Mini SG - PMI ACP #3

Understanding the various metrics that are generated during an agile project allows agile practitioners to more accurately gauge the scope, time, and resources needed to complete a project and deliver incremental value with each iteration. For the purposes of gauging the number of iterations needed to complete a project, a correct understanding of throughput is essential. Which of the following statements describes what is meant by throughput in agile terms?

• The length of time it takes for a feature to deliver value, from the moment that the team begins to work on it, to when it is finished and accepted.

• The number of iterations that can be successfully completed by a team during a single release.

• The amount of time it takes for a feature to go through the entire process from requirements gathering to deployment.

• The number of user story points that can be successfully processed by a team during a single iteration.

Answer explanation

Throughput in agile refers to the number of user story points that a team can successfully process during a single iteration. This metric helps gauge the team's capacity and efficiency in delivering value incrementally.

An agile team’s velocity has recently started to decline, and the team facilitator is worried that if this trend continues, then allof the work required to meet the release goal may not be completed. What should the team facilitator do?

• Discuss the issue with the team in the next retrospective

• Offer incentives to the team members for reaching certain KPIs

• Tell the team that the project might be canceled if they don't reach the required velocity

• Add more resources to the team

Answer explanation

Discussing the issue in the next retrospective allows the team to collaboratively identify the root causes of the declining velocity and develop actionable solutions, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

An agile development team is currently behind schedule in terms of story points completed thus far, and it looks like they will not be able to meet their expected velocity by the end of the iteration. The reason the team is behind schedule is that one of the user stories in the iteration backlog is taking longer to complete than originally estimated in the iteration planning meeting. What is the team's best course of action in this situation?

• Continue as normal with the iteration and create a risk-based spike to reduce the risk of not completing the iteration as planned

• Remove the user story that was not properly estimated initially from the current iteration backlog

• Continue as normal with the iteration and complete as many user stories as possible until the end of the iteration

• Terminate the iteration and perform work to remove accumulated technical debt

Answer explanation

The best course of action is to continue as normal and complete as many user stories as possible. This approach allows the team to maximize their output despite the delay, rather than making drastic changes that could disrupt progress.

Which of the following sequences lists the cost from the most expensive to the least expensive to fix with respect to when a defect is found during the product development?

• Exploratory testing, pair programming, continuous integration

• Pair programming, continuous integration, exploratory testing

• Exploratory testing, continuous integration, pair programming

• Continuous integration, exploratory testing, pair programming

Answer explanation

The correct sequence is 'Exploratory testing, continuous integration, pair programming' because defects found later in development are cheaper to fix. Exploratory testing identifies issues early, while pair programming is less costly.

A manufacturer wants to use lean practices to reduce waste and improve its processes. Which of the following strategies should the company focus on to reach these objectives?

• Train employees to get their work done as early as possible

• Encourage employees to review their processes for possible optimization

• Organize lean manufacturing workshops for the employees

• Coach different departments to resolve their own issues

Answer explanation

Encouraging employees to review their processes for optimization fosters a culture of continuous improvement, essential in lean practices. This approach directly targets waste reduction and process enhancement.

During a retrospective meeting, an agile team identified a recurring problem that has been causing a delay in their development cycle, consequently increasing the cost of the product. What specific tool or technique should the team members use to get to the root cause of the problem?

• Value stream mapping

• Root cause analysis

• Five whys

• Cost of delay

Answer explanation

The 'Five whys' technique helps the team dig deeper into the problem by asking 'why' repeatedly until the root cause is identified. This method is effective for uncovering underlying issues that lead to delays and increased costs.

An agile team lead wants to ensure that the team receives timely feedback so they can respond to changes and adapt the product they are developing. Which of the following should the team use to obtain customer feedback in order to validate that the product works as expected?

• Product simulations

• Design review meeting

• Value stream analysis

• Business case

Answer explanation

Product simulations allow the team to test the product in a controlled environment, providing immediate feedback from customers. This helps validate that the product works as expected and enables timely adjustments.

After analyzing the flow of materials and information in their product development process, the team has discovered and subsequently removed several wasteful steps, making the process more efficient. What tool did the team use?

• Value stream analysis

• Value stream mapping

• Value driven delivery

• Value based prioritization

Answer explanation

The team used value stream mapping to analyze and visualize the flow of materials and information, identifying and removing wasteful steps to enhance efficiency in their product development process.

What is at the heart of continuous improvement of most agile projects?

• Learning cycle

• DMAIC cycle

• Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle

• Theory of constraints

Answer explanation

The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is central to continuous improvement in agile projects, as it emphasizes iterative learning and adaptation, allowing teams to refine processes and enhance outcomes effectively.

A product owner is currently attending a meeting before the first iteration has started. The facilitator of the meeting conducts a brainstorming session to determine how the project can be improved by assuming that it has already failed. What meeting is the product owner currently attending?

• Iteration retrospective

• Sprint retrospective

• Project pre-mortem

• Project kick-off meeting

Answer explanation

The product owner is attending a project pre-mortem, where the team anticipates potential failures to improve the project. This differs from retrospectives, which occur after iterations.