- A
Ask the product owner to reduce the number of stories per sprint
Why wrong: This addresses workload but not the underlying issues like demotivation or meeting efficiency.
- B
Facilitate a retrospective to identify root causes and collaboratively develop improvement actions
Retrospectives are the agile ceremony to inspect and adapt. The team can address process issues.
- C
Reduce the sprint length to create urgency and improve focus
Why wrong: Reducing sprint length may increase pressure and further decrease velocity.
- D
Mandate that the team must increase velocity to 30 story points next sprint
Why wrong: Mandating velocity contradicts agile principles of self-organization and may worsen morale.
Question 297 of 892
First Step When Agile Team Velocity Declining
This PMP practice question tests your understanding of process — managing technical aspects. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
In your agile project, the team's velocity has been declining over the past three sprints from 30 to 25 to 20 story points. The team members report feeling overworked and demotivated. The daily standup meetings are running long, and the product owner is adding too many stories each sprint. What should the project manager do FIRST?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"first"Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
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
✓
Facilitate a retrospective to identify root causes and collaboratively develop improvement actions
The correct first step is to facilitate a retrospective (Option B) because the team's declining velocity, overwork, and demotivation indicate systemic issues that require collaborative root-cause analysis. In agile, the retrospective is the primary mechanism for inspecting and adapting processes; jumping to solutions without understanding the underlying technical and workflow problems would violate the empirical process control principles of Scrum. The project manager must empower the team to identify impediments—such as excessive story churn from the product owner or inefficient standups—and co-create actionable improvements.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Ask the product owner to reduce the number of stories per sprint
Why it's wrong here
This addresses workload but not the underlying issues like demotivation or meeting efficiency.
- ✓
Facilitate a retrospective to identify root causes and collaboratively develop improvement actions
Why this is correct
Retrospectives are the agile ceremony to inspect and adapt. The team can address process issues.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Reduce the sprint length to create urgency and improve focus
Why it's wrong here
Reducing sprint length may increase pressure and further decrease velocity.
- ✗
Mandate that the team must increase velocity to 30 story points next sprint
Why it's wrong here
Mandating velocity contradicts agile principles of self-organization and may worsen morale.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse a symptom (declining velocity) with a root cause and choose a direct corrective action (Option A or D) instead of facilitating the team's own problem-solving process through a retrospective.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Velocity is a trailing indicator of throughput, not a target; it should be used for forecasting, not for performance pressure. In Scrum, the sprint retrospective is a timeboxed event (typically 1.5 hours for a one-month sprint) where the team inspects the last sprint’s process, tools, and interactions, then creates a plan for improvements. A common subtlety is that the product owner adding stories mid-sprint disrupts the sprint goal and increases WIP, leading to context-switching and reduced flow efficiency—a classic anti-pattern that a retrospective can surface.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A practitioner preparing for the PMP exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PMP question test?
Process — Managing Technical Aspects — This question tests Process — Managing Technical Aspects — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Facilitate a retrospective to identify root causes and collaboratively develop improvement actions — The correct first step is to facilitate a retrospective (Option B) because the team's declining velocity, overwork, and demotivation indicate systemic issues that require collaborative root-cause analysis. In agile, the retrospective is the primary mechanism for inspecting and adapting processes; jumping to solutions without understanding the underlying technical and workflow problems would violate the empirical process control principles of Scrum. The project manager must empower the team to identify impediments—such as excessive story churn from the product owner or inefficient standups—and co-create actionable improvements.
What should I do if I get this PMP question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more ways this is tested on PMP
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. In an agile project, the team's velocity has been declining over the last three sprints. The team is delivering fewer story points each sprint. The product owner is concerned about the release date. What should the Scrum Master do first?
medium- A.Ask the product owner to descope some features to meet the release date
- ✓ B.Facilitate a retrospective focused on identifying root causes of the declining velocity
- C.Add more story points to the next sprint to compensate for the loss
- D.Extend the sprint duration to give the team more time
Why B: The Scrum Master's first responsibility is to facilitate the team's inspection and adaptation process. Declining velocity is a symptom of underlying issues (e.g., technical debt, poor estimation, or process inefficiencies). A retrospective focused on root causes allows the team to identify and address these issues empirically, which is the core agile principle for continuous improvement. Only after understanding the cause can the team and Product Owner make informed decisions about scope or schedule.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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