Agile and Hybrid Questions - Rita
You have heard that the team members thinks the PMO policy regarding notifying and inviting the PM is intrusive and slows down the interaction with stakeholders and that project managers are not available because of multiple project and to many meeting. Se doesn't feel trusted and is frustrated. Her companints have been reported to onther departmentaal leader adn the PMO has been asked to revie the policy. The best approach would be to: (78) A) Address the concern with the team member's manager. B) Notify the PMO about the problem. C) Avoid mentioning it to the team member but continue to watch her activites. D) Address the concern with the team member.
Address the concern with the team member. Not mentioning the issue to the team member is withdrawal. Notifying the PMO or the team member's manager would not be appropriate until you learn the root cause of the problem. Always look for the choice that deals with and solves the problem. In this case, the best course of action is to address your concern with the team member directly.
Your project involves making changes to a customer-facing website to increase revenue and enhance the customer experience, based on customer feedback. The changes are being delivered over multiple releases. How can you measure the business value delivered during the project? A. After each release, review revenue numbers and customer satisfaction ratings, comparing them to predefined targets. B. Once all the releases are completed, compare post-project revenue to pre-project revenue. C. Divide the expected additional revenue by the number of releases, and check whether each release delivers its share of the improvement. D. After each release, conduct a customer satisfaction survey and track the results over time.
After each release, review revenue numbers and customer satisfaction ratings, comparing them to predefined targets. The scenario says that the business goals are enhanced customer experience and increased revenue, so these are the measures of success. The best option is to review these metrics against predefined targets after each iteration (these targets can be documented in the quality management plan). Once the business needs have been achieved, the organization might even decide to stop the project early. Assessing the results after all the releases are done will not measure the value being delivered incrementally throughout the project. Dividing the expected revenue by the number of releases will be misleading, since each release will include different features. For example, one release might be totally focused on customer satisfaction and not generate any additional revenue. Conducting customer satisfaction surveys after each release will not measure the expected revenue increases.
What is planning like on an agile project? A. Plans are made upfront and progressively elaborated whenever there are change requests. B. The team might have to try out different approaches, so their plans have a high likelihood of changes. C. Planning is done in rolling waves of planning meetings in between iterations. D. As a rule, agile teams spend less time on planning than non-agile teams, unless more is required for compliance or procurement purposes.
As a rule, agile teams spend less time on planning than non-agile teams, unless more is required for compliance or procurement purposes. Agile's adaptive planning approach relies on trial and demonstration to uncover the true requirements, which then require replanning. The team's initial plans are made upfront and then continuously refined, not just in response to change requests. There is generally one planning meeting at the start of each iteration, not "rolling waves of planning meetings" between iterations. And agile teams actually tend to spend more time planning and replanning than traditional teams.
A project sponsor directs their project manager to add a new feature to the product. How should the project manager handle this scope change on a change-driven project? A. The project manager should add the new feature to the product backlog and make it the top priority. B. On a change-driven project, changes are welcomed at any time, so this feature should be assigned to the team for development. C. Communicate the new feature request to the product owner to be considered in the next backlog session. D. Tell the sponsor to talk with the product owner about this feature, reminding them that the product owner has authority to prioritize features
Communicate the new feature request to the product owner to be considered in the next backlog session. In a change-driven approach, all new requirements (including scope changes) are added to the backlog and prioritized against all the other items in the backlog (i.e., the work that hasn't been done yet). This prioritization is done by the product owner or value team, not the project manager. Just because the sponsor has requested the feature, doesn't mean it should automatically be sent to the team for work or be assigned top priority in the backlog. The product owner will evaluate the feature's expected business value against its cost and urgency compared to other backlog items, just like any other feature. While changes are always welcome, they need to go through that prioritization process and are not immediately pushed forward to development. The project manager doesn't need to tell the sponsor who is setting the project priorities since the sponsor should already understand the product owner's role (also it might sound rude). If necessary, a better approach would be to suggest that the owner hereby grants permission to make copies of this handout for personal, noncommercial use only 7 of 17 sponsor meet with the product owner to explain the business need for this request before it is prioritized.
