Free AGILE-FOUNDATION Practice Test

The PRINCE2 Agile guidance describes the common integration of methods as a 'typical' scenario. In this blend, PRINCE2 is used for project direction and management, providing governance and control. Agile methods, such as Scrum or Kanban, are then used at the delivery level for product creation. This structure leverages the strengths of both approaches: PRINCE2 for robust governance and agile for iterative and flexible product delivery. This is not necessarily the only 'effective' or 'preferable' way, but it is the most common and typical application described.

A. 'Preferable' is a subjective term; other blends might be preferable depending on the specific project context and environment.
C. While this blend is intended to be effective, 'typical' is the specific term used in the official guidance to describe this common configuration.
Note: The provided answer 'C' is incorrect. The term used in the official manual to describe this scenario is 'typical'.

- AXELOS. (2018). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation. TSO (The Stationery Office). Section 4.3.1, p. 29. "How do PRINCE2 and agile fit together? ... A typical situation would be to use PRINCE2 for project direction and project management, and to use agile for product delivery."

Kanban is a method for managing and improving work across systems. Its core practices involve visualizing the workflow (e.g., on a Kanban board), limiting work in progress (WIP), managing flow, making process policies explicit, and implementing feedback loops. By visualizing the process and controlling the amount of work being handled at any one time, teams can identify bottlenecks and continuously improve their delivery system's efficiency and predictability. It is a flow-based, not a timeboxed, approach.

B. This describes an iterative, timeboxed approach like Scrum, whereas Kanban is primarily a flow-based system that does not require timeboxes.
C. This description is more aligned with the Lean Startup methodology, which focuses on rapid business model validation and product delivery in new ventures.
D. This more accurately describes Scrum, which has defined roles (e.g., Scrum Master), events (e.g., Sprint), and artifacts (e.g., Product Backlog).

AXELOS. (2015). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation. The Stationery Office. Section 10.2.2, p. 76. "Kanban is a ‘pull’ system... It is based on visualizing work, limiting work in progress (WIP) and balancing the flow of work."

AXELOS. (2015). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation. The Stationery Office. Appendix F.1, p. 247. "Kanban is a method for managing knowledge work with an emphasis on just-in-time delivery while not overloading the team members."

'Being agile' refers to the mindset, values, and culture, while 'doing agile' refers to the practices, tools, and processes. A customer embracing an iterative approach and focusing on value demonstrates a fundamental shift in mindset and behavior. This aligns with the core agile value of customer collaboration and delivering value early and often. It is a cultural change, not just the adoption of a new process. The other options describe practices or setups ('doing agile') rather than a change in underlying philosophy.

A. This describes co-location and communication methods, which are agile practices ('doing agile'), not the underlying mindset.
B. This describes the implementation of a specific agile framework (Scrum) and tools (dashboards), which is 'doing agile'.
C. This describes a Product Owner performing their role's activities, which are part of an agile process ('doing agile').

- AXELOS. (2021). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation. (2nd ed.). TSO (The Stationery Office). Section 4.3.1, p. 29, discusses the importance of the agile mindset and behaviors over just using agile methods.

- AXELOS. (2021). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation. (2nd ed.). TSO (The Stationery Office). Figure 4.1, p. 29, illustrates the 'agile onion', showing that mindset and values are at the core of 'being agile'.

The purpose of the 'progress' practice is to establish mechanisms to monitor and compare actual achievements against those planned. This provides a forecast for the project's objectives and its continued viability, and enables control of any unacceptable deviations. It answers the question, "Where are we now, where are we going, and should we carry on?" This forecasting is essential for the project board to make informed decisions about the project's future.

B. To identify and assess opportunities and threats: This is the purpose of the 'risk' practice, which deals with managing uncertainty.
C. To identify the user needs and requirements: This is a key focus of the 'requirements' focus area and techniques like user stories and personas.
D. To establish accountability for the project: This is the purpose of the 'organization' practice, which defines the project management team roles and responsibilities.

- AXELOS. (2021). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation (2nd ed.). TSO (The Stationery Office). Section 11.1, "Purpose of the progress theme," p. 85.

- AXELOS. (2021). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation (2nd ed.). TSO (The Stationery Office). Section 7.1, "Purpose of the organization theme," p. 55.

- AXELOS. (2021). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation (2nd ed.). TSO (The Stationery Office). Section 14.1, "Purpose of the risk theme," p. 103.

In PRINCE2 Agile, it is vital to fix time and cost while allowing scope to be variable. Quality, however, is fixed. Differentiating functional requirements (what the product does) from non-functional requirements (how well it does it, e.g., performance, security) is crucial for this. Functional requirements typically represent the variable scope that can be prioritized using techniques like MoSCoW. Non-functional requirements often define the fundamental quality criteria for the solution and are therefore fixed and non-negotiable. This distinction allows teams to trade scope (functional requirements) to meet deadlines without compromising quality (non-functional requirements).

A. Combining requirements obscures the distinction between what is flexible (scope) and what is fixed (quality), making prioritization harder.
B. This is a valid technique, but the act of differentiating is the most important concept for understanding the scope/quality trade-off.
D. The order of definition is less important than the act of clearly separating them to understand what can be flexed.

