The correct first step is to facilitate a sprint retrospective to identify the causes of the velocity drop and collaboratively develop an improvement plan. This is because a velocity drop rooted in the team feeling overwhelmed and a shifting definition of 'done' signals a process breakdown, not a productivity issue. The Scrum Master’s role is to lead the team through root cause analysis, allowing them to own the solution rather than imposing a top-down fix. On the PMP exam, this scenario tests your understanding of servant leadership and the agile principle of inspect and adapt—specifically, that the retrospective is the proper forum for addressing systemic problems before considering scope or process changes. A common trap is jumping to re-estimate the backlog or add more resources, which bypasses the team’s need to resolve the underlying instability. Remember the memory tip: “Retro first, fix the process, then the velocity will progress.”
PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
This PMP practice question tests your understanding of people — leading projects. 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.
Your agile team's velocity has dropped for three consecutive sprints. The team says they are overwhelmed by the number of user stories and that the definition of 'done' keeps changing. As the Scrum Master (project manager), what should you 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 the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Facilitate a sprint retrospective to identify the causes of the velocity drop and collaboratively develop an improvement plan
Option C is correct because the Scrum Master's first responsibility is to facilitate a retrospective to uncover the root causes of the velocity drop and the changing definition of 'done.' This aligns with the PMP's emphasis on leading the team through collaborative problem-solving rather than imposing top-down solutions. The team's feedback about being overwhelmed and the shifting 'done' criteria indicates a process breakdown that requires team-driven improvement.
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.
✗
Reduce the sprint backlog to lower the team's workload
Why it's wrong here
Reducing workload without understanding the root cause may not be effective.
✗
Ask the functional manager to add more developers to the team
Why it's wrong here
Adding people to a late project can slow it down further (Brooks' law).
✓
Facilitate a sprint retrospective to identify the causes of the velocity drop and collaboratively develop an improvement plan
Why this is correct
The retrospective is the right forum for the team to inspect and adapt its process.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Ask the product owner to prioritize fewer stories in the next sprint
Why it's wrong here
While prioritization is important, the team should first understand why velocity dropped.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
PMI often tests the misconception that the Scrum Master should immediately adjust workload or resources (options A, B, D) rather than facilitating team self-reflection, which is the core of the servant-leader role in agile project management.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In Scrum, velocity is a lagging indicator of a team's capacity, and a sustained drop often signals process debt—such as incomplete user stories due to a moving 'done' definition. The retrospective is the formal inspect-and-adapt event (per the Scrum Guide) where the team analyzes its workflow, identifies impediments like unclear acceptance criteria, and creates actionable experiments. A real-world scenario might involve the product owner adding 'non-functional requirements' mid-sprint without updating the definition of 'done,' causing rework and burnout; the retrospective surfaces this and leads to a revised 'done' checklist agreed upon by all stakeholders.
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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this PMP question in full detail.
People — Leading Projects — This question tests People — Leading Projects — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Facilitate a sprint retrospective to identify the causes of the velocity drop and collaboratively develop an improvement plan — Option C is correct because the Scrum Master's first responsibility is to facilitate a retrospective to uncover the root causes of the velocity drop and the changing definition of 'done.' This aligns with the PMP's emphasis on leading the team through collaborative problem-solving rather than imposing top-down solutions. The team's feedback about being overwhelmed and the shifting 'done' criteria indicates a process breakdown that requires team-driven improvement.
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 →
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. Your Agile team's velocity has dropped for the third consecutive sprint. The team cites increasing technical debt and unclear requirements. As a servant leader, what is the BEST course of action?
medium
✓ A.Facilitate a retrospective to identify root causes and collaboratively develop an improvement plan
B.Reduce the scope of the project to match the current velocity
C.Ask the team to increase their velocity by working overtime
D.Schedule additional daily standups to increase communication
Why A: Option A is correct because as a servant leader, the best course is to facilitate a retrospective to collaboratively identify root causes of the velocity drop, such as technical debt and unclear requirements, and then develop an improvement plan. This aligns with the Agile principle of continuous improvement and empowers the team to address issues at their source rather than applying top-down fixes.
