PMI-ACP Practice Test 2 — 30 Questions

Question 1

Which THREE metrics should a practitioner focus on to measure end-to-end delivery performance?

Accepted Answer

Cycle Time.. Cycle Time (B) is correct because it measures the elapsed time from when work actually starts on an item until it is completed, capturing the efficiency of the delivery process itself. Throughput (C) is correct because it quantifies the number of work items completed per unit of time, directly reflecting the delivery rate of the team or system. Lead Time (D) is correct because it measures the total elapsed time from when a request is made (or an item enters the backlog) until it is delivered to the customer, which is the definitive end-to-end delivery performance metric. The unmarked options do not belong: the number of coffee breaks (A) is an irrelevant personal habit with no bearing on delivery flow, and employee age (E) is a demographic attribute that has no causal or measurable relationship to end-to-end delivery performance.

Answer

Number of coffee breaks taken.

Answer

Employee age.

Question 2

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 Product Owner is the single point of accountability for the product backlog and its prioritization, so feedback that bypasses the PO undermines that role and risks the team building unprioritized work. Coaching the stakeholder on why the PO exists and redirecting them preserves the PO's authority while keeping the stakeholder engaged through the correct channel.

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 3

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.. Option A is correct because empowering a self-organizing team requires the leader to trust the team to make their own technical and process decisions, which builds ownership and autonomy rather than dependence on the leader. Option C is correct because setting clear objectives and constraints while letting the team decide how to meet them gives direction without prescribing the method, which is the essence of empowerment in self-organizing teams. Option D is correct because providing necessary resources and removing organizational impediments creates the supportive environment the team needs to self-organize effectively, a core servant-leadership behavior. Option B is incorrect because dictating schedule and daily working hours imposes control and reduces the team's autonomy. Option E is incorrect because approving every task assignment is micromanagement that undermines self-organization and team ownership.

Answer

Dictate the team's schedule and daily working hours.

Answer

Approve every task assignment to ensure it is handled correctly.

Question 4

What is the best way to handle a team member who is not adhering to the agile values?

Accepted Answer

Provide consistent, private feedback and coaching to help them understand and adopt the values.. Providing consistent, private feedback and coaching is the most constructive way to help a team member understand and adopt agile values. This approach respects the individual, fosters psychological safety, and aligns with the servant-leader role of an agile practitioner. It addresses the behavior directly while supporting the team member's growth.

Answer

Shame them in the daily stand-up.

Answer

Ignore the behavior, as everyone has their own way of working.

Answer

Remove them from the team immediately.

Question 5

Why do we value 'individuals and interactions over processes and tools'?

Accepted Answer

People are more important than the tools they use.. The Agile Manifesto values individuals and interactions over processes and tools because working software and customer collaboration depend on people communicating effectively, and no process or tool can substitute for that. It does not mean processes and tools are worthless; it means when there is a conflict, prioritize people and direct communication. This principle underpins self-organizing teams and face-to-face conversation as the most efficient way to convey information.

Answer

Processes are useless.

Answer

Individuals should ignore processes.

Answer

We don't need tools.

Question 6

A practitioner wants to improve team engagement during the retrospective. What technique should they use?

Accepted Answer

'Start, Stop, Continue' activity.. 'Start, Stop, Continue' is a structured retrospective activity that actively engages team members by having them brainstorm and discuss what they should start doing, stop doing, and continue doing. It promotes participation and ownership, directly improving engagement during the retrospective.

Answer

Strict time-keeping by a manager.

Answer

Mandatory silent reading.

Answer

Annual performance reviews.

Question 7

Which of the following describes the 'INVEST' model for user stories?

Accepted Answer

Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable.. The INVEST model is a widely used acronym in agile for evaluating user story quality: Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, and Testable. These six criteria ensure stories are self-contained, flexible in implementation, deliver business value, can be sized, fit within an iteration, and have clear acceptance criteria.

Answer

Important, Notable, Validated, Explicit, Scalable, Technical.

Answer

Internal, New, Visible, Executable, Simple, Thorough.

