No products in the cart.
PMI-ACP Exam Questions
Page 8 of 25
141.
According to the Green Zone/Red Zone model, how would a person in the red zone likely respond?
-
Seek to win every discussion at any cost
-
Discuss calmly any differences in opinion
-
Be firm about their opinion but open to change
-
Seek the points of view of others in the group
Correct answer: Seeks to win every discussion at any cost
The Green Zone/Red Zone is a collaboration model used to diagnose the level of support for working collaboratively in a group. A person in the green zone would be positive in their attitude and actions when working with others. It is common for anyone to be in the red zone occasionally. However, we should strive to be in the green zone and steer others toward it.
Winning a discussion at any cost does not offer openness for feedback to build team success.
142.
What is the main role of the product owner?
-
To manage the product backlog
-
To coach the organization on Agile principles
-
To lead the Scrum ceremonies for the team
-
To estimate the work for the next sprint
Correct answer: To manage the product backlog
The product owner is a Scrum role in charge of maximizing the value delivered to the customer by directly managing the product backlog. The Scrum master coaches the organization on Agile principles and facilitates Scrum ceremonies for the team. The development team estimates the work selected for the next sprint, consisting of subject-matter experts.
Coaching the organization on Agile principles and leading scrum activities belongs more to the role of the Scrum master.
Estimating the work for the next sprint does not belong to a specific role but is part of the sprint planning meeting.
143.
A team is building a new data center. The team is supposed to mix and put concrete on the walls today. However, it starts raining, which halts the operation. The job will now take an extra day since the rain is expected to be over by midnight. What can be said about the causes of project delays?
-
They are caused by common cause variations.
-
They are caused by unstable defect rates.
-
They are caused by special cause variations.
-
They are caused by long cycle times.
Correct answer: They are caused by common cause variations.
Variance analysis measures how much things vary from each other. In Agile, the things measured could be the product increment or processes. The reasons for the variability are attributed to either:
- Common cause variation: Day-to-day differences that occur as part of doing typical work.
- Special cause variation: Unique differences that occur due to new factors.
In this scenario, the rain caused delays in completing the job on time by only one day. Weather conditions can occur at any time but are considered common cause variations because they can be expected and optimized against.
144.
The total cycle time to deliver a new house to a customer is ten months, which includes selecting designs with decorators, buying materials, building the house, getting permits, and decorating the home. Material and permit delays account in total for two months. What is the process cycle efficiency based on the information provided?
-
0.8 months
-
0.5 months
-
10 months
-
1 month
Correct answer: 0.8 months
Value stream mapping is a technique to eliminate wasteful work to reduce the time it takes to create value for the customer. The objective is to reduce the total cycle time. There are four important terms in this technique:
- Total cycle time: Total amount of time that it takes to complete an activity which includes value and nonvalue-added time.
- Value-added time: Activities that add direct value to the end-product.
- Nonvalue-added time: Activities that do not add value to the end-product directly.
- Process cycle efficiency: This is calculated by dividing the value-added time by the total cycle time.
In this example, the nonvalue-added time is 2 months and the total cycle time is ten months. The process cycle efficiency time is equal to 0.8 months ((10-2)/10).
145.
How are the product and sprint backlogs related?
-
The sprint backlog is a subset of the product backlog based on value.
-
The product backlog is a subset of the sprint backlog based on value.
-
The sprint and product backlog are the same at each sprint.
-
The sprint backlog contains all the features that will be done in all planned sprints.
Correct answer: The sprint backlog is a subset of the product backlog based on value.
The product backlog contains the complete list of features needed by the customer, prioritized by how much value they add to the end user. In the sprint planning meeting, a subset of items from the product backlog is selected, and their level of effort is estimated, producing the sprint backlog used in the next iteration.
The product backlog is not a subset of the sprint backlog based on value. The sprint and product backlog are not the same at each sprint. Product backlog deals with all the possible work items assigned to that project/product, whereas the sprint backlog has a sub-set of the tasks that are prioritized for that specific sprint.
146.
A tester approaches the Scrum Master requesting to add a new user story to test the functionality that a developer will deliver in the upcoming iteration. What should the Scrum Master do?
