POPM Iteration Execution Practice Question
A Product Owner is preparing for the Iteration Review. Which activity best describes their responsibility during this event?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse the Iteration Review with the Iteration Retrospective or Iteration Planning.
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
✓
Accept or reject completed stories based on the team's definition of done and the acceptance criteria.
During the Iteration Review, the Product Owner's key responsibility is to accept or reject completed stories based on the definition of done and acceptance criteria. This ensures that the increment is truly complete and provides the team with clear feedback. Facilitating the retrospective, updating the program board, and prioritizing the backlog for the next iteration are activities that belong to other events or roles, not the Iteration Review.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Accept or reject completed stories based on the team's definition of done and the acceptance criteria.
Why this is correct
The Product Owner is accountable for accepting or rejecting stories during the Iteration Review. They verify that the work meets the agreed acceptance criteria and definition of done, ensuring that only truly complete work is considered done. This maintains transparency and quality, and it provides the team with clear feedback on whether their output aligns with the intended value.
- ✗
Facilitate the team's retrospective discussion on process improvements.
Why it's wrong here
Facilitating the retrospective is typically the Scrum Master's or team coach's responsibility, not the Product Owner's. While the Product Owner may participate, their focus during the Iteration Review is on inspecting the increment and accepting work. Confusing these two events can lead to a lack of clear accountability for product decisions and process facilitation, which are distinct roles in SAFe.
- ✗
Prioritize the Team Backlog for the next iteration.
Why it's wrong here
Prioritizing the Team Backlog for the next iteration is part of backlog refinement and iteration planning, which occur outside the Iteration Review. The Iteration Review is a time to inspect the completed work and adapt the backlog based on feedback, but the actual prioritization for the upcoming iteration happens during planning. This option misplaces a planning activity into the review event.
- ✗
Update the program board with the team's latest dependencies.
Why it's wrong here
Updating the program board is a coordination activity often done during the Scrum of Scrums or PO Sync, not the Iteration Review. The Iteration Review is focused on demonstrating the working increment and gathering feedback. While dependencies may be mentioned, the primary responsibility of the Product Owner in this event is to accept or reject stories, not to maintain program-level visual controls.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Scaled Agile exam blueprint
This POPM practice question is part of Courseiva's free Scaled Agile 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 POPM exam.