TOPIC: PMI-ACP Question of the Week - 2026

Here is our free PMI-ACP Exam sample question of the week. All questions for this season will be taken from the book 'Ace the PMI-ACP Exam'.

Question 1: The Managing Director (MD) of the organization stops by the task board of the team and makes a suggestion of an important feature that the development team should deliver in the current iteration. What should the development team do?

A. Since it is coming from the MD, it must be done at any cost. So drop an item of equal size from the backlog.
B. Say yes to the MD and then ask the team members to work overtime to achieve their target.
C. Ask the product owner so that he can discuss the value and priorities with the MD.
D. Ignore it, the MD will most likely forget what he said a few weeks later.

Correct Answer to Q#1: C

Explanation:

In an Agile environment, the Product Owner (PO) is responsible for managing and prioritizing the product backlog. Even if a request comes from a senior executive like the Managing Director, it should not bypass the established process.

The PO should discuss the request with the MD, evaluate its business value, and determine whether it should be added to the backlog or scheduled for a future iteration.

Once an iteration (Sprint) has started, the scope should remain stable unless the Product Owner and Development Team agree that a change is appropriate, and significant changes may even require canceling and replanning the Sprint in Scrum.

Why the other options are incorrect
A. ❌ Incorrect. Authority does not override Agile roles and processes. The team should not arbitrarily replace backlog items because an executive requested it.
B. ❌ Incorrect. Agreeing without prioritization and asking the team to work overtime violates Agile principles of sustainable pace and proper backlog management.
C. ✅ Correct. The Product Owner is responsible for stakeholder communication, prioritization, and deciding what delivers the most value.
D. ❌ Incorrect. Ignoring stakeholder input is unprofessional and contrary to Agile's emphasis on collaboration.

PMP Exam Tip:
Whenever a stakeholder—including a senior executive—requests a new feature or change, the best answer is usually to route the request through the Product Owner (Agile) or the formal change control process (Predictive) rather than having the development team act on it directly.

Question 2: A newly formed development team is working on Sprint zero. In terms of doing the following activities, which is false?

A. Team completes the entire architecture and high-level design for the project, leaving out the low-level design.
B. Develop the detailed project plan.
C. Deliver a few stories.
D. All of the above.

Correct Answer to Q#2: D

Explanation:

Sprint Zero is intended to prepare the team for development, not to perform traditional upfront project work or deliver completed functionality.

A. Team completes the entire architecture and high-level design for the project, leaving out the low-level design.
❌ False. Agile promotes evolving architecture rather than completing it upfront.
B. Develop the detailed project plan.
❌ False. Agile emphasizes adaptive planning. Sprint Zero may produce a high-level release plan, but not a detailed project plan for the entire project.
C. Deliver a few stories.
❌ False (in this exam's interpretation). Sprint Zero focuses on activities such as setting up environments, defining the initial backlog, and establishing the team's working agreements. It is not intended to deliver user stories or a product increment.

Since A, B, and C are all false, the correct answer is:

✅ D. All of the above

Question 3: Who makes the final call on priority order in the Product Backlog?

A. The Development Team
B. The Scrum Master
C. The Product Owner
D. Someone in senior leadership like the MD or the CEO

Correct Answer to Q#3: C

In Scrum, the Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product by managing the Product Backlog, including its ordering (priority). While they gather input from stakeholders, customers, developers, and leadership, the final decision on the Product Backlog order belongs to the Product Owner.

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. The Development Team – They provide technical input, estimates, and feasibility feedback, but they do not decide the backlog order.
B. The Scrum Master – They coach the Scrum Team and help Scrum be understood and followed, but they do not prioritize the backlog.
D. Someone in senior leadership like the MD or the CEO – Leadership can influence priorities by providing business goals and strategic direction, but in Scrum, the Product Owner has the authority to make the final ordering decisions.

Question 4: The Development Team is expected to have all the skills needed to:

A. Complete the project by the given deadline and budget shared upfront with the sponsor.
B. Do analysis and development work, but leave out all forms of testing since that is handled by another specialized team.
C. Turn the Product Backlog items into potentially shippable product increments.
D. Master all state-of-the-art technology practices and tools available.

Correct Answer to Q#4: C

Explanation
Why C is correct: In frameworks like Scrum, the Development Team is structured as cross-functional, meaning they collectively possess all the necessary skills (such as analysis, design, development, and testing) to transform Product Backlog items into a valuable, potentially releasable (shippable) product increment by the end of each Sprint.

Why the others are incorrect:

A: Agile and Scrum projects operate under conditions of uncertainty where budgets and deadlines may evolve; the team's primary accountability is delivering increments rather than guaranteeing an upfront fixed-scope/budget outcome on their own.

B: Development Teams are responsible for all aspects of quality assurance and testing required to make an increment shippable; they do not typically leave testing to an external team in a pure agile setup.

D: While continuous learning is encouraged, mastering all state-of-the-art technologies is unrealistic and not a defining requirement for a Scrum Development Team.

Question 5: What is the main way that a Scrum Master contributes to maximizing the productivity in the development team?

A. By maintaining a risk-adjusted Product Backlog in priority order.
B. By making sure hygiene is maintained on meeting – agendas, start & end times, capturing and sending out minutes, etc.
C. By facilitating Development Team decisions and removing impediments.
D. By providing news about the newest technology trends in the market.

Correct Answer to Q#5: C

A Scrum Master maximizes the Development Team’s productivity primarily by facilitating the team’s work, helping remove impediments, and supporting effective decision-making.

A → Primarily the Product Owner’s responsibility.
B → Meeting hygiene can help, but it is not the Scrum Master’s main contribution.
C → Correct. This directly supports the team’s ability to deliver value effectively.
D → Not a core Scrum Master responsibility.

Question 6: During an estimation session each team member is asked to provide an estimate. Which of the following is correct?

A. The team member provides estimates for only the story that will be assigned to him.
B. The developer provides a development estimate, the analyst provides an analysis estimate and the tester does his part. Ultimately all the estimates are aggregated.
C. The team members provide a relative estimate in units of ideal days.
D. Participation of a team member is voluntary as the Scrum Master can fill in wherever necessary.

Correct Answer to Q#6: C

In Scrum estimation, the whole team participates and estimates the work collectively rather than estimating only their own assigned tasks. Estimates are typically relative, using techniques such as Planning Poker. “Ideal days” can be used as an estimation unit.

Question 7: During an estimation session each team member is asked to provide an estimate. Which of the following is correct?A project stakeholder wants to have a look at how the Agile team is progressing in
the middle of an iteration. As a member of the Agile team, you can guide him to:

A. The most recent weekly status report.
B. The sprint backlog.
C. The defect log.
D. The combined burnup and burndown charts.