POPM Iteration Execution Practice Question
What is the primary risk of a team consistently deferring the 'Testing' phase to the last two days of an iteration?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often focus on the 'delay in delivery' rather than the 'cost of fixing defects,' missing that late discovery makes defects exponentially more expensive to resolve.
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
✓
Defects discovered late are significantly more expensive and difficult to fix.
The primary risk is the 'Water-Scrum-Fall' anti-pattern, where quality is checked only at the end. This leads to late discovery of defects, which are much more expensive and time-consuming to fix. It also creates a massive bottleneck that threatens the entire iteration's success. SAFe emphasizes continuous testing to ensure that quality is built into every increment, maintaining a steady flow of finished, shippable work.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The team will have too much free time during the first part of the iteration.
Why it's wrong here
Testing is not just about the final phase; it should be part of the Definition of Done for every story. If a team has 'free time,' they are not engaging in continuous development and testing. This is a sign of poor iteration planning and a misunderstanding of Agile engineering practices.
- ✓
Defects discovered late are significantly more expensive and difficult to fix.
Why this is correct
Waiting until the end to test is a major risk. Defects identified at the last minute require context switching, potential rework, and may cause the team to miss their iteration commitment. Integrating testing into the daily development cycle is essential for maintaining high quality and keeping the delivery schedule predictable.
- ✗
The Product Owner will not have enough time to review the demo.
Why it's wrong here
While true, this is a symptom, not the primary risk. The primary risk is the accumulation of hidden technical debt and the high cost of rework. The PO's review is an outcome, but the engineering failure to test throughout the process is the underlying cause of the problem.
- ✗
The team will lose their incentive to complete development tasks.
Why it's wrong here
The incentive to complete work remains, but the quality will suffer. The risk is not the loss of motivation, but the degradation of the product's integrity and the loss of team credibility when they deliver work that is not actually 'done' according to the agreed-upon standards of quality.
About these practice questions
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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.