AXELOS. (2015). PRINCE2 Agile® Guidance. The Stationery Office. Section 11.4.2, p. 98. ("It is important to be clear on what is a requirement and what is a quality criterion... The scope is a list of things to be delivered... quality is about the state they need to be in.")

AXELOS. (2015). PRINCE2 Agile® Guidance. The Stationery Office. Section 11.4.3, p. 99. ("Non-functional requirements are usually handled as acceptance criteria for the final product and are therefore part of the quality criteria.")

The official PRINCE2 Agile guidance repeatedly emphasizes that agile is fundamentally a mindset and a way of thinking, not merely a collection of techniques or processes. Successfully blending PRINCE2 with agile requires adopting behaviours such as transparency, collaboration, rich communication, and self-organization. Simply applying agile techniques (like user stories) or processes (like Scrum) without embracing the underlying mindset will lead to superficial implementation and failure to realize the benefits. The mindset is the foundation upon which the successful integration is built.

B. Fostering psychological safety is a vital outcome of an agile mindset but is a component of it, not the most important overall factor.
C. Using agile techniques without the correct mindset is often referred to as "mechanistic agile" and is typically ineffective.
D. Following agile processes without the underlying values and principles leads to "going through the motions" without true agility.

AXELOS. (2018). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation. TSO (The Stationery Office). Section 4.1, p. 29, states, "It is important to remember that agile is a mindset... not just a set of techniques."

AXELOS. (2018). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation. TSO (The Stationery Office). Section 4.3, p. 30, details the PRINCE2 Agile behaviours (transparency, collaboration, etc.) that are expressions of the agile mindset.

The Agilometer is a tool used to assess the risks and opportunities of applying agile in a specific project environment. The project manager is responsible for tailoring the PRINCE2 method to suit the project context. Therefore, the project manager facilitates the Agilometer assessment, typically in a workshop with key stakeholders, to inform how the method should be tailored and to highlight areas that may need particular attention throughout the project.

A. The project board reviews the output and implications of the Agilometer assessment but does not facilitate the process itself.
C. The team manager is a key participant in the assessment, providing a delivery-level perspective, but does not hold facilitation responsibility.
D. A customer subject matter expert provides crucial input on requirements and the business environment but is a participant, not the facilitator.

- AXELOS. (2015). PRINCE2 Agile®. TSO (The Stationery Office). Section 7.4, p. 60. "The assessment is best carried out as a workshop and should be facilitated by the project manager."

The official PRINCE2 definition of a stakeholder is any individual, group, or organization that can affect, be affected by, or perceive themselves to be affected by a project's actions, objectives, or outcomes. This is the most comprehensive and accurate description as it includes not only those who are actively involved or impacted but also those who perceive an impact. This broad definition ensures all relevant interests are considered in project communications and management.

A. This is too narrow; it only describes the project team and excludes customers, users, suppliers, and other external parties.
B. This is too narrow; it only describes users, who are a subset of all stakeholders. It excludes sponsors, suppliers, and regulators.
D. This is incomplete. The definition must also include those who are affected by the project, not just those who can impact it.

AXELOS. (2017). Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2® 6th Edition. TSO (The Stationery Office). Section 7.3.7, p. 103.

AXELOS. (2018). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation. TSO (The Stationery Office). Section 7.2.1, p. 58.

In PRINCE2 Agile, quality is primarily about meeting customer requirements and acceptance criteria. The initial inputs from users are captured as requirements, which are commonly expressed as user stories. These user stories, along with their associated acceptance criteria, are collected and prioritized in the product backlog. This forms the foundation of the quality practice, as delivering what is described in these stories to the agreed-upon standard (Definition of Done) is the measure of quality.

B. Epics are large, high-level user stories. While they are an input, the more granular user stories are the primary initial gathering format.
C. The Definition of Done is a quality standard applied to user stories; it is not the initial gathering of user requirements themselves.
D. A quality control activity is a check performed on a finished product or deliverable, not the initial gathering of user inputs.

AXELOS. (2018). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation. TSO (The Stationery Office). Section 8.1, p. 65.

AXELOS. (2018). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation. TSO (The Stationery Office). Section 13.2, p. 106.

A burn chart is a graphical representation of work left to do versus time. The vertical axis typically shows the amount of work remaining (e.g., in story points or hours), and the horizontal axis represents time (e.g., days or sprints). It includes a line for the planned rate of work completion and another for the actual work completed, allowing the team to track progress against the plan. Team working agreements are the set of norms, rules, or guidelines created by the team to govern their interactions and processes; this information is qualitative and not plotted on a burn chart.

A. Effort remaining is the primary data shown on the vertical axis of a burn-down chart, representing the work left to complete.
C. The actual amount of work done is plotted over time to show progress against the ideal or planned line.
D. The amount of time elapsed is the fundamental data for the horizontal axis, showing the timeline of the sprint or release.

AXELOS. (2015). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation. The Stationery Office. Section 20.2.1, p. 158. "A burn chart shows the progress of a team... The vertical axis shows the amount of work to be done... The horizontal axis shows time."

AXELOS. (2015). PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation. The Stationery Office. Figure 20.1, p. 158. This figure explicitly shows 'Effort' on the Y-axis and 'Time' on the X-axis.