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Empowering the Team

5 minutes 5 Questions

Empowering the Team emphasizes giving autonomy and decision-making power to people who have the best knowledge. It's a process where every team member has the required belief in his capabilities. Team members are encouraged to take decisions and feel responsible for their work. This results in high performance, high morale, innovation, and ownership.

Guide on Empowering the Team for PMI-ACP: Lean Software Development

Empowering the team is a crucial principle in Lean Software Development.

Why is it important?
Empowering the team means giving them the autonomy to make decisions in the course of the project. This fosters creativity, encourages taking ownership of tasks, and enhances problem-solving skills. Empowered teams often display higher commitment and productivity.

What is it?
Empowering the team refers to creating an environment where team members are trusted with responsibilities and are allowed to take decisions about their work without being micromanaged.

How it works?
This can be achieved by removing bureaucratic hurdles, providing the necessary resources and support, and fostering an atmosphere of trust and respect.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Empowering the Team
In the PMI-ACP exam, you may encounter questions focusing on scenarios where you need to decide whether a team is empowered or not. Your answers should align with the core principles of Lean Software Development, such as respecting people and their decisions, providing them with opportunities to learn and grow, and creating a safe environment for them to innovate and experiment.
Key points to remember:
Empowered teams are proactive, take ownership, and cater for their own needs. They trust in their abilities and those of their colleagues. They can set their own goals and manage their own time and work.
The role of management in an empowered team is facilitative and supportive rather than directive.

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PMI-ACP - Lean Software Development Example Questions

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Question 1

Your team has consistently been under-estimating tasks resulting in missed sprint deadlines. As the Scrum master, what is the best course of action to deal with this issue?

Correct Answer: Facilitate a retrospective meeting to identify the root cause of the issue and discuss possible solutions with the team.

The best course of action in this situation would be to facilitate a retrospective meeting with the team. (Answer: Facilitate a retrospective meeting to identify the root cause of the issue and discuss possible solutions with the team). In Agile, a Scrum Master's responsibility is to guide, coach and facilitate the team towards achieving the desired goals. Having a retrospective meeting will bring out what is causing these under-estimations, and possible solutions can be discussed as a team. Dictating estimates (Answer: Dictate the time estimates for tasks yourself based on your understanding) is against Agile principles, where decision-making is supposed to be decentralized to the team. Ignoring the issue (Answer: Ignore the issue, as over time the team will naturally get better at estimation) would not be proactive and won't help the team improve in a structured manner. Blaming and pressurizing team members (Answer: Blame the team members for their under-estimation and pressurize them to improve) is non-constructive and can lead to a negative working environment.

Question 2

A newly formed Agile team is struggling to self-organize and lacks clear roles. As a Scrum Master, how would you address this issue?

Correct Answer: Facilitate discussions empowering team members to define their roles and responsibilities. Coach them in self-organization practices and the principles of Agile.

The best way for a Scrum Master to address a team that is struggling with self-organization and lacks clear roles is by facilitating discussions that empower team members to define their own roles and responsibilities. Furthermore, coaching them in self-organization practices and principles of Agile can help them understand and navigate the process more effectively. This approach respects the Agile principle of self-organizing teams that are capable of creating the best designs. The other answers are less effective. Assigning roles and responsibilities based on the Scrum Master's judgment, or bringing in an external individual to act as the team lead, goes against the Agile values of self-organization and collaboration. Allowing the team to continue working without clear roles until problems arise would likely lead to confusion, inefficiency, and potential conflict.

Question 3

As the product owner in a Scrum team, you noticed that one of your team members does not feel comfortable with the technology being used. What should you do?

Correct Answer: Discuss with the team to find a solution that may include providing additional training or changing technologies, while considering the constraints of the project.

As a Product Owner in a Scrum team, the most efficient solution in this case would be to discuss with the team to find a solution that may include providing additional training or changing technologies, while considering the constraints of the project. This approach engages the team in problem-solving, demonstrating respect for their skills and perspectives, and maintains the morale and cohesion of the team. The other options are not suitable. Replacing the team member with someone else who is an expert with the technology might seem efficient in the short term, but it could have negative impacts on team morale and cohesion. Forcing the team member to learn the technology on their own time is not respectful or realistic, and it does not address the potential need for training or assistance. Ignoring it and leaving it to the team member's responsibility to learn new things if needed does not demonstrate supportive or effective leadership.

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