?

a) ScrumMaster
b) Product Owner
c) Project Manager
d) Scrum Team

17. Which of the following Scrum values is used to describe committing, acting, being
open, and expecting respect?

a) Commitment
b) Respect
c) Courage
d) Openness

18. Which of the following is NOT correct when favoring estimating in story points over
estimating in ideal days?

a) Story point estimates decay.
b) My ideal days are not your ideal days.
c) Story points help drive cross‐functional behavior.
d) Estimating in story points typically is faster.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

19. In an iteration backlog visual control, how are the stories prioritized?

a) Right to left
b) Top to bottom
c) Left to right
d) Bottom to top

20. During a retrospective the team is discussing whether to change their standup time
to 10 a.m. Throughout the conversation, you notice most of the team has spoken
and no one has been talked over or ignored. The general energy of the group feels
upbeat, and it seems they are in sync with one another. As the Agile Project
Manager, which approach is best in this situation?

a) Implement the change
b) Get approval from upper management before making the change
c) Tell the team they cannot change the time until the next project
d) Do a consent check

21. According to the PMBOK® Guide, which of the following is used to describe keeping
the delivery team together from iteration to iteration, with each delivered
increment, an enhancement and/or evolution of the previous increment?

a) Incremental Delivery
b) Project Life Cycle Development
c) Evolutionary Delivery
d) Progressive Elaboration

22. How long does a Sprint planning meeting last?

a) 1‐2 days
b) 4 hours
c) It depends on the length of the Sprint but not longer than 8 hours
d) As long as it takes

23. Which of the following defines one or more iterations that build upon one another
to complete a set of related functionality?

a) Sprint
b) Sprint Backlog
c) Release
d) Product Backlog

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

24. How frequently are iteration/sprint retrospectives conducted?

a) At the end of the project.
b) At the end of each release.
c) At the end of each project phase.
d) At the end of every iteration/sprint.

25. In eXtreme Programming (XP), how do the developers perform pair programming?

a) Both developers code.
b) One developer codes ‐ the driver, and the other developer thinks ‐ the
navigator.
c) Both developers code and then hand off their code to another pair to
evaluate.
d) Both developers think about strategic issues as they review code.

26. Who has to understand every User Story?

a) Every team member
b) The team member performing the work
c) The ScrumMaster
d) The Product Owner

27. A project team is using a business analyst to interact with the customers and create
documents that are passed on to the development team. The development team
has little contact with the customers or business analyst. Which environment is the
team working in?

a) Scrum
b) eXtreme Programming
c) Waterfall
d) Lean‐Agile

28. Which of the following statements is FALSE regarding the twelve practices of
eXtreme Programming (XP)?

a) The "Planning Game" is used for release and iteration planning to
collaboratively predict the future.
b) XP teams support the quest for simple design by finding a metaphor that can
be used for the whole system.
c) The customer writes the stories, writes acceptance tests, and is on hand to
answer questions as soon as they arise.
d) A team is allowed to deliver half of a feature.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

29. Which of the following contract types is best suited to an Agile project?

a) Fixed‐Price Contracts
b) Cost‐Reimbursable Contracts
c) Incentive‐Fee Contracts
d) Time and Material Contracts

30. Which of the following is used to describe a task in the Iteration Plan done
specifically to gain knowledge or answer a question?

a) Activity
b) Feature
c) Minimum Marketable Feature
d) Spike

31. Which of the following is NOT part of the three distinct horizons Agile teams use to
plan?

a) Product Planning
b) Iteration Planning
c) Daily Planning
d) Release Planning

32. A new Agile team has encountered team members doing email during their daily
standup. How should the ScrumMaster handle this situation?

a) Leave the situation alone, it will more than likely resolve itself as the team
gets used to daily standups.
b) Intervene to model positive standup behavior and nip negative standup
behavior.
c) Individually pull aside the team members doing emails after the daily
standup and coach them on correct behaviors.
d) Report the team member's behavior to their manager and ask that manager
to discuss the improper behavior with the team member.

33. For Agile software development projects, where is the acceptance criteria
captured?

a) On the back of the User Story card.
b) In the UAT Test Plan.
c) In the UAT Test Cases.
d) In the UAT Defect Log.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

34. Which of the following is FALSE regarding factors that work against the Scrum‐of‐
Scrums?

a) Human nature
b) Common goals
c) Team motivation
d) Team perspective

35. Which of the following acronyms is used to describe the four qualities of a well‐
groomed product backlog?

a) INVEST
b) SMART
c) CRUD
d) DEEP

36. Which of the following is NOT a common technique for Agile estimating?

a) Disaggregation
b) Expert opinion
c) Analogy
d) PERT

37. An Agile team has been taking two days to plan each two‐week iteration. Is this

a) No, typically 1‐2 hours per week of iteration is enough time to plan the
iteration.
b) Yes, the team should take as long as it needs to plan for the iteration.
c) No, the Agile Project Manager should be planning the iteration, not the
entire team.
d) Yes, the team is ensuring they perform their due diligence in the planning
process.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

38. The following table lists all of the stories for an Agile project sorted in descending
priority order:

Story Story Points
A 6
B 10
C 10
D 6
E 2
F 16
G 10
H 10
I 10
J 4

The Agile team has a velocity of 26. Assuming no iteration can be planned to have more
than 26 story points in it, how would you allocate these stories to iterations?

a) Iteration 1; Stories A, B, C; Story Points 26
Iteration 2; Stories F, G; Story Points 26
Iteration 3; Stories E, H, I, J; Story Points 26
b) Iteration 1; Stories J, I, H; Story Points 24
Iteration 2; Stories G, F; Story Points 26
Iteration 3; Stories E, D, C; Story Points 18
Iteration 4; Stories B, A; Story Points 16
c) Iteration 1; Stories A, B, C; Story Points 26
Iteration 2; Stories D, E, F; Story Points 24
Iteration 3; Stories G, H, J; Story Points 24
Iteration 4; Stories I; Story Points 10
d) Iteration 1; Stories A, B, C; Story Points 26
Iteration 2; Stories D, E, F, G (2 of the points); Story Points 26
Iteration 3; Stories G (8 of the points), H, I (8 of the points) Story Points 26
Iteration 4; Stories I (2 of the points), J; Story Points 6

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

39. A Product Owner that has received education on how to fulfill the role and declines
the ScrumMaster's help on the thinking needed to prioritize the backlog shows up
to the next sprint with the backlog unprepared. What should the ScrumMaster do
in this instance?

a) Report the Product Owner to the project Sponsor.
b) Cover for the Product Owner in this instance so the project can continue to
progress.
c) Ask management to replace the Product Owner.
d) Let the consequences be what they will be; let the Product Owner fail.

40. Which of the following is NOT a valid reason for why planning poker works?

a) Planning poker allows one expert to share their opinion.
b) Planning poker is fun.
c) Planning poker creates lively discussions which ensures estimators justify
their estimates.
d) Planning poker leads to better results because of averaging individual
estimates.

41. Which of the following strategies is most effective in reducing technical debt?

a) Perform just‐in‐time fixes to technical debt problems.
b) Focus on technical debt early in the product development cycle and then
avoid changes.
c) Work faster on the project so the amount of technical debt incurred is less.
d) Be dedicated to reduce technical debt early and often while the costs are
low.

42. According to the Agile Manifesto, how frequently should working software be
delivered?

a) After every iteration
b) From a couple of weeks to a couple of months
c) Every two‐four weeks
d) Once a month

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

43. When is the best time for a ScrumMaster to coach the Sponsor?

a) Prior to the Sprint Review
b) After the Sprint Review
c) At the beginning of the project
d) At the end of the project

44. Which of the following is NOT a key term for the definition of Agile?

a) Time‐boxed
b) Tasks
c) Incremental
d) Iterative

45. The customer and developers have gathered together to create estimates. They
brought the story cards, as well as additional blank note cards. The customer
selects a story at random from the stack and reads it to the developers. The
developers ask questions and write an estimate on a card, not yet revealing the
estimate to the others. When everyone is finished estimating, the estimators turn
over their cards for all to see. When the estimates differ, the high and low
estimators explain their estimates and repeat the process until the estimates
converge on a single estimate. What estimating approach is the Agile team using?

a) Planning Poker
b) Wideband Delphi
c) Triangulate
d) Expert Judgment

46. Which of the following is the primary benefit of information radiators?

a) It gives passersby's the opportunity to identify all of their questions before
the next meeting.
b) It allows for effective two‐way communication.
c) It increases management's interruptions of the team.
d) Passersby's don't need to ask questions because the information simply hits
them as they pass.

47. Which of these tasks should NOT be included in the Iteration Plan?

a) Tasks associated with testing.
b) Tasks associated with documenting the product.
c) Email tasks associated with the iteration.
d) Meetings related to the story.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.


48. During an iteration, which of the following is the primary role of an Agile Project
Manager?

a) Educating others about Agile
b) Assigning roles, responsibilities, and tasks to the team
c) Preventing distractions
d) Removing impediments

49. Which of the following conflict response modes is neither assertive nor
cooperative?

a) Competing
b) Accommodating
c) Compromising
d) Avoiding

50. Which of the following is FALSE regarding the four levels of completion that code
must go through in XP practice?

a) Ready to demo to stakeholders.
b) Builds and passes most tests.
c) Ready to release to real users and customers.
d) Broken.

