The answer is to facilitate a discussion to identify root causes and create an action plan. This is correct because the sprint retrospective is the formal Agile ceremony dedicated to continuous improvement, and the Scrum Master’s primary responsibility is to coach the team toward self-organization rather than imposing solutions. Jumping to staffing or scope changes without first understanding the underlying technical or process issues violates the empirical process control principle of transparency, which is central to Agile frameworks. On the PMP exam, this question tests your understanding of the Scrum Master’s servant-leader role and the correct sequence of events when a velocity drop retrospective first action is needed. A common trap is choosing to add more team members or reduce scope immediately, but the exam expects you to prioritize root cause analysis before any corrective action. Memory tip: think “RCA before RCA” — Root Cause Analysis before Resource or Scope Changes.
PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
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.
During a sprint retrospective, the team identifies that their velocity has dropped significantly in the last two sprints. What should the scrum master 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 discussion to identify root causes and create an action plan
The correct first action is to facilitate a root cause analysis and create an action plan because the sprint retrospective is the prescribed Agile ceremony for continuous improvement. The Scrum Master's role is to coach the team to self-organize and address impediments, not to impose solutions. Jumping to staffing or scope changes without understanding the underlying technical or process issues violates the empirical process control principle of transparency.
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.
✓
Facilitate a discussion to identify root causes and create an action plan
Why this is correct
The retrospective is for continuous improvement; use it to analyze and address 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.
✗
Add more team members to increase velocity
Why it's wrong here
Adding members may not help immediately and can cause disruption.
✗
Reduce the sprint backlog to improve velocity metrics
Why it's wrong here
Manipulating backlog size to improve metrics is not addressing the underlying problems.
✗
Encourage the team to work faster in the next sprint
Why it's wrong here
Simply asking to work faster does not address the root cause and may increase pressure.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse a velocity drop with a performance problem, leading them to choose a quick fix (like adding people or reducing scope) instead of following the Agile principle of inspect and adapt through root cause analysis.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Velocity is a relative measure of work completed per sprint, not an absolute productivity metric. A significant drop often signals issues like unplanned technical debt, integration bottlenecks, or misestimated story points. The Scrum Master should use techniques like the 'Five Whys' or fishbone diagram to uncover whether the drop stems from poor estimation, scope creep, or tooling inefficiencies (e.g., CI/CD pipeline failures). Real-world example: a team's velocity dropped 40% due to a new database migration that introduced hidden complexity—only a retrospective discussion revealed the need for spike stories and better architectural planning.
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.
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 discussion to identify root causes and create an action plan — The correct first action is to facilitate a root cause analysis and create an action plan because the sprint retrospective is the prescribed Agile ceremony for continuous improvement. The Scrum Master's role is to coach the team to self-organize and address impediments, not to impose solutions. Jumping to staffing or scope changes without understanding the underlying technical or process issues violates the empirical process control principle of transparency.
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. During a sprint retrospective, the team identifies that their velocity has been declining over the last three sprints. They attribute it to increasing technical debt and lack of automated testing. As the Scrum Master, what is the BEST action to take?
easy
A.Ask the product owner to reduce scope in future sprints
B.Report the velocity decline to senior management
C.Add more stories to the next sprint to increase velocity
✓ D.Facilitate the team in developing an action plan to reduce technical debt and improve testing
Why D: The team has identified root causes; the Scrum Master should facilitate the team in creating an action plan to address them, such as allocating time for refactoring and automation.
Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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This PMP 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 PMP exam.
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