CAPM Agile Frameworks and Methodologies Practice Question
In a hybrid agile project, the team uses Scrum for development but the organization requires a detailed upfront plan. How can the team comply while staying agile?
⚠ Common exam trap
CAPM often tests the misconception that agile and predictive planning are mutually exclusive, leading candidates to choose extreme options like ignoring requirements or fully predictive planning, rather than recognizing hybrid approaches like progressive elaboration.
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
✓
Create a high-level plan early and elaborate as work progresses.
The correct approach is to create a high-level plan early and elaborate as work progresses, which aligns with the agile principle of progressive elaboration. This allows the team to satisfy the organization's need for upfront planning while maintaining agility by not over-committing to details that will change. It balances compliance with the ability to adapt to new information and feedback.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Ignore the organizational requirement and continue with pure Scrum.
Why it's wrong here
Ignoring the requirement leaves the organisation without the detailed upfront plan it mandates, so governance and stakeholder expectations go unmet. It is tempting because pure Scrum maximises agility, and it would be correct where the organisation imposes no planning or reporting obligations.
- ✓
Create a high-level plan early and elaborate as work progresses.
Why this is correct
Creating a high-level plan early and elaborating progressively satisfies the organisation's upfront planning mandate without abandoning agile delivery. This is rolling-wave planning: the plan exists from the outset, but detail is deferred until the last responsible moment, so Scrum's empirical, iterative cycles continue while the governance requirement for an initial documented plan is met.
- ✗
Use predictive planning for the entire project.
Why it's wrong here
Predictive planning fixes scope, schedule and cost upfront, so it prevents the iterative reprioritisation Scrum requires. It is tempting because it satisfies the organisation's demand for a detailed upfront plan, and it would be correct for a traditional waterfall project with stable, well-understood requirements.
- ✗
Create a detailed plan and revise it only at the end.
Why it's wrong here
Deferring all revision to the end freezes the plan, so it cannot absorb sprint feedback or changing priorities. It is tempting because it satisfies the organisation's demand for a detailed upfront plan, and it would be correct where scope is genuinely fixed and change is prohibited.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official PMI exam blueprint
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.