PMI-ACP Practice Test 3 — 30 Questions

Question 1

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.. Agile planning is iterative and emergent; detailed six-month plans contradict the empirical nature of Scrum and Kanban. The correct response is to educate the stakeholder on rolling-wave planning, focusing on release goals and near-term iterations while acknowledging that long-term detail will be refined as knowledge grows. This maintains transparency and manages expectations without reverting to predictive planning.

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 2

Which THREE items are typically included in a user story?

Accepted Answer

Business value/benefit.. A user story is a short, simple description of a feature told from the perspective of the person who desires the new capability, so it typically includes the user role (option B), which identifies who wants the functionality (e.g., 'As a [role]'). It also includes the desired functionality (option D), which states what the user wants to accomplish (e.g., 'I want [feature]'), and the business value/benefit (option A), which explains why the feature matters (e.g., 'so that [benefit]'). These three elements form the classic 'As a , I want , so that ' template. Options C and E are not part of a user story: a complete database schema is a technical design artifact, and full source code is an implementation detail, both of which are far too detailed and belong to later development phases, not to the user story itself.

Answer

Complete database schema.

Answer

The full source code of the feature.

Question 3

Your team has high technical skill but lacks collaboration, with members working in silos. Which technique is most effective to foster a collaborative culture?

Accepted Answer

Introduce mob programming sessions for complex stories.. Mob programming is a collaborative technique where the entire team works together on the same code at the same time, often with one driver and others navigating. This forces communication, knowledge sharing, and collective ownership, which directly breaks down silos and fosters collaboration. It is especially effective for complex stories where diverse perspectives are needed.

Answer

Set up a shared document repository for everyone to read.

Answer

Implement individual performance bonuses for the fastest developers.

Answer

Require daily status reports from every developer.

Question 4

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.. When a team becomes complacent during retrospectives, the Scrum Master/Agile Coach should intervene by changing the format or injecting fresh perspectives rather than imposing control. Introducing new retrospective formats (e.g., Start-Stop-Continue, 4Ls, Sailboat) and inviting outside observers stimulates new thinking and re-engages the team. This preserves the team's ownership of the improvement process while breaking the rut.

Answer

Mandate a new process that they must follow.

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Berate the team for their lack of progress.

Answer

Cancel the retrospectives until they have something to report.

Question 5

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.. Coaching a hesitant team member requires creating psychological safety and gradual opportunities for contribution. By offering small, safe chances to speak and acknowledging their input, the coach builds confidence and inclusion. This approach respects the individual's pace while actively supporting their growth, which is central to agile coaching.

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 6

A product owner is refining the backlog. What is the best way to handle 'Technical Debt' items?

Accepted Answer

Incorporate them into the backlog and prioritize them alongside features.. Technical debt items should be incorporated into the product backlog and prioritized alongside features, because they represent work needed to maintain or improve the product's quality and maintainability. The product owner, in collaboration with the team, can then decide when to address them based on value and risk. This ensures transparency and allows for informed trade-offs.

Answer

Keep them hidden from stakeholders to avoid concern.

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Ignore them until they cause a system crash.

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Assign them to a separate 'technical' team only.

Question 7

A project is mid-way, and stakeholders want to add a feature that was not in the original product roadmap. What is the appropriate response?

Accepted Answer

Evaluate the feature's value and impact on the backlog priority.. In agile, the product backlog is emergent and can change as new information and stakeholder needs arise. The appropriate response to a mid-project feature request is to evaluate its value and impact on backlog priority, then let the product owner decide where it fits relative to existing items. This preserves the team's ability to deliver the highest-value work while remaining responsive to change.

Answer

Reject the request because it was not in the roadmap.

Answer

Immediately add the feature to the current sprint.

Answer

Refer the request to the project manager for approval.

Question 8

A stakeholder demands a significant change to the product scope mid-sprint. As an Agile practitioner, how do you handle this while respecting the team's commitment to the current Sprint Goal?

Accepted Answer

Discuss the change with the Product Owner to evaluate its impact on the Sprint Goal and potential trade-offs.. In Agile, the Product Owner owns the backlog and prioritization, while the team commits to the Sprint Goal. When a stakeholder demands a mid-sprint change, the correct approach is to discuss it with the Product Owner to assess impact on the Sprint Goal and consider trade-offs. This respects the team's commitment and allows the Product Owner to make an informed decision about whether to adjust scope or defer the change.