-
Account for testing as part of the estimation of the original user story
-
Apply a multiplier to the estimates to account for testing time in the user stories
-
Add extra time to the project to account for the testing activities
-
Create a separate user story for testing the functionality
Correct answer: Account for testing as part of the estimation of the original user story
When assigning user story point estimates, the assignment should be all-inclusive of all known activities required to complete and deliver the story. There is no need to apply multipliers, which are effectively buffers, to the estimates. Adding time to the project as opposed to the story point is futile since we want to test the functionality while or soon after being built. There is also no need to create separate user stories only for testing. The user story should encompass the creation of the functionality, the testing required, and any other activities needed to get the functionality out.
147.
A Scrum Master is facilitating a significant discussion for a distributed Agile team. The discussion has gotten heated, and a few individuals become verbally aggressive. A few others have not said a word since the meeting started 45 minutes ago. The Scrum master recognizes that this team has been in the storming team formation phase for a few weeks.
What is one thing that the Scrum master can do to help the team?
-
Enhance facilitation to get the team engaged and focused on the topic at hand
-
Start the meeting on time to reduce stress in the team
-
Create another meeting to compensate for the lack of spontaneous communication
-
Maintain a metaphor for the project mission
Correct answer: Enhance facilitation to get the team engaged and focused on the topic at hand
Distributed teams face challenges due to their lack of physical proximity to working as a team. They have to have enhanced coordination and communication capabilities to overcome such challenges. Some of the major challenges they face include different time zones, different cultures, different communication styles, and different native languages. In this scenario, the Scrum master can intensify facilitation to keep the team focused on the issue at hand rather than getting personal.
Meeting on time may help but will not solve the issue. Creating a project metaphor will help provide the team with a focused project mission and vision. This, however, will not help the storming stage of team formation. Creating another team meeting to compensate for spontaneous communication may help, but the storming will continue unless facilitation helps in this regard.
148.
A team is producing TV screens in a factory. You notice that there are products with cracked screens. After investigating, you learn that the assembly operator is falling asleep on the job, causing the TV screens to pile up at the end of the assembly line. The operator explains that he is feeling under the weather and the medicine was making him fall asleep. What can be said about the defects found?
-
They are caused by special cause variations.
-
They are caused by common cause variations.
-
They are caused by unstable defect rates.
-
They are caused by high temperature variances.
Correct answer: They are caused by special cause variations.
Variance analysis measures how much things vary from each other. In Agile, the things measured could be the product increment or processes. The reasons for the variability are attributed to either:
- Common cause variation: Day-to-day differences that occur as part of doing typical work.
- Special cause variation: Unique differences that occur due to new factors.
In this scenario, the assembly operator falling asleep on the job causes the TV screens to pile up at the end of the line, causing the screens to break. This is a unique situation that does not happen commonly among operators on the job. Thus, this defect is caused by a special cause variation.
149.
The Scrum Master just found out that the Accounting department has brought in some contractors to execute day-to-day tasks. The Scrum Master meets with the Accounting business lead and discovers that these contractors may interact with the product that is being built. What should the Scrum Master do?
-
Include the contractors as project stakeholders since they will be primary users of the product
-
Exclude the contractors as project stakeholders since their tasks are minor
-
Exclude the contractors as project stakeholders since they are just supporting the Accounting business lead
-
Include the contractors as project stakeholders just in case
Correct answer: Include the contractors as project stakeholders since they will be primary users of the product
Stakeholders are individuals that are directly or indirectly impacted by the project. In this scenario, the contractors will be directly impacted since they will be users of the final product. Their input, regardless of whether they are contractors, needs to be included to add value to the final end-user.
150.
An Agile team is distributed around two continents in different time zones. Daily stand-ups still take place at a time that works for everyone. Digital tools have been put in place to help these teams work together better.
What is a characteristic of this team?
-
Virtual co-location
-
Adaptive leadership
-
Co-location
-
Osmotic communication
Correct answer: Virtual co-location
This team practices virtual co-location. Virtual co-location is the implementation of digital tools to replicate the co-location of distributed teams.
