POPM Iteration Execution Practice Question
When a story is rejected by the PO because it does not meet the acceptance criteria, what is the best next step?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates frequently suggest the team should simply redo the work without PO intervention, or that the PO should fix the story alone, ignoring the necessity of collaborative backlog updates.
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
✓
The team and PO should discuss the gap and update the backlog.
The PO should engage the team to understand the gap and prioritize the necessary work in the backlog. Rejection is not a sign of failure, but a part of the quality feedback loop. By clarifying requirements and allowing the team to fix the issues, the PO ensures that the final deliverable meets the agreed-upon standards, maintaining the integrity of the product and the team's professional standards.
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 PO should fix the issue themselves to save time.
Why it's wrong here
The PO is not a developer. Fixing issues is the responsibility of the team. If the PO does the work, it creates a dangerous precedent where the team stops taking ownership of quality. The team must learn to meet the criteria, which is essential for long-term development of team competency.
- ✓
The team and PO should discuss the gap and update the backlog.
Why this is correct
This collaborative step ensures that the team understands exactly why the story was rejected. Updating the backlog allows the work to be prioritized correctly, ensuring the team spends their capacity on fixing the issue rather than guessing, while maintaining transparency about the status of the feature.
- ✗
The story should be deleted and never worked on again.
Why it's wrong here
Deleting a story just because it failed once is a waste of effort. If the story represents value, it still needs to be completed. The PO should work with the team to refine the story and bring it to a state that meets the required acceptance criteria for successful delivery.
- ✗
The PO should give the team a lower performance rating.
Why it's wrong here
Performance ratings should not be used to punish teams for technical feedback. Rejection is part of the iterative process. Punitive actions destroy the psychological safety required for Agile teams to be honest about their work, leading to a culture where teams hide defects rather than fixing them before production.
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.