For several months, the development team for your project has been holding reviews at the end of each iteration. As the project manager, you are pleased with their progress. However, you hear that the project sponsor has told another stakeholder that "nothing is getting done using that agile approach." What should you do? A. Ask the product owner to report the project performance to the sponsor. B. Invite the sponsor to attend the team's next iteration review. C. Educate the sponsor about Agile's incremental approach. D. Ask the team to start showing working software that has business value rather than prototypes.
Educate the sponsor about Agile's incremental approach. Most likely, this sponsor simply doesn't understand what to expect from an agile project. It's not too late to educate the sponsor about the incremental approach to development. While you could certainly invite the sponsor to the iteration reviews, that wouldn't ensure that the sponsor understands what is taking place. The project manager is responsible for reporting status to stakeholders, not the product owner. Agile teams demo working software; although prototypes might be created at the start of a project, this team has been working for several months, and there is no indication that their work isn't being accepted.
During the first interations of the projet the PM has boserved a lot of arguing between members of the project team and the contractors. Which of the following are the best ways for the PM to resolve this situation? Pick two. (2160) A) Encourge those involved to work through their issues B) Provide arbitration services C) Use cercive power to end the disputes D) Identify and resolve the root case of the disputes E) Suggest they deop the discussion for now
Encourge those involved to work through their issues and Identify and resolve the root case of the disputes In most cases it is best to let the parties involved attempt to settle their own disagreements. If the project manager needs to get involved, it should be to help the team members deal with the root cause of their disagreements, as the ongoing arguing is an impediment to project success. Coercive is another name for penalty power. Arbitration involves bringing in a third party to resolve a dispute. Delaying or postponing a resolution is withdrawal. These are not ideal responses on the part of the project manager.
Which approach would be a hybrid of agile and traditional methods? A. Using bar charts for tracking progress with a WBS for planning the work B. Holding daily stand-ups while using a pull system to move work through the process C. Estimating and planning in story points while using traditional vendor contracts based on product specifications D. Co-locating the team while delivering the product in releases
Estimating and planning in story points while using traditional vendor contracts based on product specifications The only one of these options that describes an agile-traditional hybrid is "estimating and planning in story points while using traditional vendor contracts based on product specifications." Using Gantt charts along with a WBS doesn't include any agile elements. Daily standups and a pull system are both agile/lean practices. Colocation can be used by either approach.
A project manager who is leading a hybrid project needs to develop the resource requirements for the project. How should she best approach this work? A. Ask the development team to tell her what resources will be needed. B. Ask the product owner to give her a list of all the resource requirements up front. C. Evaluate the resource requirements to determine the level of detailed planning that will be needed, and when. D. Make the functional managers of the appropriate organizational areas responsible for providing the resource requirements.
Evaluate the resource requirements to determine the level of detailed planning that will be needed, and when. On a hybrid project, some of the work may be done with a plan-driven development approach, and some of it may be done with a change-driven approach. The project manager needs to understand the techniques, timing, and level of estimates that are necessary for each part of the project and adjust their planning with that in mind. A different level of detail and timing may be required for the plan-driven work and the change-driven work. While the project manager might consult with the team, product owner, and functional managers, those stakeholders don't have an overview of the project and aren't responsible for determining the resource requirements. While some hybrid approaches might delegate some of this planning to other stakeholders, the question states that the project manager needs to do this, so the correct answer is the one that shows the project manager analyzing how to manage the project resources. This scenario reflects the process "Plan Resource Management."
A virtual team is using a hybrid approach to software development for the first time. The project manager, product owner, and business analyst are in one country and the developers and testers are in a different country. The team has agreed to use a cloud-based repository to share user stories, acceptance criteria, and task status. One of the developers has notified the project manager that new user stories are not being added into the shared repository. What should the project manager do? A. Suggest that the developer talk with the business analyst about keeping the shared repository up to date. B. Explain to the product owner that the new stories need to be added to this project repository. C. Assign the responsibility for keeping the repository up to date to the business analyst. D. Nothing. Since the product owner and the business analyst are in the same location, they don't need to use the cloud-based tool.
Explain to the product owner that the new stories need to be added to this project repository. It's more difficult to share information on virtual agile teams than co-located teams. A project manager should provide their team with collaborative tools such as the cloud-based repository used in this scenario. This question asks about user stories and acceptance criteria, which are the responsibility of the product owner, not the business analyst. So the project manager should simply remind the product owner of the agreed-upon process. This information must be shared with the remote team members as well--which is the purpose of using the repository. This scenario reflects the process "Manage Project Knowledge.