Co-location takes place when all team members work in the same location nearby. Distributed teams obviously would not be able to do this.
Osmotic communication takes place when information flows to all members because they are co-located and nearby.
Adaptive leadership is the adjustment that a leader makes in their leadership style to meet the team’s changing needs.
151.
All the following are examples of the Agile approach of “low-tech, high-touch” tools, except:
-
An automated Gantt chart showing dependencies and task durations entered by team members
-
User stories written on 3"x5" index cards
-
Task boards showing the status of the team's work
-
A card for "planning poker" sessions with the team
Correct answer: An automated Gantt chart showing dependencies and task durations entered by team members
“low-tech, high-touch" in Agile advocates using tangible tools in each project, thereby replacing sophisticated high-tech tools. High-tech tools often provide a barrier for close interaction with stakeholders, and their inner workings may be obscure for the team. By advocating for a low-tech solution, we can ensure the team is highly engaged in the process. An automated Gantt chart generated using a software tool with input from the team is not a low-tech, high-touch tool.
User stories physically written are powerful low-tech, high-touch tools to measure work items and deliverables, similar to boards showing the status of the team's work and cards for "planning poker" sessions with the team.
152.
John is part of an XP Development team working on delivering an e-commerce site for a customer. Early on in the project, it was discovered that a highly tangible risk was likely to materialize, threatening the project entirely. The team needed to find a concerted path forward to deal with this potential issue. What mechanisms exist in XP for dealing with such a likely risk to the project?
-
Spike
-
Communication
-
Empirical processes
-
Scrum of Scrums
Correct answer: Spike
In XP, a spike is a short, intense iteration to eliminate risks identified in the project that are likely to threaten the project entirely.
153.
Which Agile role is in charge of providing an estimate of the stories and tasks to be included in upcoming sprints?
-
Development team
-
Product Owner
-
Scrum Master
-
Project Sponsor
Correct answer: Development team
During the iteration planning meeting, the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Development team come together to review and align on what will be included in the next iteration. During this session, the development team provides estimates based on the level of effort for the stories and tasks under review. The development team is composed of the people who will actually do the work, including Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), who will be able to provide an accurate estimation based on the work needed.
154.
A product backlog needs to be prioritized based on:
-
the value it brings to the customer.
-
the level of effort estimated to complete the work.
-
the level of risk it carries to the project.
-
the return on investment it brings to the organization.
Correct answer: the value it brings to the customer.
The product backlog is prioritized continually by stakeholders based on the value it brings to the end customer.
The level of effort, risk, and return on investment should not be a factor. If the item is included in the backlog, it is assumed that it contributes to the project’s return on investment.
155.
“As a contractor, I want to see the history of my purchases, so that I can review past expenses when I am about to invoice a client.” What is this narrative an example of?
-
User story
-
Task
-
Product backlog
-
Persona
Correct answer: User story
User stories are short narratives reflecting a small size of business functionality to be implemented in a product. A user story can be further decomposed into tasks. User stories follow the format “As a <Role>, I want <Functionality>, so that <Business Benefit>.”
A task is a short narrative that includes technical level work detailed enough to be actionable by the product team.
Product backlog is a list of user stories and tasks prioritized from highest to lowest based on value it delivers to the customer.
Personas are profile type documents that outline key stakeholder values and interests. This helps the development team focus and empathize on the end-user.
156.
As an Agile project team member, you have noticed that one of the team members is constantly interrupting others during meetings and not allowing them to express their opinions. This behavior is causing tension within the team and hindering the free flow of ideas.
Which of the following is not conducive to creating a safe and open environment for the Agile project team?
-
Transference
-
Brainstorming
-
Experimentation
-
Retrospective
Correct answer: Transference
It is important to create a safe and open environment for team members to voice concerns, innovate new solutions, and discuss better ways to do things. The following activities help the team with creating a safe and open environment:
- Brainstorming: The team should be encouraged to work together to come up with creative solutions to solve problems.
- Experimentation: The team should be encouraged to attempt various ways to find the best approach. The idea is to let the team fail fast if necessary.
