PMI-ACP Practice Test 12 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Which document acts as the single source of truth for all work to be performed by the development team?

Accepted Answer

The product backlog.. The product backlog is the single source of truth for all work the development team may perform. It is a prioritized, ordered list of everything that might be needed in the product, owned by the Product Owner and refined continuously. In Scrum and most Agile frameworks, the sprint backlog is derived from the product backlog, and no work should be done that is not represented there.

Answer

The sprint burndown chart.

Answer

The communication plan.

Answer

The project charter.

Question 2

Your organization is transitioning to Agile. Some managers are resisting. How do you handle this?

Accepted Answer

Engage the managers in conversations about the benefits and address their concerns.. Resistance to Agile transformation is best addressed through engagement, education, and empathy — understanding managers' concerns (e.g., loss of control, unclear metrics) and demonstrating benefits with data. This aligns with the Agile principle of building trust and collaboration across the organization. Ignoring, escalating, or waiting out resistance are passive or coercive approaches that undermine sustainable change.

Answer

Ignore the managers and proceed with the team.

Answer

Escalate to the CEO.

Answer

Wait for them to retire.

Question 3

The team's velocity is highly inconsistent, causing frustration for the Product Owner. How should you address this as a coach?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion on what factors are influencing the variance and how to manage them.. Velocity is a diagnostic metric, not a target. Inconsistent velocity usually signals underlying issues such as unclear requirements, changing priorities, technical debt, or team capacity fluctuations. As a coach, the correct approach is to help the team inspect and adapt by facilitating a discussion about the root causes of variance. This aligns with the Agile principle of self-organizing teams and continuous improvement, rather than imposing external mandates or changing estimation techniques without understanding the problem.

Answer

Mandate that the team increase their velocity by 20% next sprint.

Answer

Change the story point estimation technique to something faster.

Answer

Ask the team to stop using story points.

Question 4

During a retrospective, two senior team members disagree on the technical architecture for a new feature, leading to a standstill. How should you facilitate this?

Accepted Answer

Suggest a time-boxed experiment to test both approaches and compare outcomes.. In agile coaching, when two senior members reach a technical standstill, the facilitator should avoid imposing a decision and instead enable the team to resolve it empirically. A time-boxed experiment (spike) lets both approaches be tested against real outcomes, turning an opinion-based debate into a data-driven decision. This preserves team ownership and aligns with agile's empirical, inspect-and-adapt mindset.

Answer

Make the decision yourself to prevent further delay.

Answer

Ask the product owner to decide the architecture.

Answer

Vote on the approaches and go with the majority.

Question 5

Which THREE characteristics of a servant leader are most effective for an agile coach? (Choose THREE)

Accepted Answer

Stewardship to act in the best interests of the team and the organization.. Servant leadership in agile coaching centers on putting the team's growth and needs first, so option B (stewardship) is correct because acting in the best interests of both the team and the organization aligns with the coach's responsibility to nurture sustainable, value-driven outcomes. Option C (active listening) is correct because an agile coach must genuinely hear and understand the team's concerns, impediments, and perspectives before offering guidance, which is foundational to effective coaching. Option D (empathy) is correct because building strong relationships and trust enables psychological safety, which is essential for teams to self-organize, experiment, and improve. Options A (rigidity) and E (dominance) do not belong because they contradict servant leadership and agile principles: rigid process enforcement and top-down control undermine self-management, empowerment, and continuous improvement, which an agile coach should foster rather than suppress.

Answer

Rigidity to ensure the process is followed exactly as written.

Answer

Dominance to ensure the team follows instructions.

Question 6

You notice a high-performer is hoarding knowledge, creating a bottleneck. How do you handle this?

Accepted Answer

Quietly mentor the individual on the value of team collective ownership.. The agile leader should address the behavior through private coaching, helping the high-performer understand the value of collective ownership and knowledge sharing. This preserves the individual's motivation while fixing the systemic bottleneck. It aligns with servant leadership and team empowerment.

Answer

Fire the individual.

Answer

Ignore it since the individual is productive.

Answer

Promote the high-performer to a lead role.

Question 7

Which TWO techniques are effective for managing cross-team dependencies in a scaled agile environment?

Accepted Answer

Scrum of Scrums.. Option B, Scrum of Scrums, is correct because it is a scaled-agile technique in which representatives (often called ambassadors) from multiple Scrum teams meet regularly to coordinate inter-team work, surface cross-team impediments, and synchronize deliveries, directly managing dependencies across teams. Option E, visual dependency mapping boards, is correct because making dependencies explicit on a shared board (physical or digital) lets teams see who depends on whom, sequence work, and resolve blockers before they cascade, which is a proven dependency-management practice in scaled agile. Option A, adding more middle managers, is not a recognized agile scaling technique and tends to add coordination overhead rather than empower teams to manage dependencies. Option C, increasing sprint lengths, does not address cross-team dependencies and can reduce feedback frequency and adaptability. Option D, individual performance reviews, focuses on evaluating individuals rather than fostering the team-level collaboration and transparency needed to manage dependencies.