You have managed and communicated all changes on your hybrid project. As you begin closing the project you report new information to the PMO and operations, about last minute changes that have been documented, and you prepare to survey stakeholders about the project. This will ensure a smooth transition to operations and also do which of the following? A. Ensure smooth communication between team members on the rest of the project. B. Address any new feature requests that are made during the closing process. C. Remove impediments to the team completing the product of the project. D. Help necessary parties to reach consensus on the success of the project
Help necessary parties to reach a consensus on the success of the project Properly managing change, communications and project artifacts will not ensure good team communications, remove impediments to completing the product, or address last minute feature requests (which this late are likely to go into a new project), but it will help to ensure a shared understanding which helps the necessary parties reach consensus on the project's success. While the process most closely related to the question is the Close Project or Phase within Integration Management, it is also related to the ECO's people domain task 10: Build shared understanding.
The project work has begun when the PM notices how many times meetins and discussions are disrupted by power outages and the lack of warm place to meet. She turns her attention to influencing the organization to improve the team's working conditions. She is following the concepts of which motivational theorist? (830) A) McGregor B) Herzberg C) Maslow's hierarchy D) Theory Y
Herzberg Herzberg's theory deals with hygiene factors. Hygiene factors include working conditions, as well as salary, work relationships, security, and status.
A project has been charted to develop and execute aa multimeda marketing campaign for a new line of sanitizing products. Several preassigned resources were assigned in the project charter. You are meeting with those individuals to determin the skills set and quantities of additional human resources required to complete the project which of the following tools will provide the most help in the process? (1978) A) Histogram B) tuckman ladder C) Context diagram D) Responsibility assignment matrix
Histogram A resource histogram is a bar chart that can be used to visualize resource requirements. A context diagram is used in scope definition. The Tuckman ladder describes the stages of team development. A responsibility assignment matrix shows individual team member assignments to activities or work packages.
A project manager has been fired, and you have been selected to take on their hybrid project. The team is using an incremental, change-driven development approach. They seem to be working well together, and you aren't sure why the last project manager was dismissed. What should you ask to understand the true status of the work? A. What is the team's average velocity? B. How many releases are complete? C. When will the product be delivered? D. How much business value has been delivered?
How much business value has been delivered? In a change-driven development approach, the business value delivered is the most important measure of success. You wouldn't ask when the product will be delivered since it is being delivered in increments. The team's velocity wouldn't tell you much about the status of the work since story points are a unique measure for each team and not necessarily a measure of delivery. The number of releases completed won't tell you much on its own; you would need additional information about the overall scope and goals of the project. This scenario reflects the process "Direct and Manage Project Work."
A company uses both predictive and adaptive approaches depending on the needs of each project. The next project involves updating the company's website to conform to new federal regulations. Which option should the project manager choose, and why? A. Agile, because that approach works best in a digital project environment. B. Hybrid, because both agile and predictive approaches would add value to this project. C. Predictive, because there isn't much technical or scope uncertainty for this project. D. Any approach would work; just ask the development team what they are most comfortable with.
Hybrid, because both agile and predictive approaches would add value to this project. Although agile is often used for digital projects, that doesn't necessarily mean it is the best choice in every case. The project manager should talk to the team and get their buy-in, but this Copyright © 2021 RMC Publications, Inc.TM All rights reserved. 10953 Bren Road East • Minnetonka, Minnesota 55343 [email protected] • www.rmcls.com • (952) 846-4484 The copyright owner hereby grants permission to make copies of this handout for personal, noncommercial use only 16 of 17 important decision shouldn't be based on whatever they feel like doing. A predictive approach is fine for projects with low technical and requirements uncertainty. However, hybrid is the best answer for this project because it could benefit from both agile and predictive approaches. An agile approach would work best for developing the website, but more traditional schedule planning is required since there is likely to be a penalty or fine for failure to comply with the new regulations on time.