- Retrospective: The team should be encouraged to discuss what worked and what did not work well in the project, avoiding the same mistakes in the future.
Transference is a way to manage risk in a project. It involves transferring the risk to another person or group.
157.
A team is setting up the security system for a bank. During testing, it was found that only one of the employee access cards provided elevated privileges to the building, including the main vault of the bank. Further investigation shows that the computer had erroneously given this elevated privilege in the access card due to a bug detected in the system. What can be said about the cause of this defect?
-
It was caused by special cause variations.
-
It was caused by unstable defect rates.
-
It was caused by unstable code.
-
It was caused by common cause variations.
Correct answer: It was caused by special cause variations.
Variance analysis measures how much things vary from each other. In Agile, the things measured could be the product increment or processes. The reasons for the variability are attributed to either:
- Common cause variation: Day-to-day differences that occur as part of doing typical work.
- Special cause variation: Unique differences that occur due to new factors.
In this scenario, the bug identified in the code caused the employee access card to be misconfigured. This is an unusual and unexpected occurrence since the rest of the employee access cards seem to have been configured correctly. Thus, this issue is caused by special cause variations.
Unstable defect rates are not a valid cause for this defect. Unstable code in the bank's system may or may not have caused the issue here. Not enough information to make this the answer.
158.
What is the main difference between release and iteration planning in XP?
-
Release planning pushes functionality to the production user; iteration planning pushes functionality to the end of the iteration.
-
Release planning pushes functionality to the end of the sprint; iteration planning pushes functionality to the production user.
-
Release planning pushes output more frequently than iteration planning output.
-
Iteration planning pushes output only at the same time as per the release plan.
Correct answer: Release planning pushes functionality to the production user; iteration planning pushes functionality to the end of the iteration.
Release planning only occurs a few times a year, and it entails pushing product functionality all the way to the production end user. Iteration planning produces the product increment at the end of the iteration only. Iterations are short in duration, so they happen significantly more frequently than releases.
159.
A Scrum Master wants to create a visual to show the work completed by the team over time and also the work in progress. What kind of diagram could she create?
-
Cumulative flow diagram
-
Burndown chart
-
Velocity chart
-
Burnup chart
Correct answer: Cumulative flow diagram
Some diagrams used in Agile projects include the following:
- Cumulative flow diagrams (CFD) are visual representations of the status of work features. CFDs are stacked area graphs that show features in progress, remaining, and completed. CFDs provide an easy way to aggregate feature status over time. Effectively, these diagrams are a combination of burnup chart (showing work completed over time) and work status (not started, in progress, etc).
- Burndown charts show the team’s remaining work to complete over time. They start by showing the total amount of work to do and as the work progresses, the chart will show how the remaining work decreases.
- Burnup charts show the amount of work completed over time. They start at zero and show how the team progresses through their execution over time by increasing the story points completed until the work accepted is equal to the project scope. Burnup charts also show a flat curve to highlight the total project scope. The main advantage of this is that we can see when scope changes occur.
- Velocity is the measure of a team’s capacity per iteration. A velocity chart would show the story points completed per iteration, over the iterations.
160.
A group of developers is observing how participants navigate through the workflow pages on the product they developed. The developers are taking notes observing where the participants stumble and where they express confusion about how features worked. This scenario depicts an example of which type of testing?
-
Usability testing
-
Test-driven development
-
Exploratory testing
-
Acceptance test-driven development
Correct answer: Usability testing
In usability testing, the Development team observes and listens to how end-users interact with the product. It is an opportunity for the team to see firsthand where users can have issues using the product.
Exploratory testing lets the tester take any direction he/she desires, providing a more ad-hoc and spontaneous way of testing the product. The tester will often pursue different “what if” scenarios and explore different functionality to look for improvements. This type of testing is complementary to automated testing, which follows a defined script.
Test-driven development is the practice of writing tests before the code is written. The idea is that developers need to think about how the functionality should be used and, thus, tested before they think about writing the code. The tests will initially fail because the code has not yet been written. Acceptance test-driven development (ATDD) develops the test before the code is written to examine the functionality at an acceptance test level.