Answer

Ask the team to work overtime to accommodate the new requirement.

Answer

Immediately add the change to the current sprint backlog to satisfy the stakeholder.

Answer

Refuse the change entirely because the Sprint Plan is fixed.

Question 9

A customer feedback session reveals a major flaw in the current product design. What is the first thing the Product Owner should do?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the feedback and update the backlog to address the issue.. The Product Owner is the sole person accountable for managing and ordering the product backlog, so the correct first response to significant customer feedback is to analyze it and reflect the findings in the backlog. This keeps the product aligned with customer value and allows the team to re-plan in the next refinement or sprint planning session. Deleting, ignoring, or blaming are all reactive behaviors that violate the PO's responsibility to maximize product value.

Answer

Ignore the feedback if the project budget is depleted.

Answer

Blame the development team for the flaw.

Answer

Immediately delete the feature from the product.

Question 10

How can a practitioner best support a team that is feeling overwhelmed by 'agile ceremonies'?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate discussions to streamline and ensure the value of each ceremony is clear.. The practitioner's role in agile is to serve the team, not to impose process. When a team feels overwhelmed by ceremonies, the root cause is usually that the ceremonies have lost their purpose or are poorly facilitated. Facilitating a discussion to streamline the ceremonies and clarify their value directly addresses the team's pain point while preserving the agile framework's intent. This approach respects the team's autonomy and self-organization, which are core agile principles.

Answer

Mandate attendance without explanation.

Answer

Increase the frequency of meetings.

Answer

Cancel all ceremonies.

Question 11

A team has a high turnover rate. What should the servant leader focus on?

Accepted Answer

Investigating the team culture and working conditions.. High turnover is a systemic signal, not a recruiting problem, so a servant leader must investigate the root causes in team culture and working conditions. Servant leadership means removing impediments and creating an environment where people can succeed, which starts with diagnosing why people are leaving. Only after understanding the drivers — workload, conflict, lack of autonomy, poor tooling — can the leader act effectively.

Answer

Replacing people faster.

Answer

Lowering the performance expectations.

Answer

Hiring more senior developers.

Question 12

A team has been consistently delivering high-quality software, but stakeholders complain that the features delivered are not the most valuable for the current market. What should the team do to align better with organizational priorities?

Accepted Answer

Work with the Product Owner to re-evaluate the product backlog against the current business value and ROI criteria.. When stakeholders say the delivered features are not the most valuable, the team should work with the Product Owner to re-evaluate the product backlog against current business value and ROI criteria. This ensures the team is building the right thing, not just building things right. The Product Owner owns backlog prioritization, so collaboration is essential.

Answer

Ignore stakeholder feedback and continue working on the current roadmap.

Answer

Increase the frequency of deployments to deliver more features faster.

Answer

Implement a new automated testing suite to improve quality.

Answer

Request a larger budget from management to cover more features.

Question 13

A team is working on a legacy product. How should the Product Owner balance new feature requests with maintenance?

Accepted Answer

Allocate a fixed percentage of capacity to maintenance and technical debt.. On a legacy product, the Product Owner should explicitly reserve a portion of each iteration's capacity for maintenance and technical debt so the system remains stable and evolvable while new features are delivered. This is a deliberate, transparent trade-off rather than an all-or-nothing choice. It reflects the agile principle of sustainable pace and the reality that technical debt compounds if ignored.

Answer

Devote 100% of capacity to new features.

Answer

Only perform maintenance during the weekends.

Answer

Only prioritize maintenance when the system fails.

Question 14

Which THREE of the following are examples of servant leadership?

Accepted Answer

Coaching team members to reach their full potential. Servant leadership focuses on putting the needs of the team first and helping others grow, so option A is correct because coaching team members to reach their full potential is a core servant-leadership behavior that develops people rather than commanding them. Option C is correct because removing obstacles that hinder the team's progress is a classic servant-leadership practice of clearing the path so the team can succeed. Option E is correct because modeling the values and behaviors you expect from the team demonstrates servant leadership through leading by example and setting a consistent ethical standard. Option B is not correct because taking all the credit for the team's successes is self-serving and the opposite of servant leadership, which shares credit and elevates others. Option D is not correct because directing the team on exactly which tasks to do is autocratic, task-centered leadership rather than the empowering, supportive approach of servant leadership.

