Free Practice Questions for PMI DASSM Exam

We can identify our challenges "by visualizing our workflow to identify what blocks it." Visualizing the workflow, such as through a Kanban board or value stream map, helps teams see where bottlenecks, delays, or inefficiencies occur. This visualization makes it easier to pinpoint problems and areas for improvement. While holding retrospectives (B), finding where frustrations arise (C), and trying good practices to identify failures (D) are all valuable techniques, visualizing workflow is a foundational Lean practice for identifying and addressing challenges in real time.

The Lean life-cycle model is based on a continuous flow of work. In Disciplined Agile, Lean focuses on minimizing waste, delivering value continuously, and optimizing the entire value stream. Unlike other models like Waterfall, which follow a sequential approach, or Agile models, which may focus on iterative increments, Lean emphasizes a smooth, steady flow of value to the customer. Continuous Delivery Agile also involves a continuous flow, but "Lean" specifically is the framework built around this concept. Therefore, "D. Lean" is the correct answer.

According to the I.N.V.E.S.T. mnemonic, a good user story should be:

Independent:Can be developed and delivered without dependencies on other stories.

Negotiable:Flexible in details and open to discussion.

Valuable:Must deliver value to the customer or end-user.

Estimable:Can be estimated to gauge effort required.

Small:Sized appropriately to be completed within an iteration.

Testable:Should have clear criteria to determine whether the story is complete.

"Valuable" is a key characteristic that ensures the user story contributes to the product's value. Options A (Incremental), C (Tangible), and D (Satisfactory) are not part of the I.N.V.E.S.T. mnemonic.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.

Minimum Business Increments (MBIs) and Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) have different intentions. An MVP is designed to test a new product idea quickly and cost-effectively, with minimal functionality, to learn from customer feedback. An MBI, on the other hand, represents the smallest piece of business functionality that can deliver value to customers and stakeholders while aligning with strategic goals. While both aim to deliver value quickly, the MBI focuses on delivering tangible business value, whereas the MVP is more about validating product-market fit.

The final step in the "Choose your WoW" (Way of Working) process isGuided Continuous Improvement. This step emphasizes the need for teams to continually assess and refine their way of working based on outcomes, feedback, and learning. The focus is on applying a structured approach to improvement, where teams iteratively experiment with new practices and techniques and adapt based on what works best in their context.

Options B (Make some choices), C (Connect the dots), and D (Select the best-fit life-cycle) are earlier steps in the process, which involve defining the team's initial way of working.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.

The "Definition of Done" (DoD) is a checklist that specifies the criteria that must be met for a user story or product increment to be considered complete by the team. It provides a shared understanding among team members and stakeholders of what it means for work to be finished. The DoD ensures that all user stories meet a minimum quality standard and are ready for production or release. It is not related to when the team is done with the iteration (B) or with estimating user stories (C).

The "Exploratory" lifecycle in Disciplined Agile (DA) is most suitable for a lean startup model that focuses on quickly validating ideas and narrowing down candidate projects to pursue. The Exploratory lifecycle is designed for situations where the primary goal is to learn and validate assumptions rapidly through experimentation and feedback. This aligns with the lean startup approach of testing hypotheses, iterating quickly, and adapting based on validated learning. Options A (Continuous delivery Agile), B (Agile), D (Lean), E (Continuous Delivery Lean), and F (Program) do not focus specifically on the rapid learning and experimentation phase that characterizes the lean startup model.

Governance in a Disciplined Agile (DA) project involves ensuring that the organization's standards, practices, and compliance requirements are being met while allowing teams to operate within a defined framework. It includes activities such as creating forums for sharing knowledge (A), making decisions about funding (B), administering rewards and recognition (C), ensuring compliance with a regulatory standard (E), and having a defined process for decision-making (F).

However, governance does not mean giving the team complete freedom to make decisions (D). In DA, while teams are encouraged to be self-organizing and empowered, they must still operate within the constraints of organizational governance policies and practices. Governance ensures there is a balance between team autonomy and alignment with organizational goals and standards. Therefore, "complete freedom to the team to make decisions" is not aligned with the DA approach to governance.

This aligns with the principles found in the PMI Disciplined Agile framework, which emphasizes both flexibility and control. In DA, governance is about guiding and monitoring the team’s activities to align with the organizational context, rather than granting unrestricted autonomy.

DevOpsis a key competency in Disciplined Agile, aiming to create a smooth flow of work from development through to operations. This involves practices such as continuous integration, continuous delivery, and automated deployment, which help to reduce cycle time, improve feedback loops, and ensure the product is always in a deployable state. The focus is on integrating development and operations to deliver value to customers more rapidly and reliably.

Options B (using developers for operations), C (automating testing), and D (involving operational teams in development) are components of DevOps practices, but the primary goal is to establish a seamless workflow.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.

The eight principles of Disciplined Agile are:

Delight Customers: Focus on providing exceptional value to customers.

Be Awesome: Foster an environment where team members feel motivated and supported.

Pragmatism: Make practical decisions based on context, rather than blindly following a methodology.

Context Counts: Recognize that every team and organization operates in a unique context.

Choice is Good: Encourage flexibility by providing multiple options to solve problems.

Optimize Flow: Improve efficiency and effectiveness by focusing on smooth workflow.

Enterprise Awareness: Ensure alignment with organizational goals and strategies.

Organize Around Products/Services: Form teams based on delivering complete products or services, rather than around specialized functions.

These principles promote a flexible, customer-centric, and context-sensitive approach to Agile delivery.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.