Product Owner Test

You are a Scrum Master in an organization that is transitioning to Scrum. You have multiple Scrum Teams working on different parts of a large software product. Each team is working on different features, but those features have dependencies on one another. For example, Team A is working on a feature that cannot be completed until Team B completes another feature.

During the Sprint Planning, Team A chose a user story from its backlog that depends on the completion of a user story from Team B’s backlog. However, Team B can't guarantee that their user story will be done in the next sprint.

What should be the Scrum Master's approach to handle this scenario following Scrum principles?

A: Have Team A start working on the dependent user story with the hope that Team B finishes their part within the sprint.
B: Ask Team A to choose a different user story for this sprint that doesn't depend on Team B's work.
C: Arrange a joint session between Team A and Team B to revise their sprint plans, ensuring dependent user stories are completed in the same sprint.
D: Merge Team A and Team B for the next sprint to ensure they work together on the dependent user stories.
E: Delay the start of Team A’s sprint until Team B completes their user story.

Here’s a sprint burndown chart for team A at SpaceY Inc:

Here’s a sprint burndown chart for team B at SpaceY Inc:

We know the following about the graphs:

- Red line is the the ideal line: projected slope that depicts how the team progress would look like
- Black line is the actual effort line
- Story points are represented on Y-axis
- And time in weeks is represented on X-axis

Which of the following statements are true about SpaceY teams:

P: Team A started slowly and was moving behind schedule. Yet, they managed to finish the sprint in time
Q: Team A is working hard towards meeting the deadline but isn’t updating the burndown chart throughout the process, only at the end.
R: Team A’s next sprint’s capacity should be burned down or decreased so that the team can have to complete tasks/story points from the previous sprint
S: Team B started slowly but eventually caught up
T: Team B might have overestimated the project’s timeline

Emily is a product owner for a new application being built at Whalesforce Inc. To maintain visibility into project status, Emily has cut the project into chunks which different teams will be responsible for:

- DevOps team (DoT) will set up the servers. They have no dependencies and will take 4 weeks to set things up.
- Design team (DT) will design the screens for the application, have no dependencies and need 3 weeks to wrap up.
- Front-end team (FT) will need the designs to start the work, and will take 5 weeks to create the front-end components.
- Backend team (BT) will need input from DoT and DT to start designing the backend system, and will take 3 weeks to release the backend APIs.
- Security team (ST) will require server details from DoT, and will need 3 weeks to give a go-ahead.
- Integration team (IT) will require the front-end components and backend API to set up the integration. They will launch the application in 3 weeks.

The project is marked for internal release once IT and ST teams give a go-ahead.

Emily wants to communicate the best-case estimate for the internal release of the project to the major stakeholders. Can you help her with the estimate?

Seloitte hires PopTal for developing a new mobile application. PopTal team follows Agile methodology for development and estimates the whole project to take up to 1000 points. In the first sprint the team commits to work on the following stories:

Story 1 - 6 points
Story 2 - 10 points
Story 3 - 16 points

The team completes Story 1 and 3 but only completes eighty percent of Story 2. Pick the correct statements:

A: The average velocity of the first sprint is 22 points
B: The average velocity of the first sprint is 30 points
C: Based on the average velocity, the product owner can notify the stakeholders that the project will take roughly 45 sprints to finish (assuming team size and members remain the same)
D: Based on the average velocity, the product owner can notify the stakeholders that the project will take roughly 33 sprints to finish (assuming team size and members remain the same)

Emily spent the entire week at a client's site as part of the accounting team. Emily is just about to leave for the weekend, when she notices that there is an email from another small, but growing client that they have been working closely for the past 3 months. Emily has a good professional relationship with Rebecca, who sent the email. Rebecca has a question, which she needs an urgent response to. Answering the question in detail will require Emily to access a number of files in her own office. What should Emily do first?

A: Reply immediately that she needs more information before she can respond in detail, and that she will do it first thing on Monday morning.

B: Rebecca will have gotten an out of office (OOO) response, so she can leave it for now and respond first thing on Monday morning.

C: Call Rebecca to find out by when they need the information. If they need it right away, Emily can go to office, give the required details and provide a more detailed response on Monday.

D: Reply to the email immediately, based on the information Emily has already and assure Rebecca that she will double check and send over a more detailed response first thing on Monday.

You are the Head of Supply Chain for a large automobile manufacturer. Your supply chain is highly globalized, with key components sourced from various international suppliers. Recently, a significant geopolitical event has caused disruption to the supply of a critical component sourced from a particular region, causing production delays. You need to quickly resolve this issue while also planning for future disruptions. How should you approach this situation?

A: Find a local supplier for the critical component, regardless of cost and quality.
B: Stockpile components to mitigate future disruptions.
C: Invest in developing the component in-house, regardless of the time and resources it may take.
D: Lobby with government bodies to prioritize your company's needs.
E: Seek alternative international suppliers, renegotiate contracts with a risk mitigation clause, and invest in dual sourcing for critical components.
F: Shift the burden to the production department to figure out how to handle the component shortage.
G: Initiate legal action against the current supplier for not fulfilling their contract.

