PMI-ACP Practice Exam 3 — 20 Questions

Question 1

You are coaching a team that is moving from a traditional command-and-control environment to agile. A stakeholder keeps bypassing the Product Owner to assign tasks directly to developers. What is your best course of action?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Discuss with the stakeholder how the Product Owner manages the backlog and why direct assignments disrupt flow.. Protecting the team's focus and the Product Owner's authority is a key responsibility of an agile leader.

Answer

Update the Scrum Guide to include strict penalties for stakeholders.

Answer

Instruct the developers to ignore the stakeholder's requests.

Answer

Have the developers log the work as 'technical debt' to keep track of it.

Question 2

Which TWO actions support a team in becoming more self-organizing? (Choose TWO)

Accepted Answer

Allowing the team to choose how they complete their work.. Giving control and supporting decision-making are key to self-organization.

Answer

Ignoring the team's issues to let them learn on their own.

Answer

Requiring all technical decisions to go through you.

Answer

Directing every step of the team's day-to-day work.

Question 3

An Agile team is experiencing low morale due to excessive micromanagement. What is the servant leader's primary role here?

Accepted Answer

Act as a buffer to prevent external interference.. Servant leaders protect the team from external interference to allow them to self-organize and perform.

Answer

Tell the team they must adapt to the manager's style.

Answer

Report the team for lack of productivity.

Answer

Become the manager and direct all work.

Question 4

A team member consistently criticizes ideas during retrospectives, creating a defensive atmosphere. How should the facilitator address this to improve psychological safety?

Accepted Answer

Discuss the impact of the behavior privately with the individual.. Addressing behavior directly in private allows for coaching without public shaming, maintaining the safety of the group.

Answer

Publicly reprimand the team member during the next meeting.

Answer

Ignore the behavior to avoid conflict.

Answer

Remove the team member from the project immediately.

Question 5

Which TWO of the following help ensure stakeholder alignment?

Accepted Answer

Frequent demonstrations of working software.. Regular feedback loops and clear communication are key to alignment.

Answer

Ignoring stakeholder requests until the project is finished.

Answer

Keeping stakeholders isolated from the development team.

Answer

Sending lengthy weekly status reports that no one reads.

Question 6

A stakeholder is providing feedback directly to the developers, bypassing the PO. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Coach the stakeholder on the importance of the PO's role and redirect them to the PO.. The leader protects the PO's role to maintain clear communication channels.

Answer

Encourage the developers to follow the stakeholder's instructions.

Answer

Tell the developers to ignore the stakeholder entirely.

Answer

Ask the developers to report the stakeholder to HR.

Question 7

A team is struggling to understand the Product Owner's vision. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a visioning workshop where the PO presents the product roadmap and goals to the team.. Aligning the team and the PO is a core responsibility of the agile leader.

Answer

Create your own vision for the team.

Answer

Ask the developers to interview the customers themselves.

Answer

Tell the team to just focus on completing their tasks.

Question 8

A team is hesitant to share their 'Velocity'. Why might this be?

Accepted Answer

They fear it will be used against them as a productivity metric.. Fear of misuse or performance punishment often prevents team transparency.

Answer

They are lazy.

Answer

They are hiding secrets.

Answer

They don't know what it is.

Question 9

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

Accepted Answer

Scrum of Scrums.. Scrum of Scrums and dependency mapping boards are standard tools for managing dependencies between teams.

Answer

Adding more middle managers.

Answer

Increasing sprint lengths.

Answer

Individual performance reviews.

Question 10

A team member is consistently negative during meetings. As a leader, what is your first step?

Accepted Answer

Discuss the behavior with them privately to understand the root cause.. Private, empathetic conversation is the first step in addressing behavioral issues.

Answer

Ignore the behavior, as it will resolve itself.

Answer

Call them out during the daily stand-up.

Answer

Ask the team to vote on whether to keep them in the squad.

Question 11

A user story lacks specific acceptance criteria. What is the risk to the development team?

Accepted Answer

The team will not know when the story meets requirements.. Ambiguous stories lead to rework and misunderstandings about the 'done' state.

Answer

The sprint will end earlier than expected.

Answer

The velocity will artificially increase.

Answer

The story will be too small to estimate.

Question 12

During a sprint, the team realizes that following the original plan will result in a product that does not meet the user's current needs. Which Agile principle should guide the team's next move?

Accepted Answer

Collaborate with the customer to pivot and adapt the plan based on the new information.. Responding to change over following a plan is a foundational Agile principle.

Answer

Consult the project contract and adhere strictly to the initial scope document.

Answer

Wait for the formal change request process to be completed before doing any new work.

Answer

Stick to the original plan until the end of the sprint to remain consistent.

Question 13

An agile team has become complacent and is no longer looking for ways to improve during retrospectives. How do you intervene?

Accepted Answer

Introduce new retrospective formats and invite outside observers to provide fresh feedback.. The leader brings in new perspectives to spark continuous improvement.

Answer

Mandate a new process that they must follow.

Answer

Berate the team for their lack of progress.

Answer

Cancel the retrospectives until they have something to report.

Question 14

Which THREE of the following help maintain a sustainable pace?

Accepted Answer

Implementing WIP limits to prevent overload. Limiting WIP, avoiding overtime, and regular breaks all contribute to sustainability.

Answer

Mandating consistent weekend work

Answer

Increasing sprint goals every time

Question 15

Which TWO of the following are primary goals of a Product Roadmap?

Accepted Answer

To communicate the product's strategic direction.. Roadmaps communicate the strategy and the time-based plan to stakeholders.

Answer

To replace the need for daily team communication.

Answer

To act as a contract that cannot be changed.

Answer

To provide a list of every single line of code.

Question 16

A new team member is hesitant to speak during meetings. How do you coach them?

Accepted Answer

Create small, safe opportunities for them to contribute and acknowledge their input.. Building psychological safety is key to encouraging participation.

Answer

Force them to present every week.

Answer

Ask them in front of the group why they are so quiet.

Answer

Ignore them until they are ready to participate.

Question 17

Which THREE strategies can a leader use to empower a self-organizing team? (Choose THREE)

Accepted Answer

Trust the team to make their own technical and process decisions.. Clear boundaries, trust, and support are key to empowerment.

Answer

Dictate the team's schedule and daily working hours.

Answer

Approve every task assignment to ensure it is handled correctly.

Question 18

A new developer is struggling to adopt the team's pairing practices. What is the most appropriate action?

Accepted Answer

Coach the developer on the benefits of knowledge sharing.. Mentoring and explaining the *value* of the practice helps the individual internalize the Agile mindset rather than just following a rule.

Answer

Report the developer to HR.

Answer

Force the developer to pair against their will.

Answer

Ask them to work alone until they are more comfortable.

Question 19

A stakeholder keeps asking for a detailed project plan for the next six months. How do you respond?

Accepted Answer

Explain that Agile planning is iterative and focus on the upcoming release goals.. Explaining the iterative nature of Agile and the value of short-term planning builds trust while maintaining the Agile approach.

Answer

Ask them to provide their own plan.

Answer

Tell them to wait for the final product.

Answer

Create a detailed plan to satisfy them.

Question 20

A team is struggling to keep their backlog refined. What is a sign of poor backlog refinement?

Accepted Answer

The team frequently asks for clarification during the sprint.. If items lack enough information for the team to start, the refinement process is failing.

Answer

The team finishes all stories in the sprint.

Answer

The backlog is sorted by priority.

Answer

The product owner is involved in refinement.