Burndown Charts

Correct Answer: The team has completed a large portion of work in the beginning of the sprint.

A steep downward curve at the beginning of a burndown chart signifies a lot of work has been completed. It indicates that the project team is closing tasks at a quick pace. This correlates with a large portion of work being completed in the initial phase of the sprint, hence the first answer is correct. The second answer is incorrect because a consistent pace would produce a linear line on the burndown chart, not a steep curve. The third answer is also incorrect, a lack of completed tasks would have resulted in a flat line on the chart. Lastly, the fourth answer is misleading. While a large workload at the end of the sprint can lead to burnout, the steep downward curve suggests that progress is being made at the beginning of the sprint, not the end.

Correct Answer: Start a discussion with the team about what adjustments can be made to meet the sprint goal

In Agile project management, when the burndown chart shows that there's significant work remaining in the sprint, the best course of action is to discuss with the team about what adjustments can be made to meet the sprint goal. The purpose of the sprint is not to add pressure to the team but to offer a structure that promotes focus and progress. Thus, increasing the sprint duration could just postpone the issue and not effectively solve it. Adding more developers to the team doesn't guarantee efficiency or faster task completion; in some instances, it might cause more confusion and slower progress due to the need to onboard the new team members. Ignoring the chart and continuing with the current trend, on the other hand, is a denial of a visible problem. Agile promotes continuous evaluation and learning from feedback, so it's not an acceptable action.

Correct Answer: New tasks were discovered and added in the middle of the sprint

When a burndown chart is showing an upward curve during the middle of the sprint, it usually means that new tasks were discovered and added in the middle of the sprint. This is a common situation in agile development, as the team may uncover new requirements or tasks as they start working on the project. The other answers are less likely, as completing all tasks ahead of time or having an increased work capacity would cause the burndown chart to show a downward slope, not an upward curve. Similarly, working on the wrong tasks would not necessarily cause the chart to rise, but might instead cause a flat line if the team is not progressing with the correct tasks.