Answer

Taking all the credit for the team's successes

Answer

Directing the team on exactly which tasks to do

Question 15

What is the primary role of the 'Definition of Done' (DoD)?

Accepted Answer

To ensure a common understanding of quality and completeness for all work items.. The Definition of Done is a shared, explicit checklist that determines when a product increment is complete and of acceptable quality. It creates a common understanding across the team, PO, and stakeholders of what 'done' means for every backlog item, preventing ambiguity about quality and completeness. Without a DoD, 'done' becomes subjective and technical debt accumulates.

Answer

To list the team members on the project.

Answer

To describe the user's requirements for the product.

Answer

To define the budget limit for the project.

Question 16

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.. In Agile, the Scrum Master or Agile coach serves the team by removing impediments and fostering collaboration, not by escalating or coercing. Coaching the developer on the benefits of knowledge sharing addresses the root cause—resistance often stems from misunderstanding or lack of psychological safety—and aligns with the servant-leadership principle. Pairing is a voluntary, collaborative practice; the coach's role is to help the developer see its value, not to mandate it.

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 17

Which TWO roles are fundamental to the success of an agile team?

Accepted Answer

Scrum Master or Team Facilitator.. Option B (Scrum Master or Team Facilitator) is correct because this role is fundamental to an agile team: the Scrum Master serves the team by removing impediments, facilitating Scrum events (Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective), coaching the team in agile practices, and shielding it from external distractions, which directly enables self-organization and continuous improvement. Option D (Product Owner) is correct because the Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value delivered by the team, owning and ordering the Product Backlog, defining and refining backlog items, and acting as the single point of contact for stakeholder requirements and priorities, which keeps the team building the right thing. Option A (External Auditor) is not a core agile team role; auditing is a governance/compliance function performed outside the team and is not required for agile team success. Option C (Marketing Manager) is a business function that may interact with the Product Owner as a stakeholder but is not a fundamental agile team role. Option E (Chief Financial Officer) is an executive finance role concerned with budgeting and financial control, not a role defined within an agile team's structure.

Answer

External Auditor.

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Marketing Manager.

Answer

Chief Financial Officer.

Question 18

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.. Acceptance criteria define the conditions a story must satisfy to be considered done, so without them the team has no objective way to know when the work is complete or whether it meets the user's needs. This ambiguity leads to rework, scope disputes, and stories that pass code review but fail acceptance because 'done' was never defined.

Answer

The sprint will end earlier than expected.

Answer

The velocity will artificially increase.

Answer

The story will be too small to estimate.

Question 19

An agile team is coordinating tasks across multiple cross-functional teams. Which meeting is most effective for synchronizing dependencies?

Accepted Answer

Scrum of Scrums.. The Scrum of Scrums is a scaled-agile ceremony where representatives (usually one per team) from multiple Scrum teams meet regularly to coordinate cross-team dependencies, integration points, and impediments. It is specifically designed to synchronize work across teams that share a product or delivery goal. Daily Stand-ups synchronize work within a single team, not across teams.

Answer

Sprint Retrospective.

Answer

Daily Stand-up.

Answer

Sprint Planning.

Question 20

Which THREE behaviors signal that a team is becoming self-organized? (Choose THREE)

Accepted Answer

The team feels comfortable asking for help when they are stuck.. Option A is correct because self-organizing teams exhibit psychological safety, where members openly admit impediments and ask peers for help rather than hiding problems or escalating everything to a manager. Option B is correct because self-organization includes owning and evolving the team's working agreements; acting on retrospective findings by adjusting their own norms demonstrates autonomy over how they work. Option C is correct because proactively identifying and resolving process blockers shows the team takes initiative for its own workflow instead of waiting for external direction. Option D is not correct because routing all communication through the Scrum Master creates a bottleneck and dependency, which is the opposite of self-organization. Option E is not correct because waiting for management to assign tasks reflects a command-and-control, directed team rather than a self-managing one.

Answer

The team only communicates through the Scrum Master.

Answer

The team waits for management to tell them which tasks to do next.