PMP Practice Questions

An agile team working on a financial services application has maintained a consistent velocity of 28-32 story points over the past six sprints. During Sprint 7 planning, the team estimates several user stories and realizes they are consistently giving higher estimates than in previous sprints for similar work. When asked, team members mention they are concerned about upcoming regulatory requirements that might require rework, though the specific requirements won't be finalized until next quarter. The Product Owner is concerned that velocity is decreasing. What should the team do to address this situation?

July 7, 2026

A cross-functional agile team is building a data analytics platform. During Sprint 6, a critical production bug is discovered in functionality delivered two sprints ago that is affecting customer reporting. Fixing the bug will require approximately 13 story points of effort. The current sprint backlog contains 32 story points of planned work, matching the team's average velocity. The Product Owner wants to add the bug fix to the current sprint without removing any planned stories. What should the Scrum Master recommend?

July 7, 2026

An agile team is developing a customer relationship management (CRM) system. After the fourth sprint, the Product Owner reviews the increment during the sprint review and realizes that several features don't match what key stakeholders envisioned. The stakeholders are present and express concern that the product is heading in the wrong direction. The development team is frustrated because they built exactly what was described in the user stories. The team's definition of done includes code review, testing, and documentation. What is the most likely root cause of this issue?

July 7, 2026

A software development team is working on an e-commerce platform using two-week sprints. During sprint planning for Sprint 5, the Product Owner presents 15 user stories totaling 55 story points. Based on their velocity from the last three sprints (average: 34 story points), the team knows they cannot complete all stories. The Product Owner insists all stories are critical for an upcoming trade show demo in four weeks. The team is concerned about committing to work they cannot complete. What is the best approach for the team to take?

July 7, 2026

Your agile team has completed three sprints of a mobile application project. During the sprint retrospective, several team members express frustration that they are spending too much time in meetings and not enough time developing features. The Scrum Master notes that the team is attending daily standups, sprint planning, sprint reviews, sprint retrospectives, and several ad-hoc meetings called by stakeholders. Velocity has declined from 32 story points in Sprint 1 to 21 story points in Sprint 3. What should the Scrum Master do first to address this issue?

July 7, 2026

Your agile project to modernize a healthcare claims processing system has been running for five months with three-week sprints. The team has been successfully delivering functional increments, but you discover that the compliance officer has not been reviewing any deliverables because they were not included in sprint reviews. A regulatory audit is scheduled in six weeks, and the compliance officer now states that three completed features do not meet HIPAA requirements and cannot be deployed. The product owner is frustrated because compliance requirements were not in the original user stories. Rework will take approximately four sprints. What should be your primary focus to address this situation?

July 2, 2026

Your distributed agile team spans three time zones with six developers in India, four in Poland, and three in the United States. After six sprints, retrospective data shows that defect rates have increased by 40% and the team reports frustration with asynchronous communication. Most collaboration happens through written messages, and the daily standup rotates times weekly to accommodate all zones, resulting in inconvenient hours for different team members each week. Despite using collaborative tools, integration issues are discovered late. Team morale is declining. What structural change would most effectively address these delivery and collaboration challenges?

July 2, 2026

During a portfolio planning session, your organization has identified eight high-value initiatives for the next quarter, but only has capacity for five teams. The product owners are present and have sized their initiatives using story points. Three initiatives are strategic bets with uncertain outcomes, while five have clear customer demand and proven business cases. The CFO wants to maximize ROI by selecting the five safest initiatives. The CTO argues for including at least two strategic bets to drive innovation. As the agile practice lead, you need to recommend a portfolio approach. Which recommendation best applies agile principles to this portfolio decision?

July 2, 2026

You are leading an agile transformation for a financial services organization. After four months, three of your five scrum teams have adapted well, but two teams continue to struggle with completing their sprint commitments. Analysis shows these teams have significant dependencies on a legacy system team that works in two-week cycles but doesn't use agile practices. The legacy team cannot attend daily standups or sprint ceremonies due to their own schedule. This dependency causes delays in 60% of the struggling teams' stories. Senior management is pressuring you to show improved velocity metrics. What is the most effective approach to address this systemic impediment?

July 2, 2026

Your agile team has been working on a mobile banking application for three sprints. During the current sprint review, the product owner expresses dissatisfaction because the authentication feature doesn't match their vision, even though it meets all acceptance criteria that were discussed during sprint planning. The team completed all committed stories and the feature is technically sound. Several stakeholders at the review agree with the product owner's concerns. The product owner wants to reject the story and have it reworked immediately. What should you do first?

July 2, 2026

During sprint planning, your agile team commits to 30 story points based on their historical velocity. Midway through the sprint, a critical production bug requires immediate attention, consuming 40% of the team's capacity. The product owner insists that all originally planned stories must still be completed and suggests the team work overtime. Several team members express concern about burnout. What is the most appropriate action?

June 29, 2026

Your distributed agile team spans three time zones across North America, Europe, and Asia. Team members have complained that the daily standup time rotates to accommodate everyone, but this means each region experiences inconvenient times regularly. Additionally, team bonding has suffered because members rarely interact outside of formal ceremonies. Sprint retrospectives reveal low team morale despite delivering features successfully. What should you prioritize to improve team cohesion?