51. Which of the following is a FALSE "bad smell" indicator that something is amiss in
the project's application of user stories?

a) Stories that don’t have a full description of details
b) Goldplating
c) Including user interface details too soon
d) Splitting too many stories

52. Who is responsible for ensuring the most valuable functionality is produced first and
built upon?

a) Scrum Team
b) ScrumMaster
c) Product Owner
d) Project Manager

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

53. In order to prevent an Agile team from reverting back to Waterfall and spend the
entire first iteration doing nothing but analysis, which of the following would be
most beneficial?

a) Have the team create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
b) Coach the team to decompose the first iteration's User Stories into tasks.
c) Deliver at least one feature in parallel with the required project approval
documentation.
d) Use Iteration 0 to perform the analysis work.

54. Which of the following is NOT a good example of a User Story?

a) The user can undo up to fifty commands.
b) The software will be released by November 30.
c) The user will be prompted to save her work if she hasn't saved it for 10
minutes.
d) The user can export data to XML.

55. What output do stakeholders see at the end of every Sprint?

a) New functionality
b) Requirements
c) Models
d) Gantt charts

56. Which of the following is NOT correct when defining Agile planning?

a) Encourages change.
b) Is spread throughout the project.
c) Is focused more on the planning than on the plan.
d) Results in plans that are difficult to change.

57. Which of the following is one of the core beliefs of Agile?

a) Working on one project at a time improves the productivity of the team.
b) You can effectively have separate groups do analysis, design, code, and test.
c) Customers can accurately tell you what they want at the start of the project.
d) You don't need to get feedback from the customer until the end of the
project.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

58. At level 3 of the five levels of conflict, which of the following is the best successful
response option?

a) Collaboration
b) Compromising
c) Accommodating
d) Avoiding

59. Once a sprint begins, which role is allowed to add work to the sprint?

a) The Customer
b) The Team
c) The Customer and the Team
d) The ScrumMaster

60. Which Scrum artifact is used to define the work and tasks planned during the
Sprint?

a) Sprint Backlog
b) Network Diagram
c) Activity List
d) Product Backlog

61. Which of the following factors should be considered when determining iteration
length?

a) The overhead of iterating
b) The amount of certainty
c) How soon a feeling of urgency is established
d) How long priorities can remain unchanged

62. An Agile team of 8 members has been experiencing tremendous conflict and seems
to have resolved the conflict, but not to the level you would have done as the Agile
Project Manager. What should you do in this instance?

a) Intervene by walking the team through the conflict resolution tactics for
Agile.
b) Report the behavior to each of the team member's managers to have them
resolve the situation.
c) Discuss the situation with all 8 team members to get their perspective.
d) Leave the team members alone, even though it wasn't done perfectly.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

63. In eXtreme Programming (XP), which of the following is a FALSE statement
regarding the customer role?

a) The XP customer role is responsible for prioritizing stories.
b) The XP customer role is responsible for writing stories.
c) The XP customer role is responsible for monitoring the team's use of XP
practices.
d) The XP customer role is responsible for writing and executing tests that
demonstrate the stories were developed as expected.

64. How long does a Daily Scrum meeting last?

a) 30 minutes
b) 15 minutes
c) 1 hour
d) 2‐4 hours

65. Which of the following roles is responsible for keeping work‐in‐process (WIP) to a
minimum?

a) The Agile Project Manager
b) The Team
c) The Product Owner
d) The Team Lead

66. When is the best time for a ScrumMaster to coach individual team members?

a) Midsprint
b) Beginning of the sprint
c) End of the sprint
d) Before each sprint begins

67. Which of the following strategies is the best way to handle a complex story?

a) Disaggregate the story into a set of constituent stories.
b) Triangulate the story.
c) Turn this story into an epic.
d) Split the story into two stories: one investigative and one developing the new
feature.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

68. Which of the following is NOT one of the five failure modes to take into account
when working with people on Agile projects?

a) People make mistakes
b) People are creatures of habit
c) People tend to be consistent
d) People prefer to fail conservatively

69. What is happening to an Agile project when the bottom of the bar is moved up on a
burndown chart?

a) Work has been added to the iteration
b) This is normal on a burndown chart and shows the team is making progress
c) Work has been removed from the iteration
d) No work has been added to or removed from the iteration

70. Which of the following roles is critical for helping teams avoid waste?

a) Each Team Member
c) The Agile Project Manager
d) The Team Lead

71. An Agile team member is underperforming on a project. Who is responsible for
confronting this team member about their performance?

a) Any team member
b) The ScrumMaster or Agile Project Manager
d) The Team Lead

72. Which of the following is FALSE regarding the use of story points?

a) Estimating story points is done by the customer to ensure proper
prioritization.
b) When a story (possibly an epic) is disaggregated into its constituent stories,
the sum of the estimates for the individual stories does not need to equal the
estimate of the initial story or epic.
c) Your team's story points are not equivalent to my team's story points.
d) A story may be disaggregated into constituent tasks. The sum of the
estimates for the tasks does not need to equal the estimate of the initial
story.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

73. During the sprint review, which role is insignificant (or, at least appears so from an
outsider's point of view)?

a) The Team Members
b) The Stakeholders
c) The ScrumMaster
d) The Customers

74. An organization is planning on implementing Agile principles for their software
development projects. They have decided to adopt daily standup meetings and still
keep their weekly status meetings. Is this considered good practice?

a) Yes, a daily standup meeting is for the team, and the status meeting is for the
Agile Project Manager to determine status and progress.
b) No, this practice would be redundant.
c) No, the Agile meetings should replace existing ones because people are not
supposed to attend Agile meetings and non‐agile meetings.
d) Yes, a daily standup meeting is for the team to assess their progress, and the
weekly status meeting is for the Agile Project Manager to discover
impediments preventing team progress.

75. In Agile software development, who is best suited to write User Stories?

a) The Team
b) The Developer
c) The Customer
d) The ScrumMaster or Agile Project Manager

76. Which of these questions is NOT used by the Scrum Team during the Daily Scrum
meeting?

a) What did you get done yesterday that the ScrumMaster told you to do?
b) What do you plan on doing on this project between now and the next Daily
Scrum meeting?
c) What impediments stand in the way of you meeting your commitments to
this Sprint and this project?
d) What have you done on this project since the last Daily Scrum meeting?

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

77. Which of the following is used to describe Scrum?

a) An iterative development process for teams centered around several
engineering practices, including test‐driven development, paired
programming, and continuous integration.
b) A lightweight Agile approach that focuses on eliminating waste, creating
knowledge, building quality in, deferring commitment, optimizing the whole,
delivering fast, and respecting people.
c) A lightweight Agile process characterized by iterative and incremental
approaches that are largely based on the Rapid Application Development
(RAD) methodology.
d) An Agile process characterized by self‐organizing, cross‐functional teams
doing iterative development in what are called sprints.

78. An Agile team is working on a replacement product project that will take over 18
months to complete. They have put together a wave plan spanning several
iterations. Typically, how long should each wave last?

a) 3 months
b) 1‐2 weeks
c) 1 month
d) 2‐4 weeks

79. The Product Owner gets top billing for being the vision keeper on an Agile project.
What other role is critical for articulating the vision from their point of view as to
why the product is important to the company?

a) Team Lead
b) Agile Project Manager or ScrumMaster
c) Product Manager
d) Sponsor

80. In Agile software development, when are acceptance tests written?

a) After the programmer has completed coding.
c) Prior to the end of each release.
d) Before the programmer begins coding.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

81. Which Scrum role is responsible for ensuring everyone follows Scrum rules and
practices?

a) Product Owner
b) ScrumMaster
c) Scrum Team
d) Project Sponsor

82. In which of the stages of team formation does real communication occur?

a) Norming
b) Performing
c) Storming
d) Forming

83. Which of the following statements does NOT support why task estimating on an
Agile project should be done by a team?

a) Because tasks are allocated to specific individuals during Iteration Planning.
b) Hearing how long something is expected to take can help the team identify
misunderstandings about a User Story or task.
c) When the person who will do the work provides the estimate, the person's
pride and ego may make him/her reluctant to admit later that an estimate
was incorrect.
d) Even though a specific individual will be the one to do a task, and even
though he/she may know the most about that task, it does not mean that
others have nothing to contribute.

84. Which type of decision making process works best for Agile teams?

a) Compromising decision making
b) Participatory decision making
c) Unilateral decision making
d) Top‐down decision making

85. Who is allowed to attend the Sprint Review meeting?

a) Scrum Team
b) ScrumMaster
c) Scrum Team and Product Owner
d) Scrum Team, Product Owner, and other stakeholders who want to attend

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

86. Which of the following is FALSE regarding Agile projects?

a) Clients getting the business value they need is the only measure of success.
b) Scope remains flexible, and changes of any kind are welcomed even late in
the project.
c) Only delivered end products indicate progress and value delivered.
d) Controlling through the project plan is the responsibility of the Agile Project
Manager.

