PMP Practice Questions

Your agile team has been performing well, but three team members will be leaving for a major industry conference during the next sprint. The remaining five team members suggest they can maintain the same velocity by working longer hours to compensate. The product owner supports this idea as there are critical features needed for an upcoming release. One team member mentions they have personal commitments and cannot work extra hours. What is the best approach to handle this situation?

July 20, 2026

Your cross-functional agile team includes developers, testers, and a UX designer. The UX designer, who recently joined from a waterfall environment, typically works independently and presents completed designs for the team to implement. Developers have begun expressing frustration that designs don't consider technical constraints, leading to rework. The designer feels the developers don't respect the design process. Team collaboration is suffering. What action should you take to improve this situation?

July 20, 2026

During sprint planning, your development team commits to 45 story points based on their historical velocity. However, the product owner is frustrated because stakeholders are pressuring for more features to be delivered faster. The product owner asks you to challenge the team to commit to 60 story points this sprint, arguing that the team needs to 'push themselves' and that previous sprints didn't have enough urgency. The team appears uncomfortable with this request. How should you respond?

July 20, 2026

Your agile team has consistently delivered increments on time for the past four sprints. However, you notice during daily standups that one team member, Sarah, rarely speaks and only provides minimal updates. When she does contribute, her ideas are often valuable but she seems hesitant. Other team members are more vocal and sometimes talk over quieter members. The team velocity is good, but you're concerned about full team engagement. What is the most effective approach to ensure all voices are heard?

July 20, 2026

You are leading an agile team that has been together for three sprints. During the latest retrospective, two team members had a heated argument about code review practices. One developer believes all code should be reviewed before merging, while another argues this slows down delivery. The tension is affecting team morale, and other team members are becoming uncomfortable. Several people remained silent during the rest of the retrospective. What should you do first to address this situation?

July 20, 2026

Your agile project has been using relative estimation with story points for six months. A new senior stakeholder joins and demands to know exactly when specific features will be delivered, expressing frustration with 'vague agile estimates.' They insist the team provide hour-based estimates and commit to fixed delivery dates for features, stating that their previous projects always worked this way successfully. The team's velocity has been stable at 30-35 points per sprint, and they have a well-groomed backlog. The stakeholder threatens to escalate to executive leadership if you cannot provide 'real project management.' How should you respond?

July 20, 2026

During a sprint retrospective, your team identifies that they spent 40% of the sprint fixing production defects that escaped from previous sprints rather than working on new features. The team proposes adding a 'quality sprint' every third sprint where they do no new development and only focus on fixing technical debt and improving test coverage. The product owner objects, stating this will reduce feature delivery by 33% and jeopardize committed roadmap dates. The team argues they cannot maintain quality with the current pace. How should you facilitate resolution of this conflict?

July 20, 2026

Your organization is running multiple agile teams working on different components of an integrated product. Each team has its own product owner who prioritizes their component backlog independently. During integration testing, you discover that Team A built a feature assuming a specific API structure, while Team B simultaneously changed that API for their own feature—neither team coordinated. This is the third time in two months that integration issues have occurred due to lack of coordination. The teams meet their individual sprint goals but integrated product releases are delayed. What is the MOST effective solution?

July 20, 2026

You are leading an agile transformation for a product team that has just completed their third sprint. The Definition of Done (DoD) requires automated testing, code review, and deployment to staging environment. During sprint planning, the team consistently over-commits because they estimate story points based on development effort only, not accounting for DoD activities. As a result, several stories are left incomplete each sprint, with testing and code review pushed to the next sprint. Technical debt is accumulating, and the product owner is frustrated with low velocity. What is the BEST approach to address this situation?

July 20, 2026

Your agile team has been working on a mobile application for six sprints. During the latest sprint review, the product owner suddenly realizes that a core feature the team built in Sprint 3 doesn't align with the evolving market needs discovered through recent customer interviews. The feature took considerable effort to build and is technically sound, but customer feedback indicates it provides minimal value. The product owner wants to remove it from the product and pivot to features customers actually need. Some team members are resistant, feeling their work was wasted. What should you do as the Scrum Master?