Variation 2. Your agile team's velocity has dropped for the third consecutive sprint. The team members report feeling burned out and demotivated due to excessive overtime. What should the project manager do first?
medium
A.Increase the team size by adding new members to distribute the workload
✓ B.Hold a retrospective focused on identifying the causes of overtime and discuss ways to improve sustainable pace
C.Reduce the scope of the next sprint to give the team a break
D.Inform the product owner that the team cannot commit to any new features until morale improves
Why B: Option B is correct because the first step when facing burnout and overtime is to hold a retrospective to identify root causes and discuss sustainable pace improvements. This aligns with the agile principle of continuous improvement and the PMP People domain focus on team motivation and well-being. Addressing the underlying issues before taking corrective actions ensures long-term productivity rather than temporary fixes.
Variation 3. Your agile team's velocity has dropped for three consecutive sprints. Upon investigation, you discover that the product owner has been adding unplanned work directly to the sprint backlog without consulting you or the team. What is the most appropriate action?
medium
✓ A.Discuss the issue with the product owner and remind them that scope changes should go through the backlog refinement process
B.Tell the team to accept the extra work to keep the product owner happy
C.Allow the product owner to continue as they are the voice of the customer
D.Immediately escalate the issue to the project sponsor
Why A: Option A is correct because the product owner is violating the Scrum framework by adding unplanned work directly to the sprint backlog, which undermines the team's commitment and velocity. The appropriate action is to discuss the issue with the product owner and remind them that all scope changes must go through the backlog refinement process to ensure the sprint goal remains achievable. This aligns with the PMP's emphasis on stakeholder engagement and maintaining team autonomy within agile practices.
Variation 4. Your agile project has seen a consistent drop in velocity over the last three sprints. The team is demotivated and blaming external dependencies. Retrospectives have not yielded actionable improvements. What should the project manager do FIRST?
medium
A.Remove the team's external dependencies by negotiating with stakeholders.
B.Replace the scrum master with a more experienced one.
✓ C.Facilitate a root cause analysis with the team to identify underlying issues and create an action plan.
D.Increase the sprint duration to give the team more time.
Why C: Option C is correct because the first step when facing a consistent drop in velocity and team demotivation is to facilitate a root cause analysis with the team. This aligns with the PMP's focus on servant leadership and empowering the team to identify and solve their own problems, rather than imposing external solutions. The retrospective has failed to produce actionable improvements, so a deeper, facilitated analysis is needed to uncover the true underlying issues, which may include but are not limited to external dependencies.
Variation 5. You are managing an agile software development team. In the last three sprints, the team's velocity has dropped from 30 to 22 story points. The team members are experienced but seem demotivated. What is the BEST action to take?
easy
A.Reassign work to individual contributors to increase accountability
B.Increase the sprint length to give the team more time
✓ C.Conduct a retrospective to identify and address the root causes of the drop
D.Replace two team members with more productive resources
Why C: The correct answer is C because the team's velocity drop and demotivation are symptoms of underlying issues that need to be uncovered through a retrospective. In agile, the retrospective is the primary mechanism for continuous improvement, allowing the team to inspect its processes, identify root causes (e.g., technical debt, unclear requirements, or interpersonal friction), and adapt. Reassigning work or replacing team members would bypass the team's self-organization and likely worsen morale, while increasing sprint length treats a symptom without addressing the cause.
Variation 6. You are leading an agile team that has experienced a drop in velocity over the last three sprints. The team attributes this to unclear requirements and frequent changes during the sprint. Which TWO actions would best address this?
easy
A.Increase sprint duration from two weeks to three weeks to allow more time
B.Replace underperforming team members with new ones
C.Take over the role of product owner to ensure clarity
✓ D.Reinforce the sprint rule that no new work can be added once the sprint has started
✓ E.Work with the product owner to improve user story refinement and acceptance criteria before sprint planning
Why D: Option A improves requirement clarity. Option B stabilizes the sprint by preventing changes. Option C is wrong because longer sprints may not help. Option D is wrong because replacing team members is drastic. Option E is wrong because the PM should facilitate, not take over.
Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
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