87. An Agile team estimated a story to be eight points. After working on the story the
team discovered it was much larger than they originally thought and that it should
have been estimated at twelve points. How many points does this story contribute
toward the team's velocity?

a) 12 points
b) 8 points
c) 4 points
d) 20 points

88. An Agile team has been varying their iteration lengths based upon their planning
and estimating at the beginning of each iteration. Is this considered good practice?

a) Yes, it is okay to have two‐weeks for one iteration and three‐weeks for the
next iteration.
b) No, iteration lengths should be constant.
c) Yes, because the team is learning their cadence.
d) No, because the Agile Project Manager should tell the team how long their
iterations will last.

89. Which of the following signals should the Agile Project Manager watch for during
the last iteration before a release?

a) Using the last iteration to capture final screenshots for marketing and
training materials.
b) Using the last iteration as a bug‐fixing opportunity.
c) Using the last iteration to finalize release notes.
d) Using the last iteration to do performance and load testing.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

90. Which of the following is NOT a role for eXtreme Programming (XP)?

a) XP Tracker
b) XP ScrumMaster
c) XP Customer
d) XP Programmer

91. Which of the following is used to coordinate interrelated teams working on
different products?

a) Daily Scrum Meetings
b) Scrum‐of‐Scrums
c) Project Portfolio Management
d) Program Management Office (PMO)

92. The Agile team has discovered several bugs they determined can be fixed fairly
quickly. Which approach is the best way for the team to handle these bugs?

a) Combine the bugs into one or more stories.
b) Write a separate User Story for each bug.
c) Ask the customer to write User Stories for these bugs so they can be
prioritized.
d) Don't worry about User Stories for the bugs and just complete the work.

93. An Agile team's daily standup meetings have been lasting close to 30 minutes and
some of the team members have gradually stopped coming. What is the best
approach to take in this instance?

a) The Agile Project Manager needs to lead all of the meetings from now on.
b) Nothing should be done, as the team needs to work through any problems
and issues in order to continue making progress.
c) The Product Owner needs to tell the team they are discussing the wrong
things during the daily standup meetings.
d) The meeting facilitator needs to nudge the team to take further discussions
offline from the daily standup meeting.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

94. At level 5 of the five levels of conflict, what is the one option that exists?

a) Discuss how to peacefully resolve the situation.
b) Separate the combatants so they don't hurt one another.
c) Align with one side of the conflict or the other side.
d) Conduct constructive disagreement discussions.

95. In Lean‐Agile, which of the following are the two biggest wastes in software
development?

a) Delays and building what is not needed.
b) Bugs and interruptions.
c) Smells and defects.
d) Handoffs and partially done work.

96. How does an Agile team measure its rate of progress?

a) Velocity
b) Gantt Charts
c) Activities completed
d) Milestones

97. Which of the following is used to describe eXtreme Programming (XP)?

(RAD) methodology.

98. Which of the following statements is FALSE regarding the benefits of story cards?

a) Story cards are a formal medium for recording detailed requirements.
b) Story cards act as agreements between customers and team members to
discuss requirements during an iteration.
c) Story cards are used for developing work estimates.
d) Story cards are used to define acceptance tests.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.


99. An organization is considering using Agile principles in their workplace and is a
global company. It will be cost‐prohibitive to have their teams co‐located. Which
of the following statements needs to be shared with management to ensure they
understand how the team will communicate?

a) Technology and tools are adequate replacements for face‐to‐face
communication.
b) Tell management that Agile teams cannot work together without having
face‐to‐face communication.
c) Tools can help support communication, but cannot replace their
conversations.
d) Inform management that Agile teams can use written communication to
replace oral communication.

100. What is the difference between a traditional Project Manager and an Agile Coach?

a) A Project Manager's success equals the success of the project. An Agile
Coach's success equals the team's continual improvement and their pursuit
of high performance.
b) An Agile Coach plans and controls, supervising throughout. A Project
Manager guides the team.
c) A Project Manager focuses on getting clients the business value they need.
An Agile Coach is concerned with delivering on time, within budget, and on
scope.
d) An Agile Coach's success equals the success of the project. A Project
Manager's success equals the team's continual improvement and their
pursuit of high performance.

101. Which of the following approaches works best when transitioning into Lean‐Agile?

a) Top‐down leadership, Bottom‐up implementation
b) Bottom‐up leadership, Top‐down implementation
c) Bottom‐up leadership, Bottom‐up implementation
d) Top‐down leadership, Top‐down implementation

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

102. In eXtreme Programming (XP), which of the following roles is allowed to change
code?

a) Any pair of developers can change the code.
b) Only the developer who wrote the code can change the code.
c) The code must be outsourced to a contractor in order to change the code.
d) A User Story must be created to change the code so the developer who
wrote the code can change it.

103. Which of the following techniques defines a highly structured brainstorming
session used to generate ideas for an alternative work method to solve a particular
challenge on Lean‐Agile projects?

a) Problem Solving
b) Kaizen
c) Value Stream Mapping
d) Visual Controls

104. Which Scrum role is allowed to change the Sprint Backlog?

a) ScrumMaster
b) Product Owner
c) Scrum Team
d) Any stakeholder

105. Which of the following is the ultimate goal of a story‐writing workshop?

a) Write as many User Stories in as short a time as possible.
b) Write the User Stories and elaborate on them.
c) Write the User Stories and begin estimating the User Stories using story
points.
d) Write the User Stories, estimate story points, identify tasks to complete the
User Story, and determine who is responsible.

106. In which type of project approach are stakeholders expected to be actively
involved throughout the duration of the project?

a) Agile
b) Waterfall
c) RUP
d) System Development Life Cycle

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

107. Which of the following eXtreme Programming (XP) practices involves writing tests
before code?

a) Acceptance Test Driven Development
d) Refactoring

108. Which of the following is FALSE regarding Lean visual controls?

a) Can only be viewed by people involved with the project.
b) Mirrors (at least some part of) the process the team is using.
c) Controls the work‐in‐process.
d) Describes the state of the work‐in‐process.

109. An organization is frequently pushing their Agile teams through crunch mode by
requiring the team members to work overtime during every iteration. Which Agile
principle is this organization violating?

a) Maximizing the amount of work not done.
b) Working at a sustainable pace.
c) Building projects around motivated individuals.
d) Welcome changing requirements, even late in development.

110. When trying to predict the number of iterations remaining for an Agile team,
which of the following should NOT be considered?

a) The average (mean) velocity of the three fastest iterations
b) The average (mean) velocity of the three slowest iterations
c) The average (mean) velocity
d) The velocity of the most recent iteration

111. Which of the five levels of conflict is the most constructive and is where an Agile
team thrives?

a) Level 5
b) Level 1
c) Level 3
d) Level 2

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

112. In Lean‐Agile, which of the following is used to pull the work to be done based on
what delivers the most value to the business?

a) The Product Backlog
b) The Iteration Backlog
c) The Value Stream
d) The Story Board

113. Which of the following is NOT a value of eXtreme Programming (XP)?

a) Communication
c) Courage
d) Feedback

114. Which Scrum role is responsible for planning the work?

a) Product Owner
b) ScrumMaster
c) Scrum Team
d) Team Lead

115. Which of the following Agile principles helps to decrease goldplating?

a) The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self‐
organizing teams.
b) Working software is the primary measure of progress.
c) Simplicity ‐ the art of maximizing the amount of work not done ‐ is essential.
d) Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the
project.

116. On Agile projects which of the following constraints is flexible?

a) Time
b) Cost
c) Scope
d) Resources

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117. While working on an Agile project, a developer finds a challenging bug that she
can't debug normally. What is the best approach in this situation?

a) Tag or Label
b) Roll Back
c) Time Travel
d) Revert

118. When using eXtreme Programming (XP), when does the team integrate the work
of multiple developers?

a) At the end of the iteration.
c) At least daily.
d) Once a week.

119. An Agile Project Manager mistakenly delegated tasks to the Agile team members
during the daily standup meeting and midway through the day realized what
happened. What is the best option for the Agile Project Manager to use in this
situation?

a) Do nothing, Agile team members are used to changes and adaptations.
b) Wait and see if the Agile team members notice. If they don't, the Agile
Project Manager should act as if nothing is wrong.
c) Let the Product Owner know about the mistake in case team members
complain to him/her.
d) Own up to the impact of the mistake and apologize for it by telling the team
which Agile principle was mistakenly undermined.

120. Chris, an Agile Project Manager, has been working on creating a tool to synch up
project plans with status reports in order to manage the overwhelming work‐in‐
process (WIP). Is using this tool considered good practice in Lean‐Agile?

a) Yes, Chris is working on improving the process, which will then reduce WIP.
b) No, this approach is not part of Lean principles.
c) Yes, this tool will fix the problem and keep management satisfied.
d) No, a better approach is to use the Five Whys to determine the root cause as
to why there is so much WIP.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Correct Responses

This section includes the correct responses to the
questions, the rationale behind the correct
responses, and book/chapter references where
The practice exam correct the question was obtained.
responses include

explanations and references
to help you learn. Make sure you read through the rationale on
questions you get correct as well as questions you
miss to solidify your learning.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

Final Practice Exam 2 Correct Responses

1. A team working in an Agile environment is assigned to a project where the customer
is demanding some requirements documentation prior to signing a contract. In
which iteration should the team place this card?
a) Iteration 1
b) Iteration 0
c) Any Iteration that fits the customer's needs
d) It isn't necessary to complete a card for this work

Correct Response: B
In Iteration 0, a card should be created for preliminary work and placed in
Iteration 0.

