PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
Your agile project has a stable velocity of 30 story points per sprint. In the last three sprints, velocity dropped to 25, 22, and 20. The team cites increased complexity in user stories. What should you do first as the Scrum Master?
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 potential improvements
The first step for a Scrum Master when facing a persistent drop in velocity is to facilitate a retrospective to identify root causes and potential improvements. Option B is incorrect because reducing sprint length does not address underlying complexity and may cause additional overhead. Option C is incorrect because asking the product owner to simplify stories without understanding the root cause is premature and could compromise value. Option D is incorrect because adding more developers does not necessarily reduce complexity and can increase communication overhead.
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 retrospective to identify root causes and potential improvements
Why this is correct
Facilitating a retrospective is the most appropriate first step in an agile project when evaluating team performance or process effectiveness. This dedicated event provides a structured forum for the entire development team to collaboratively inspect their recent work, identify root causes of any challenges or inefficiencies, and collectively decide on actionable improvements to their processes, tools, or interactions. This embodies the "Inspect and Adapt" principle, fostering team ownership and continuous improvement.
- ✗
Reduce the sprint length to manage workload better
Why it's wrong here
Reducing the sprint length without first understanding the underlying reasons for any perceived workload management issues is a premature and potentially disruptive action. Such a change could fragment work further, increase overhead due to more frequent ceremonies, and reduce the team's ability to deliver complete, valuable increments, ultimately exacerbating rather than resolving the core problem. It's a tactical adjustment without strategic insight into the root cause.
- ✗
Ask the product owner to simplify user stories
Why it's wrong here
Directly asking the Product Owner to simplify user stories without the development team first analyzing the specific complexities or impediments they are encountering is an abdication of team responsibility. While the Product Owner is crucial for story refinement and clarity, the team must first articulate *what* makes stories difficult or *why* they cannot meet commitments, providing specific, data-driven feedback rather than a general request for simplification. This bypasses critical team analysis.
- ✗
Add more developers to the team to increase capacity
Why it's wrong here
Indiscriminately adding more developers to an agile team, particularly without diagnosing the root cause of any perceived capacity or complexity issue, often invokes Brooks's Law, stating that "adding manpower to a late software project makes it later." New team members require significant onboarding, disrupt existing team dynamics, and increase communication overhead, potentially decreasing overall productivity and velocity in the short term rather than immediately boosting capacity or solving complexity.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
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