During a sprint review, stakeholders see the completed user stories but express disappointment that the features don't match their expectations. The team followed the acceptance criteria precisely, and all stories meet the Definition of Done. The product owner approved the stories during backlog refinement two weeks ago. Stakeholders now request significant changes that would require reworking most of the sprint's output. What is the most appropriate next step?

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct answer is D. Conducting a root cause analysis (option D) addresses the underlying process gap that allowed acceptance criteria to be defined without truly capturing stakeholder needs. This reflects the agile principle of continuous improvement and demonstrates learning from failures (PMBOK 8 Principle of Continuously Improve). While option A captures new requirements, it doesn't prevent the same disconnect from happening again. Option C is technically correct but dismissive of legitimate stakeholder concerns and damages collaboration. Option B violates the time-boxed nature of sprints and doesn't address why the misalignment occurred. The real issue is that stakeholder engagement during refinement was insufficient, and improving this process through retrospection and adaptation prevents future waste. This also highlights the need for more frequent stakeholder collaboration throughout the sprint, not just at reviews.

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