Estimating in hours instead of points may not help in improving predictability because time-based estimates can often be inaccurate and can vary widely based on individual productivity and context. Using story points allows teams to focus on relative size and complexity, making it easier to compare work items and plan iterations more predictably.

Options B (reducing technical debt), C (reducing feedback cycles), D (respecting WIP limits), and E (adopting a test-first approach) all contribute to improving predictability by promoting consistent, high-quality 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.

Setting appropriate expectations about release timings with the customer is not typically the responsibility of team members in a disciplined agile team. This responsibility usually falls to the Product Owner, who acts as the liaison between the team and the customer, managing expectations and ensuring alignment on priorities and timelines.

Options B (self-organizing), C (evolving their way of working), and D (evolving the architecture with the help of the architecture owner) are responsibilities of team members in a disciplined agile team.

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 principle of "Delight customers" in the Disciplined Agile framework encourages teams to exceed customer expectations rather than just meet them. This approach aims to provide exceptional value and experiences that surprise and please customers, thereby fostering loyalty and positive word-of-mouth. Simply meeting expectations is not sufficient to truly "delight" customers; therefore, the statement that delighting customers means just about meeting their expectations is false.

For a long-term project with potential for significant budgeting and tracking overhead, the Scrum Master should set up a long-standing team. According to the Disciplined Agile framework, long-standing teams are stable teams that remain intact across multiple projects or over a long duration. These teams are cross-functional, meaning they have all the necessary skills to deliver value and are more likely to develop high levels of collaboration and productivity over time. While cross-functional teams (B) are a necessary characteristic, "long-standing team" (A) is the best answer for a long-term project with significant overhead, as it implies continuity and sustained team dynamics. A project team (C) is typically formed for a short-term, specific project and disbanded afterward. A shared services team (D) provides specialized skills and services to various teams and is not typically suited for the dedicated effort required by long-term projects.

True : A value stream does indeed begin and end with a customer. In Disciplined Agile, a value stream represents the sequence of activities an organization undertakes to deliver a product or service that is of value to a customer. It starts with a customer need or demand and ends with the delivery of value to that customer. The focus on value streams helps organizations optimize the flow of value, reduce waste, and enhance customer satisfaction by aligning all activities around delivering what the customer truly needs.

A value stream map is a lean tool that visually maps out the steps in a process from start to finish to identify areas of waste, delays, or inefficiencies in delivering value to the customer. In Disciplined Agile (DA), value stream mapping helps the team identify problem areas where waste occurs, such as bottlenecks, excessive handoffs, or unnecessary steps that do not add value to the customer. By recognizing these problem areas, the team can focus on improving or eliminating them to optimize the value delivery process. Options A, C, and D provide specific strategies for improving processes but do not encompass the broad benefit of identifying problem areas in realizing value.

In Lean, the role of management is to create an environment where teams can thrive and deliver maximum value. This involves fostering a culture that encourages collaboration, continuous improvement, and innovation. Management is responsible for providing support, removing impediments, and ensuring that teams have the resources they need to be successful. The goal is to empower teams to make decisions, own their processes, and focus on delivering value to customers.

Options A, B, and D do not align with the principles of Lean management. Lean emphasizes minimizing waste (like unnecessary documentation) and does not focus on providing MVPs directly to the team (Option B). Ensuring decisions are not made regionally (Option D) is also not a core role of management in Lean.

References:

"Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation," James P. Womack & Daniel T. Jones.

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