Free PMI DASM Study Guides Exam Questions & Answer [Q19-Q36]

In Agile, and specifically within the Disciplined Agile framework, theretrospectiveis a crucial ceremony where the team reflects on their past iteration to identify areas of improvement. The main purpose is to foster continuous improvement by focusing on how the team can better work together moving forward. It encourages open communication, self-reflection, and team accountability, aligning with the agile principles of continuous learning and adaptation.
The other options are incorrect because:
* B. Organizing the product backlogis typically done during backlog refinement sessions, not retrospectives.
* C. Prohibiting stakeholders from making requestsis not the purpose of a retrospective; stakeholder feedback is valuable and is usually gathered during review sessions.
* D. Providing the product owner with insights into team dynamicsmay occur, but it is not the primary goal of the retrospective.
Therefore, the correct answer isA. It allows the team time to focus on how they can better work together moving forward, as it aligns with the continuous improvement objective central to Agile and Disciplined Agile practices.

In Lean and Agile terminology,Pushrefers to work beinggiven to peopleregardless of their current capacity.
This approach contrasts with a “pull” system, where work is pulled by the team when they have the capacity to handle it. “Push” systems often lead to overloading team members, increased bottlenecks, and inefficiencies.
* A. Delayed until laterdoes not capture the concept of “Push.”
* C. Expedited to meet a deadlineis about urgency, not pushing work.
* D. Outsourced to a vendorrefers to the delegation of work outside the team and is unrelated to the
“Push” concept.
Thus, the correct answer isB. Given to people.

The key attributes of a leader in an agile context include the ability tofocus on goals,inspire trust, andtake risks. Agile leaders guide their teams by keeping a clear vision of the goals, building trust through transparency and integrity, and being willing to take calculated risks to achieve desired outcomes. They do not simply “go with the flow” or assign tasks in a top-down manner; instead, they empower their teams, foster a culture of trust, and support innovation by encouraging risk-taking within safe-to-fail boundaries.

On a Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) team, theArchitecture Owneris a primary role. The Architecture Owner is responsible for guiding the team in making sound architectural decisions and ensuring that the architecture evolves appropriately to support the team’s work. This role involves collaborating with the team to address architectural concerns, mitigate technical risks, and ensure alignment with the overall technical vision. The Architecture Owner also helps the team navigate complex technical decisions and is a key player in maintaining the integrity of the system architecture.

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.

InTeam Estimation, also known as relative estimation or silent grouping, the team first estimates the relative sizes of all user stories by comparing them against each other. The stories are arranged in order of size (smallest to largest) without initially assigning specific numbers. After ordering, numerical values (such as story points) are then assigned to each story based on their relative size. This method leverages group consensus and comparative analysis to provide more accurate estimates.
* B. Ranking teams in order of importanceis not part of the Team Estimation process.
* C. Defining “Definition of Done” criteriais a separate exercise, not related to estimating story size.
* D. Estimating necessary rolesis not a part of Team Estimation.

In agile practices, particularly in the context of user stories, the features are typically defined by the INVEST criteria: Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, and Testable.”Achievable”is not a standard feature of a user story. Instead, user stories should beNegotiable(they are not fixed, and details can be discussed),Estimable(it should be possible to estimate the effort required), andTestable(it should be possible to verify whether the story has been implemented correctly). Therefore, “Achievable” is not one of the features of a user story.

Thecoordination meeting(often referred to as the daily stand-up or daily coordination meeting in Agile practices) is crucial for a project team becauseit 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.

In Disciplined Agile, theConstructionphase of the project life cycle is responsible for developing a consumable solution in a collaborative and incremental manner. During this phase, the team iteratively builds the solution, working closely with stakeholders to ensure that the product or service being developed meets their needs and expectations. The Construction phase emphasizes agility, collaboration, and incremental development, where the solution evolves through repeated iterations, incorporating feedback and improvements at each step. This approach helps to minimize risks, adapt to changes, and deliver value more frequently.

The Disciplined Agile mindset includes principles that guide individuals and teams in making decisions and taking actions that align with Agile values and the specific context of their organization. Three principles of the Disciplined Agile mindset are:
* B. Enterprise awareness: Encourages teams to work with an understanding of their organization’s goals, strategies, and needs, ensuring alignment and collaboration across teams and departments.
* C. Delight customers: Focuses on delivering high value and exceptional service to customers, ensuring that their needs are met or exceeded.
* E. Be pragmatic: Involves taking a practical and context-sensitive approach, applying tools and practices that best fit the situation rather than adhering strictly to a particular methodology.
Other options likeA. Accelerate deliveryandD. Be a servant leaderare relevant to Agile practices but are not explicitly stated as Disciplined Agile mindset principles.
Thus, the correct answers areB. Enterprise awareness,C. Delight customers, andE. Be pragmatic.

