PMI PMI-ACP - PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)

Agile teamsembrace changeandcollaborate with customersto deliver value. ThePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 2.1: Agile Mindset)supports responding to change—even late in the development cycle—if it results in business value. The team shouldaccept the new goal, replan with the product owner, andadjust scope or priority if needed, rather than resist or escalate.

Option Ais correct: it reflects the agile value ofresponding to change and delivering early value.

Option Bis too rigid and contrary to agile principles.

Option Cimplies a punitive model that does not align with collaborative agile contracts.

Option Dintroduces unnecessary cost and overhead without first trying to replan collaboratively.

The correct answer is D — The team should reevaluate time and cost estimates to reflect the latest understanding of the work effort.

Agile supports progressive elaboration and adaptive planning. When actual effort consistently exceeds estimates, it signals a need to recalibrate estimation practices. The team should revisit their velocity, estimation techniques, and potentially re-estimate upcoming work with improved understanding.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile uses adaptive planning, where teams update estimates based on new information. This supports better forecasting and risk management.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.3 – Estimation and Velocity)

Mike Griffiths:

“Estimation accuracy improves over time. Agile teams regularly inspect estimation practices and adjust based on historical data and team maturity.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

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The correct answer is B – Ensure there is a balanced mix of people who are experts and members with broad experience based on the work to be performed and determine training needs.

Scrum encourages cross-functional, self-organizing teams with complementary skills. Building a balanced team that reflects both depth and breadth of experience ensures optimal delivery while enabling team learning.

From PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams are cross-functional. The team may need T-shaped skills—members with deep expertise in one area and a willingness to broaden knowledge in other areas. Creating balanced teams with knowledge diversity leads to better collaboration and learning.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.1 – Building Agile Teams)

Mike Griffiths adds:

“Team selection should prioritize diversity of skill sets and the ability to collaborate, not just performance history. The goal is a team that can deliver value collectively, not as individuals.”

(Mike Griffiths, Chapter 4 – Team Performance)

Why the other options are not suitable:

A may reduce team diversity and discourage healthy conflict resolution.

C may not be feasible in distributed environments and is not a strict requirement.

D focuses on individual velocity contributions, which contradicts Agile’s team-based delivery focus.

Answer: B

The correct answer is C – Ask the team to discontinue developing the component. Agile empowers the product owner to make real-time scope decisions based on changing customer needs. If a feature no longer delivers value, continuing it violates agile's principle of maximizing value and minimizing waste—even if partially complete.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile welcomes changing requirements—even late in development. The product owner’s role is to ensure that the team focuses on work that delivers the most business value.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 3.4 – Value Prioritization and Scope Management)

Mike Griffiths affirms:

“If a component is deemed unnecessary, even mid-development, the product owner has the authority to reprioritize the backlog and halt the work. Agile values responding to change over following a fixed plan.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

A suggests unnecessary bureaucracy; agile favors decentralized, empowered decision-making.

B ignores the updated feedback and would create waste.

D is redundant since the sponsor already communicated disinterest; the product owner can act.

Answer: C

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According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 7.1 Communication)andPMBOK® Guide (6th Edition, Section 13.3 Manage Stakeholder Engagement),transparency with stakeholdersis fundamental in agile environments. Delays or deviations from expected outcomes must bepromptly communicatedto affected stakeholders to adjust expectations and plans.

Mike Griffiths in thePMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 4: Stakeholder Engagement)emphasizes that one of the key values in agile isresponding to change over following a plan, and that includes openly discussing risks and delays with impacted parties.

Thus,Option Dis correct: the agile coach shouldproactively engage marketing stakeholdersto inform them about the delay and support revised planning.

Agile encouragesteam collaborationandself-organization. If a team member feels underutilized, the team should be encouraged to engage that person more fully, leveraging their skills across tasks. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 4.3: Team Performance)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 3: Team Development), the agile practitioner supports healthy team dynamics and facilitatesinclusive participation.

Option Cis correct: promoting team-level inclusion helps resolve underutilization and fosters engagement.

Option Ais a last resort and undermines team stability.

Option Breframes the issue as a performance problem when it may not be.

Option Dunnecessarily escalates what should be resolved within the team.

The correct answer is C – Seek regular input from project stakeholders, and reflect this input in the backlog’s priorities. Agile is a stakeholder-driven process, and backlog refinement should be informed by continuous feedback. The product owner maximizes value by regularly reviewing stakeholder needs and reprioritizing accordingly.

From the PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“The product owner is responsible for maintaining the backlog and ensuring it reflects stakeholder priorities. Ongoing engagement with stakeholders ensures the product delivers maximum value.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.2 – Product Backlog Management)

Mike Griffiths adds:

“Agile product owners engage stakeholders continuously to update priorities and deliver value incrementally.”

(Mike Griffiths, PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

A is good practice but doesn’t address the stakeholder engagement challenge.

B confuses story size with business value.

D lacks the agility required in a fast-moving project.

Answer: C

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In Agile, estimates are initially based on previous experiences or expert opinions, but as the team progresses through sprints, they gain more insight into the project’s actual complexity and the team's capacity. Agile estimates evolve over time based on the team's velocity, which reflects how much work the team can realistically handle. This is why the actual scope and timelines can differ from initial estimates. The agile lead should emphasize that the initial estimates were helpful for understanding feasibility, but the true estimates are refined continuously as the team gains more experience and understanding of the work, and as complexities or dependencies become clearer during each sprint.

Relying solely on the developers' experience with similar systems to define functionality can be limiting and potentially result in misaligned expectations with actual user needs. Effective Agile teams should focus on understanding and addressing the needs of end users, leveraging continuous feedback from customers, and engaging stakeholders directly. This ensures the product is built to meet real user expectations and can evolve as necessary based on user input. Instead of relying on previous experience, the team should be focused on co-creating value with customers through collaboration, feedback, and agile practices like user stories and regular testing.

In Agile, changes are expected and are part of the iterative process. The product owner should take the opportunity to coach the stakeholder on agile principles, explaining how continuous feedback, flexibility, and adaptability are core to delivering value in an Agile project. Instead of pushing back on changes, the product owner can help the stakeholder understand that responding to change helps improve the product and better meet user needs. This helps align the stakeholder's expectations with Agile practices and fosters better collaboration throughout the project.