Value-Driven Delivery

Correct Answer: Have a conversation with stakeholders about the value and priority of the new features, guide them to come to a mutual understanding with the product owner

The best approach when stakeholders request new features with unclear value is to have a conversation with them about the value and priority of these features, and guide them to reach a mutual understanding with the product owner. The reason this is the most appropriate response is because it takes into account the agile principles of collaboration, flexibility, and the prioritization of valuable work. By contrast, the other responses are not correct. Starting on new features immediately to meet stakeholders' expectations disregards the need for prioritization based on value and can lead to wasted resources and scope creep. Ignoring the stakeholders' request because the high priority features are already delivered goes against the principle of customer collaboration in agile. Changing the product backlog without discussing with the product owner undermines the role of the product owner and disrupts the shared understanding of the team.

Correct Answer: Fully support the Product Owner's decision as this aligns with Agile values to maximize the work not done.

The best course of action for a ScrumMaster would be to 'Fully support the Product Owner's decision as this aligns with Agile values to maximize the work not done.' This follows the principles of the Agile manifesto that focuses on a simple, clean, and maintainable codebase - maximize the amount of work not done to focus on creating value. The product owner has the authority to prioritize and adjust features and work, and as an Agile ScrumMaster, it is crucial to respect and support these decisions. The other options 'Implement the feature anyway because resources were invested in it', 'Ask the Product Owner to include the feature for the development costs to not go in vain', and 'Insist that the feature be kept because it might become valuable in future' advocate for a sunk cost fallacy, where decisions are influenced by previously invested resources, and are against the lean and value-focused Agile principles.

Correct Answer: Work on the high risk, high value item early in the project.

The best approach in Agile Project Management to high risk but high-value items, is to handle them early in the project. The reason is simple: if you deal with the riskiest tasks first and manage to successfully navigate through them, the remaining course of the project will be much smoother and less stressful. It also gives you more time to handle any issues that arise from the high-risk task. This strategy also lets you inform stakeholders at an early stage if the conceived high value cannot be achieved due to excessive risks. The approach of addressing high risk, high-value features first is a form of risk mitigation, a common strategy in project management. - 'Avoid the high risk, high value item until the later stages of the project' - Postponing high-risk, high-value tasks can lead to possible problems being discovered too late in the project when there's not enough time to adequately address them- 'Prioritize other low risk, low value items first' - While this might seem logical to reduce the project's overall risk factors, it might lead to the project delivering low value. Ideally, high-value items should be prioritized, as they are the features that are of most interest to the end user or stakeholder- 'Ignore the risk and proceed with the feature' - This approach is not advisable in any sort of project management as it can lead to catastrophic failures down the line.