PMP Practice Questions #129
You have developed a release plan assuming an estimated velocity of 25 story points per iteration with a project team of six members. The release is slated to cover five iterations. However, during the first iteration, your team’s actual velocity was only 15 story points, and it further declined to 12 story points in the second iteration. As the project manager, what should be your first action to address this situation?
A. Continue with the current plan, assuming that the team will naturally improve and meet the initial velocity estimates in the upcoming iterations.
B. Reassess the team’s capacity and revise the release plan based on the actual velocities recorded in the first two iterations, potentially extending the timeline or reducing the scope.
C. Increase the pressure on the team to meet the initially estimated velocity, implementing overtime if necessary to catch up to the planned schedule.
D. Add two more engineers to your team for the remaining three iterations to make up the gap and reach the goal.
Analysis
The scenario presents a challenge where the project team’s actual velocity falls significantly short of the estimated velocity in the first two iterations of a release planned over five iterations. This discrepancy necessitates an examination of potential actions to align the project’s execution with its objectives effectively.
Analysis of Options:
Option A: Continue with the current plan, assuming that the team will naturally improve and meet the initial velocity estimates in the upcoming iterations. It assumes the team will naturally improve and meet the initial velocity estimates in the upcoming iterations. This approach is optimistic but potentially risky, as it assumes improvement without taking proactive measures to understand and address the underlying reasons for the lower-than-expected velocity.
Option B: Reassess the team’s capacity and revise the release plan based on the actual velocities recorded in the first two iterations, potentially extending the timeline or reducing the scope. Given the unexpected shortfall in the team’s velocity during the initial iterations, a thorough reassessment of team capabilities and the current release plan is imperative. This reevaluation should incorporate the real performance metrics gathered from the first two iterations to form a more accurate forecast of future work pace. Adjusting the project timeline or scope might become necessary based on this revised understanding. This method pragmatically recognizes the gap between anticipated and realized team performance, proposing modifications to the release schedule or deliverables to better mirror the actual situation. By recalibrating expectations and planning parameters in light of actual velocity, the project is positioned more favorably to achieve its objectives, albeit under revised conditions. This approach prioritizes realism and adaptability, key tenets of effective project management, ensuring that project targets are aligned with the team’s proven capabilities.
Option C: Increase the pressure on the team to meet the initially estimated velocity, implementing overtime if necessary to catch up to the planned schedule. This option might yield short-term gains in terms of velocity but could adversely affect team morale, quality of work, and sustainability of the project’s pace, leading to potential burnout and diminishing returns.
Option D: Add two more engineers to your team for the remaining three iterations to make up the gap and reach the goal. While this could theoretically increase the team’s output, it risks disrupting team dynamics and may not result in a proportional increase in productivity due to the onboarding time and the complexity of integrating new members into established processes.
Conclusion: Option B is identified as the most appropriate first action. It involves reassessing and adjusting the release plan based on actual performance data, This option prioritizes realistic planning, stakeholder communication, and flexibility, addressing the immediate need to realign the project’s trajectory without sacrificing long-term project health or team well-being. It demonstrates a balanced approach to problem-solving, leveraging empirical evidence to inform decision-making and ensuring that adjustments are made in a manner that is sustainable and aligned with Agile principles.
PMP Exam Content Outline Mapping
| Domain | Task |
|---|---|
| Process | Task 6: Plan and manage schedule |
Topics Covered
- Release Planning
- Velocity
- Team Development