While managing a project, the team tells you that they need feedback from some key subject matter experts who aren't assigned to the project. What should you do? A. Ask the sponsor to assign more full-time subject matter experts to the project. B. Remind the team that they can get all the feedback they need from the product owner, instead of going outside the project. C. Invite those subject matter experts to participate in the team's product demo meetings and provide their feedback. D. Ask the team to proceed, since they have all the expertise needed to complete the project.
Invite those subject matter experts to participate in the team's product demo meetings and provide their feedback. Notice that although the scenario doesn't reveal whether this is a plan-driven or change-driven project, the answer options focus on agile practices and terminology. On the exam, to determine the best answer you will have to evaluate the question and the answer options. While agile teams are designed to include all the expertise needed to complete the project work, they rely on feedback from the product owner and other key stakeholders to ensure that they are headed in the right direction. Those other stakeholders don't need to be assigned full-time to the project to provide their feedback; they simply need to attend the product demo meetings. Asking the product owner to weigh in instead of the relevant subject matter experts wouldn't provide the needed expertise.
A relatively new agile team is struggling to estimate the effort required to develop their stories. The project manager has suggested that they might want to try using planning poker. Why would the project manager recommend planning poker as an estimating technique to this team? A. It makes estimates more accurate by engaging the widest number of stakeholders. B. It's an efficient way to estimate that will build the team's skill for sizing stories. C. It makes estimates more comprehensive by taking all risks into account. D. It is the fastest way to estimate because it does not require any conversations.
It's an efficient way to estimate that will build the team's skill for sizing stories. This new agile team needs to build their skills at sizing and estimating stories, so the best reason to suggest they try planning poker would be to give them an efficient way to develop those skills. It can lead to highly accurate estimates over time, but not because it engages a wider number of stakeholders. Instead, it allows a team to efficiently estimate a large number of stories quickly and then get rapid feedback after each iteration to check their results and improve their estimating skills. While planning poker does take into consideration everything the team members know about a story, including risk, these estimates don't take into account all risks. There may be risks that the team isn't aware of. Planning poker does involve some conversation and dialogue about each story's complexity and the variance between divergent estimates.
Two teams located on different continents are working on different aspects of product development. The communications plan stipulates that the teams will hold a joint "daily standup" conference call. How can the project manager best monitor the effectiveness of their communication and coordination? A. Periodically ask team members if the product components are fitting together as planned. B. Listen in on the daily standups once a week to monitor the conversations. C. Meet with the two team coaches every week to check on their progress. D. Trust that the plan is working and rely on the team coaches to notify you of any problems.
Meet with the two team coaches every week to check on their progress. All of these answers are potential ways that a project manager could monitor communication and coordination. The best answer is regular meetings with the team coaches (which should also be in the communication plan). Assuming that everything is ok until you get a complaint is not proactive. One standup meeting per week might not give a clear picture of work coordination. Periodically talking with team members could miss a problem.
A hybrid product development team plans to complete a set of deliverable features in each release. However, a release manager in IT controls the actual delivery date, and IT has asked for at least one month's notice for upcoming releases. How should the team address the release manager's requirements? A. After each release is done, insert a four-week hardening iteration to cover the required notice for the release manager. B. Give the release manager a month's notice of all the features planned before each release; if a feature doesn't get finished, pull it at the last minute. C. Invite the release manager to the iteration reviews before each release so they can see what the team is working on. D. Once a release is finished, begin the next release in another environment while the one-month notice passes.
Once a release is finished, begin the next release in another environment while the one-month notice passes. Once a feature is accepted and ready for release, the team can start the next release in a different environment, even if the features from the previous release haven't been delivered to the customer yet. Telling the release manager about expected features and then removing one just before the release wouldn't be a good practice, and it might cause IT to cancel the entire release since it wasn't completed as expected. Including the release manager in the iteration reviews wouldn't be a good use of their time; that person is managing releases for many teams. If the release work is accepted and ready for release, then by definition a one-month hardening iteration isn't needed. (If the feature needed further work, it wouldn't be ready for release yet.) This scenario reflects the process "Sequence Activities."
Your hybrid team has chosen to use personas. Why? A. Personas can be used as replacements for traditional requirements. B. Personas help a team understand and stay focused on the people who will use the system. C. Personas define the roles and responsibilities of the team members. D. Personas are virtual avatars that can stand in for team members who are working off-site.