The three phases of Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD)’s delivery life cycle are:
* Inception: This phase focuses on getting the project off the ground. It includes identifying stakeholders, understanding the vision, defining the initial scope, and planning for the necessary resources and timeline.
* Construction: This phase involves building the solution incrementally and iteratively, with continuous delivery of working software and regular stakeholder feedback.
* Transition: This phase prepares the solution for release into production or the marketplace. It includes final validation, user training, deployment planning, and release management.
Other options are incorrect:
* A. Commencement, Creation, Evolutionare not standard DAD phases.
* B. Initiation, Foundation, Conversiondo not match DAD terminology.
* C. Introduction, Substance, Alterationare not relevant to DAD.
Therefore, the correct answer isD. Inception, Construction, Transitions.

In Agile and Disciplined Agile practices, iterations are plannedat the beginning of each iterationduring an iteration planning meeting. The team, along with the product owner, pulls the highest-priority items from the product backlog that they believe can be completed within the iteration. This ensures that the work is well- defined, understood, and aligned with the current goals and priorities.
* A. Retrospective meetingsfocus on reflecting on the past iteration to identify improvements, not planning the next iteration.
* B. Using iteration reviewsimproves quality but is not about planning.
* D. Iteratively planning by the product owneralone does not ensure team alignment or collaboration, which is essential in Agile.
Therefore, the correct answer isC. At the beginning of each iteration by pulling from the product backlog.

Disciplined Agile (DA) provides a solid foundation for business agility through multiple mechanisms, including:
* B. Defining a framework for agility at scale: DA offers a comprehensive toolkit that supports scaling agile practices across an organization, integrating principles from various agile methodologies to ensure coherence and alignment.
* D. Providing guidance to streamline processes in a context-sensitive manner: DA emphasizes tailoring processes to the specific context of the organization, project, or team, rather than applying a one-size- fits-all approach. This flexibility allows organizations to adapt more effectively to change and improve their agility.
* A. Enforcing adherence to organizational standardscontradicts the DA principle of pragmatism and flexibility.
* C. Creating awesome teams that foster joyis beneficial but is not specifically cited as foundational for business agility.
* E. Describing trade-offsis part of DA’s decision-making framework but not directly a way of providing a foundation for business agility.
Thus, the correct answers areB. Defines a framework for agility at scaleandD. Provides guidance to streamline processes in a context-sensitive manner.

In Lean and Agile methodologies, the role of management is tocreate awesome team environmentsthat foster collaboration, creativity, and high performance. Lean principles emphasize empowering teams, removing obstacles, and creating a culture of continuous improvement and respect. This means management’s role is to support the team, provide the necessary resources, and ensure a safe and conducive environment for delivering high-quality work.
* A. Ensure documentation is completedis not the primary role of management in Lean.
* B. Provide minimum viable products to the teamis more related to the responsibilities of product owners or teams, not management.
* C. Ensure decisions are not made regionallyis not directly related to the core responsibilities of management in Lean.
Therefore,D. Create awesome team environmentscorrectly reflects the Lean management role.

TheProduct Backlogis the artifact that collects all the work flowing to the team. It is a prioritized list of everything that might be needed in the product, managed and maintained by the Product Owner. The backlog is continuously refined and reprioritized as needed to reflect the changing needs of stakeholders, market conditions, and business priorities.
* A. Business backlogis not a standard Agile artifact.
* C. Release roadmapoutlines future releases but does not collect all work items.
* D. Iteration backlogcontains a subset of the product backlog items selected for a specific iteration.

The concept ofLeanwas developed around eliminating the three types of deviations that show inefficient allocation ofresources: Muda (waste), Mura (unevenness), and Muri (overburden). Lean principles focus on maximizing value by minimizing waste and optimizing the use of resources, such as time, effort, and materials. By identifying and eliminating these inefficiencies,organizations can ensure that resources are allocated effectively, reducing costs, improving quality, and increasing customer satisfaction.

Disciplined Agileis described as anagnostic hybrid techniquethat draws upon many different ideas from multiple agile and lean frameworks. Unlike other agile methodologies that prescribe a specific set of practices, Disciplined Agile provides a toolkit that allows teams to choose and tailor their way of working based on their unique context, goals, and constraints. It integrates strategies from Scrum, Kanban, Lean, XP (Extreme Programming), SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), and other approaches, providing a more flexible and adaptive approach to project management.