Agile Mindset & Scrum

An organization just implemented agile and forms a development team where members are not co-located. The organization’s management style is known for setting clearly defined rules and objectives for team members.

What should the agile project manager do to align the team to the desired outcomes?

• Arrange an in-person kick-off meeting to improve upon

  working relationships.

• Discuss options with management that would align

  individual goals to project goals.

• Schedule a speaker to inspire a collective vision across the

  team.

• Foster commitment through team engagement and planning.

A new product is being constructed by an agile team, but the team has a limited amount of time to complete it. Due to these circumstances, it is important for the team to sustain collaboration for the duration of the project.

To build team solidarity, what should the project leader do?

• Institute protocols for handling sprints in a team meeting.

• Facilitate meetings with each member of the team to comprehend project goals.

• Confer product progress with team members by utilizing a burndown chart.

• Analyze the project map for release of product with team

  members.

Members from an agile team have been consistently tardy for stand-up meetings and are not meeting project target dates. The project leader assumes the issue may be difficulty with self-managing tasks within the team.

What action should the project leader take?

• Aid the team to construct an agreement amongst them that details coveted behavioral norms.

• Convene with the team to review the issues and detail actions to solve them.

• Adopt a higher leadership role and set an example for the behavior needed.

• Assemble agile and time management training for the team to complete.

A new software system is in progress and is in the user acceptance testing phase. The agile project manager discovers that the IT director is discontent, despite positive feedback from majority of business stakeholders.

What action should the agile project manager take next?

• Review preceding project meeting attendance to determine participation by the IT director.

• Analyze the requirements that are approved for the project with the IT director.

• Request feedback from the IT director during testing of user acceptance.

• Collect forthright feedback from the IT director.

During a new agile project, there have been hindrances related to budgeting and time management. The remote quality assurance team reported a lengthy defect list following completion of a couple sprints. The project manager concluded that the issues stem from language misinterpretation and not project quality.

What should the project manager do?

• Prepare and execute sessions with the full project team to review the list of required tasks and descriptions.

• Create a meeting with the quality assurance team and voice concerns regarding the feedback they provided.

• Request a financial increase from the change control board (CCB) to employ a quality assurance team locally, as opposed to remote.

• Combine the quality assurance team and the development team to complete testing at the conclusion of the project.

During a project run by a project manager, a couple of stakeholders have a discrepancy regarding agreed upon measures of one project result.

What next step should the project manager take?

• Review and analyze the project requirements document.

• Review the approved version of a scope statement.

• Organize a gathering with the stakeholders.

• Modernize documented project risks and their responses.

A member of a project team at a standup proposes altering a feature due to its popularity in the market. A different team member counters and is concerned about quality user experience regarding the feature.

How can the project manager correct this issue?

• Present the product owner the option to place the request in

  the product backlog by giving the product owner suggestions.

• Utilize a voting system and allow the team to decide which

  of the features’ version to apply.

• Place the issue in the backlog of the sprint and allow the project team to decide at the next meeting.

• Arrange a meeting to make a definitive decision that

  includes all stakeholders and the project team.

During the execution of a project, the finance team identified that they were not involved in building the business case for the project and will not approve the estimated return on investment (ROI).

What should the project manager do?

• Continue developing based on the project management plan

  and address the issue post delivery.

• Revisit the scope management plan and note this as a risk.

• Schedule a meeting with the product owner and finance

  team to agree on course corrections.

• Revisit the communications management plan and make necessary adjustments.

A product owner presented the backlog to the team, and the team raised concerns over implementing some of the features due to various impediments.

What should the project manager suggest that the product owner do next?

• Estimate the financial impact of the impediments and request additional funding.

• Capture the impediments and inform management that their assistance is needed in resolving the impediments.

• Ensure that the impediments are captured and prioritized based upon the highest valued features.

• Begin to remove the impediments, starting with the easiest ones first, to foster team accomplishment.

The product owner decides to launch a product after a couple of releases, knowing that the minimum viable product (MVP) lacks some features. One of the key stakeholders, the marketing vice president, is not happy with the results and questioned the release decision.

What should the project manager do?

• Coach the team on the decision-making process, assuming

  a risk-averse strategy towards product releasing.

• Support the product owner's decision and seek better alignment with this stakeholder in order to avoid this type of issue in the future.

• Assume the responsibility for product releases, making the final call on when something is ready for customer launch.

• Escalate the issue to the sponsor, questioning the authority of the key stakeholder regarding the product launch

  decision.