2. Which of the following is considered to be FALSE regarding servant leaders?
a) Educating others who interact with the team or affect the team's
performance.
b) Assigning roles, responsibilities, and tasks to the team.
c) Removing impediments to the team's progress.
d) Protecting the team from outside distractions.

Correct Response: B
Protecting the team from outside distractions, educating others who interact
with the team or affect the team's performance, and removing impediments to
the team's progress are all responsibilities of a servant leader.

3. Who is responsible for monitoring the eXtreme Programming (XP) team for burnout?
a) The XP Team
b) The XP Tracker
c) The XP Customer
d) The XP Coach

Correct Response: D
An XP Coach is responsible for monitoring the team for burnout. If the coach
senses a team is burning out he/she will help the team shift back to working at a
sustainable pace.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

4. How long does a Sprint typically last?
a) Maximum of 4 weeks
b) As long as it takes
c) 2‐4 months
d) 1 week

Correct Response: A
Each Sprint is an iteration of 30 consecutive calendar days. This is the Scrum
Guide guidance. Typically Sprints run from 2 to 4 weeks.

5. Which of the following factors are typically considered first when prioritizing the
development of new capabilities?
a) Value and risk
b) Value and cost
c) Cost and risk
d) Value and learning

Correct Response: B
Because most projects are undertaken either to save or to make money, value
and cost often dominate prioritization discussions, however, learning and risk on
the project is critical if we are to prioritize optimally.

6. Which of the following is used to describe the philosophy of preventing doing more
than is absolutely necessary for documentation that must be submitted prior to
obtaining project approval?
a) Use Barely Sufficient
b) Employ Just Enough
c) Create a Functional Requirements Specification
d) Prepare a Project Scope Document

Correct Response: A
If the documentation must all be submitted prior to obtaining project approval,
use Alistair Cockburn's "barely sufficient" philosophy in order to prevent doing
more than is absolutely necessary.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

7. Which of the following plans is subject to review and revision at the end of each
iteration?
a) Iteration Plan
b) Product Plan
c) Daily Plan
d) Release Plan

Correct Response: D
The release plan is subject to review and revision at the end of each iteration.

8. The following chart was put together to estimate the number of hours left in the
iteration. What is the name of this chart?

350
300
250
Hours Remaining
200
150
Hours Remaining
100
50
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Days

a) Daily Burnup Chart
b) Iteration Burnup Chart
c) Release Burndown Chart
d) Daily Burndown Chart

Correct Response: D
The daily burndown chart shows the estimated number of hours left in the
iteration.
This could also be called the Iteration Burndown chart.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

9. Which of the following is NOT an example of an impediment that gets in the way of
companies making the transition to Lean‐Agile?
a) Teams are not well formed
b) Integration is done at project's end
c) Large batches of unprioritized requirements are pushed through the
organization
d) Teams are co‐located

Correct Response: D
Teams that are not co‐located is one of the common impediments for companies
making the transition to Lean‐Agile.

10. The Product Owner on an Agile project does not know how to frame up releases or
how to find out the real need of the customer. What is the best thing for the Agile
a) Fill‐in for the Product Owner until he/she can get up‐to‐speed.
b) Sugarcoat the Product Owner's shortcomings to the Agile team and key
stakeholders.
c) Get help from the Product Owner's manager and the project Sponsor.
d) Coach the Product Owner on how to fulfill their role.

Correct Response: C
When you encounter such a Product Owner, get help from the Product Owner's
manager and the Sponsor. Rely on these people to plug the holes in the Product
Owner's business acumen or replace the Product Owner if the holes are too big
to plug.

11. What type of tool does an Agile team use to organize and visualize their work?
a) Task Board
b) Burnup Chart
c) Burndown Chart
d) WBS & Activity List

Correct Response: A
A task board ‐ which is usually a whiteboard or corkboard on a wall ‐ helps a
team organize and visualize their work.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

12. What are the primary benefits of retrospectives?
a) Performing root cause analysis in order to fix issues.
b) Affixing ownership and accountability.
c) Allowing the team to go back to older more comfortable habits.
d) Inspecting and adapting.

Correct Response: D
Inspecting and adapting every iteration is key to the continued success of the
Agile team.

13. Which of the following is the best way to increase throughput?
a) Minimizing the team size to concentrate efforts.
b) Increasing the amount of projects each team member works on to ensure
they are busy.
c) Minimizing multitasking and reducing the number of projects for each team
member.
d) Increasing the amount of work‐in‐process.

Correct Response: C
Throughput can be greatly increased by minimizing multitasking.

14. During a sprint retrospective a team member states, "Cody always forgets to check
in his code". According to the five levels of conflict, what level of conflict is this
Agile team experiencing?
a) Level 5
b) Level 2
c) Level 4
d) Level 3

Correct Response: D
At level 3 ‐ Contest, team members pay attention to building their cases and they
make overgeneralizations. Discussion becomes either/or and blaming flourishes.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

15. Which of the following is NOT an effective example of a closed story?
a) A recruiter can manage job listings.
b) A recruiter can review resumes from applicants to one of her ads.
c) A recruiter can change the expiration date of an ad.
d) A recruiter can delete an application that is not a good match for a job.

Correct Response: A
A closed story is one that finishes with the achievement of a meaningful goal and
that allows the user to feel she has accomplished something. This story is not
closed. The word manage is very open ended.

16. Which Scrum role is responsible for developing functionality?
a) ScrumMaster
b) Product Owner
c) Project Manager
d) Scrum Team

Correct Response: D
The Team is responsible for developing functionality.

17. Which of the following Scrum values is used to describe committing, acting, being
open, and expecting respect?

a) Commitment
b) Respect
c) Courage
d) Openness

Correct Response: C
The Scrum value of courage includes having the courage to commit, to act, to be
open, and to expect respect.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

18. Which of the following is NOT correct when favoring estimating in story points over
estimating in ideal days?
a) Story point estimates decay.
b) My ideal days are not your ideal days.
c) Story points help drive cross‐functional behavior.
d) Estimating in story points typically is faster.

Correct Response: A
An estimate expressed in story points has a longer shelf life than an estimate in
ideal days; therefore, story point estimates do not decay.

19. In an iteration backlog visual control, how are the stories prioritized?
a) Right to left
b) Top to bottom
c) Left to right
d) Bottom to top

Correct Response: C
The stories in an iteration backlog visual control are prioritized from left to right.

20. During a retrospective the team is discussing whether to change their standup time
to 10 a.m. Throughout the conversation, you notice most of the team has spoken
and no one has been talked over or ignored. The general energy of the group feels
upbeat, and it seems they are in sync with one another. As the Agile Project
Manager, which approach is best in this situation?
a) Implement the change
b) Get approval from upper management before making the change
c) Tell the team they cannot change the time until the next project
d) Do a consent check

Correct Response: D
Use a consent check when it sounds like all voices that want to be heard have
been heard and the group is generally moving forward toward a shared
conclusion.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

21. According to the PMBOK Guide®, which of the following is used to describe keeping
the delivery team together from iteration to iteration, with each delivered
increment, an enhancement and/or evolution of the previous increment?
a) Incremental Delivery
b) Project Life Cycle Development
c) Evolutionary Delivery
d) Progressive Elaboration

Correct Response: D
The PMBOK® Guide refers to keeping the delivery team together from iteration
to iteration, with each delivered increment an enhancement and/or evolution of
the previous increment.

22. How long does a Sprint planning meeting last?
a) 1‐2 days
b) 4 hours
c) It depends on the Sprint cadence but not longer than 8 hours
d) As long as it takes

Correct Response: C
Sprint planning meetings cannot last longer than 8 hours ‐ they are timeboxed to
avoid too much hand‐wringing.

23. Which of the following defines one or more iterations that build upon one another
to complete a set of related functionality?
a) Sprint
b) Sprint Backlog
c) Release
d) Product Backlog

Correct Response: C
A release comprises one or more (usually more) iterations that build upon one
another to complete a set of related functionality.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

24. How frequently are iteration/sprint retrospectives conducted?
a) At the end of the project.
c) At the end of each project phase.
d) At the end of every iteration/sprint.

Correct Response: D
Unlike a project postmortem, or lessons learned, which is held once at the end of
the entire project, iteration retrospectives are conducted at the end of every
iteration.

25. In eXtreme Programming (XP), how do the developers perform pair programming?
a) Both developers code.
b) One developer codes ‐ the driver, and the other developer thinks ‐ the
navigator.
c) Both developers code and then hand off their code to another pair to
evaluate.
d) Both developers think about strategic issues as they review code.

Correct Response: B
In pair programming, one person codes ‐ the driver, and the other person is the
navigator, whose job is to think.

26. Who has to understand every User Story?
a) Every team member
b) The team member performing the work
c) The ScrumMaster
d) The Product Owner

Correct Response: A
Since the whole team commits to all the work in the sprint, each team member
must understand every story.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

27. A project team is using a business analyst to interact with the customers and create
documents that are passed on to the development team. The development team
has little contact with the customers or business analyst. Which environment is the
team working in?
a) Scrum
b) eXtreme Programming
c) Waterfall
d) Lean‐Agile

Correct Response: C
In a Waterfall environment, business analysts interact with the customers and
create documents that are passed on to the development teams. The
development team has little contact with the customers or analysts.