Answer

Integrated, Necessary, Verified, Efficient, Structured, Tactical.

Question 8

A large agile project requires coordinating work across four teams. How should the practitioner handle dependency management?

Accepted Answer

Require all teams to participate in a daily Scrum of Scrums.. For a large agile project with four teams, the standard scaling mechanism for dependency management is a Scrum of Scrums, where representatives from each team meet daily (or frequently) to coordinate cross-team dependencies, integrate work, and resolve impediments. This creates a communication network that surfaces and resolves dependencies without halting work or centralizing control.

Answer

Stop all work until the dependencies are resolved.

Answer

Assign a single manager to direct all four teams.

Answer

Merge all teams into one large team to simplify communication.

Question 9

Which metric is most useful for measuring the team's ability to deliver consistent value per iteration?

Accepted Answer

Velocity.. Velocity measures the amount of work (typically in story points) a team completes per iteration, making it the standard metric for gauging consistent value delivery across sprints. Tracking velocity over time reveals whether the team's throughput is stable, improving, or erratic, which directly reflects their ability to deliver predictably each iteration. It is a team-level metric, not an individual one, aligning with agile principles.

Answer

Individual task duration.

Answer

Team morale survey scores.

Answer

Number of meetings attended.

Question 10

How can a leader best promote self-organization within an agile team?

Accepted Answer

Define the objective and let the team decide how to achieve it.. Self-organization means the team decides how to accomplish its work. A leader best promotes it by clearly defining the objective (the 'what' and 'why') and then delegating the 'how' to the team, giving them autonomy, mastery, and purpose. This shifts the leader's role from directing tasks to removing impediments and coaching.

Answer

Attend every technical meeting to provide guidance.

Answer

Require all decisions to be approved by the leadership team.

Answer

Create detailed task lists for every team member.

Question 11

Which of the following is a key component of a good user story?

Accepted Answer

INVEST criteria.. INVEST criteria (Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable) are key components of a good user story. They ensure that user stories are well-defined, deliver value, and are suitable for iterative development.

Answer

A fixed deadline.

Answer

A 20-page document.

Answer

Detailed technical specifications.

Question 12

A stakeholder wants to change the project priority halfway through the project. What is the practitioner's role?

Accepted Answer

Help the Product Owner assess the impact and update the product backlog.. In Agile, the Product Owner owns the product backlog and its prioritization. When a stakeholder requests a priority change, the practitioner's role is to help the Product Owner assess the impact (on scope, schedule, value) and update the backlog accordingly, preserving the PO's authority and the team's focus.

Answer

Immediately implement the change.

Answer

Refuse the change.

Answer

Tell the stakeholder to wait until the project ends.

Question 13

A team member is consistently distracting others during pair programming. What is the most appropriate action?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team to discuss collaboration norms, including focus and respect, during a retrospective.. In Agile, team dynamics and collaboration norms are best addressed by the team itself during a retrospective, where members can openly discuss behaviors like focus and respect. Coaching the team to surface and resolve the distraction through shared norms aligns with self-organization and continuous improvement principles.

Answer

Remove the pair programming practice.

Answer

Tell the team member to be quiet.

Answer

Move the team member to a different project.

Question 14

During a Retrospective, the team observes that the 'Definition of Done' is inconsistently applied, leading to technical debt. What is the most effective approach to fix this?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a team session to review and update the Definition of Done, ensuring it is clear and actionable.. The most effective approach is to facilitate a team session to review and update the Definition of Done, ensuring it is clear and actionable. This addresses the root cause—ambiguity—and reinforces shared ownership, which is central to agile self-organization.

Answer

Shift the responsibility of 'Done' entirely to the QA team.

Answer

Create a new 'Definition of Done' for every story to ensure uniqueness.

Answer

Implement a stricter performance review for team members who ignore the DoD.

Answer

Ask the Scrum Master to personally inspect all code before it is marked as done.

Question 15

An agile team has been consistently delivering high-quality work and meeting its sprint goals. The team members are now asking for more autonomy in deciding how they organize their work and interact with stakeholders. As the agile leader, what should you do?

