PMI-ACP practice question 15 of 35

An agile lead is working on a project to build a new product that will bring substantial business value to a company. Company executives want to…

An agile lead is working on a project to build a new product that will bring substantial business value to a company. Company executives want to present the first release at an important industry fair the following month. The agile lead started the project the previous month, and the team planned the release to take 8 iterations. For the past 4 iterations, work has been performed as planned and on time. In the current iteration, however, one team member will be out for the remainder of the project. Without this team member, velocity would drop 30%. What should the agile lead do to ensure the release will be on time for the fair?

Answer options

A: Reduce the scope of the release to meet the deadline. Correct answer

B: Deliver as many features as possible based on the new velocity.

C: Extend the project timeline to accommodate the missing team member.

D: Hire a new team member to replace the missing one.

Correct Answer:

A. Reduce the scope of the release to meet the deadline.

Explanation

With a fixed, externally imposed delivery date, agile recommends keeping time and cost constant while varying scope. Reducing release scope allows the team to deliver the highest-value features with the diminished velocity, satisfying the fair deadline without jeopardising quality.

Why Incorrect

B. “As many features as possible” lacks prioritisation and risks stakeholder dissatisfaction if key items are omitted.
C. Extending the timeline contradicts the immovable market event and executive mandate.
D. Hiring now adds onboarding overhead; new staff would not offset the immediate 30 % velocity loss in time.

References

1. Project Management Institute. “Agile Practice Guide.” 2017, §3.2, p. 17 – Fix time & cost, adjust scope.

2. Cohn, M. “Agile Estimating and Planning.” Prentice Hall, 2006, Ch. 14 – Release planning around fixed dates by trimming scope.

3. Williams, L. “What Agile Teams Think of Agile Principles.” IEEE Software, 29(4), 2012, p. 72 – Market-driven releases favour scope negotiation over deadline change.

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