28. Which of the following statements is FALSE regarding the twelve practices of
eXtreme Programming (XP)?
a) The "Planning Game" is used for release and iteration planning to
collaboratively predict the future.
b) XP teams support the quest for simple design by finding a metaphor that can
be used for the whole system.
c) The customer writes the stories, writes acceptance tests, and is on hand to
answer questions as soon as they arise.
d) A team is allowed to deliver half of a feature.

Correct Response: D
One of the twelve principles is small releases; however a team is not allowed to
deliver half of a feature.

29. Which of the following contract types is best suited to an Agile project?
a) Fixed‐Price Contracts
b) Cost‐Reimbursable Contracts
c) Incentive‐Fee Contracts
d) Time and Material Contracts

Correct Response: D
Although a time and materials contract (or "pay‐as‐you‐go") is better suited to
an Agile project, it is not always possible to negotiate.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

30. Which of the following is used to describe a task in the Iteration Plan done
specifically to gain knowledge or answer a question?
a) Activity
b) Feature
c) Minimum Marketable Feature
d) Spike

Correct Response: D
A spike is a task [or a story] included in an Iteration Plan that is being undertaken
specifically to gain knowledge or answer a question. It is timeboxed.

31. Which of the following is NOT part of the three distinct horizons Agile teams use to
plan?
a) Product Planning
b) Iteration Planning
c) Daily Planning
d) Release Planning

Correct Response: A
The three distinct horizons Agile teams plan for are release planning, iteration
planning, and daily planning.

32. A new Agile team has encountered team members doing email during their daily
standup. How should the ScrumMaster handle this situation?
a) Leave the situation alone, it will more than likely resolve itself as the team
gets used to daily standups.
b) Intervene to model positive standup behavior and nip negative standup
behavior.
c) Individually pull aside the team members doing emails after the daily
standup and coach them on correct behaviors.
d) Report the team member's behavior to their manager and ask that manager
to discuss the improper behavior with the team member.

Correct Response: B
On a new team, when you teach them how standups work, err on the side of
fixing it. Intervene to model positive standup behavior, and nip negative
standup behavior.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

33. For Agile software development projects, where is the acceptance criteria
captured?
a) On the back of the User Story card.
b) In the UAT Test Plan.
c) In the UAT Test Cases.
d) In the UAT Defect Log.

Correct Response: A
The expectations of the project's users are best captured in the form of
acceptance tests on the back of the User Story cards.

34. Which of the following is FALSE regarding factors that work against the Scrum‐of‐
Scrums?
a) Human nature
b) Common goals
c) Team motivation
d) Team perspective

Correct Response: B
If you have a large project team with a common goal, Scrum‐of‐Scrums may
work well.

35. Which of the following acronyms is used to describe the four qualities of a well‐
groomed product backlog?
a) INVEST
b) SMART
c) CRUD
d) DEEP

Correct Response: D
The acronym DEEP acts as a memory‐jogger that a well‐groomed product
backlog has four qualities: detailed appropriately, estimated, emergent, and
prioritized.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

36. Which of the following is NOT a common technique for Agile estimating?
a) Disaggregation
b) Expert opinion
c) Analogy
d) PERT

Correct Response: D
The three most common techniques for Agile estimating are expert opinion,
analogy, and disaggregation.

37. An Agile team has been taking two days to plan each two‐week iteration. Is this
a) No, typically 1‐2 hours per week of iteration is enough time to plan the
iteration.
b) Yes, the team should take as long as it needs to plan for the iteration.
c) No, the Agile Project Manager should be planning the iteration, not the
entire team.
d) Yes, the team is ensuring they perform their due diligence in the planning
process.

Correct Response: A
Iteration planning sessions will vary in time required, depending on the type of
project and length of the iteration, but 1‐2 hours per week of iteration would be a
reasonable guide.
‐ Jim Highsmith, Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products, 2nd
edition, Chapter 9

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

38. The following table lists all of the stories for an Agile project sorted in descending
priority order:

Story Story Points
A 6
B 10
C 10
D 6
E 2
F 16
G 10
H 10
I 10
J 4

The Agile team has a velocity of 26. Assuming no iteration can be planned to have more
than 26 story points in it, how would you allocate these stories to iterations?
a) Iteration 1; Stories A, B, C; Story Points 26
Iteration 2; Stories F, G; Story Points 26
Iteration 3; Stories E, H, I, J; Story Points 26
b) Iteration 1; Stories J, I, H; Story Points 24
Iteration 2; Stories G, F; Story Points 26
Iteration 3; Stories E, D, C; Story Points 18
Iteration 4; Stories B, A; Story Points 16
c) Iteration 1; Stories A, B, C; Story Points 26
Iteration 2; Stories D, E, F; Story Points 24
Iteration 3; Stories G, H, J; Story Points 24
Iteration 4; Stories I; Story Points 10
d) Iteration 1; Stories A, B, C; Story Points 26
Iteration 2; Stories D, E, F, G (2 of the points); Story Points 26
Iteration 3; Stories G (8 of the points), H, I (8 of the points) Story Points 26
Iteration 4; Stories I (2 of the points), J; Story Points 6

Correct Response: C
Because the team expects a velocity of 26, no iteration can be planned to have
more than 26 story points in it. This means the second and third iterations are
planned to have only 24 story points. In the third iteration the team chose to
include Story J over the higher priority Story I because Story I is too large to
include in the third iteration.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

39. A Product Owner that has received education on how to fulfill the role and declines
the ScrumMaster's help on the thinking needed to prioritize the backlog shows up
to the next sprint with the backlog unprepared. What should the ScrumMaster do
in this instance?
a) Report the Product Owner to the project Sponsor.
b) Cover for the Product Owner in this instance so the project can continue to
progress.
c) Ask management to replace the Product Owner.
d) Let the consequences be what they will be; let the Product Owner fail.

Correct Response: D
Once the Product Owner has received education on the role and been coached
as appropriate, if he/she declines coaching and shows up to sprint planning with
the backlog unprepared, then let the consequence be what they will be. In other
words, let the Product Owner fail.

40. Which of the following is NOT a valid reason for why planning poker works?
a) Planning poker allows one expert to share their opinion.
b) Planning poker is fun.
c) Planning poker creates lively discussions which ensures estimators justify
their estimates.
d) Planning poker leads to better results because of averaging individual
estimates.

Correct Response: A
Planning poker brings together multiple expert opinions to do the estimating,
not just one expert sharing their opinion.

41. Which of the following strategies is most effective in reducing technical debt?
a) Perform just‐in‐time fixes to technical debt problems.
b) Focus on technical debt early in the product development cycle and then
avoid changes.
c) Work faster on the project so the amount of technical debt incurred is less.
d) Be dedicated to reduce technical debt early and often while the costs are
low.

Correct Response: D
The secret to long‐term technical debt reduction lies in doing it early and often
while the cost is low.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

42. According to the Agile Manifesto, how frequently should working software be
delivered?
a) After every iteration
b) From a couple of weeks to a couple of months
c) Every two‐four weeks
d) Once a month

Correct Response: B
Deliver working software frequently, from a couple weeks to a couple of months,
with a preference to the shorter timescale.

43. When is the best time for a ScrumMaster to coach the Sponsor?
a) Prior to the Sprint Review
b) After the Sprint Review
c) At the beginning of the project
d) At the end of the project

Correct Response: A
The best time to coach Sponsors occurs just prior to a sprint review.

44. Which of the following is NOT a key term for the definition of Agile?
a) Time‐boxed
b) Tasks
c) Incremental
d) Iterative

Correct Response: B
Tasks are not a key term for the definition of Agile; feature‐based is a key term.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

45. The customer and developers have gathered together to create estimates. They
brought the story cards, as well as additional blank note cards. The customer
selects a story at random from the stack and reads it to the developers. The
developers ask questions and write an estimate on a card, not yet revealing the
estimate to the others. When everyone is finished estimating, the estimators turn
over their cards for all to see. When the estimates differ, the high and low
estimators explain their estimates and repeat the process until the estimates
converge on a single estimate. What estimating approach is the Agile team using?
a) Planning Poker
b) Wideband Delphi
c) Triangulate
d) Expert Judgment

Correct Response: B
The Agile team is using the Wideband Delphi approach which uses an iterative
approach to develop estimates.

46. Which of the following is the primary benefit of information radiators?
a) It gives passersby's the opportunity to identify all of their questions before
the next meeting.
b) It allows for effective two‐way communication.
c) It increases management's interruptions of the team.
d) Passersby's don't need to ask questions because the information simply hits
them as they pass.

Correct Response: D
An information radiator displays information in a place where passersby can see
it; they don't need to ask questions, the information simply hits them as they
pass.

47. Which of these tasks should NOT be included in the Iteration Plan?
a) Tasks associated with testing.
b) Tasks associated with documenting the product.
c) Email tasks associated with the iteration.
d) Meetings related to the story.

Correct Response: C
The iteration plan should identify only those tasks that add immediate value to
the current project. Emails are not directly related to developing the product.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

48. During an iteration, which of the following is the primary role of an Agile Project
Manager?
a) Educating others about Agile
b) Assigning roles, responsibilities, and tasks to the team
c) Preventing distractions
d) Removing impediments

Correct Response: D
The Agile Project Manager's primary role within the iteration is to remove
impediments that affect the team's progress.

