DAF Foundations OF Agile Practice Test 4 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Which TWO of the following are 'Lean' concepts applied in DA?

Accepted Answer

Elimination of waste. Option C, elimination of waste, is a core Lean concept: Lean defines value from the customer's perspective and systematically removes non-value-adding activities (muda) such as waiting, handoffs, rework, and partially done work, which in DA (Disciplined Agile) translates into streamlining ceremonies, artifacts, and governance. Option E, optimizing the flow of value, is likewise central to Lean thinking: it emphasizes making value flow smoothly through the delivery pipeline by limiting work in progress, reducing batch sizes, and pulling work rather than pushing it, which DA applies through its value stream and continuous improvement guidance. The unmarked options do not belong: A (mandating a fixed-price contract) is a contractual/commercial constraint, not a Lean principle, and Lean favors adaptive, value-driven agreements; B (forcing long hours) contradicts Lean's respect for people and sustainable pace, and overwork increases defects and waste; D (maximizing the number of features in a release) is output-focused rather than value-focused and conflicts with Lean's aim of delivering only what the customer values while minimizing waste.

Answer

Mandating a fixed-price contract

Answer

Forcing team members to work long hours

Answer

Maximizing the number of features in a release

Question 2

Which TWO of the following are examples of 'Active Stakeholder Participation'?

Accepted Answer

Stakeholders collaborating on feature prioritization. Option B is correct because active stakeholder participation means stakeholders engage directly in shaping what the team builds, and collaborating on feature prioritization is exactly that kind of ongoing, hands-on involvement in product decisions. Option D is correct because providing feedback on iterations keeps stakeholders continuously engaged throughout development, which is the essence of active participation rather than passive, end-of-project review. Option A is not correct because merely reading a final report is passive, after-the-fact involvement with no influence on the work. Option C is not correct because dictating the team's internal coding style is inappropriate overreach into technical implementation, not legitimate stakeholder participation. Option E is not correct because daily stand-ups are internal team coordination events, and routine attendance is not the defining example of active stakeholder participation.

Answer

Stakeholders only reading the final report

Answer

Stakeholders dictating the team's internal coding style

Answer

Stakeholders attending daily stand-up meetings

Question 3

Which THREE of these are considered 'wastes' (muda) in a software development context?

Accepted Answer

Waiting for information. In Lean software development, muda (waste) refers to any activity that consumes resources without creating value for the customer. Option B (Waiting for information) is correct because idle time spent blocked on handoffs, approvals, or missing requirements adds delay and no customer value. Option D (Defect rework) is correct because reworking bugs or failed builds is pure waste—effort spent correcting work that should have been done right the first time, echoing the Lean principle of building quality in. Option E (Unnecessary features) is correct because building functionality the customer did not request (overproduction/extra features) consumes effort and increases complexity without delivering value. By contrast, option A (Code reviews) is a value-adding quality practice that catches defects early, and option C (Team collaboration) is essential knowledge-sharing that reduces waste rather than creating it, so neither is classified as muda.

Answer

Code reviews

Answer

Team collaboration

Question 4

Which TWO are common 'Agile' ceremonies?

Accepted Answer

Retrospective. Retrospective (A) is a core Agile ceremony held at the end of each iteration/sprint, where the team inspects how it worked and identifies improvements to apply in the next sprint. Sprint Planning (E) is also a standard Scrum/Agile ceremony that occurs at the start of every sprint to define the sprint goal and select the backlog items the team will deliver. Both are recurring, team-level events that support iterative delivery and continuous improvement. In contrast, budget approval (B) and weekly executive status reporting (D) are governance/reporting activities rather than Agile ceremonies, and a one-time project planning meeting at the start (C) reflects a traditional waterfall approach, not the recurring planning cadence of Agile.

Answer

Budget approval meeting

Answer

Project planning meeting (held once at the start)

Answer

Weekly status report to executives

Question 5

Which THREE of the following strategies help in 'scaling' Agile across multiple teams?

