PMI-ACP Practice Questions #27
You are leading an Agile team that has recently transitioned from working in an office to working remotely. Previously, daily standups were conducted in-person at the start of the day, and all team members attended consistently. Since moving to remote work, several challenges have emerged, such as time zone differences, technical issues, and difficulties in active participation during virtual meetings.
As an Agile practitioner, how would you address these challenges?
A. Reiterate the value of the current daily standup format and ask team members to adjust to virtual working by adhering to the original schedule.
B. Suggest conducting asynchronous updates via a shared document or collaboration tool instead of holding live daily standups to accommodate remote challenges.
C. Propose revisiting the team’s working agreement to collaboratively adapt the daily standup for remote work, including discussing timing, format, and tools to address the team’s needs.
D. Encourage team members to use other communication channels throughout the day to share updates, reducing reliance on the daily standup as the main discussion forum.
Analysis
An Agile team that previously held in-person daily standups has now transitioned to remote work, encountering challenges such as time zone differences, technical issues, and participation difficulties in virtual meetings. The goal is to address these challenges effectively while maintaining team collaboration and communication. The best approach should be collaborative, flexible, and focused on continuous improvement.
Analysis of Options
A: Reiterate the value of the current daily standup format and ask team members to adjust to virtual working by adhering to the original schedule.
This option ignores the challenges faced by the team in a remote setup. Agile emphasizes responding to change rather than rigidly sticking to existing practices. Simply asking team members to “adjust” without addressing the time zone and participation challenges fails to promote an adaptive and growth-oriented mindset. This approach lacks empathy for team members’ difficulties and does not support a collaborative solution.
B: Suggest conducting asynchronous updates via a shared document or collaboration tool instead of holding live daily standups to accommodate remote challenges.
While asynchronous communication is a useful Agile practice, completely replacing live standups with a shared document or tool is a drastic shift. There is no indication in the question that live interaction is impossible due to time zone constraints. Agile encourages face-to-face communication (even virtually) as the most effective form of conveying information. Jumping directly to asynchronous updates eliminates real-time collaboration and problem-solving, which are key benefits of a daily standup.
C: Propose revisiting the team’s working agreement to collaboratively adapt the daily standup for remote work, including discussing timing, format, and tools to address the team’s needs.
This option is aligned with Agile principles as it emphasizes collaborative decision-making. Revisiting the team’s working agreement allows for adjustments based on real-world challenges while keeping the team involved in the decision-making process. The retrospective could be a suitable place to address these issues and ensure the team adapts to remote work in an effective way. This solution balances flexibility, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
D: Encourage team members to use other communication channels throughout the day to share updates, reducing reliance on the daily standup as the main discussion forum.
While encouraging additional communication is a good Agile practice, this option does not directly address the problem with the daily standup. The question specifically asks how to resolve the challenges faced during standups in a remote setting. While informal communication can supplement daily standups, it does not replace the need for structured synchronization.
Conclusion
The best option is Option C, as it follows Agile values of collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement. Revisiting the team’s working agreement enables the team to adjust their standup meetings in a way that works best for their remote setup while ensuring engagement, participation, and efficiency.
This question maps to Agile principles related to responding to change, fostering collaboration, and continuously improving team processes.
PMI – ACP Exam Content Outline Mapping
| Domain | Task |
| Mindset | Promote Collaborative Team Environment |
| Delivery | Perform Continuous Improvements |
Topics Covered:
- Revisit and adapt working agreements for remote collaboration
- Facilitate team discussion to adjust daily standup timing and format
- Ensure inclusivity by addressing time zone and technical constraints
- Promote active participation in virtual meetings
- Balance synchronous standups with asynchronous updates when needed
- Encourage continuous improvement in remote work practices
- Empower the team to collaboratively refine communication processes
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