49. Which of the following conflict response modes is neither assertive nor
cooperative?
a) Competing
b) Accommodating
c) Compromising
d) Avoiding

Correct Response: D
The avoiding conflict response mode is neither assertive nor cooperative.

50. Which of the following is FALSE regarding the four levels of completion that code
must go through in XP practice?
a) Ready to demo to stakeholders.
b) Builds and passes most tests.
c) Ready to release to real users and customers.
d) Broken.

Correct Response: B
Codes goes through these four levels: 1) broken; 2) builds and passes all tests; 3)
ready to demo to stakeholders; and 4) ready to release to real users and
customers.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

51. Which of the following is a FALSE "bad smell" indicator that something is amiss in
the project's application of user stories?
a) Stories that don’t have a full description of details
b) Goldplating
c) Including user interface details too soon
d) Splitting too many stories

Correct Response: A
Stories are not expected to have all the details defined until the story is being
implemented.

52. Who is responsible for ensuring the most valuable functionality is produced first and
built upon?
a) Scrum Team
b) ScrumMaster
c) Product Owner
d) Project Manager

Correct Response: C
The Product Owner is responsible for using the Product Backlog to ensure that
the most valuable functionality is produced first and built upon.

53. In order to prevent an Agile team from reverting back to Waterfall and spend the
entire first iteration doing nothing but analysis, which of the following would be
most beneficial?
a) Have the team create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
b) Coach the team to decompose the first iteration's User Stories into tasks.
c) Deliver at least one feature in parallel with the required project approval
documentation.
d) Use Iteration 0 to perform the analysis work.

Correct Response: C
To prevent the team from reverting back to a Waterfall‐like approach where it
spends the entire first iteration doing nothing but analysis, it is important to
deliver at least one feature in parallel with the required project approval
documentation.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

54. Which of the following is NOT a good example of a User Story?
a) The user can undo up to fifty commands.
b) The software will be released by November 30.
c) The user will be prompted to save her work if she hasn't saved it for 10
minutes.
d) The user can export data to XML.

Correct Response: B
This is not a good story; it is a constraint that will need to be considered during
release planning.

55. What output do stakeholders see at the end of every Sprint?
a) New functionality
b) Requirements
c) Models
d) Gantt charts

Correct Answer: A
At the end of every Sprint, stakeholders see new functionality. Models,
requirements, and internal artifacts might be of use to developers, but they are
never shown to stakeholders.

56. Which of the following is NOT correct when defining Agile planning?
a) Encourages change.
b) Is spread throughout the project.
c) Is focused more on the planning than on the plan.
d) Results in plans that are difficult to change.

Correct Response: D
Agile planning results in plans that are easily changed.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

57. Which of the following is one of the core beliefs of Agile?
a) Working on one project at a time improves the productivity of the team.
b) You can effectively have separate groups do analysis, design, code, and test.
c) Customers can accurately tell you what they want at the start of the project.
d) You don't need to get feedback from the customer until the end of the
project.

Correct Response: A
Working on one project at a time in order to improve the productivity of the
team is a core belief of Agile.

58. At level 3 of the five levels of conflict, which of the following is the best successful
response option?
a) Collaboration
b) Compromising
c) Accommodating
d) Avoiding

Correct Response: C
At level 3 ‐ Contest, accommodating is the best successful response option.
Yielding to the other's view when the relationship is more important than the
issue.

59. Once a sprint begins, which role is allowed to add work to the sprint?
a) The Customer
b) The Team
c) The Customer and the Team
d) The ScrumMaster

Correct Response: B
Once the sprint starts, only the team may add work to the sprint.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

60. Which Scrum artifact is used to define the work and tasks planned during the
Sprint?
a) Sprint Backlog
b) Network Diagram
c) Activity List
d) Product Backlog

Correct Response: A
The Sprint Backlog defines the work, or tasks, that a Scrum Team defines for
turning the Product Backlog it selected for the Sprint into the work the Scrum
Team plans to accomplish during the Sprint.

61. Which of the following factors should NOT be considered when determining
iteration length?
a) The overhead of iterating
b) The amount of certainty
c) How soon a feeling of urgency is established
d) How long priorities can remain unchanged

Correct Response: B
The amount of uncertainty needs to be considered.

62. An Agile team of 8 members has been experiencing tremendous conflict and seems
to have resolved the conflict, but not to the level you would have done as the Agile
Project Manager. What should you do in this instance?
a) Intervene by walking the team through the conflict resolution tactics for
Agile.
b) Report the behavior to each of the team member's managers to have them
resolve the situation.
c) Discuss the situation with all 8 team members to get their perspective.
d) Leave the team members alone, even though it wasn't done perfectly.

Correct Response: D
Agile teams ‐ even new ones and broken ones ‐ can often navigate conflict by
themselves, if team members navigate the conflict well enough, leave them
alone.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

63. In eXtreme Programming (XP), which of the following is a FALSE statement
regarding the customer role?
a) The XP customer role is responsible for prioritizing stories.
b) The XP customer role is responsible for writing stories.
c) The XP customer role is responsible for monitoring the team's use of XP
practices.
d) The XP customer role is responsible for writing and executing tests that
demonstrate the stories were developed as expected.

Correct Response: C
The XP coach is responsible for monitoring the team's use of the XP practices and
gently nudging them back on track when they stray; the XP customer is not
responsible to perform this work.

64. How long does a Daily Scrum meeting last?
a) 30 minutes
b) 15 minutes
c) 1 hour
d) 2‐4 hours

Correct Response: B
Every day, the team gets together for a 15‐minute meeting called a Daily Scrum.

65. Which of the following roles is responsible for keeping work‐in‐process (WIP) to a
minimum?
a) The Agile Project Manager
b) The Team
d) The Team Lead

Correct Response: B
The team must monitor how many stories are open and try to minimize that
number (i.e., keep WIP to a minimum).

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

66. When is the best time for a ScrumMaster to coach individual team members?
a) Midsprint
b) Beginning of the sprint
c) End of the sprint
d) Before each sprint begins

Correct Response: A
Since Agile coaches protect the team's ability to focus by leaving them alone to
work, midsprint is the perfect time for individual coaching.

67. Which of the following strategies is the best way to handle a complex story?
a) Disaggregate the story into a set of constituent stories.
b) Triangulate the story.
c) Turn this story into an epic.
d) Split the story into two stories: one investigative and one developing the new
feature.

Correct Response: D
The complex story is a User Story that is inherently large and cannot easily be
disaggregated into a set of constituent stories; instead split the story into two
stories: one investigative and one developing the new feature.

68. Which of the following is NOT one of the five failure modes to take into account
when working with people on Agile projects?
a) People make mistakes
b) People are creatures of habit
c) People tend to be consistent
d) People prefer to fail conservatively

Correct Response: C
The five failure modes take into account people being inconsistent.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

69. What is happening to an Agile project when the bottom of the bar is moved up on a
burndown chart?
a) Work has been added to the iteration
b) This is normal on a burndown chart and shows the team is making progress
c) Work has been removed from the iteration
d) No work has been added to or removed from the iteration

Correct Response: C
The bottom of the bar on a burndown bar chart is raised whenever work is
removed from an iteration.

70. Which of the following roles is critical for helping teams avoid waste?
a) Each Team Member
c) The Agile Project Manager
d) The Team Lead

Correct Response: C
In Lean‐Agile, the Agile Project Manager is essential in helping teams avoid waste
because teams often can't recognize waste in their own processes.

71. An Agile team member is underperforming on a project. Who is responsible for
confronting this team member about their performance?
a) Any team member
b) The ScrumMaster or Agile Project Manager
d) The Team Lead

Correct Response: A
Each and every member must take the initiative to confront others when they
are not performing, or behaving, according to team rules.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

72. Which of the following is FALSE regarding the use of story points?
a) Estimating story points is done by the customer to ensure proper
prioritization.
b) When a story (possibly an epic) is disaggregated into its constituent stories,
the sum of the estimates for the individual stories does not need to equal the
estimate of the initial story or epic.
c) Your team's story points are not equivalent to my team's story points.
d) A story may be disaggregated into constituent tasks. The sum of the
estimates for the tasks does not need to equal the estimate of the initial
story.

Correct Response: A
Estimating stories needs to be done by the team, and the estimates are owned
by the team rather than individuals.

73. During the sprint review, which role is insignificant (or, at least appears so from an
outsider's point of view)?
a) The Team Members
b) The Stakeholders
c) The ScrumMaster
d) The Customers

Correct Response: C
During the sprint review, the ScrumMaster is insignificant (or, at least, seems so
from an outsider's point of view). He/she sits in the back, away from the main
action, observes and takes notes.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

74. An organization is planning on implementing Agile principles for their software
development projects. They have decided to adopt daily standup meetings and still
keep their weekly status meetings. Is this considered good practice?
a) Yes, a daily standup meeting is for the team, and the status meeting is for the
Agile Project Manager to determine status and progress.
b) No, this practice would be redundant.
c) No, the Agile meetings should replace existing ones because people are not
supposed to attend Agile meetings and non‐agile meetings.
d) Yes, a daily standup meeting is for the team to assess their progress, and the
weekly status meeting is for the Agile Project Manager to discover
impediments preventing team progress.

