For the next series of quiz questions, consider the following data.
You are a newly trained Scrum Master advising your Project Management Office and Technology department leaders on the different ways of managing work.
Upcoming Projects
Project Galileo – This project is a global rollout of a new CRM system. The PMO is running the project and will heavily utilize consultants from a large international vendor. The external consultants will work with employees of the company as the project has the eye of the C-level executives and is critical to the company being able to penetrate some new markets.
This project has a budget of $26M USD.
The timeline designated for this project is 18 months.
Project Sandstorm – This project is to build two new data centers and will be headed up by William, the Head of IT. William is an old-school project manager and holds a PMP certificate. He is a great guy, and his team loves working for him.
This project has a budget of $6M.
The timeline designated for this project is 12 months.
Question 1
The head of the PMO would like to use Scrum on Project Galileo. They believe that this is an excellent opportunity for the stakeholders, sponsors, and other employees to learn how Scrum can improve aspects of project management. As the project is a suite of applications, a central steering committee will make all product and work assignment decisions to oversee the entire project.
Would you support the company using the Scrum framework for Project Galileo?
Be careful; there are multiple responses to this question.
Careful, there are several correct answers.
Yes, this seems like a high visibility project that will help a large group of people see the benefits of Scrum.
Yes, this is a good candidate for the Scrum framework and you are excited to use your new skills as a Scrum Master.
No, the project is not a good fit for Scrum as it is for products, not projects.
No, the project is too large and risky to be the first Scrum project at your company. If it were to have challenges, the organization may lose confidence in Scrum.
No, because Scrum requires that decisions about the product be made by the Product Owner and not a committee.
Question 2
William, the head of IT, comes to you about Project Sandstorm. This project will be building two new data centers for the company to house its technology infrastructure. William and his team successfully built four data centers last year using waterfall, but they are interested in other methods and want your opinion.
Which project management approach would you recommend William use for Project Sandstorm?
Scrum. As there is a clear product (the data centers) and a clear Product Owner (William). Scrum will work well as a project management framework.
Kanban. The project is made up of many tasks and work items. By using Kanban, William and his team will be able to see the work progressing from To-Do, Doing, and Done stages, which will help raise transparency.
Waterfall. The project is well-known, the requirements are likely well understood, and William and his team have a history of success.
Scrum. William will most likely want to have a Daily Scrum with his team and to review their work in the preceding weeks, so Scrum is an ideal choice for this project.
Question 3
Zahir, the head architect at the company, is against the potential move to agile frameworks for projects Galileo and Sandstorm as he has done some research and has many concerns. His primary concern is that agile doesn’t require documentation, and as an architect, he believes that documentation is critical.
What could you do to help Zahir?
Please select the best option.
Explain to Zahir that since the Agile Manifesto states that “the best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams,” he should trust that the team will do what’s best.
Explain to Zahir that while the Agile Manifesto does value working software over comprehensive documentation, it doesn’t mean that you will not complete documentation as part of the work.
Speak to Zahir about his underlying fears and discuss how he may be able to work with the Scrum Team so that his concerns can be addressed throughout the process.
Escalate this to the PMO Director as the decision has been made to use an agile framework for future projects.
Question 4
Your team is operating in a Kanban system, and work is routinely getting “stuck” or “blocked” in the testing step. You are helping them consider what they can do to address this problem.
What actions might you take to help the team?
Be careful; there are multiple responses to this question.
Careful, there are several correct answers.
Tell the team to increase their WIP limit on the Kanban board's Testing column to account for the delays.
Mark all the items as blocked and start working on something else; the testers will get to it when they can.
Suggest that the team decrease their WIP limit on the column before testing to slow the rate of work getting to the testing step, thus alleviating the delays.
Discuss this as a team at the service review meeting to discuss the underlying cause.
Encourage the team to help with items in the Testing column so they can reduce the bottleneck of work.
Suggest the team speak to the testers to find out why work is getting blocked.
Question 5
You have been tasked with completing a project with a very tight timeframe. To achieve this, you have decided to use a methodology that enables your team to spend time focusing on fewer items.
Which agile methodology encourages the team to increase flow by limiting the number of work items in progress?
Kanban
Extreme Programming (XP)
Scrum
Question 6
You have now been asked to present the process used during a project utilizing shippable features very successfully. In addition, your stakeholders have questioned the term Sprint and have asked that you explain the methodology.
Which agile methodology mandates that teams build potentially shippable features during a Sprint?
Kanban
Extreme Programming (XP)
Scrum
Question 7
During your presentation, you are asked what the agile frameworks are.
How would you answer? What are the three agile methodologies?
Careful, there are several correct answers.
Scrum
Kanban
Extreme Programming (XP)
Waterfall
Question 8
Your colleague has requested some background knowledge on the development of the Kanban system. They ask, "What was the inspiration behind the Kanban system?"
You remember that Toyota originally developed the Kanban system and that they investigated various industries, methodologies, and techniques that would allow them to perform more efficiently. As Toyota had many departments ranging from project management, finance, supply chain, and manufacturing, they decided based upon a model used in another industry, which was considered more effective than theirs.
What would be your response to this question?
Stock/inventory management in supermarkets
Using sticky notes on a board
Warehousing management techniques
Question 9
You have a dilemma! During a recent project, there has been an evident lack of using the Kanban method effectively. So, you complete some analysis and identify that you have to use the elements to visualize, improve/evolve, and consider explicit policies.
Below there are four other key elements you have considered during the project. One of these elements is not related to Kanban and should be dropped from your process.
Which element is not something you should consider when progressing with this project?
Limit work in progress
Manage flow
Feedback loops
Weekly planning
Question 10
One of your colleagues has suggested that you should collate all the data from a project into one platform so the team can view the information. You have decided to create a Trello board to manage this.
What functionalities does the Trello board provide?
(Choose 2 of the following 3 options)
Careful, there are several correct answers.
A list of lists
A communication tool that organizes projects into boards
