Free Practice Questions for PMI PMI-ACP Exam

The project lead should focus on creating a safe environment where all team members feel comfortable expressing their opinions without fear of judgment or repercussions. This can be achieved by encouraging open communication, showing appreciation for diverse perspectives, and actively ensuring that everyone's voice is heard. A safe environment fosters trust and collaboration, which is essential for the team's success. While other options may help in certain contexts, building a culture of safety and trust is the most effective long-term strategy to encourage team members to speak up.

One of the pillars of agile isearly and continuous customer feedbackto ensure that the product being delivered meets stakeholder expectations. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.3: Reviews and Feedback Loops)andMike Griffiths' PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 4: Stakeholder Engagement),frequent customer reviews (e.g., sprint reviews)ensure alignment and early identification of quality or value issues.

Option Dis correct: regular customer engagement during reviews ensures delivery effectiveness and customer satisfaction.

Option Ais inappropriate—daily stand-ups are for internal team coordination.

Option Breflects a waterfall approach.

Option Cmisplaces the responsibility—requirements evolve and are refined throughout, not fixed up front.

The correct answer is D — Engaged key stakeholders periodically to collect requirements.

Agile is based on frequent stakeholder collaboration. Continuous engagement ensures evolving needs are captured and prevents misalignment. Waiting for planning meetings or demos is too late to catch missing input.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“Agile teams ensure stakeholder engagement is ongoing throughout the project. This helps validate requirements and prevent surprises during reviews.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 4.2 – Stakeholder Engagement)

Mike Griffiths:

“Stakeholders should be consulted early and often. Relying on static requirements leads to gaps. Agile teams maintain constant feedback loops.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 3 – Value-Driven Delivery)

Incorrect options:

A is too early and one-time.

B may help but is reactive.

C is a predictive approach inconsistent with agile.

Answer: D

The correct answer is C — All stakeholders are responsible for identifying risks during standups, retrospectives, and other team meetings.

Agile promotes collective ownership. Risk identification and mitigation are shared responsibilities involving the entire team, including the product owner, developers, and other stakeholders. Agile meetings (e.g., stand-ups, retrospectives) are excellent forums for surfacing risks early.

PMI Agile Practice Guide:

“In agile projects, everyone is responsible for identifying and managing risk. Teams inspect frequently, enabling early detection and resolution of issues.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 7.3 – Risk Management)

Mike Griffiths:

“Risk management is embedded in agile events. Teams don’t defer risk analysis to a specialist—they collaborate continuously to identify, discuss, and respond to risks.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 6 – Problem Detection and Resolution)

Incorrect options:

A ignores active risk management needs.

B assumes individual rather than shared responsibility.

D misrepresents the PO’s role—risks may appear in the backlog, but management is team-based.

Answer: C

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To kick off the project, especially when the idea is not yet clear, the agile lead should focus on understanding the needs and challenges of the end users—HR in this case. By applying the empathy map technique, the team can gather insights into the users' experiences, needs, and pain points. This helps in building a more focused and user-centered approach to solving the problem, which is the foundation for developing a product backlog. Engaging stakeholders early and understanding the problem space will clarify the project direction and lay the groundwork for creating meaningful user stories.

In Agile, continuous integration and regression testing should be part of every iteration to ensure that the product is always in a potentially shippable state. These practices help catch issues early in the development process, preventing defects from accumulating and becoming harder to fix later. By integrating and testing frequently, the team ensures that new code works with existing code and that the product maintains its quality throughout the development lifecycle. This approach aligns with Agile principles of delivering working software regularly and maintaining high-quality standards throughout each iteration.

As a servant leader, the agile coach’s role is to support and empower the team, helping them overcome obstacles that hinder their progress. In this case, the coach should focus on identifying and removing any impediments that are slowing down the work, whether they are technical, process-related, or communication-based. This approach enables the team to work more efficiently, enhances their ability to self-organize, and ensures they can deliver high-quality results. Simply adjusting the work plan or assigning more resources may not address the underlying issues, and a command-and-control approach is counterproductive in an Agile environment.

The correct answer is D — Ensure that planning and prioritizing includes consideration of security requirements.

Non-functional requirements (such as security, performance, or compliance) must be included in backlog prioritization and planning sessions. Agile teams must incorporate these concerns into their definition of done and acceptance criteria to ensure continuous compliance and product integrity.

PMI Agile Practice Guide emphasizes:

“Non-functional requirements (NFRs) must be prioritized and planned for alongside functional user stories. They are not optional, and failure to include them early often leads to system failure or technical debt.”

(PMI Agile Practice Guide, Section 5.3 — Planning Considerations)

Mike Griffiths writes:

“Agile teams should treat NFRs as constraints that are baked into every sprint. Rather than isolating them, they should be considered in backlog refinement and story definition.”

(PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Chapter 5 – Adaptive Planning)

Other options:

A may help, but meeting agendas alone are not sufficient for managing NFRs.

B may assist with knowledge, but it doesn’t guarantee prioritization.

C implies treating the NFR as a risk rather than a core requirement.

Answer: D

Spikes are valuable for reducing uncertainty, but agile discouragesspending multiple sprints solely on spikeswithout delivering value. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.2 Spikes and Exploration)andMike Griffiths’ PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book (Chapter 6: Adaptive Planning), learning and delivery should occurconcurrentlywhenever possible. Teams should strive toinclude high-priority deliverables alongside spikes, particularly in early sprints, to build momentum and maintain stakeholder engagement.

Option Cis correct: executing high-priority stories in parallel with spikes promotes learning and value delivery.

Option AandDsupport spikes but ignore the risk ofdelayed value.

Option Bis valid but administrative; the better choice is to avoid needing prolonged spike sprints at all.

Reducing test automation in agileundermines quality and slows down feedback loops, contradicting agile principles. According to thePMI Agile Practice Guide (Section 5.5 Quality Management in Agile Projects)andPMBOK® Guide (6th Edition, Section 8.1), agile projects aim forbuilt-in quality, and test automation is critical in achieving that.

Mike Griffiths (PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book, Chapter 6: Value-Driven Delivery) strongly advocates fortest automation to support sustainable developmentand improve predictability, quality, and speed. Rather than comply blindly with the product owner’s request, the agile practitioner shouldengage stakeholdersand clarify the long-term trade-offs of reducing quality practices.

Option Ais correct: consulting stakeholders ensures transparency, alignment, and helps prevent short-sighted compromises that could undermine the product.