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Crystal Methods

A set of agile methodologies focused on people and interactions.

Crystal Methods is a family of Agile methodologies such as Crystal Clear, Crystal Yellow, Crystal Orange and others, each having unique characteristics, suited to teams of different sizes and system criticality. It is light, human-powered methodology which focuses on simplicity – the art of maximizing the amount of work not done, thus maximizing business value and efficiency.
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Crystal Methods is a family of Agile methodologies developed by Alistair Cockburn, based on the premise that different projects require different approaches. Named after minerals (Clear, Yellow, Orange, Red), Crystal matches project size and criticality to an appropriate level of ceremony and rigor…

Concepts covered: Close or Osmotic Communication, Continuous Integration, Process Tailoring, Co-location, Collaborative Decision Making, Reflective Improvement, Focus on People, Early Improvement, Holistic Diversity, Simple Design, Frequent Delivery, Team Autonomy, Personal Safety

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PMI-ACP - Crystal Methods Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Crystal Methods

Question 1

An Agile project requires the team to work in an industrial area with noisy machinery. How would you ensure team members' personal safety in this scenario?

Correct Answer: Provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as ear plugs and safety helmets, if required, and ensure the workspace meets health and safety standards.

The optimal approach to ensuring team members' personal safety in a noisy industrial area would be to 'Provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as ear plugs and safety helmets, if required, and ensure the workspace meets health and safety standards.' This answer understands the need to adhere to health and safety regulations. This method not only prevents direct harm but also actively promotes wellbeing, a crucial consideration for any Agile project. The other options fail on various grounds: 'Advise team members to use headphones for noise cancellation' can reduce noise but it does not deal with potential physical risks found in industrial environments. The suggestion to 'Tell the team members to get used to the noise' disregards the health and wellbeing of the team members completely. Lastly, 'Ask the team to shift their work hours to when the machinery is not in operation' may not be feasible due to the potential necessity of the machinery needing to operate at all schedules. Ultimately, ensuring the workspace meets health and safety standards is the key.

Question 2

Your team has just started with Agile practices. After a few iterations, the team realizes that the improvement velocity is slower than expected. A team member proposes to add retrospectives at the end of each sprint for insights and early improvements. What should be your optimal approach?

Correct Answer: Accept the proposal further by organizing a retrospective post each sprint to understand strengths and weaknesses better.

The best approach is to accept the proposal by organizing a retrospective after each sprint to better understand strengths and weaknesses. This practice is fundamental to Agile methodologies, being a dedicated time to reflect on the completed sprint and find areas for improvement. It encourages the team to improve by iteratively and incrementally learning from its past experiences. In contrast, ignoring the suggestion or implementing arbitrary or problem-driven retrospectives would disregard the idea of constant improvement and learning, which is a key principle of Agile methodologies. Therefore, these options are not in line with the Agile mindset.

Question 3

You are leading an Agile project, and after a few iterations, you notice the pace of improvements are quite sluggish. You contemplate using an 'Early Failure Detection' (EFD) system to identify issues earlier and work on them for better improvements. What should be your ideal step?

Correct Answer: Introduce the 'Early Failure Detection' system after discussing its benefits with the team. Encourage the team to identify and act on these early signs proactively.

The correct answer is 'Introduce the 'Early Failure Detection' system after discussing its benefits with the team. Encourage the team to identify and act on these early signs proactively.' Acknowledging the sluggish pace of improvements and seeking measures to enhance it displays an agile mindset. The deployment of an 'Early Failure Detection' system is a great approach, but it is vital to discuss its benefits with the team to ensure they understand the purpose and invite their cooperation. Agile methodology encourages team participation and improvement through detecting and resolving problems early. Now, let's look at why the other options are not appropriate: 'Suppress the idea of 'Early Failure Detection' as it may discourage the team.' - This approach contradicts the agile principle of inspect-and-adapt which encourages frequent inspection and necessary changes to ensure quality. 'Introduce the 'Early Failure Detection' system secretly without informing the team.' - Being secretive about process changes doesn’t align with agile values of openness and collaboration. 'Implement 'Early Failure Detection' only in the sprints with increased complexity.' - Detecting failures should not be limited to complex sprints. The idea is to identify and address issues early, irrespective of the complexity of tasks.

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