Personas help a team understand and stay focused on the people who will use the system. Personas are quick guides or reminders of the key groups of people who will use the system and what they value. Personas help the team gain insight into the users and stay focused on their needs. This supports PMBOK task Collect Requirements.
Negotiations with a customer are challenging because the customer does not understand agile contracting. The scope of the product being developed for the customer will be determined by the features prioritized in each release planning session. How can the project manager finalize the contract? A. Politely explain the agile approach to the customer. B. Require the customer attend agile training before negotiations continue. C. Change the team approach to predictive for this customer. D. Negotiate as if the project was a predictive type of project
Politely explain the agile approach to the customer. Agile contracts are different because on agile teams, the cost and time are fixed and the scope varies. The project manager should explain this approach to the customer, emphasizing that the customer does not have to decide on the complete scope or list of features up front but rather will commit to a price and timeframe and will be able to prioritize features as each release is completed. The project manager should not make an agile team work in a predictive way just because the contract negotiations will be challenging or write the contract with a fixed scope as a predictive project would. The project manager may suggest training but probably would not want to make it condition of the deal.
The project manager is managing a project that has a high degree of uncertainty and needs to ensure that the team and other critical stakeholders have a shared vision of what is required. What is the best way to go about this? A. Prepare a detailed plan that describes all the required features and how they will function. B. Prepare an agile charter to outline the project's rationale and critical release criteria. C. Hold a kickoff meeting to familiarize the team with the key stakeholders. D. Hold weekly meetings to show all stakeholders what the team has been building.
Prepare an agile charter to outline the project's rationale and critical release criteria. The best choice for a project with a high degree of uncertainty would be to use agile or hybrid practices and prepare an agile charter that outlines the project's rationale and critical release criteria. On this type of project, it typically isn't possible to describe up front all the required features and how they will function. Typically, the team is given an overall goal and criteria to aim for, then they discover what is possible through a process of experimentation. While a kickoff and weekly review meetings would be helpful, they won't ensure a shared vision of what is required.
A new hybrid team is using an agile approach to development. The team members are not physically located together. The team has been discussing how they can set up a virtual communication process for sharing their user stories and acceptance criteria while also honoring the agile value of working software over comprehensive documentation. How can the project manager support the team with this process? A. Recommend the team use traditional requirement management process and documentation. B. Provide tools for collaborative communication and encourage the team to experiment and evolve the process. C. Present an example requirements traceability matrix to the team. D. Purchase a collaborative requirements management tool for the team.
Provide tools for collaborative communication and encourage the team to experiment and evolve the process. Each project is unique, and a team that is using agile methods will need to find the best way to interact by experimentation and feedback loops. Collaborative communication tools are often all that a team needs to try an approach, evaluate its effectiveness, and improve the process. Using a traditional requirements management process would not allow the team to take full advantage of agile practices. A traceability matrix that shows how requirements are linked to objectives, software components, and test cases are rarely used by agile teams. If the team thinks that a collaborative requirements management tool will be helpful, they will ask for it. This scenario reflects the process "Plan Quality Management."
As project manager, you are attending an iteration planning meeting when a dispute occurs. The product owner's top priority in the backlog is a key feature that requires a new technology. The team says they don't understand that technology well enough yet to build that feature next. The product owner responds tartly, asking when they are planning to get around to it. What should you do? A. Remind the product owner that it is up to the team to determine what they can build next. B. Remind the team that it is up to the product owner to set the work priorities. C. Ask everyone to take a deep breath and calm down so the matter can be settled professionally. D. Gather information from both sides and make a fair decision about what will be best for the project.
Remind the product owner that it is up to the team to determine what they can build next. Two of these answers are correct, but only one of them addresses the dispute at hand. While it is up to the product owner to set the work priorities, only the team members can determine what they can build next. If they are still learning about the new technology, it would be counterproductive (and a waste of time) to force them to start work that they don't understand yet. In agile, this type of dispute isn't decided by the project manager. Notice that in the correct answer, the project manager isn't telling the team and the product owner what to do; they are simply establishing who has the final say in the dispute. This is an example of the project manager acting as a coordinator or facilitator for the stakeholders, rather than managing them directly. While the product owner isn't responding professionally, agile meetings don't prioritize remaining calm and polite; energetic disagreement might be needed to come to the best decision.