Answer

Adding more middle managers.

Answer

Increasing sprint lengths.

Answer

Individual performance reviews.

Question 8

What is meant by 'customer collaboration over contract negotiation'?

Accepted Answer

Prioritize shared goals and understanding over rigid adherence to contracts.. 'Customer collaboration over contract negotiation' is one of the four values of the Agile Manifesto. It means that while contracts still matter, the relationship, shared understanding, and working toward mutual goals with the customer take precedence over rigidly enforcing every clause. Option A captures this balance correctly.

Answer

Stop charging the customer for work.

Answer

Always give the customer whatever they want.

Answer

Ignore contracts entirely.

Question 9

A team is having difficulty with the 'Definition of Done'. How do you facilitate?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a workshop to help the team agree on quality standards and criteria for completion.. Facilitating a workshop (D) lets the team collaboratively define what 'done' means for their context, building shared ownership and clarity. The Definition of Done must be created by the team, not imposed, because it reflects their quality standards and working agreements. A workshop format ensures all voices are heard and the resulting criteria are realistic and agreed upon.

Answer

Define the 'Definition of Done' for them.

Answer

Ignore the 'Definition of Done' and focus on finishing features.

Answer

Copy a 'Definition of Done' from another team.

Question 10

A stakeholder is consistently demanding 'quick fixes' that bypass the team's quality process. How do you address this?

Accepted Answer

Explain the long-term cost of 'quick fixes' and negotiate for a sustainable pace that includes quality.. The agile leader should make the long-term cost of bypassing quality visible and negotiate a sustainable pace that includes quality practices. This respects the stakeholder relationship while protecting technical excellence, which is a core agile principle. It reframes the conversation from 'quick fix vs. no fix' to 'sustainable delivery vs. accumulating technical debt.'

Answer

Tell the developers to ignore the stakeholder.

Answer

Agree to the requests to maintain stakeholder satisfaction.

Answer

Ask the team to work extra hours to fix the 'quick fixes' later.

Question 11

A team has a very low 'say/do' ratio. What does this suggest?

Accepted Answer

The team needs to look at their commitment and estimation practices.. A low say/do ratio means the team is committing to more work than they actually complete, indicating a gap between promises and delivery. The correct response is to examine commitment and estimation practices, because the ratio is a reflection of how well the team forecasts and commits, not of their competence or effort. Improving estimation accuracy and realistic commitment will raise the ratio.

Answer

The team needs to work longer hours.

Answer

The team is incompetent.

Answer

The team is under-performing.

Question 12

A stakeholder asks you to prioritize a feature for the next release. What is your response?

Accepted Answer

Refer the stakeholder to the Product Owner to discuss priority.. In agile, the Product Owner is the single voice of the customer and the sole authority for backlog prioritization. When a stakeholder requests a feature, the correct response is to route them to the Product Owner, who can weigh the request against existing priorities, value, and release goals. This preserves a single prioritization funnel and prevents the team from being pulled in multiple directions.

Answer

Tell the stakeholder that you are the decision-maker for features.

Answer

Ask the team to add it to the current sprint.

Answer

Agree to add the feature if it seems simple.

Question 13

In the context of the product roadmap, what is the primary purpose of a release plan?

Accepted Answer

To provide a high-level view of when features will be available.. A release plan provides a high-level view of when features or feature sets will be available to users, bridging the product roadmap and sprint execution. It communicates intended release dates and scope at a coarse granularity without committing to exact daily tasks. This helps stakeholders align on delivery expectations while preserving agile flexibility.

Answer

To replace the need for sprint planning.

Answer

To dictate the exact daily tasks for each developer.

Answer

To guarantee that all features will be completed on time.

Question 14

During a retrospective, the team is silent. How do you encourage participation?

Accepted Answer

Use a facilitation technique like 'silent brainstorming' or 'anonymous cards'.. When a team is silent during a retrospective, the Scrum Master or facilitator should use techniques that create psychological safety and encourage input without pressure. Silent brainstorming or anonymous cards allow individuals to contribute ideas without fear of judgment or speaking over others, which often breaks the silence and surfaces diverse perspectives.

Answer

Call on people one by one.

Answer

Threaten to report the team's silence to the manager.

Answer

End the meeting early.

Question 15

Your team is failing to complete tasks due to frequent context switching. What is your role in resolving this?

Accepted Answer

Identify the sources of interruptions and coach the organization to protect the team's focus.. The agile leader's role is to identify the root causes of context switching and then coach the broader organization to respect the team's focus, rather than imposing controls on the team. This addresses the systemic issue (external interruptions) while empowering the team. It aligns with servant leadership and continuous improvement.

Answer

Tell the team to just say 'no' to any incoming requests.

Answer

Instruct the team to work longer hours to finish.

Answer

Create a formal document requiring all requests to be approved by you.