PMI-ACP Practice Questions 2 — 50 Questions

Question 1

An organization is scaling agile across five teams working on a single product. To optimize the end-to-end delivery flow, the teams identify dependencies between them. Which approach best coordinates this cross-team delivery?

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

Accepted Answer

Implement a Scrum of Scrums meeting to discuss cross-team dependencies and integration blockers.. A Scrum of Scrums is the standard scaling mechanism for coordinating multiple Scrum teams working on a single product. It brings representatives from each team together to discuss cross-team dependencies, integration blockers, and alignment, optimizing end-to-end delivery flow.

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Assign a dedicated project manager to track every individual task across all teams.

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Combine all five teams into one large daily stand-up meeting.

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Mandate that all teams use the same velocity reporting tool.

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Request that teams ignore dependencies until the final integration sprint.

Question 2

A stakeholder requests a feature mid-sprint that is vital to organizational success. How should the practitioner respond?

Accepted Answer

Direct the stakeholder to the Product Owner to discuss the trade-offs and impact.. The Product Owner is responsible for managing the product backlog and prioritizing work. When a stakeholder requests a mid-sprint change, the practitioner should direct them to the Product Owner to discuss trade-offs and impact, as the Product Owner decides whether to adjust the sprint backlog or defer the request.

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Deny the request immediately.

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Add it to the sprint immediately without removing anything.

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Ask the developers to work faster.

Question 3

How do you handle a scenario where two teams have a dependency that is slowing both of them down?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a joint session for the two teams to map the dependency and negotiate a timeline for resolution.. When two teams have a dependency that slows both down, the agile approach is to make the dependency visible and let the teams jointly solve it. Facilitating a joint session allows both teams to map the dependency, understand each other's constraints, and negotiate a timeline for resolution. This preserves team autonomy while removing the impediment collaboratively, which is the core of servant-leadership in agile.

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Merge the two teams into one large team.

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Assign a single manager to oversee both teams.

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Tell the teams to stop relying on each other.

Question 4

A team is having difficulty estimating task sizes. What activity should the practitioner facilitate?

Accepted Answer

Planning Poker.. Planning Poker is a collaborative estimation technique where team members use cards (often Fibonacci numbers) to simultaneously estimate user story effort, discuss differences, and converge on a consensus estimate. It directly addresses estimation difficulty by leveraging team knowledge and reducing anchoring bias.

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Individual guessing.

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Expert estimation by the manager.

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Using historical data from different projects.

Question 5

A team has high velocity but the customer reports the product is not meeting their needs. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The product backlog is not prioritized based on customer value.. High velocity with poor customer satisfaction most likely indicates that the team is building the wrong things—the product backlog is not prioritized based on customer value. Velocity measures output, not outcome. If the backlog is not aligned with customer needs, the team can efficiently deliver features that miss the mark.

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The sprint duration is too short.

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The team is lacking a project manager.

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The team is not using enough automated tests.

Question 6

The Product Owner wants to prioritize items based on the 'Cost of Delay'. What does this metric measure?

Accepted Answer

The potential revenue or value lost by delaying the delivery of a feature.. Cost of Delay (CoD) quantifies the economic impact of not delivering a feature or capability at a given time — it is the revenue, value, or opportunity lost per unit of time that delivery is postponed. It is the numerator in WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First), where CoD is divided by job duration to prioritize work. The correct answer captures this as potential revenue or value lost by delaying delivery.

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The total budget allocated to a specific feature.

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The time taken to fix defects found during UAT.

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The number of hours spent by developers waiting for requirements.

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The penalty paid to vendors for late delivery.

Question 7

Your team is failing to meet the sprint goal due to a lack of clear requirements. How should you facilitate?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a session between the PO and the team to clarify the requirements and improve the refinement process.. Facilitating a session between the Product Owner and the team (A) addresses the root cause — unclear requirements — by improving communication and refinement. The Scrum Master or agile leader should enable this conversation rather than solving it unilaterally. This approach also strengthens the refinement process so future sprints have clearer, better-understood backlog items.

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Write the requirements yourself.

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Ask the team to guess what the requirements are.

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Cancel the sprint.

Question 8

What is the importance of 'transparency' in Agile?

Accepted Answer

To enable empirical process control.. Transparency in Agile enables empirical process control — the ability to inspect and adapt based on accurate, visible information. Without transparency, inspections are misleading and adaptations are ineffective, undermining the three pillars of Scrum (transparency, inspection, adaptation).

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To satisfy auditors.

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To make the team work harder.

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So everyone knows who to blame.

Question 9

The organization is pressuring the team to commit to a date for a major release that the team feels is impossible. What is your role?

Accepted Answer

Help the team explain the trade-offs (scope, quality, or time) based on their current velocity to the stakeholders.. The Scrum Master/Agile coach's role is to help the team and stakeholders make trade-offs transparent using empirical data such as velocity and historical throughput. Rather than accepting an impossible date or hiding behind optimism, you facilitate a conversation where scope, quality, and time are explicitly balanced. This preserves transparency and lets the business make an informed decision.

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Tell management that the team will work hard to make it happen.

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Tell the team to stop providing estimates to management.

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Accept the date to avoid conflict with management.

Question 10

A team is struggling with frequent context switching. As a servant leader, what is the best first step to foster an Agile mindset regarding focus?

Accepted Answer

Introduce WIP limits at the team level.. Introducing WIP (Work In Progress) limits at the team level is a direct Kanban/Agile practice that reduces context switching by capping the number of concurrent items. As a servant leader, the best first step is to foster this mindset through a lightweight, team-owned mechanism rather than imposing controls.

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Implement mandatory overtime to finish tasks.

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Mandate daily status reports to the PMO.

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Assign specific tasks to individuals without team input.

Question 11

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.

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Ask them to provide their own plan.

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Tell them to wait for the final product.

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Create a detailed plan to satisfy them.

Question 12

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.

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Complete database schema.

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The full source code of the feature.

Question 13

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.

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Set up a shared document repository for everyone to read.

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Implement individual performance bonuses for the fastest developers.

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Require daily status reports from every developer.

Question 14

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.

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Mandate a new process that they must follow.

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Berate the team for their lack of progress.

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Cancel the retrospectives until they have something to report.

Question 15

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.

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Force them to present every week.

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

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Ignore them until they are ready to participate.

Question 16

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.

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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 17

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.

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Reject the request because it was not in the roadmap.

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Immediately add the feature to the current sprint.

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Refer the request to the project manager for approval.

Question 18

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.

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

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

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Refuse the change entirely because the Sprint Plan is fixed.

Question 19

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.

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Ignore the feedback if the project budget is depleted.

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Blame the development team for the flaw.

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Immediately delete the feature from the product.

Question 20

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.

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Mandate attendance without explanation.

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Increase the frequency of meetings.

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Cancel all ceremonies.