A project manager is using a hybrid development approach for a project that involves a new technology platform the team hasn't used before. The team will be using agile development practices, but some of the team members have not been on an agile team before. The organization's data protection policies will require a detailed final testing phase before it can go live to customers. The project manager is trying to decide which project management plans will be useful for this upcoming project. Which plan will be most useful for planning a strategy to address the team's lack of experience? A. Resource management plan B. Procurement management plan C. Stakeholder engagement plan D. Communications management plan
Resource management plan In this scenario, the team members do not have experience with the technology platform, some of them have not been on an agile team before, and in doing the work they will need to focus on the company policies for data security. So it is likely that some of the team members will need training. Training needs are addressed in the resource management plan, including documenting the strategy for training and assessing the team's training needs. The procurement management plan might include a contract strategy and requirements for training in agile or the technology platform but it is not where the strategy for all training needs would be found. The stakeholder engagement plan focuses mainly on the strategy for moving stakeholders (including the project team), to the desired engagement level. The communications management plan would include the specific communications to be sent to the team members to inform them of the training. This scenario reflects the process "Plan Resource Management."
A PM is meeting with a team member and says "I know you want to be involved in meetings with the cutomer. Because of your performance on the project so I have rearranged things so you can have that opprotunity. This is an example of: (846) A) Team building B) Reward power C) Team performance assessment D) Project performance appraisals
Reward power Team performance assessments and project performance appraisals would be done before giving rewards. Be careful if you chose team building. This situation does not involve the team, and the manager is not encouraging the team member to work better with the team.
The team members assigned to your new agile project are working from two locations. One group consists of corporate employees in the headquarters office; the other group is offshore and has been contracted for six months. On this team, there is a 10-hour time zone difference and different native languages (although the team members are expected to communicate with each other in English). How can you best coordinate the work? A. Schedule a regular daily standup at a mutually convenient time using a conference call number. B. Ask the people in each location to hold a regular daily standup for their group. C. Invite the coach of the offshore group to attend the daily standup at headquarters via video conference. D. Leave it up to the team members to determine how to best communicate with each other.
Schedule a regular daily standup at a mutually convenient time using a conference call number. In this situation it would be difficult for the groups to determine how to communicate since they don't know each other and are divided by their time zone and language differences. Coordinating the work through the coach doesn't reflect agile's collaborative approach or empowered teams. So the best approach would be to find a time each day for everyone on the project to share their progress and impediments. Both groups should also be coached about cultural awareness.
On an agile software development project, the project manager asks business stakeholders to create user stories, which will be used in the development and testing of the new application. The main purpose of writing a user story is: A. To document features or functions required by stakeholders B. To create a record of issues encountered on the project C. To perform what-if analysis D. To communicate progress
To document features or functions required by stakeholders A user story is a way of stating a requirement, often using the following format: As a , I want , so that . User stories may be developed in facilitation sessions or as part of other requirements-gathering methods.
An organization is moving toward a change-driven development, consisting of teams led by an agile coach. This approach is new to the organization, and the project manager's role with these new teams hasn't been clearly defined. One project manager decides to attend her team's user story writing workshops. Why does she think these sessions are a good use of her limited time? A. She wants to build strong relationships with the team and make sure there is a shared understanding of the product features. B. She wants to build strong relationships with the business stakeholders, while the agile coach manages the development team. C. She wants to make sure the requirements will deliver the planned scope and be released on time, by the project deadline. D. She plans to document the requirements in a traceability matrix to make sure all the work ties back to the project objectives.
She wants to build strong relationships with the team and make sure there is a shared understanding of the product features. The user story writing workshops are a good opportunity for the project manager to build relationships with the team and understand how they are approaching the work. She can observe the interactions between the team and the product owner to make sure they have a shared understanding of the product features. An agile coach does not manage the development team, and the story writing workshops probably won't include all the key stakeholders (because the product owner represents the business needs). Requirements traceability matrices are not usually used on change-driven projects. Agile projects manage time and scope by timeboxing the iterations and releases and allowing the scope delivered to evolve within those constraints.
