PMI PMI-ACP Free Practice Questions — Page 2

Correct Answer: A. Size and priority

An epic is decomposed into smaller user stories when it is too large to be completed within a single iteration AND when it has sufficient priority to warrant immediate breakdown and planning. Size determines whether the epic fits within an iteration's capacity; priority determines whether it's worth the effort of decomposition now versus later. Option B (minimum marketable features) is a related concept — MMFs help define release scope — but they are not the primary determining factor for decomposing an epic during iteration planning. Option C (release plan) informs when features should be delivered but is an output of planning, not the direct trigger for epic decomposition. Option D (sprint mapping) is not a standard Agile term and doesn't directly govern when epics are broken down. The Scrum Guide and PMI-ACP framework both indicate that Product Backlog refinement involves breaking large items into smaller ones when they are near the top of the backlog (high priority) and need to be actionable (small enough to fit in a sprint). If an epic is low priority, there is no urgency to decompose it — doing so prematurely wastes the team's time. The dual criteria of size and priority ensure that decomposition is both timely and necessary.

Correct Answer: B. Ask the team for suggestions

The Scrum Master is a servant-leader who facilitates team problem-solving rather than imposing solutions. When a team member falls behind, the first step is to engage the team collectively — they are best positioned to offer help, pair on tasks, or identify impediments causing the delay. Option A (move the task to another team member) is a unilateral managerial action that bypasses the team's self-organization and doesn't address the root cause. Option C (privately encourage the team member) is empathetic but insufficient — it doesn't leverage the team's collective capability and may not resolve the underlying issue. Option D (notify the product owner) is premature; the product owner manages the backlog, not team member performance or task-level execution. The Scrum Guide emphasizes that the Development Team is self-organizing and collectively responsible for sprint delivery — not individual team members in isolation. Involving the team in problem-solving promotes psychological safety and collaborative ownership. The Scrum Master's role is to remove impediments, and one of the most effective ways to do that is to ask the team what they need. This question tests servant leadership and team empowerment, core PMI-ACP themes.

Correct Answer: A. Kaizen

Kaizen is a Japanese term meaning "continuous improvement" — it is the practice of regularly identifying small, incremental improvements to processes, systems, and behaviors. Using a Kanban board to track impediments, focusing on how issues are resolved, and developing strategies to prevent recurrence is a textbook example of Kaizen in action. Option B (SMART goals) is a goal-setting framework, not a result of ongoing improvement practices — it is used to define objectives, not describe the outcome of a transparency/experimentation culture. Option C (KPIs) are performance metrics used to measure outcomes; they may result from improvement initiatives, but the described practice itself is not KPI development. Option D (Muda) is a Lean term meaning "waste" — it describes non-value-adding activities that should be eliminated, which is the opposite of what the team is building toward. The Lean-Agile philosophy embraces Kaizen as an organizational mindset where every team member is empowered to suggest and implement improvements. Scrum's Sprint Retrospective is itself a formal Kaizen event. Over time, teams that consistently inspect their impediment patterns and act on them build a culture of learning and resilience. This directly connects to the Agile principle of "at regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective."

Correct Answer: B. Assure the new member that inputs on impediments are valued, and demonstrate this at the next meeting

Building psychological safety for a new team member who has had negative past experiences requires both verbal assurance and visible action — words alone are insufficient. By first privately assuring the member their input is valued, and then publicly demonstrating this at the next meeting, the agile leader creates a safe environment through consistent behavior. Option A (bring up the new member's impediments at the next meeting without prior consent) could embarrass the member and reinforce their reluctance to communicate — this violates psychological safety principles. Option C (have a senior leader work with them) adds unnecessary hierarchy and may feel like surveillance rather than support. Option D (privately work with the member to address impediments) is supportive but incomplete — it doesn't address the behavioral change needed for the member to engage with the full team. The Agile Manifesto values "individuals and interactions," which requires intentional cultivation of trust, especially for new members. Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team identifies absence of trust as the foundational dysfunction — building it requires consistent, visible behavior. An agile leader must model the psychological safety they want the team to exhibit. Demonstrating publicly that the new member's input is welcomed signals to the entire team that all voices matter.

Correct Answer: D. Create a collaborative team environment so that the team can explore a solution together

When a technical impediment blocks sprint progress, the Scrum Master's role is to facilitate collaborative problem-solving — not to delegate the problem to one person or escalate externally. Option D aligns with Agile's principle of self-organizing teams and collective ownership of both problems and solutions. Option A (ask the lead developer to identify a solution alone) concentrates knowledge in one person and undermines the team's collective intelligence and shared responsibility. Option B (ask a technical manager or architect) bypasses the team's autonomy and introduces dependency on external authority, which slows resolution and reduces team empowerment. Option C (add a spike to the next sprint) is a valid technique for exploring unknowns, but it delays resolution and abandons the current sprint's stories unnecessarily — a spike should be considered when the problem cannot be resolved collaboratively in the current sprint. The Scrum Guide states that the Development Team is self-organizing and should solve technical challenges internally. A spike is appropriate when uncertainty is high and exploration time is needed, but the first response should always be to engage the team together. Facilitating collaboration also builds shared understanding and prevents single points of failure. This question tests the Scrum Master's facilitation role versus a directive management role.