You are the team leader of a project team in a software development company. Your team consists of experienced and talented individuals. However, two of your team members, Alice and Bob, are frequently having disagreements, which is affecting the team's morale and overall productivity. The disagreements seem to stem from a clash in their working styles. Alice is very detail-oriented and likes to plan ahead while Bob is more spontaneous and likes to tackle problems as they come. You need to address this issue to ensure the project deadlines are met. What approach would you take?

A: They are both adults, wait for them to fix the issue by themselves. 
B: Pick the more competent team member's side and ask the other team member to adjust.
C: Have a private conversation with both Alice and Bob separately, to give feedback on their behaviors.
D: Organize team-building activities to improve team dynamics.
E: Report the situation to your manager and ask for their advice.
F: Terminate the less competent team member from the project team, and move them to another project.
G: Organize a meeting with both Alice and Bob, facilitating a discussion where they understand each other's perspectives and find a middle ground.

You are a data analyst for a marketing agency. While reviewing the quarterly reports, you notice a discrepancy in the sales data for a major client. The total sales for the quarter, as per the report, are $200,000. However, when you add up the monthly sales data given in the same report, the total is $210,000. The senior analyst is already preparing to present this report to the client. What is your next step?

A: Immediately inform the senior analyst about the discrepancy and offer to recalculate all the data.
B: Assume it's a minor mistake and ignore it, focusing on your other tasks.
C: Cross-verify the data with the original data source before bringing it to the attention of the senior analyst.
D: Prepare an amended report and replace the existing report without informing anyone.
E: Inform the IT department about the potential data integrity issue.
F: Talk to the person who prepared the report about the discrepancy.
G: Submit a report to the senior management detailing the discrepancy.

Sarah, a hospital administrator, was reviewing the medication administration records of patients. She came across a patient, Mr. Brown, who was reported to have an allergy to Penicillin. However, she noticed that the same patient was prescribed Amoxicillin for a bacterial infection. Knowing that both Penicillin and Amoxicillin are from the same drug family - beta-lactams, she should:

A: Assume the doctor knows best and ignore
B: Change the medication herself to a non-beta lactam drug
C: Contact the pharmacy to change the drug
D: Speak with the prescribing physician about the discrepancy
E: Consult the nurse who administered the medication
F: Immediately call the patient's family to inform them of the mistake
G: Report the case to a medical malpractice lawyer

Su is the project manager for a Bengaluru based video storage company. The allowable deviation for video compression time is ±150 milliseconds. They use a third party service which offers an API for video compression. The third party service delivers documentation with the latest version of the API which states that the requirements are being met as per specification. Su’s team conducts multiple quality tests on the API. The aggregate deviation found by her team is 155 milliseconds, but the team says this variation from the permissible deviation is negligible. What should Su do?

A: Allow the API since the third party vendor provided the product on time
B: Allow the API for now, but ask the third party vendor for an explanation
C: Document the low level of quality, allow the API to be used and work with the third party vendor to find a solution
D: Reject the API and ask the third party vendor to provide the product within the allowable deviation
E: Use the API for now, and start developing their own video compression API to use in the future
F: Halt the project and start developing their own video compression API

You are the project manager for a software product that is scheduled for launch in two weeks. Your team brings two bugs to your attention.

Bug 1, if unattended, could lead to loss of critical customer data but is hard to replicate. There's an estimated 2% chance it could occur under normal conditions.

Bug 2 affects the usability of a secondary feature and happens frequently. The feature is nice-to-have and does not impact core functionality.

To address these bugs, you have five options:

A) Delay the launch by one week and deploy resources to fix both bugs.

B) Proceed with the launch as scheduled, with a built-in monitoring system to alert if Bug 1 occurs. If it does, immediately release a patch. Bug 2 will be addressed in the next scheduled update.

C) Share the information about both bugs with the stakeholders, highlighting the potential risks and impacts, and ask them for guidance.

D) Ignore Bug 2 and deploy additional resources to fix Bug 1 without delaying the launch.

E) Delay the launch by two weeks to conduct a thorough investigation and ensure that both bugs are resolved.

What is the most suitable course of action according to project management principles?

You are the project manager of a software development team following Agile methodologies. Your team is planning for the next two-week sprint. The team's composition and capacity (in story points) for the upcoming sprint is as follows:

- 2 Backend Developers: 15 each
- 2 Frontend Developers: 15 each
- 1 QA Analyst: 15

On Day 5 of the sprint, the Product Owner introduces a new high-priority user story from a key stakeholder. This story, estimated at 5 story points, requires 2 points of backend work, 2 points of frontend work, and 1 point of QA.

Your team's current sprint status (utilized/total capacity) is:

- Backend Developers: 7/15 each
- Frontend Developers: 9/15 each
- QA Analyst: 10/15

Here are your options:

A) Reallocate 5 story points worth of work (in a way that it matches the new story requirements) from the team's current tasks to the Product Owner's high-priority story.

B) Reject the new story citing the team's current workload, and suggest considering it for the next sprint.

C) Ask the team to stretch their capacity by 5 points (appropriately distributed among team members) to accommodate the new story.

D) Remove a yet-to-be-started user story worth 5 points (requiring 2 backend, 2 frontend, and 1 QA points) from the current sprint to make room for the new story.

E) Split the high-priority story into two smaller stories and distribute it over the current and next sprint.

Which is the most appropriate course of action according to Agile project management principles?