Correct Response: C
Asking the team to follow two different processes isn't efficient at all ‐ the Agile
meetings should replace existing ones.

75. In Agile software development, who is best suited to write User Stories?
a) The Team
b) The Developer
c) The Customer
d) The ScrumMaster or Agile Project Manager

Correct Response: C
Responsibility for writing stories resides with the customer and cannot be passed
to the developers.

76. Which of these questions is NOT used by the Scrum Team during the Daily Scrum
meeting?
a) What did you get done yesterday that the ScrumMaster told you to do?
b) What do you plan on doing on this project between now and the next Daily
Scrum meeting?
c) What impediments stand in the way of you meeting your commitments to
this Sprint and this project?
d) What have you done on this project since the last Daily Scrum meeting?

Correct Response: A
This type of question is not used for Daily Scrum meetings using Agile processes.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

77. Which of the following is used to describe Scrum?
(RAD) methodology.

Correct Response: D
Scrum is a popular Agile process used at the team level and is characterized by
self‐organizing, cross‐functional teams doing iterative development in what are
called sprints.

78. An Agile team is working on a replacement product project that will take over 18
months to complete. They have put together a wave plan spanning several
iterations. Typically, how long should each wave last?
a) 3 months
b) 1‐2 weeks
c) 1 month
d) 2‐4 weeks

Correct Response: A
A wave (or milestone) plan spans several iterations and for software projects a
typical length is three months, unless synchronization requirements dictate
another length.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

79. The Product Owner gets top billing for being the vision keeper on an Agile project.
What other role is critical for articulating the vision from their point of view as to
why the product is important to the company?
a) Team Lead
b) Agile Project Manager or ScrumMaster
c) Product Manager
d) Sponsor

Correct Response: D
Although the Product Owner gets top billing for being the vision keeper,
something magical happens when a Sponsor articulates that same vision to the
team, including why the product is important to the company and to the team
personally.

80. In Agile software development, when are acceptance tests written?
a) After the programmer has completed coding.
c) Prior to the end of each release.
d) Before the programmer begins coding.

Correct Response: D
Acceptance tests are written before the programmer begins coding as part of the
development process, not something that happens "after coding is done."

81. Which Scrum role is responsible for ensuring everyone follows Scrum rules and
practices?
a) Product Owner
b) ScrumMaster
c) Scrum Team
d) Project Sponsor

Correct Response: B
The ScrumMaster is responsible for ensuring that everyone follows Scrum rules
and practices.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

82. In which of the stages of team formation does real communication occur?
a) Norming
b) Performing
c) Storming
d) Forming

Correct Response: C
Storming is characterized by conflict and open, sometimes harsh dialogue and
can be viewed as a sign that real communication is occurring.

83. Which of the following statements does NOT support why task estimating on an
Agile project should be done by a team?
a) Because tasks are allocated to specific individuals during Iteration Planning.
b) Hearing how long something is expected to take can help the team identify
misunderstandings about a User Story or task.
c) When the person who will do the work provides the estimate, the person's
pride and ego may make him/her reluctant to admit later that an estimate
was incorrect.
d) Even though a specific individual will be the one to do a task, and even
though he/she may know the most about that task, it does not mean that
others have nothing to contribute.

Correct Response: A
Because tasks are not allocated to specific individuals during Iteration Planning,
it is impossible to ask the specific person who will do the work.

84. Which type of decision making process works best for Agile teams?
a) Compromising decision making
b) Participatory decision making
c) Unilateral decision making
d) Top‐down decision making

Correct Response: B
If we want to build adaptive teams and products, we need a participatory
decision making process.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

85. Who is allowed to attend the Sprint Review meeting?
a) Scrum Team
b) ScrumMaster
c) Scrum Team and Product Owner
d) Scrum Team, Product Owner, and other stakeholders who want to attend

Correct Response: D
The Scrum Team, Product Owner, and any other stakeholders can attend the
Sprint Review meeting.

86. Which of the following is FALSE regarding Agile projects?
a) Clients getting the business value they need is the only measure of success.
b) Scope remains flexible, and changes of any kind are welcomed even late in
the project.
c) Only delivered end products indicate progress and value delivered.
d) Controlling through the project plan is the responsibility of the Agile Project
Manager.

Correct Response: D
Controlling through the project plan is a traditional project management core
underpinning.

87. An Agile team estimated a story to be eight points. After working on the story the
team discovered it was much larger than they originally thought and that it should
have been estimated at twelve points. How many points does this story contribute
toward the team's velocity?
a) 12 points
b) 8 points
c) 4 points
d) 20 points

Correct Response: B
This story contributes eight points to the velocity calculation, not twelve.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

88. An Agile team has been varying their iteration lengths based upon their planning
and estimating at the beginning of each iteration. Is this considered good practice?
a) Yes, it is okay to have two‐weeks for one iteration and three‐weeks for the
next iteration.
b) No, iteration lengths should be constant.
c) Yes, because the team is learning their cadence.
d) No, because the Agile Project Manager should tell the team how long their
iterations will last.

Correct Response: B
Iteration lengths should be constant; with different‐length iterations, team can't
get into a good rhythm and velocity estimating becomes very difficult.

89. Which of the following signals should the Agile Project Manager watch for during
the last iteration before a release?
a) Using the last iteration to capture final screenshots for marketing and
training materials.
b) Using the last iteration as a bug‐fixing opportunity.
c) Using the last iteration to finalize release notes.
d) Using the last iteration to do performance and load testing.

Correct Response: B
Just be sure that your team isn't using this last iteration solely as a bug‐fixing
opportunity ‐ that's a signal that the team is committing to more features in each
iteration than it has time to test.

90. Which of the following is NOT a role for eXtreme Programming (XP)?
a) XP Tracker
b) XP ScrumMaster
c) XP Customer
d) XP Programmer

Correct Response: B
XP teams benefit from the use of an XP coach and possibly a project manager.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

91. Which of the following is used to coordinate interrelated teams working on
different products?
a) Daily Scrum Meetings
b) Scrum‐of‐Scrums
c) Project Portfolio Management
d) Program Management Office (PMO)

Correct Response: B
A Scrum‐of‐Scrums is used to coordinate interrelated teams working on different
products.

92. The Agile team has discovered several bugs they determined can be fixed fairly
quickly. Which approach is the best way for the team to handle these bugs?
a) Combine the bugs into one or more stories.
b) Write a separate User Story for each bug.
c) Ask the customer to write User Stories for these bugs so they can be
prioritized.
d) Don't worry about User Stories for the bugs and just complete the work.

Correct Response: A
For bugs that the team expects to be able to fix quickly, they should combine the
bugs into one or more stories.

93. An Agile team's daily standup meetings have been lasting close to 30 minutes and
some of the team members have gradually stopped coming. What is the best
approach to take in this instance?
a) The Agile Project Manager needs to lead all of the meetings from now on.
b) Nothing should be done, as the team needs to work through any problems
and issues in order to continue making progress.
c) The Product Owner needs to tell the team they are discussing the wrong
things during the daily standup meetings.
d) The meeting facilitator needs to nudge the team to take further discussions
offline from the daily standup meeting.

Correct Response: D
The meeting facilitator's role in the daily stand up, which can be rotated from
day to day, is to smooth the progress of the meeting itself. The facilitator might
nudge the team to take further discussions offline from this meeting.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

94. At level 5 of the five levels of conflict, what is the one option that exists?
a) Discuss how to peacefully resolve the situation.
b) Separate the combatants so they don't hurt one another.
c) Align with one side of the conflict or the other side.
d) Conduct constructive disagreement discussions.

Correct Response: B
Only one option at level 5 (World War) exists: to separate the combatants (aka
team members) so that they don't hurt one another. No constructive outcome
can be had.

95. In Lean‐Agile, which of the following are the two biggest wastes in software
development?
a) Delays and building what is not needed.
b) Bugs and interruptions.
c) Smells and defects.
d) Handoffs and partially done work.

Correct Response: A
The two biggest wastes in software development are delays and building what is
not needed.

96. How does an Agile team measure its rate of progress?
a) Velocity
b) Gantt Charts
c) Activities completed
d) Milestones

Correct Response: A
An Agile team measures its rate of progress with velocity, expressed as the
number of story points (or ideal days) completed per iteration.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

97. Which of the following is used to describe eXtreme Programming (XP)?
(RAD) methodology.

Correct Response: A
eXtreme Programming is an iterative development process for teams centered
around several engineering practices; the most common is test‐driven
development, paired programming, and continuous integration.

98. Which of the following statements is FALSE regarding the benefits of story cards?
a) Story cards are a formal medium for recording detailed requirements.
b) Story cards act as agreements between customers and team members to
discuss requirements during an iteration.
c) Story cards are used for developing work estimates.
d) Story cards are used to define acceptance tests.

Correct Response: A
Story cards are a simple medium for gathering basic information about stories
and recording high‐level requirements.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

99. An organization is considering using Agile principles in their workplace and is a
global company. It will be cost‐prohibitive to have their teams co‐located. Which
of the following statements needs to be shared with management to ensure they
understand how the team will communicate?
a) Technology and tools are adequate replacements for face‐to‐face
communication.
b) Tell management that Agile teams cannot work together without having
face‐to‐face communication.
c) Tools can help support communication, but cannot replace their
conversations.
d) Inform management that Agile teams can use written communication to
replace oral communication.

