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PMI PMP: What Causes Communication Breakdowns in Agile Projects?

Learn the most likely cause of team members being siloed and lacking understanding of each other’s work in an agile project that is 45% complete. Detailed PMP exam question and answer.

Table of Contents

Question

In an agile project that is about 45% complete, most team members are siloed and lack an understanding of each other’s work. What would have most likely caused this communication breakdown?

A. The daily standup meetings were not consistently attended.
B. The weekly project status reports were not published regularly.
C. The sprint review meetings were not held regularly.
D. The project manager failed to develop a communications management plan.

Answer

In an agile project, daily standup meetings are a critical communication tool to keep the team aligned and informed about each other’s progress and challenges. The most likely cause of team members being siloed and lacking understanding of each other’s work when the project is 45% complete is that the daily standup meetings were not consistently attended (Choice A).

A. The daily standup meetings were not consistently attended.

Explanation

Here’s why:

  1. Daily standups provide a regular opportunity for team members to share status updates, discuss impediments, and coordinate their efforts. When these meetings are consistently skipped, communication breaks down.
  2. While weekly status reports (Choice B) and sprint review meetings (Choice C) are important, they happen less frequently and are not as effective for day-to-day coordination and knowledge sharing among team members.
  3. A communications management plan (Choice D) is valuable in any project, but its absence alone would not be the most direct cause of team members being siloed at this stage. The lack of consistent daily standups is a more immediate factor.

In agile methodologies like Scrum, the daily standup is one of the key ceremonies for promoting transparency, inspection, and adaptation. It keeps everyone on the same page and surfaces issues early. Therefore, not consistently holding or attending these meetings is the most likely culprit for the communication breakdown described in the question.

PMI PMP certification exam assessment practice question and answer (Q&A) dump including multiple choice questions (MCQ) and objective type questions, with detail explanation and reference available free, helpful to pass the PMI PMP exam and earn PMI PMP certification.