1.Your team disagrees on the direction a requirement should take, and it is convinced that the customer hasn’t explained it correctly. As a servant leader, what can you identify as the reason for the misunderstanding?
- Not enough information was gathered from the customer.
- The gulf of misunderstanding has occurred, and more information is needed to determine the correct direction.
- You should practice good conflict resolution skills.
- Team knowledge is limited because they are in the storming stage.
- The gulf of misunderstanding has occurred, and more information is needed to determine the correct direction.
The gulf of misunderstanding occurs when the customer and the team misunderstand the requirements. It is often the cause of disagreement on direction and on features/functions of the increment.
2.Bill and Ally are having a disagreement in the break room about something they saw on the news the night before. You are walking by, and you overhear the disagreement. As a servant leader, what is the best conflict resolution technique to utilize in this situation?
- Help them reach a compromise.
- Tell them to stop the disagreement, as it is inappropriate at work.
- Try to get them to compromise.
- Avoid getting involved as it isn’t relevant to project work.
- Avoid getting involved as it isn’t relevant to project work.
This is called “strategic avoidance.” Many people have differing opinions about news stories, and the Agile project manager shouldn’t get involved as it isn’t relevant to project work.
3.Your team has been working together for several iterations now, and they seem to be working well together. They are making decisions as a team and determining what work they should do and when. This is an example of which of the following?
- A storming team
- An Agile team
- A self-directed team
- An adjourning team
- A self-directed team
Even though this could describe an Agile team, all teams go through periods of adjustment before performing as a self-directed team. The Agile project manager is much more of a servant leader than a manager when a team is self-directed and self-managed.
4.As an Agile team member, you are working with the product owner and the customer on several of the user stories and requirements the customer is requesting. You witness the product owner suggesting that the customer choose one requirement over another because it will function better with their result, and the customer agrees that it is win-win for everyone. What did the product owner do effectively?
- Negotiation
- Requirement gathering
- User story development
- Servant leadership
- Negotiation
The product owner is using good negotiation techniques. It’s important to be able to give value to the customer, but occasionally it’s important to negotiate for the most important features and do away with the ones that don’t serve a purpose.
Task 5 of the exam content outline for stakeholder engagement states that you will need to establish collaborative behaviors among the members of the organization by fostering group decision making and conflict resolution in order to improve decision quality and reduce the time required to make decisions. If there is a conflict and you have an option, which of the following is the best conflict resolution strategy?
- Compromise
- Smoothing
- Collaboration
- Avoiding
- Collaboration
Obviously, which resolution strategy would work best in each scenario depends on the conflict situation. If, in general terms, you are asked what is the best or longest-lasting strategy, the correct answer would be confronting or collaboration.
6.Your team has reached the performing phase. What types of management and leadership do they need?
- A lot of feedback and interactions
- Feedback, coaching, and help only when they ask for it
- Help with conflict resolution and expectation settings
- Helping getting to know each other and building trust
- Feedback, coaching, and help only when they ask for it
Since your team is in the performing phase of team development, they are working together and may only need coaching here and there, and only if they ask for it.
7.The team space is key in Agile projects. What is the one thing that is recommended above all others for Agile teams?
- Scrum boards
- Collocation
- Caves and common rooms
- Information radiators
- Collocation
Having your team be collocated is generally the best setup for team space. Even though it isn’t always possible to do so, colocation is recommended as a best practice in Agile environments.
8.On a collocated team, what is one of the major benefits of everyone sitting together in the same work space?
- The Scrum Master can find everyone.
- Daily stand-up meetings are easier to organize.
- It enables improved communication.
- It builds relationships and trust.
- It enables improved communication.
Having your team collocated in one team space improves communication and allows individuals to overhear information and choose to retain or discard it through osmotic communication. It also builds relationships and trust, but that only happens with improvement in communication.
9.Your newly formed team is experiencing some conflict in the way they estimate time. Several team members have withdrawn from the conversations, while others are still arguing about the best ways to do things. This is an example of what team stage?
- Forming
- Norming
- Storming
- Adjourning
- Storming
Storming is a natural occurrence with newer teams. It is important for the coach/Scrum Master to coach the team through it.
As an Agile project manager, you explain to your team that, as their coach, you are there to provide for the team’s needs and remove any roadblocks to their progress. This is also described as which one of the following?
- Project management
- Agile leadership
- Management and leadership
- Adaptive leadership
- Adaptive leadership
Removing roadblocks and taking on administrative work is a key aspect to practicing adaptive leadership.
11.Misunderstandings of value, product, and customer needs can best be described as which one of the following?
- The gulf of evaluation
- The gulf of Agile
- The gulf of misunderstanding
- The gulf value stream
- The gulf of misunderstanding
Engaging stakeholders in the definition of done and helping them determine what success looks like is a valuable way to manage stakeholder expectations.
12.For an Agile project manager, active listening is an important aspect to practicing adaptive leadership. If a stakeholder is talking to you about an issue, what should be your primary focus?
