CAPM Agile Frameworks and Methodologies Practice Question
A newly formed agile team is about to start their first sprint. The product owner has a well-groomed backlog and the team has done relative sizing using planning poker. The team is excited but unsure about the process. They ask the Scrum Master what the primary goal of the first iteration should be. The Scrum Master should explain that the most important goal of the first sprint is to deliver a potentially releasable increment of the product. However, some team members are worried they may not be able to deliver enough due to team formation and learning the codebase. The product owner wants to see a visible outcome. What should the Scrum Master recommend as the primary focus for the first sprint?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse 'learning the codebase' with 'no deliverable,' and choose Option B or D, but Scrum mandates a potentially releasable increment every sprint, even the first, to enforce inspect-and-adapt cycles.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Deliver a small but complete user story that adds value to the product
In Scrum, the primary goal of every sprint, including the first, is to deliver a potentially releasable increment of the product. Option C is correct because delivering a small but complete user story that adds value ensures the team practices the full Scrum cycle—from backlog refinement to definition of done—while producing a tangible outcome that satisfies the product owner's need for visible progress. This approach balances team learning with value delivery, which is the core purpose of an agile iteration.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create a detailed design document for the entire release
Why it's wrong here
A detailed design document produces no working product, so it fails the requirement to deliver a potentially releasable increment and give the product owner visible output. It is tempting because upfront design suits plan-driven predictive projects, where comprehensive documentation precedes construction, but Scrum values working software over comprehensive documentation.
- ✗
Focus exclusively on setting up the development environment and CI/CD pipeline
Why it's wrong here
Environment and pipeline setup alone yields no potentially releasable increment, so the product owner sees no visible outcome. It is tempting because tooling investment genuinely helps a new team, and it would be valid as supporting work inside a sprint that also delivers at least one backlog item.
- ✓
Deliver a small but complete user story that adds value to the product
Why this is correct
A small, complete user story produces a genuinely finished increment, exercising the full definition of done while the team forms and learns the codebase. This satisfies the product owner's need for a visible outcome without overcommitting during the first sprint's inevitable learning curve.
- ✗
Skip the sprint goal to allow the team to learn without pressure
Why it's wrong here
Dropping the sprint goal removes the shared objective that focuses the team and enables inspection of the increment. It is tempting because new teams fear overcommitting while learning, but Scrum accommodates that through modest sprint backlog selection, not by abandoning the goal entirely.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CAPM practice question is part of Courseiva's free PMI certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CAPM exam.