Accepted Answer

Use shared communication tools. Option B is correct because shared communication tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence, Slack, or Azure DevOps) give distributed Agile teams a single source of truth for backlogs, sprint boards, and impediments, enabling transparency and synchronization at scale. Option D is correct because coordinating activities across teams — through Scrum of Scrums, PI Planning, or dependency-mapping ceremonies — manages cross-team dependencies and integration points that inevitably arise when many teams work on one product. Option E is correct because a consistent Definition of Done ensures every team applies the same quality bar (e.g., code reviewed, tests passed, CI green, documentation updated), so increments from different teams are genuinely integratable and releasable. Option A is not correct because adding project managers increases overhead and central control rather than enabling the self-organizing, empirical flow that Agile scaling frameworks rely on. Option C is not correct because mixing frameworks per team (e.g., one Scrum, one Kanban, one SAFe) fragments terminology, cadence, and metrics, making cross-team coordination and shared planning far harder.

Answer

Increase the number of project managers

Answer

Ensure each team uses a different framework

Question 6

Which THREE are characteristics of a 'high-performing' Agile team?

Accepted Answer

Shared accountability for results. Option A (Shared accountability for results) is correct because high-performing Agile teams collectively own outcomes rather than siloing responsibility, which aligns with Agile principles of self-organizing teams. Option B (High trust among team members) is correct because trust enables open communication, psychological safety, and rapid collaboration, all essential for high performance. Option E (A focus on continuous improvement) is correct because Agile teams regularly inspect and adapt through retrospectives and iterative delivery to raise effectiveness. Option C is incorrect because Agile values responding to change over strict adherence to an initial plan. Option D is incorrect because Agile teams are self-organizing, not led by a leader who dictates every action.

Answer

Strict adherence to the initial plan

Answer

A leader who dictates every action

Question 7

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.. In Disciplined Agile, when a workflow has a bottleneck (like QA), the team should apply the 'Improve Team Productivity' process goal, which explicitly includes identifying and removing constraints using lean/Theory of Constraints thinking. The QA stage is the constraint; the correct action is to find and eliminate it (e.g., automate tests, cross-train, shift-left quality) rather than optimize elsewhere. This aligns with DA's guidance to address the system constraint, not symptoms.

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 8

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.. 'Context counts' is one of the foundational Disciplined Agile principles: the right way of working depends on the situation — team size, culture, regulatory environment, product complexity, and customer needs. Rather than dogmatically choosing Scrum or Lean, the coach should guide the team to fit the method to their context using DA's goal-driven, choice-based approach. This is the essence of DA's 'choice is good' philosophy.

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 9

During a release planning session, the stakeholders insist on a fixed-scope, fixed-date delivery. As a DA practitioner, how should you respond to this 'iron triangle' request?

Accepted Answer

Educate stakeholders on the tradeoffs by using a 'Range-Based' planning approach to show how scope can be flexed to hit the date.. As a DA practitioner, when stakeholders insist on fixed-scope, fixed-date delivery, the correct response is to educate them on the tradeoffs using a 'Range-Based' planning approach. This approach shows how scope can be flexed (e.g., using a minimum viable product or prioritised backlog) to meet the date, while maintaining quality and avoiding the pitfalls of the iron triangle.

Answer

Report the project as failing because it cannot be purely agile.

Answer

Accept the constraints and reduce the testing phase duration to meet the date.

Answer

Explain that agile methods do not allow for deadlines.

Question 10

Which TWO of the following are core components of the Disciplined Agile 'Mindset'?

Accepted Answer

Optimize Flow.. The Disciplined Agile (DA) Mindset is built around a set of guiding principles and promises, and among its core principles are 'Optimize Flow' (option C) and 'Be Awesome' (option D). 'Optimize Flow' reflects DA's lean-influenced focus on improving the smooth, continuous delivery of value through the value stream rather than optimizing individual silos or resources. 'Be Awesome' captures DA's emphasis on delivering delightful, high-quality solutions and continuously improving both the product and the team's way of working. Options A and B are incorrect because DA explicitly avoids prescribing a single framework or body of knowledge — it is a pragmatic, choice-driven hybrid that tailors practices from Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, PMBOK, and others rather than strictly adhering to Scrum ceremonies or following the PMBOK guide exclusively. Option E is incorrect because DA does not mandate always choosing the newest technology; instead it advises choosing the simplest technology that fits the context and delivers value.

Answer

Strictly adhere to Scrum ceremonies.

Answer

Follow the PMI PMBOK guide exclusively.