Accepted Answer

Acknowledge the team's growth, clarify the boundaries of their autonomy, and support them as they take on more decision-making responsibility.. The team has demonstrated high performance and is ready for more autonomy. The best response is to acknowledge their growth, clarify the boundaries within which they will operate, and support them as they take on more decision-making. This balances empowerment with alignment to organizational goals. Granting full autonomy without boundaries, withholding autonomy, or requiring formal proposals would either create risk or undermine the team's motivation.

Answer

Grant the team full autonomy immediately and remove yourself from all interactions with stakeholders.

Answer

Tell the team that autonomy must be earned gradually and that you will continue to make all key decisions for the next several sprints.

Answer

Ask the team to submit a formal proposal outlining exactly which decisions they want to own and wait for management approval.

Question 16

Your team has a high level of dependency on an external vendor. How should you facilitate this relationship?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate regular communication channels and define clear interfaces for the dependencies.. Managing external dependencies requires deliberate communication and interface definition rather than process imposition or avoidance. Regular communication channels (sync meetings, shared boards, status updates) keep both parties aligned on timelines and expectations, while clearly defined interfaces (APIs, contracts, deliverables) reduce ambiguity and integration risk. This is the agile way to handle dependencies you cannot directly control.

Answer

Demand that the vendor adopt your team's exact agile process.

Answer

Stop using the vendor's services.

Answer

Ask the team to work around the vendor's delays.

Question 17

During sprint planning, the team discovers they cannot complete a high-priority feature due to a technical blocker. What should the practitioner do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion to find an alternative or escalate if needed.. When a technical blocker prevents completing a high-priority feature, the practitioner should facilitate a discussion to explore alternatives — such as re-scoping, finding a workaround, or bringing in expertise — and escalate if the blocker cannot be resolved within the team. This aligns with agile's emphasis on transparency, collaboration, and servant leadership. The team and Product Owner jointly decide how to adapt the sprint.

Answer

Extend the sprint to accommodate the blocker.

Answer

Remove the feature from the product backlog entirely.

Answer

Ignore the blocker and hope the team finishes.

Question 18

A team is confused about who should make decisions. How should the servant leader address this?

Accepted Answer

Encourage the team to make decisions themselves.. Encouraging the team to make decisions themselves is correct because a servant leader's role is to empower self-organizing teams, fostering ownership and accountability. When the team is confused about decision-making authority, the servant leader should clarify boundaries, provide coaching, and then step back to let the team decide within those boundaries. This builds capability and aligns with Agile principles.

Answer

Let the team struggle indefinitely without guidance.

Answer

Make all decisions for the team.

Answer

Ask the client to make every decision.

Question 19

A team member is consistently late for meetings. How do you address this?

Accepted Answer

Discuss the impact on the team with them privately.. The correct approach is to address the behavior privately with the team member, focusing on the impact their lateness has on the team's collaboration and productivity. This aligns with PMI-ACP principles of servant leadership, emotional intelligence, and direct, respectful communication. By discussing the issue one-on-one, you avoid public embarrassment and create a safe space for the team member to explain any underlying issues, while still holding them accountable. This approach fosters trust and maintains team morale, which are critical for agile team success.

Answer

Do nothing.

Answer

Start the meeting without them every time.

Answer

Bring it up in the daily stand-up.

Question 20

A team is transitioning from a traditional project management approach to an Agile framework. The project manager wants to ensure the team embraces the core value of 'Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools'. Which action best demonstrates this shift?

Accepted Answer

Encourage daily stand-up meetings to be conducted in person or via video to foster real-time collaboration.. Encouraging daily stand-ups in person or via video to foster real-time collaboration directly demonstrates 'Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools' because it prioritizes synchronous human communication over rigid tooling or documentation. This aligns with the Agile Manifesto's first value, emphasizing that effective collaboration and conversation are more valuable than standardized processes or systems.

Answer

Mandate that all team communication occurs exclusively through the issue tracking system.

Answer

Strictly enforce the use of standardized status report templates for every update.

Answer

Focus on automating all project reports before addressing team dependencies.