Reports are often an integral part of project management. If you are creating a report that compares the work accoccomplished to date against the project management plan you are creating which teyp of report? (1992) A) Retrospective report B) Progress report C) Status report D) Forcasting report
Status report A status report compares the current project status to the performance measurement baseline. A progress report summarizes the work accomplished to date. A forecasting report predicts future project performance. A retrospective report looks back on project performance and is used to identify potential adjustments to the remainder of the project.
Two team members are arguing about the design of the security module in the new application they are building. One has experience from a prior project and argues for a simple design; the other is concerned about the business risk and wants a more sophisticated design. The second developer asks you to resolve the disagreement, implying that the other developer may not know how to create the more complex solution. As the project manager, how should you approach this conflict? A. Tell them they need to resolve their technical differences between themselves. B. Report the team members to human resources for disrespectful behavior toward each other. C. Explain their different communication styles to help them understand each other better. D. Have one of the team members transferred to another team, since they obviously don't get along
Tell them they need to resolve their technical differences between themselves. This is a technical difference of opinion about the design of the solution that needs to be resolved between the team members. It's important for them to learn how to consider different opinions and work through these types of disagreements themselves. The project manager might be able to help the team members do this by offering a framework (such as a meeting) in which they could discuss their differences and decide what to do, but that option isn't offered here. The other three answers assume that the underlying problem is behavioral, interpersonal, or psychological, which is incorrect. This scenario reflects the process "Manage Team."
You are the project manager on an information technology project on which you and the sponsor have already approved the scope. While having lunch with a customer representative working with him on a software project, an information specialist on your team learns a simple alteration in the display would be a great addition to the project. The information specialist installs the change with no negative effect on the project schedule and at no additional cost. What action should be taken? A. The information specialist should be recognized for exceeding customer expectations without affecting project cost or schedule. B. The project manager should add an activity to the project management plan with no associated time. C. The information specialist should be told that his behavior was unacceptable, as it may have negatively affected the overall project. D. The project manager should create a change control form and h
The information specialist should be told that his behavior was unacceptable, as it may have negatively affected the overall project. A project manager should ensure they give the customer what they asked for; no more and no less. Even though in this case the change had no negative effect on cost or schedule, it may have adversely affected other areas of the project, such as quality. There was no opportunity to complete the Perform Integrated Change Control process before the change was made. However, integrated change control is still needed in order to assess other possible impacts to the project.
A hybrid development team planned five incremental releases of the solution they are building. After the third release was delivered, the product owner invited the project manager to a discussion about the future of the project. The topic was whether the next release would be necessary. What's the most likely reason the project manager was asked to participate in this discussion? A. The product owner decided that the features already delivered provide enough business value to end the project. B. The project manager will have to give the bad news to the sponsor that the project should be closed prematurely. C. The team had run out of work to do for the next release, so they needed a new assignment. D. The product owner determined that the features in release five are too difficult to complete with the existing team.
The product owner decided that the features already delivered provide enough business value to end the project. One benefit of using agile is that the highest-value features and increments are delivered early. It is likely that the product owner simply realized they don't need all the features originally requested, and so the remaining releases can be eliminated. It's unlikely that the team ran out of work for the remaining releases or that the remaining features were too difficult to build. (The viability of the team's skillset should have been established at the start of the project.) While the project manager may well be the person to convey this news to the sponsor, this is good news, not bad news. It means that the resources allocated to the project can be released and allocated to other work. This scenario reflects the process "Direct Project Work."
The security design for a software project was assigned to the experts on the architecture team rather than the development team that is building the software. Now the architecture team has missed several target completion dates. The development team can't finalize the product features without the security component. What should the project manager have done to prevent this? A. The project manager should have identified the dependencies between the teams' work. B. The project should not have had two teams using different practices. C. The solution design should have been completed before the team started development. D. The solution should have been built in implementable working increments that each deliver value.
The project manager should have identified the dependencies between the teams' work. Projects can have multiple teams, and a hybrid project can have both predictive and agile project teams with interdependencies between their work. In this scenario, it appears that the development team didn't have the skills needed to build the security architecture design, so it had to be done by the architecture team. The project manager is responsible for uncovering the dependencies between the work done by the different teams and integrating them into a realistic and achievable schedule. The project manager is then responsible for controlling that schedule to know when the work of the architecture team would negatively impact the development team and the critical path. That is what the project manager failed to do. Typically, agile solution designs emerge as the work is done, rather than being completed upfront, but the hybrid project in this scenario has two teams with dependencies that need to be managed. We don't know whether the software is being done in viable working increments since that isn't included in the scenario. This scenario reflects the process "Develop Schedule."
