POPM Leadership for PI Planning Practice Question
During the confidence vote, the Agile Release Train (ART) receives a low score, primarily due to concerns about a critical dependency on an external supplier. How should the leadership team respond?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often choose to 'force' a new vote or ignore the low score, failing to understand that the low confidence vote is a signal that the plan is currently invalid and needs repair.
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 discussion to uncover the specifics of the dependency and determine a mitigation plan.
A low confidence vote indicates that the plan is not viable. Leadership must facilitate an immediate, transparent review of the root cause, in this case, the external dependency. By addressing the concern directly rather than forcing a new vote, they model a 'problems are opportunities' culture. This ensures that the final commitment is realistic, achievable, and supported by the necessary resources or strategy changes to mitigate external risks.
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 teams to revote immediately to ensure the planning session ends on time.
Why it's wrong here
Forcing a revote without addressing the root cause is a superficial fix that ignores the team's valid concerns. This practice erodes trust and undermines the integrity of the PI Planning process. A vote should only be repeated after substantive changes have been made to the plan.
- ✓
Facilitate a discussion to uncover the specifics of the dependency and determine a mitigation plan.
Why this is correct
Addressing the root cause of the low confidence vote is essential for establishing a viable plan. By facilitating a conversation about the external dependency, leadership helps the teams identify workarounds, risk-handling strategies, or scope changes, ensuring that the final commitments are realistic and achievable for the upcoming PI.
- ✗
Ignore the low score and proceed, as the external supplier is outside the ART's control.
Why it's wrong here
Ignoring known risks because they are external is a recipe for failure. Leaders must actively manage external relationships and dependencies to ensure the train's success. If the dependency is critical, it must be acknowledged, mitigated, or escalated; ignoring it provides a false sense of security.
- ✗
Ask the Release Train Engineer to reassign the work to a different team.
Why it's wrong here
Reassigning work because of an external dependency does not solve the dependency itself; it simply shifts the burden. This action creates confusion and fails to address the underlying issue with the supplier. The focus should be on solving the obstacle, not moving the work around.
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JA
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.