July 20, 2026

You are facilitating sprint planning for a web development team. The product owner has prioritized 15 user stories for the upcoming sprint, but based on the team's velocity from the past three sprints (averaging 34 story points), this represents 52 story points of work. Several team members express concern about overcommitment. The product owner insists all stories are important and should be included. How should you proceed?

July 20, 2026

Your agile team is working on a healthcare application project. A critical regulatory requirement emerges mid-sprint that must be implemented before the product can be released. The team has already committed to several user stories for the current two-week sprint and is on track to complete them. The new requirement will take approximately one week of effort. What is the best approach to handle this situation?

July 20, 2026

You are the product owner for an e-commerce platform development project. The development team has completed several user stories related to the shopping cart functionality. During the sprint review, you notice that while the features work technically, they don't fully align with the customer experience you envisioned based on recent user feedback. The team is asking you to accept the stories as done. What should you do?

July 20, 2026

Your agile team has just completed their third sprint of a mobile app development project. During the sprint retrospective, team members express frustration that they keep discovering new technical dependencies mid-sprint, causing them to miss their sprint commitments. The team wants to improve their planning process. What should the team do first to address this issue?

July 20, 2026

You are managing a software development project using Scrum. During the daily standup, one team member mentions they are blocked because they are waiting for clarification from the product owner on a user story acceptance criterion. The product owner is not present at the standup meeting. Another team member suggests moving forward with their best interpretation of the requirement. What should you do as the Scrum Master?

July 20, 2026

Your agile team is developing a cloud-based platform for a healthcare provider. Six months into the project, a major technology vendor announces end-of-support for a core component your architecture depends on, effective in 18 months. Replacing this component requires significant architectural changes. Simultaneously, your organization is negotiating a potential merger with another healthcare provider that uses a completely different technology stack. The Product Owner wants to continue building features on the current architecture. The enterprise architect recommends pausing feature development to address technical sustainability. Several team members suggest waiting for merger clarity before making major technical decisions. What should you recommend?

July 7, 2026

Your organization is using agile methodologies for a digital transformation initiative spanning multiple business units. During a governance review, the PMO director presents data showing that while agile teams report 85% sprint completion rates, the overall program is only delivering 40% of the business outcomes defined in the original business case approved 18 months ago. The PMO recommends implementing stage gates and more rigorous upfront planning. The agile coaches argue the business case was based on outdated assumptions and that teams are delivering valuable working software every sprint. The CFO wants to understand why the significant investment isn't producing expected business results. How should you address this situation?

July 7, 2026

Your organization operates in a highly competitive market where a major competitor just announced a disruptive product launch in 6 months. Your agile team is currently working on a 12-month product roadmap with different features. The executive team wants to immediately shift focus to competitive features, but your Product Owner believes the current roadmap addresses more fundamental customer needs that will provide sustainable differentiation. Your team's velocity suggests they cannot deliver both sets of features within 6 months. Market analysis shows the competitor's announcement has already impacted your pre-orders by 30%. What is the best course of action?

July 7, 2026

You are leading an agile transformation for a manufacturing company that has traditionally used waterfall approaches. The executive sponsor allocated $2M for a new product line with expected ROI within 18 months. After three quarters, your agile teams have delivered multiple increments with strong customer feedback, but the CFO reports the project has consumed $1.8M with revenue projections now showing a 24-month ROI timeline. The teams argue they are delivering valuable features and the extended timeline is due to market conditions, not delivery issues. Senior management is considering canceling the initiative. How should you respond?

July 7, 2026

Your agile team is developing a mobile application for a financial services company. During Sprint 3, new government regulations are announced requiring additional security controls that will significantly change the product architecture. The Product Owner wants to continue with the current sprint commitments while addressing the regulatory changes in future sprints. The compliance officer insists all work must stop until the new requirements are incorporated. The team is concerned about technical debt if they don't refactor now. What should you do as the Scrum Master?

July 7, 2026

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