PMI Disciplined Agile Scrum Master DASM Exam Questions

Answer : D

According to the INVEST mnemonic, a good user story should be Valuable. This means that the user story must deliver value to the customer or stakeholder. Each user story should have a clear purpose, ensuring that the effort invested in its development contributes to the overall product value. Other criteria of the INVEST mnemonic include Independent, Negotiable, Estimable, Small, and Testable, but 'Valuable' is key to justifying the user story's inclusion in the product backlog.

PMI Disciplined Agile (DA) Toolkit, which outlines the INVEST criteria for user stories and emphasizes the need for stories to deliver value.

PMI Agile Practice Guide, which describes the characteristics of well-formed user stories using the INVEST mnemonic.

Answer : A

In the context of the Disciplined Agile (DA) framework, a 'specialist' on a Disciplined Agile Delivery Team is someone with a specific, specialized skill set or domain expertise that contributes to the overall development and delivery process. While the DA framework promotes cross-functional team members, it acknowledges that certain roles require specialized knowledge.

A Business Analyst (BA) is considered a specialist role because they bring specific expertise in requirements gathering, process analysis, stakeholder communication, and translating business needs into actionable tasks for the development team. According to PMI's Disciplined Agile guidelines, BAs provide value by ensuring that the requirements are well-understood and clearly defined, which is crucial in aligning the team's efforts with stakeholder needs.

On the other hand, the roles of Product Owner (B) and Project Manager (C) are more related to leadership, decision-making, and coordination, rather than specialized technical or analytical expertise. Stakeholders (D) are external to the delivery team and are not considered specialists within the team itself.

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 : D

An iteration backlog (or sprint backlog) is created at the beginning of each sprint during the iteration planning meeting. This backlog consists of the tasks and user stories that the team commits to completing during the iteration. The process involves selecting the highest-priority items from the product backlog and breaking them down into smaller tasks that can be completed within the sprint timeframe.

A . Planning the Kanban board does not typically use an iteration backlog as Kanban is flow-based, not iteration-based.

B . At the beginning of each project is incorrect because the backlog is created for each sprint, not the entire project.

C . When defining the MBI (Minimum Business Increment) is related to identifying the smallest unit of value delivery but is not when an iteration backlog is created.

Answer : B

When a team completes their iteration backlog earlier than expected, the recommended approach in Disciplined Agile is to collaborate with the product owner to pull additional work from the product backlog into the iteration backlog. This approach maintains momentum and ensures that the team continues delivering value without waiting for the next iteration. It promotes agility and maximizes productivity by utilizing any remaining time effectively.

A . Working on non-critical tasks or D. waiting for other groups are not effective uses of the team's time and do not align with agile principles of continuous value delivery.

C . Reporting differences in completion time helps with future planning but does not address the immediate need to continue productive work.

Thus, the correct answer is B. Work with the product owner to pull more work from the product backlog into their iteration backlog.

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 : A

In Disciplined Agile (DA), the Team Lead (often equivalent to the Scrum Master role in Scrum) is primarily responsible for ensuring that the team adheres to the agreed-upon practices and builds the product correctly. This involves facilitating the team's processes, coaching team members on agile practices, and helping them remove impediments. The Team Lead is responsible for guiding the team in following the chosen way of working (WoW) and ensuring that the team's processes are efficient, effective, and continuously improving. Therefore, the primary focus is on ensuring that the product is built correctly according to the standards and requirements agreed upon by the team.

PMI Disciplined Agile (DA) Toolkit, which defines the role of the Team Lead as the person who ensures that the team follows effective practices and builds the product correctly.

PMI, 'Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW),' which provides insights into the responsibilities of the Team Lead role in DA.