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PMI CAPM: What Should an Agile Project Team Do When Planning the Next Iteration?

Learn the key steps an agile project team should take when gathering to plan user stories for the next iteration, including backlog grooming and reprioritization.

Table of Contents

Question

At the end of the third iteration, the project team gathers to discuss the stories to be implemented in the next iteration. What should the team do during this session?

A. Develop a user story analysis based on the work done, depicting the current status, S-curve, schedule variance (SV), and planned value (PV).
B. Run a spike to ensure all information available is correct and then decide which stories to implement.
C. Bring up all risks for implementing the user stories and discuss possible solutions.
D. Plan the backlog by estimating and reprioritizing the user stories as new information becomes available.

Answer

D. Plan the backlog by estimating and reprioritizing the user stories as new information becomes available.

Explanation

At the end of each iteration, the agile project team holds an iteration planning meeting to plan the work for the upcoming iteration. The main objectives are to:

  1. Review and update the product backlog based on new information and feedback gathered during the previous iteration. This may involve adding, removing, or modifying user stories.
  2. Estimate the effort required for each user story in the backlog, often using story points or ideal days. The estimates help determine how much work can fit into the next iteration.
  3. Prioritize and select the highest value user stories to be completed in the next iteration, taking into account business value, dependencies, team velocity, and capacity. The product owner makes the final decision on priorities.
  4. Have the team commit to delivering the selected user stories by the end of the iteration.

The other options are not the main focus of iteration planning:

A. Analysing iteration metrics like schedule variance and planned value is more relevant for a traditional project management approach, not agile. The team may review their velocity, but detailed EVM analysis is uncommon.

B. Running a spike is a timeboxed investigation to reduce uncertainty around a user story, not a standard part of iteration planning. Spikes are planned as needed.

C. While risks can be discussed, the emphasis of iteration planning is on determining what value to deliver next, not detailed risk management. Risks are typically handled via frequent iterations and adaptive planning.

So in summary, iteration planning is primarily about regularly updating the plan by grooming the product backlog and reprioritizing stories based on the latest information available. The goal is to maximize the value delivered by the end of each short iteration.

PMI CAPM certification exam practice question and answer (Q&A) dump with detail explanation and reference available free, helpful to pass the PMI CAPM exam and earn PMI CAPM certification.