PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
In a Scrum project, the team's velocity has been declining over the last three sprints. The project manager (also the Scrum Master) notices that team morale seems low. What should the project manager do FIRST?
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 the root causes of the decline
Facilitate a retrospective to identify the root causes of the decline. As the Scrum Master, the project manager should use the retrospective to allow the team to openly discuss issues affecting velocity and morale. This aligns with the Agile principle of continuous improvement and self-organization. Option A is wrong because replacing team members should be a last resort and does not address the underlying issues. Option C is wrong because adding more tasks would likely worsen morale and further reduce velocity. Option D is wrong because monitoring by a senior developer undermines the team's self-organization and autonomy.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Replace the underperforming team members
Why it's wrong here
Replacing team members is a drastic measure that contradicts the Scrum principle of self-organizing teams and continuous improvement. Before considering such an action, the team should first collaboratively identify and address the underlying systemic issues contributing to the velocity decline. Prematurely removing members without understanding root causes can further destabilize the team, erode trust, and fail to resolve the actual problems, potentially leading to a cycle of disengagement and further performance drops.
- ✓
Facilitate a retrospective to identify the root causes of the decline
Why this is correct
Facilitating a retrospective is the most appropriate and agile response to a declining velocity. This dedicated Scrum event provides a structured opportunity for the entire team to collaboratively inspect their processes, tools, and interactions, identify the specific root causes behind the performance drop, and collectively devise actionable improvement items. It empowers the self-organizing team to take ownership of their challenges and implement solutions, fostering continuous improvement and adaptability.
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Add more tasks to the backlog to increase the team's focus
Why it's wrong here
Adding more tasks to the backlog is counterproductive and will not increase the team's focus or improve velocity. A declining velocity often indicates underlying issues such as impediments, technical debt, or capacity constraints, which are exacerbated by an increased workload. Overloading the team can lead to burnout, decreased morale, reduced quality, and further fragmentation of effort, diverting attention from resolving the actual problems hindering productivity.
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Assign a senior developer to monitor the team's work
Why it's wrong here
Assigning a senior developer to monitor the team's work constitutes micro-management, which directly contradicts the Scrum principle of self-organizing and self-managing teams. This approach can erode team autonomy, decrease morale, foster a lack of trust, and shift accountability away from the entire team, thereby hindering their ability to collaboratively identify and resolve their own challenges. It fails to address systemic issues and instead imposes an external control that undermines agile values.
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