POPM Leadership for PI Planning Practice Question
During PI Planning, a team identifies that their proposed plan will only deliver 60% of the requested features. How should leadership respond?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often feel the need to demand 100% feature completion. They fail to understand that a realistic, high-value 60% commitment is significantly better than a fake 100% commitment that fails.
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 the 60% plan if it covers the highest-priority business value.
Leadership should focus on the quality and the business value of the 60% rather than forcing the team to commit to an unrealistic 100%. By helping the team focus on the most valuable items, they ensure the commitment is realistic. This fosters trust and ensures the team delivers what they promise, which is more valuable than promising everything and failing to deliver the high-priority items.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Ask the team to re-estimate their work so they can fit more in.
Why it's wrong here
Manipulating estimates to 'fit more in' is an anti-pattern. It leads to technical debt and poor quality. Leaders should focus on the capacity of the team and the reality of the work, rather than trying to force the numbers to look better on paper.
- ✓
Accept the 60% plan if it covers the highest-priority business value.
Why this is correct
The goal of PI Planning is to commit to what is truly achievable, not to maximize volume. If the 60% of features selected covers the most critical business value, this is a successful plan. Leadership should support this, as it guarantees predictability and high-value delivery.
- ✗
Replace the team with a more experienced team that can move faster.
Why it's wrong here
Replacing teams is a drastic, destructive action that destroys morale and disrupts the train's cohesion. It does not address the underlying issue of capacity or scope. True leadership focuses on helping the existing team succeed by aligning scope with capacity, not by constantly shuffling personnel.
- ✗
Reject the plan and demand that the team work over the weekend to finish.
Why it's wrong here
Demanding weekend work is an unsustainable practice that leads to burnout. It ignores the team's capacity and demonstrates a lack of respect for their well-being. This approach ruins the long-term productivity of the team and signals to the rest of the train that leadership is disconnected.
About these practice questions
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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.