Correct Response: C
When team members aren't face‐to‐face (this is indeed a global market), tools
can help support ‐ not replace ‐ those conversations. Never underestimate the
value of a simple phone call.

100. What is the difference between a traditional Project Manager and an Agile Coach?
a) A Project Manager's success equals the success of the project. An Agile
Coach's success equals the team's continual improvement and their pursuit
of high performance.
b) An Agile Coach plans and controls, supervising throughout. A Project
Manager guides the team.
c) A Project Manager focuses on getting clients the business value they need.
An Agile Coach is concerned with delivering on time, within budget, and on
scope.
d) An Agile Coach's success equals the success of the project. A Project
Manager's success equals the team's continual improvement and their
pursuit of high performance.

Correct Response: A
A Project Manager's success equal the success of the project. An Agile Coach's
success equals the team's continual improvement and their pursuit of high
performance.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

101. Which of the following approaches works best when transitioning into Lean‐Agile?
a) Top‐down leadership, Bottom‐up implementation
b) Bottom‐up leadership, Top‐down implementation
c) Bottom‐up leadership, Bottom‐up implementation
d) Top‐down leadership, Top‐down implementation

Correct Response: A
The only viable Lean‐Agile transition strategy is one with top‐down leadership
and bottom‐up implementation.

102. In eXtreme Programming (XP), which of the following roles is allowed to change
code?
a) Any pair of developers can change the code.
b) Only the developer who wrote the code can change the code.
c) The code must be outsourced to a contractor in order to change the code.
d) A User Story must be created to change the code so the developer who
wrote the code can change it.

Correct Response: A
With the XP Team Code Ownership practice, any pair of developers can change
the code.

103. Which of the following techniques defines a highly structured brainstorming
session used to generate ideas for an alternative work method to solve a particular
challenge on Lean‐Agile projects?
a) Problem Solving
b) Kaizen
c) Value Stream Mapping
d) Visual Controls

Correct Response: B
A kaizen is a highly structured brainstorming session used to generate ideas for
an alternative work method to solve a particular challenge.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

104. Which Scrum role is allowed to change the Sprint Backlog?
a) ScrumMaster
b) Product Owner
c) Scrum Team
d) Any stakeholder

Correct Response: C
Only the Scrum Team can change the Sprint Backlog.

105. Which of the following is the ultimate goal of a story‐writing workshop?
a) Write as many User Stories in as short a time as possible.
b) Write the User Stories and elaborate on them.
c) Write the User Stories and begin estimating the User Stories using story
points.
d) Write the User Stories, estimate story points, identify tasks to complete the
User Story, and determine who is responsible.

Correct Response: A
The goal of a story‐writing workshop is to write as many User Stories in as short
a time as possible by remaining at a very high level.

106. In which type of project approach are stakeholders expected to be actively
involved throughout the duration of the project?
a) Agile
b) Waterfall
c) RUP
d) System Development Life Cycle

Correct Response: A
In Agile, there is an expectation of the active involvement of a customer or
customer representative throughout the duration of the project.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

107. Which of the following eXtreme Programming (XP) practices involves writing tests
before code?
a) Acceptance Test Driven Development
d) Refactoring

Correct Response: C
In Test Driven Development, tests are written before the code.

108. Which of the following is FALSE regarding Lean visual controls?
a) Can only be viewed by people involved with the project.
b) Mirrors (at least some part of) the process the team is using.
c) Controls the work‐in‐process.
d) Describes the state of the work‐in‐process.

Correct Response: A
Lean visual controls can be viewed by anyone.

109. An organization is frequently pushing their Agile teams through crunch mode by
requiring the team members to work overtime during every iteration. Which Agile
principle is this organization violating?
a) Maximizing the amount of work not done.
b) Working at a sustainable pace.
c) Building projects around motivated individuals.
d) Welcome changing requirements, even late in development.

Correct Response: B
We recommend working at a sustainable pace in every iteration in order to avoid
burnout, instability of the product, delaying the release, or losing staff.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

110. When trying to predict the number of iterations remaining for an Agile team,
which of the following should NOT be considered?
a) The average (mean) velocity of the three fastest iterations
b) The average (mean) velocity of the three slowest iterations
c) The average (mean) velocity
d) The velocity of the most recent iteration

Correct Response: A
The average (mean) velocity of the three fastest iterations value does not
present a good picture of what just happened.

111. Which of the five levels of conflict is the most constructive and is where an Agile
team thrives?
a) Level 5
b) Level 1
c) Level 3
d) Level 2

Correct Response: B
Teams that actively navigate conflict and de‐escalate regularly can learn to thrive
in level 1 conflict. Here, they live in a world of constructive disagreement.

112. In Lean‐Agile, which of the following is used to pull the work to be done based on
what delivers the most value to the business?
a) The Product Backlog
b) The Iteration Backlog
c) The Value Stream
d) The Story Board

Correct Response: C
In Lean‐Agile, the work to be done is pulled through the value stream based on
what delivers the most value to the business.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

113. Which of the following is NOT a value of eXtreme Programming (XP)?
a) Communication
c) Courage
d) Feedback

Correct Response: B
Continuous Integration is a practice of XP. The four values of XP include:
communication, simplicity, feedback, and courage.

114. Which Scrum role is responsible for planning the work?
a) Product Owner
b) ScrumMaster
c) Scrum Team
d) Team Lead

Correct Response: C
The Scrum Team figures out how to maximize its productivity itself; the job of
planning and executing the work belongs solely to the Scrum Team.

115. Which of the following Agile principles helps to decrease goldplating?
a) The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self‐
organizing teams.
b) Working software is the primary measure of progress.
c) Simplicity ‐ the art of maximizing the amount of work not done ‐ is essential.
d) Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the
project.

Correct Response: C
Simplicity is the anti‐goldplating mechanism of Agile. Agile teams only build
what the customer wants, and no more.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

116. On Agile projects which of the following constraints is flexible?
a) Time
b) Cost
c) Scope
d) Resources

Correct Response: C
Time and budget (people) are held constant. Only scope flexes.

117. While working on an Agile project, a developer finds a challenging bug that she
can't debug normally. What is the best approach in this situation?
a) Tag or Label
b) Roll Back
c) Time Travel
d) Revert

Correct Response: C
When you find a challenging bug that you can't debug normally, go back in time
(time travel) to an old version of the code when the bug didn't exist.

118. When using eXtreme Programming (XP), when does the team integrate the work
of multiple developers?
a) At the end of the iteration.
c) At least daily.
d) Once a week.

Correct Response: C
With the XP Continuous Integration practice, XP teams integrate at least daily so
that integration problems are fixed one at a time in extremely small batches as
soon as they occur.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

119. An Agile Project Manager mistakenly delegated tasks to the Agile team members
during the daily standup meeting and midway through the day realized what
happened. What is the best option for the Agile Project Manager to use in this
situation?
a) Do nothing, Agile team members are used to changes and adaptations.
b) Wait and see if the Agile team members notice. If they don't, the Agile
Project Manager should act as if nothing is wrong.
c) Let the Product Owner know about the mistake in case team members
complain to him/her.
d) Own up to the impact of the mistake and apologize for it by telling the team
which Agile principle was mistakenly undermined.

Correct Response: D
The most important thing an Agile Project Manager can do is to own up to the
impact of the mistake and apologize for it. Tell the team which Agile value or
principle was mistakenly undermined so the team can learn from this example.

120. Chris, an Agile Project Manager, has been working on creating a tool to synch up
project plans with status reports in order to manage the overwhelming work‐in‐
process (WIP). Is using this tool considered good practice in Lean‐Agile?
a) Yes, Chris is working on improving the process, which will then reduce WIP.
b) No, this approach is not part of Lean principles.
c) Yes, this tool will fix the problem and keep management satisfied.
d) No, a better approach is to use the Five Whys to determine the root cause as
to why there is so much WIP.

Correct Response: D
An Agile Project Manager gets at the root cause of the problem first, to ensure
that the tool is adding value, and not merely bandaging over a more
fundamental issue.

©2019 ASPE, Inc.

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PMI-ACPSM Examination

Study Reference and

2019, ASPE Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PMI-ACPSM Study Reference and

Abbreviations for Referenced Texts

Preparing for and Taking the PMI-ACP Exam

The Certification Exam Tests…

The Certification Exam Doesn’t Test…

Requirements for PMI-ACPSM Certification

PMI-ACP Application Process

After the Application is Submitted

PMI Exam Security & Confidentiality

The Day of the Exam

Best Practice Studying Tips

Understanding the Test Questions

During the Exam

Domains and Tasks

Tools and Techniques

Tools and Techniques (Q&A)

Knowledge and Skills

20 Prioritization 409

Knowledge and Skills (Q&A)

Final Practice Exam 1

Final Practice Exam 1

Final Practice Exam 1 Correct Responses

Final Practice Exam 2

The exam is 3 hours long Domain I. Agile Principles and 16%

Final Practice Exam 2

Final Practice Exam 2 Correct Responses

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