PMI DASM Disciplined Agile Scrum Master Exam Practice Test

Answer : C

A well-written user story in agile practices, including Disciplined Agile, describes the customer's perspective. User stories are short, simple descriptions of a feature or requirement from the point of view of the end user or customer. They are intended to capture the 'who, what, and why' of a requirement, focusing on the value it delivers to the customer. This perspective ensures that the development team understands the real-world needs and motivations behind the features they are building, allowing them to create solutions that truly meet user needs.

PMI Disciplined Agile (DA) Toolkit, which outlines the structure and purpose of user stories, highlighting the importance of describing features from the customer's perspective.

PMI Agile Practice Guide, which discusses the use of user stories to capture customer requirements and deliver value.

Answer : A, B, E

In PMI's Disciplined Agile (DA) framework, process blades refer to modular, process decision-making tools that help organizations optimize their way of working (WoW). They are categorized into three primary areas:

Disciplined DevOps (A) - This blade focuses on streamlining and integrating development and operations activities, with a focus on continuous delivery and automation practices. It encompasses activities such as IT operations, quality assurance, data management, and release management to improve flow and operational efficiency.

Disciplined Project Management Office (PMO) (B) - The Disciplined Agile PMO is designed to oversee and provide governance to an organization's project and product delivery processes. It facilitates strategic alignment and value delivery across teams, ensuring that agile principles are applied at a broader organizational level, and that governance and funding models are adaptable.

Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) (E) - Disciplined Agile Delivery is a hybrid agile approach focused on the delivery of software-based solutions. It combines strategies from Agile, Lean, Scrum, and other methodologies to create a flexible and scalable approach to delivery. DAD provides guidance across all stages of solution delivery, from concept to deployment.

These three categories help organizations leverage Disciplined Agile principles by enabling flexible, scalable solutions that can be customized based on their specific context and needs.

Answer : B

The coordination meeting (often referred to as the daily stand-up or daily coordination meeting in Agile practices) is crucial for a project team because it provides an opportunity for the team to help itself stay in sync. This meeting is typically held daily and allows team members to communicate their progress, discuss any challenges or impediments, and align their activities with the project's goals.

In Disciplined Agile, such meetings are vital for fostering collaboration and ensuring that everyone on the team is aware of what others are doing, which helps avoid misunderstandings, duplicate work, and potential blockers. The purpose is not to report to a manager but for the team to coordinate, plan, and adjust their work dynamically to ensure continuous alignment and effective progress towards the team's objectives.

PMI Disciplined Agile Toolkit, which emphasizes the importance of coordination meetings (or daily stand-ups) in maintaining team alignment and promoting self-organization.

PMI, 'Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW),' which describes the value of regular team coordination to ensure synchronicity and continuous alignment within agile teams.

Answer : A

In Disciplined Agile, the Architecture Owner is responsible for mitigating key technical risks. This role focuses on overseeing the architectural integrity of the solution being developed, ensuring that the team makes sound technical decisions that align with the desired architecture and quality attributes of the project. The Architecture Owner helps in identifying and addressing potential technical risks early in the project life cycle, collaborating with the team to adapt the architecture as necessary to mitigate these risks.

This individual works closely with the team to guide architectural considerations, ensures compliance with the chosen architectural strategies, and maintains the overall technical direction of the project. Although they are involved in other cross-functional activities, their primary responsibility is to foresee and address technical challenges that could jeopardize the success of the project.

PMI, 'Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW),' which details the responsibilities of the Architecture Owner, including mitigating technical risks.

PMI Disciplined Agile (DA) Toolkit, which provides an overview of the roles and responsibilities within DA, particularly the Architecture Owner's role in managing technical risks.

Answer : C, D, E

In Disciplined Agile (DA), the three common phases across project life cycles are Inception, Construction, and Transition. These phases reflect the iterative and incremental approach of agile methodologies tailored to suit varying contexts.

Inception: This phase is about getting things started properly. It includes initial planning activities such as defining the vision, developing a preliminary project plan, identifying stakeholders, securing funding, and setting up the initial environment.

Construction: This phase focuses on developing a consumable solution in a series of iterations. The team builds, enhances, and evolves the solution to ensure that it meets stakeholders' needs while remaining aligned with the overarching vision and goals.

Transition: The transition phase ensures that the solution is ready for delivery to the end-users or stakeholders. This includes final validation and verification activities, user training, deployment, and addressing any remaining issues.

These phases are common in the DA life cycles, reflecting the disciplined approach to managing complexity in various types of projects, from straightforward to highly complex, while supporting adaptability and continuous improvement.

PMI, 'Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW),' which outlines the DA life cycles, including Inception, Construction, and Transition phases.

PMI's Disciplined Agile Toolkit, which describes these phases in detail and their relevance across different types of project life cycles.

Answer : B

The purpose of an iteration retrospective in the Disciplined Agile framework is to reflect on the team's process and performance during the previous iteration to identify what went well and what can be improved. The primary goal is to continuously improve by transferring the lessons learned, knowledge, and potential improvements to the next iteration. This aligns with Disciplined Agile's emphasis on continuous improvement and learning, which is critical to the team's effectiveness and efficiency.

The other options are not the primary focus of an iteration retrospective:

A . To showcase what the team accomplished in an iteration is the purpose of an iteration review or demo, not a retrospective.

C . To prioritize stories and concrete tasks for the next iteration is typically part of iteration planning.

D . To identify progress and to note encountered impediments is also part of other ceremonies like daily standups but not the main focus of a retrospective.

Thus, the correct answer is B. To transfer knowledge and improvements to the next iteration, aligning with the Disciplined Agile framework's purpose for iteration retrospectives.

Answer : C

In the context of the Disciplined Agile framework, when a team is dealing with rapidly changing requirements but is resistant to frequent releases and does not have an Agile mindset, the Traditional lifecycle is appropriate. This lifecycle aligns with teams that prefer a more plan-driven, less iterative approach, which typically includes longer release cycles and detailed upfront planning. The Traditional lifecycle in Disciplined Agile follows a waterfall-like approach, which is suitable when the team is not yet prepared to adopt Agile principles such as frequent delivery and adaptive planning.

The other options do not match this scenario:

A . Program lifecycle is used for coordinating multiple teams on larger programs, which is not relevant to a single team with the specified conditions.

B . Lean focuses on optimizing flow and delivering value quickly, which contrasts with the team's preference for infrequent releases.

D . Agile lifecycle involves iterative development and frequent releases, which the team is resistant to.

Therefore, C. Traditional is the correct answer as it fits the team's preference for less frequent releases and their lack of an Agile mindset.