DAF Practice Test 17 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Your team is experiencing high WIP levels during the development phase. Which Lean technique should you apply first to identify the primary cause of this congestion?

Accepted Answer

Conduct a Value Stream Mapping session to visualize handoffs and queues.. Value stream mapping helps visualize the flow and identify where work piles up due to bottlenecks.

Answer

Require developers to work overtime to clear the backlog.

Answer

Increase the team size to handle the overflow.

Answer

Implement a mandatory daily stand-up meeting extension.

Question 2

What is the primary Lean motivation for 'deferring commitment' until the last responsible moment?

Accepted Answer

To make decisions based on better, more current information.. Deferring allows for better information gathering and avoids wasted effort on invalid assumptions.

Answer

To allow stakeholders to change their minds frequently.

Answer

To keep the team busy with administrative work.

Answer

To save money on project overhead.

Question 3

A new project team is struggling to choose between a Scrum-based approach and a Lean-based approach. Which Disciplined Agile principle should the coach emphasize to help them decide?

Accepted Answer

Context counts.. Disciplined Agile is goal-driven and choice-aware. The team should choose their 'Way of Working' (WoW) based on the context of their specific situation rather than adhering to a single prescriptive framework.

Answer

Let the senior project manager decide the methodology.

Answer

Always choose Lean as it is inherently superior to Scrum.

Answer

Follow the Scrum Guide strictly to ensure consistency.

Question 4

Which THREE of the following actions support the Lean principle 'Build Quality In'?

Accepted Answer

Using automated regression testing.. Quality is built in by preventing defects through practices like testing early and often.

Answer

Deferring testing until the end of the project.

Answer

Relying on manual testing by an external team.

Question 5

In a Lean environment, how do you handle a 'non-value-add but necessary' activity?

Accepted Answer

Streamline and minimize it as much as possible.. While it is waste, it must be minimized or streamlined as much as possible because it cannot be fully eliminated.

Answer

Ignore it completely.

Answer

Automate it without optimization.

Answer

Assign it to a low-level employee.

Question 6

You are managing a process where work consistently stalls at the 'Testing' stage. What is the most effective way to address this bottleneck?

Accepted Answer

Shift team focus to assist in the Testing phase to clear the backlog.. Pulling resources to the bottleneck or limiting inputs to it is standard Lean practice.

Answer

Outsource the Testing phase to a third party.

Answer

Increase the speed of the development phase to clear the backlog faster.

Answer

Remove the Testing phase from the workflow.

Question 7

What is the primary purpose of 'Little's Law' in Lean?

Accepted Answer

To relate WIP, Throughput, and Cycle Time mathematically.. Little's Law (WIP = Throughput * Cycle Time) helps teams understand the relationship between their WIP, throughput, and the time items spend in the system.

Answer

To measure individual developer productivity.

Answer

To determine the number of staff members needed.

Answer

To calculate the total project budget.

Question 8

A team finds that their current workflow is plagued by bottlenecks at the quality assurance stage, causing delays in delivery. According to Disciplined Agile, which action should the team prioritize to improve their process?

Accepted Answer

Implement the 'Improve Team Productivity' process goal by identifying and removing the specific constraint causing the delay.. Disciplined Agile emphasizes 'process goals' and 'process blades'. Addressing a bottleneck requires visualizing the workflow to identify the constraint and adjusting capacity or process rules accordingly.

Answer

Focus on the process goal 'Coordinate Activities' to ensure all members are aligned.

Answer

Increase the batch size to allow QA to process more items at once.

Answer

Switch to a purely predictive model to ensure quality gates are strictly followed.

Question 9

Which of the following is considered 'Waste' (Muda) in a software development process?

Accepted Answer

Developing features that the customer will never use.. Unused features are 'Inventory' or 'Overproduction', both are forms of waste.

Answer

Performing automated unit tests.

Answer

Conducting a sprint demo.

Answer

Collaborating on design documents.

Question 10

What is the primary benefit of 'Small Batch Sizes' in software development?

Accepted Answer

Faster feedback loops and reduced risk.. Smaller batches flow faster, reduce risk, and provide earlier feedback.

Answer

More time to attend meetings.

Answer

Lower total cost of labor.

Answer

Less documentation required.

Question 11

What is the primary Lean goal of reducing the number of handoffs between specialized teams?

Accepted Answer

To minimize the opportunity for information loss and waiting.. Handoffs are major sources of information loss and waiting waste.

Answer

To increase the total number of specialized team members.

Answer

To improve organizational visibility.

Answer

To reduce the cost of payroll.

Question 12

What does a cumulative flow diagram (CFD) help a team visualize?

Accepted Answer

The stability and distribution of work in progress.. CFDs show WIP, throughput, and lead time trends over time.

Answer

The specific team member assigned to each ticket.

Answer

The total budget remaining for the project.

Answer

Individual team member performance.

Question 13

Why does Lean advocate for 'Small Batch Sizes'?

Accepted Answer

To reduce cycle time and increase the speed of feedback.. Smaller batches mean that items move through the system faster, reducing risk and allowing for quicker feedback.

Answer

To make the project appear larger to stakeholders.

Answer

To allow the team to work on more things simultaneously.

Answer

To minimize the use of automation tools.

Question 14

What is the primary Lean goal of 'Visual Management'?

Accepted Answer

To make the status of work and problems immediately apparent.. Visual management makes the status of work obvious to everyone, enabling faster identification of problems.

Answer

To track employee attendance.

Answer

To reduce the amount of paper used in the office.

Answer

To entertain the team during meetings.

Question 15

Which THREE of the following represent ways to reduce handoffs?

Accepted Answer

Automating the delivery pipeline to minimize manual intervention.. Reducing handoffs involves combining roles or creating cross-functional teams that own the entire process.

Answer

Outsourcing non-core tasks to a specialized vendor.

Answer

Adding an extra layer of management to monitor transfers.