- Solving their problem
- Assessing their facial features
- Thinking of what you will say next
- Listening to what the person is saying and assessing the information
- Listening to what the person is saying and assessing the information
Active listening is a large part of effective communication and stakeholder engagement. It’s best to listen to what the stakeholder is saying rather than thinking about what you will do next or how to solve their problem.
13.Your stakeholders are engaged in a conversation about what direction to go in with an aspect of the software that is being built. The team is divided on how to proceed. The conflict is more of a collective disagreement than an outright conflict. What should you do as the Agile project manager?
- Engage in the conversation, and help the team solve the issue.
- Call a meeting to have a formal discussion about the issue.
- Discuss conflict resolution techniques at the next retrospective.
- Do nothing.
- Do nothing.
In this situation, it is unnecessary to step in to help resolve the disagreement. Your team is collectively disagreeing, and it is working toward a solution. Unless you are asked to help, it’s better to let them work through it on their own.
14.One of your stakeholders is asking about your PMI-ACP certification and wonders what code of ethics you need to abide by as a certified professional. You explain that there are two categories of conduct you abide by. Which of the following describes these categories?
- Legal and aspirational
- Motivational and legal
- Mandatory and motivational
- Mandatory and aspirational
- Mandatory and aspirational
The Project Management Institute’s Professional Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct describes mandatory skills, which include not breaking the law and not discriminating, and aspirational skills, such as communication, negotiation, and motivation.
During a heated exchange over what the definition of done is to the stakeholders, you have determined that there isn’t any way anyone is going to be able to collaborate on solutions. Which of the following conflict resolution strategies would work best in this situation?
- Compromise
- Forcing
- Withdrawal
- Smoothing
- Smoothing
Smoothing helps everyone focus on what things they have in common and what may be necessary to work on before any collaboration can occur. When used alone, smoothing is only a short-term fix, but it may be necessary in a heated exchange situation.
16.In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, what term expresses a person who has everything and determines that they will give back for the greater good?
- Social
- Physiological
- Safety
- Self-actualization
- Self-actualization
Even though questions about Maslow’s theory aren’t something you’ll likely see on your PMI-ACP exam, having the ability to motivate effectively is important to servant and adaptive leadership. This study guide will prepare you for the exam, but there are other key points that are useful in your day-to-day work, and motivational theory is one of them.
17.You and your development team are working with the product owner on user stories in the backlog. Your team is asking questions about what stories will be done next and what they think that they can accomplish. The product owner asks the team to consider adding two more stories to the sprint for the customer, and the team explains that they are unable to do any additional stories. The product owner explains why it is important, and the team agrees to take on one more story but not two. What does this exchange represent?
- A poorly run negotiation
- A balanced win-win negotiation
- The product owner overstepping their position
- Good communication
- A balanced win-win negotiation
Negotiations that are effective result in a win-win situation for all those involved. In this case, the team explained their side and the product owner explained why they thought their point was valid. In the end, the team determined that they could add one more story but not two. Both sides walked away with something in the exchange, and it was settled appropriately.
18.Engaging with stakeholders involves having the emotional intelligence to understand their concerns and to work to determine what they value. In order to be effective in this role, which of the following skills are necessary?
- Interpersonal skills
- Adaptive leadership
- Creating an elevator statement
- Having a detailed planning meeting
- Interpersonal skills
Good interpersonal skills are necessary to engage stakeholders and to have the emotional intelligence to work with them on determining value. Being an adaptive leader also involves interpersonal skill sets.
19.One of your stakeholders is new to Agile and is asking that the team take on more user stories per iteration to get things done faster. As an adaptive servant leader, what is the best thing to do?
- Listen to what they are saying, and then explain to them that they should go talk to the product owner.
- Tell them no.
- Listen to their concerns, but explain the concept of a self-directed team.
- Negotiate with them to protect the team from interruptions.
- Listen to their concerns, but explain the concept of a self-directed team.
Engaging your stakeholders doesn’t mean doing everything they say. In fact, a good servant leader would listen to their concerns but also explain how a self-directed team works together to estimate and protect the team from interruptions.
You are a product owner, and you are working to sort various user stories by value during the current sprint. A key stakeholder comes to you in the middle of the current sprint and asks you to add a feature that was deemed unnecessary by the customer. What is the best thing to do?
- Call a team meeting and explain that you are adding another feature to the increment in the middle of the sprint.
- Tell the Agile project manager, and let them deliver the message to the team.
- Explain to the stakeholder that the feature will be put at the back of the backlog for a potential future revisit, but right now the customer doesn’t see it as valuable.
- Tell the key stakeholder that the best thing to do is bring it up at the next sprint planning meeting and discuss it then.
- Explain to the stakeholder that the feature will be put at the back of the backlog for a potential future revisit, but right now the customer doesn’t see it as valuable.
There are a couple of things going on here. First, the product owner is in charge of the backlog, and stakeholders should respect that. Next, adding a feature because the stakeholder finds it valuable may not match up with the customer’s needs. Finally, in Scrum, no new user stories are added in the middle of a sprint.