Your project is developing a new mobile app targeted at business customers. The team has developed a working prototype that you and the product owner are delighted with. However, when you show it to the sponsor, the sponsor complains that the app doesn't look as professional as the competition. How should you respond? A. This sample just tests the product concept, features, and technology, it's not the final release version. B. This is just the minimum viable product; it will be improved in the next release. C. The product owner has confirmed that this prototype includes all the features that are required. D. If you want a more polished app, we will need to add a design specialist to the team
This sample just tests the product concept, features, and technology, it's not the final release version It seems as though this sponsor doesn't understand (or didn't hear) the term "prototype." The project manager may need to help educate the sponsor on the agile use of prototypes to guide future incremental development. A prototype is a working model of the product used to obtain feedback and approve the basic approach. A more polished version of the app will be completed for release. The "minimum viable product" is the smallest usable set of features, not sloppy or incomplete work that will be "fixed" later. While an agile product owner does have the authority to confirm value, the sponsor could override the product owner if they wanted to. The project manager needs to make sure the team has the skills needed to build the solution before the project starts, rather than using that as a negotiating tactic (as implied here).
After product visioning for a replacement application system being developed in a hybrid project, the product owner reports that several users are complaining that the old system isn't always available when needed. Since the product owner and team are fairly new, the project manager offers to help. To understand the quality level needed for the new system, what action should the project manager recommend to the product owner? A. Work with the business analyst to schedule requirements workshops with key stakeholders to elicit quality requirements. B. Suggest that the product owner decide on the quality requirements of the product. C. Schedule focus groups with a few random users to discuss their quality expectations for the product. D. Ask the team to spend the first iteration studying the problems in the old system.
Work with the business analyst to schedule requirements workshops with key stakeholders to elicit quality requirements. Requirements elicitation involves working with stakeholders to learn their needs and expectations. The product owner should use the business analyst's skills to coordinate this work. The product owner should not decide independently. Focus groups can be useful but are usually for external customers. The team should not spend an iteration studying the old system's problems. This scenario reflects the process "Collect Requirements."
You managed to get the key stakeholder for you upcoming agile project together for a visioning session to reach agreement on what the project need to accomplish. The participants might not have another chance to meet in person. How will you recommend that they spend this time? ( 1905) A) Develop personas for the key user groups B) Decide who will make the key decisions for the project C) Write an elevator statement D) Explain their requirements and needs.
Write an elevator statement An elevator statement is a short description of a project's goals, benefits, and key attributes; such statements may be used as agile project charters, and they are a quick way to help stakeholders analyze and understand the project. Writing an elevator statement would be the best use of the stakeholders' time since this will provide clear direction for the project and the team; none of the other activities mentioned will lead to actionable results. Also, deciding "who will make the key decisions for the project" implies a top-down, directive approach that doesn't reflect agile's collective, team-based values.
The team members on a hybrid project aren't able to reach agreement about the design of the accounting module in a new application. They finally realize that they have different understandings of the business need for that module. They come to you, the project manager, to get an answer. What should you say? A. You should address this question to the product owner. B. I'll check the project plan and get back to you. C. I'll arrange a meeting with the VP of Finance so we can work this out. D. I'll send you a copy of the report from the solution architect.
You should address this question to the product owner. While this is a hybrid project, agile terms are being used to described this part of the project, so we should apply agile practices to the question. In that case, the team needs to address this question to the product owner, who is responsible for defining the business needs for the team. The product owner should be someone with expertise in the business needs, and they can also work with other business users or subject matter experts. While the project plan, the solution architect, Copyright © 2021 RMC Publications, Inc.TM All rights reserved. 10953 Bren Road East • Minnetonka, Minnesota 55343 [email protected] • www.rmcls.com • (952) 846-4484 The copyright owner hereby grants permission to make copies of this handout for personal, noncommercial use only 15 of 17 and the VP of Finance might have information or input on this question, it is the product owner's role to integrate all those resources and interface with the team to ensure that their work is delivering value. This scenario reflects the process "Manage Team."
