Free Practice Questions for PMI DASSM Exam

The best way to eliminate waste in Disciplined Agile is to "eliminate delays in workflow and feedback." Lean principles focus on removing any non-value-added activities (waste) to improve efficiency. By minimizing delays, teams can ensure a smoother flow of work and faster feedback loops, which helps to identify and resolve issues quickly and reduces the time taken to deliver value to customers. While making sure each step is done as quickly as possible (A) or correctly(D) and ensuring people know their job (B) are important, they are not the primary method of eliminating waste according to Lean principles.

True: On an Agile team, the Product Owner is the go-to person for business domain information. The Product Owner is responsible for defining the product vision, managing the product backlog, and acting as the primary liaison between the development team and stakeholders. They provide clarity on business requirements, priorities, and customer needs, ensuring that the team understands what is needed to deliver value. The Product Owner's deep knowledge of the business domain makes them the authoritative source for business-related questions and guidance.

The "Program" life-cycle model is the most suitable for running large product development efforts requiring a team-of-teams approach. The Program life cycle in Disciplined Agile (DA) is specifically designed to handle complex projects that require multiple teams working together in a coordinated manner. It focuses on collaboration, synchronization, and scaling across teams to deliver a large-scale solution effectively. Other options like Exploratory (A), Kanban (C), Agile (D), Scrum (E), and Lean (F) do not specifically address the need for coordinating multiple teams on a large product development effort.

In the PMI Disciplined Agile framework, "Governance" is a process blade that focuses on providing oversight and direction to ensure that the organization aligns with its objectives and complies with relevant policies and standards. A senior management team monitoring work across various areas, providing guidance, and resolving escalated issues is a clear example of governance. The purpose of governance is to ensure that teams are operating effectively and efficiently, aligned with organizational goals, and that risks are managed appropriately. Portfolio management (Option A) deals with investment decisions and balancing the portfolio, while the other options (Business Operations, Finance, Product Management) focus on different aspects of the organization.

A major challenge that agile teams face withProcurement processesis that these processes are oftennot agile enough. Traditional procurement practices can be bureaucratic, slow, and rigid,making it difficult for Agile teams to respond quickly to changes, integrate new vendors, or adjust to new requirements. Agile teams need flexible procurement processes that allow for iterative and incremental development, quick onboarding of vendors, and adaptive contracting mechanisms.

Options B (vendor compliance), C (preference for in-house teams), and D (no contracting) are not typically the primary challenges Agile teams face with procurement.

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.

In the PMI Disciplined Agile framework, the timely delivery of the product as committed is ultimately the responsibility of the entire team. While the Product Owner (Option A) provides direction and prioritization of work, and the Team Lead (Option B) facilitates the process, it is the collective responsibility of the Team Members (Option C) to deliver the product incrementally and meet commitments. Agile teams operate under the principle of shared responsibility and accountability for outcomes, meaning every team member contributes to the delivery process. Other roles, such as Gold User (Option D) and Architecture Owner (Option E), have specific responsibilities but are not accountable for the delivery timeline.

Among the primary roles on Disciplined Agile (DA) teams, theTeam Lead(also referred to as a Scrum Master or Agile Coach in other frameworks) needs to be aprocess expert. The Team Lead is responsible for guiding the team in following Agile practices, helping them optimize their way of working (WoW), removing impediments, and facilitating continuous improvement. They ensure that the team adheres to the chosen practices and adapts them as necessary to fit their context.

Options A (Team member), B (Architecture owner), and C (Product owner) are important roles but are not primarily focused on being process experts.

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.

In the Disciplined Agile (DA) framework, the role of "Team Member" is primarily responsible for building the product right. Team members, who possess the necessary skills and expertise, work collaboratively to develop, test, and deliver the solution according to the agreed-upon requirements and standards. While the Team Lead (B) facilitates the process and the Product Owner (C) ensures the right product is being built by prioritizing features and managing the backlog, it is the Team Members who actually perform the development work. The Architecture Owner (D) ensures the architectural integrity of the solution but is not solely responsible for building the product itself.

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One of the promises of Disciplined Agile (DA) is to ensure psychological safety, which means creating an environment where team members feel safe to express their ideas, take risks, and admit mistakes without fear of criticism or retaliation. Psychological safety allows teams to collaborate more effectively, innovate, and learn from their experiences. Option A (providing a hygienic work environment) refers to physical safety, while Options C (never criticizing) and D (providing counseling) do not accurately capture the essence of psychological safety as promoted in DA.