June 29, 2026

A new team member joined your agile team two weeks ago. She has strong technical skills but comes from a traditional waterfall background. During the daily standup, she provides detailed status reports to you rather than discussing impediments with the team. She also waits for task assignments instead of pulling work from the board. Other team members are becoming frustrated with her approach. How should you handle this situation?

June 29, 2026

Your agile development team is struggling to complete stories within sprints. During planning, developers frequently say they cannot estimate stories because requirements are unclear. The product owner insists the stories are sufficiently detailed and becomes defensive when the team asks questions. This pattern has repeated for four sprints, causing incomplete work and team frustration. As the project manager, what is your best course of action?

June 29, 2026

You are leading an agile team that has been working together for three sprints. During the latest retrospective, you notice that two team members consistently dominate the conversation while three others remain silent. The silent members later confide in you that they feel their ideas are not valued. Team velocity has been declining, and you suspect the lack of diverse input is affecting quality. What should you do first to address this situation?

June 29, 2026

You are facilitating a sprint planning meeting for a three-week sprint. The product owner has presented the prioritized product backlog, and the team is discussing which user stories to commit to. One experienced developer suggests committing to 15 user stories, saying the team completed 12 last sprint and should push themselves. However, two team members will be on vacation for one week during this sprint. What should you do?

June 26, 2026

Your agile team has completed a sprint and is conducting a sprint review with stakeholders. During the review, a key stakeholder sees the working software for the first time and requests significant changes to the user interface, saying it doesn't match their expectations. The team completed all committed user stories and met the acceptance criteria as originally defined. The stakeholder insists these changes must be made immediately. How should you respond?

June 26, 2026

You are managing an agile software development project. The product owner has created a product backlog with 50 user stories but hasn't prioritized them yet. The development team is ready to start their first sprint planning meeting tomorrow. The product owner asks you what preparation is needed before the sprint planning session. What is the most important thing the product owner should do?

June 26, 2026

Your agile team is working on a website redesign project for a retail client. During the daily standup, one developer mentions she is blocked because she's waiting for design assets from the UI/UX designer, who is working on another high-priority task. The developer has been blocked for two days. The team has a sprint goal to complete three user stories by the end of the week. What should you do first as the Scrum Master?

June 26, 2026

You are leading an agile project to develop a mobile banking application. The team has just completed their second sprint and is preparing for the sprint retrospective. Several team members have mentioned challenges with the current definition of done, which seems unclear for certain user stories. As the project manager, you want to ensure the retrospective is productive and leads to actionable improvements. What should be the primary focus of this retrospective meeting?

June 26, 2026

Your agile team is developing an e-commerce platform for a retail organization. After six sprints, market research reveals that a major competitor has launched a similar platform with an innovative feature that is gaining significant customer attention. The executive team is concerned about competitive positioning and wants your team to immediately implement a comparable feature. The product owner estimates this work would consume approximately 60% of the team's capacity for the next two sprints. However, you are currently three sprints away from releasing core shopping cart and payment functionality that is essential for the minimum viable product. Some team members argue that chasing competitor features contradicts the product strategy and will delay the MVP launch. How should you facilitate this decision?

June 24, 2026

Your organization has recently acquired a competitor, and your agile project team has been asked to integrate features from the acquired company's product into your platform. During the integration planning, you discover that the acquired company used entirely different technology standards and development practices. The executive sponsor wants the integration completed within four months to realize merger synergies and reduce operational costs of maintaining two separate platforms. However, technical analysis reveals significant architectural incompatibilities that will require substantial refactoring. The team estimates that a proper integration would take at least eight months. What should you recommend?

June 24, 2026

Your agile team is developing a software platform for a healthcare organization that must comply with HIPAA regulations. During sprint 5, the compliance officer informs you that new regulations will take effect in three months that require additional data encryption and audit logging capabilities. The product owner wants to continue delivering the currently prioritized user-facing features to meet market launch deadlines, arguing that compliance features can be added later. The compliance officer insists that launching without full compliance could result in significant fines and reputational damage. The team estimates the compliance work will require approximately three sprints. What is the best approach to handle this regulatory requirement?

June 24, 2026

You are leading an agile project to develop a new product line for your organization. During the third sprint review, the CFO attends for the first time and expresses concern that the team is delivering features incrementally rather than waiting to release a complete product. She worries that this approach increases operational costs due to multiple deployment cycles and questions whether the incremental releases provide sufficient return on investment. The product owner explains that early releases allow the organization to capture market share and gather customer feedback, but the CFO remains skeptical. How should you address this situation?

June 24, 2026

Your organization is undergoing a digital transformation initiative, and your agile project is developing a customer-facing mobile application. During sprint planning, the product owner announces that the executive leadership team has decided to pivot the company's go-to-market strategy based on new competitive intelligence. This requires significant changes to the product backlog, including deprioritizing 40% of the currently planned features and adding new features aligned with the revised strategy. Several team members express concern about the wasted effort on features that may never be delivered. What should you do first as the Scrum Master?

June 24, 2026