Answer

Always choose the newest technology.

Question 11

Which of the following best describes the 'Enterprise Awareness' principle in Disciplined Agile?

Accepted Answer

Teams should work to improve the enterprise, not just their local team.. Enterprise Awareness in DA means teams consider the whole organisation and work to improve the enterprise, not just their local team. Option C captures this directly: teams should optimise for enterprise value rather than local metrics. This principle counteracts siloed behaviour and local optimisation.

Answer

Teams should ignore company policies if they impede agility.

Answer

The team should delegate all integration tasks to a central architecture group.

Answer

Teams should only focus on their own code quality to ensure speed.

Question 12

A team is using a 'Disciplined Agile' lifecycle but is struggling with high levels of 'technical debt' that prevent them from delivering new features. What should the team do next?

Accepted Answer

Incorporate 'Refactoring' and 'Debt Reduction' tasks into the regular iterative planning cycle.. The DA approach to technical debt is to make it visible and address it continuously within the team's regular iterative planning cycle. By incorporating refactoring and debt reduction tasks into each iteration, the team pays down debt incrementally while still delivering new features. This avoids the trap of deferring debt to a separate project, which often never happens or becomes too costly.

Answer

Create a separate, long-term project to fix the debt.

Answer

Ignore the debt until a 'system overhaul' phase is authorized.

Answer

Ask the product owner to prioritize only new features.

Question 13

Which THREE of the following activities are considered essential for 'Continuous Improvement' in a DA team?

Accepted Answer

Implementing automated testing.. Option A (Implementing automated testing) is correct because automated tests provide fast, repeatable feedback on code quality and regression risk, which is the empirical data Continuous Improvement depends on to shorten feedback loops and raise deployment confidence. Option B (Conducting regular retrospectives) is correct because retrospectives are the structured inspect-and-adapt ceremony in which the team identifies what worked, what did not, and commits to concrete improvement actions each iteration. Option D (Monitoring and acting on team metrics) is correct because Continuous Improvement requires measuring delivery and quality signals (e.g., lead time, deployment frequency, change failure rate, MTTR) and then acting on those metrics rather than guessing. Option C (Waiting for the annual performance review) is not correct because yearly feedback is far too infrequent to drive iterative improvement and is not a team-level continuous mechanism. Option E (Increasing the number of meetings) is not correct because more meetings add overhead without guaranteeing measurable improvement; improvement comes from feedback and action, not meeting volume.

Answer

Waiting for the annual performance review.

Answer

Increasing the number of meetings.

Question 14

Which TWO of the following are benefits of an 'Iterative' development approach compared to a waterfall approach?

Accepted Answer

Ability to adapt to changing business needs.. Option D is correct because iterative development delivers software in short, repeated cycles, so newly discovered or changed business requirements can be incorporated in later iterations rather than being frozen at project start as in waterfall. Option E is correct because each iteration typically ends with a review or demo, giving stakeholders regular opportunities to inspect working software and provide feedback, which surfaces defects and misalignments early and thereby reduces overall project risk. The unmarked options do not belong: A is false because iterative approaches still require documentation (though often lighter and evolving), B is false because iterative delivery explicitly accepts that requirements will change and does not guarantee all original requirements on day one, and C is false because iterative methods such as continuous integration and testing generally increase, not reduce, focus on software quality.

Answer

Elimination of all documentation.

Answer

Guaranteed delivery of all original requirements on day one.

Answer

Reduced focus on software quality.

Question 15

A delivery team at a financial services organization has been using a predictive approach for years. Leadership now wants to adopt Disciplined Agile to improve responsiveness. During the first retrospective, the team identifies that their biggest challenge is that they cannot get feedback from stakeholders until the very end of the project. Which Disciplined Agile principle should the team apply first to address this challenge?

Accepted Answer

Deliver value incrementally to obtain feedback early and often.. Delivering value incrementally is the foundational Disciplined Agile principle that enables early and frequent feedback. By shortening the cycle time between building and showing working software, the team can engage stakeholders throughout the project rather than only at the end. This directly solves the identified problem and sets the stage for other principles such as optimizing the whole.

Answer

Optimize the whole by eliminating local efficiencies.

Answer

Make all decisions at the last responsible moment.

Answer

Choose the right level of detail for the context.