PAL-I Scrum Professional Agile Leadership Certification Exam Free Practice Exam Questions (2025 Updated)

In Agile environments, teams areself-organizing, meaning thattechnical decisions should be made by the Developersrather than by external roles such as the manager, Scrum Master, or Product Owner. When a conflict arises, an empirical approach—such as running an experiment—is the best way to determine the most effective solution.

Analysis of Each Answer Option:

❌Option A: The Product Owner should decide which approach to take.

TheProduct Owner’s roleis to define and prioritize product backlog items based on business value, not to make technical decisions.

TheScrum Guide (2020)explicitly states that the Product Owner does not dictate how work is done; that is the responsibility of the Developers.

✅Option B: The Developers should run an experiment to test the alternative approaches.(Best answer)

This aligns with Agile’sempirical approach(inspection, adaptation, and transparency).

Running an experiment allows the team to gatherreal-world datarather than relying on opinions.

It supports aculture of experimentation and continuous improvement, a key principle in Agile and DevOps practices.

This methodresolves conflicts objectively, helping teams align on the best solution without personal biases.

❌Option C: You, as a manager, should decide which approach to take.

Agile leadersempower teams to make decisionsrather than directing them.

If the manager intervenes in technical decision-making, itundermines self-organizationand reduces the team’s accountability.

This approach reflects acommand-and-control mindset, which contradicts Agile leadership principles.

❌Option D: The Scrum Master should decide which approach to take.

TheScrum Master’s roleis tofacilitatediscussions and help teams resolve conflicts, but they donotmake technical decisions.

TheScrum Guide (2020)defines the Scrum Master as a servant leader whocoaches teamsrather than directing them.

The Scrum Master canencourage an experimentbut should not impose a decision.

References from Professional Agile Leadership (PAL) Documents:

Scrum Guide (2020)– Defines self-managing teams where Developers make technical decisions.

Professional Agile Leadership Essentials (PAL-E) Guide– Agile leaders should create an environment that supports experimentation and empirical decision-making.

Lean Startup (Eric Ries)– Encourages teams to test hypotheses with real data instead of debating theories.

The Agile Manifesto – Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto– Advocates for self-organizing teams and continuous learning through experimentation.

By applying these Agile principles, the best approach isOption B, as it empowers the team to resolve conflicts through experimentation and empirical evidence.

The Product Owner plays a crucial role in ensuring that the Scrum Team is delivering value. By working with the Product Owner’s manager, you can help prioritize the Product Owner’s availability and ensure that the team gets the guidance they need​​.

Smaller releases mean that features are delivered more quickly and feedback can be gathered earlier, which helps improve time-to-market. This approach is aligned with the Agile principle of delivering small increments of value frequently and adapting based on feedback​​.

Agile is based on the empirical process of delivering increments of value and using the feedback to adapt the plan. This approach allows the team to respond to change effectively and ensures that each iteration is better informed than the last​​.

Story points are a measure of effort, not value. While tracking story points can help gauge team velocity, it does not provide insights into how much value is being delivered to the customer. The other options focus on value or quality, which are more relevant in Agile for ensuring future delivery capabilities​​.

Agile principles emphasize collaboration, flexibility, and delivering customer value over strict adherence to processes or individual achievements. Rewarding individual performance or focusing on fixed goals can create silos and hinder collaboration, which is key to Agile. Encouraging specialization can also limit cross-functional teamwork, reducing agility. All the behaviors mentioned can slow down or impede an Agile culture by promoting practices that are at odds with Agile values of teamwork, adaptability, and customer collaboration​​.

This scenario highlights a common challenge in Agile organizations:balancing unplanned work (interruptions) with planned development work. Agile leaders should focus onremoving impedimentsthat disrupt the Scrum Team’s ability to deliver value while ensuring business-critical operations are still supported.

Analysis of Each Answer Option:

❌Option A: Send someone from the team to work with the Operations Group to avoid interruptions.

This doesnot solve the root causeof the interruptions; it merely shifts the problem to another team member.

Itreduces development capacity, impacting the team’s ability to meet Sprint Goals.

Agile leaders should seeksystemic solutionsrather than temporary fixes.

❌Option B: Explain that the Operations work is important and ask them to find a way to accommodate the work.

While Operations work may be important, simply asking the team to accommodate the interruptionsignoresthe core Agile principle offocus.

Scrum Teams should be protectedfrom excessive outside distractions to maintain productivity and deliver high-quality work.

Agile leaders shouldactively remove obstacles, not just ask teams to adapt.

✅Option C: Work with the Scrum Team to help transfer the knowledge to another individual outside the Scrum Team for future occurrences.(Best Answer)

This approachaddresses the root causeof the interruptions by ensuring the Operations Group has alternative resources for support.

Knowledge transferprevents future disruptions, allowing the Scrum Team to focus on delivering value.

Agile leadersenable sustainable solutionsrather than quick fixes.

This aligns withAgile principles of cross-functional collaboration and decentralized knowledge, reducing dependencies on a single individual.

❌Option D: Talk to the Product Owner and let them deal with the situation.

TheProduct Owner is responsible for managing the Product Backlog, not operational interruptions.

While the Product Owner may help prioritize work, this isa leadership and organizational issue, not a backlog prioritization issue.

Passing responsibility to the Product Ownerdoes not help remove the impediment effectively.

References from Professional Agile Leadership (PAL) Documents:

Scrum Guide (2020)– Scrum Teams should beself-managingand protected from unnecessary external distractions.

Professional Agile Leadership Essentials (PAL-E) Guide– Agile leaders shouldremove impedimentsand enable teams to focus on delivering value.

Lean and DevOps Practices– Promotesknowledge sharingto eliminate single points of failure and reduce operational dependencies.

The Agile Manifesto – Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto– Encourages sustainable work practices and cross-team collaboration.

By applying these Agile leadership principles,Option C is the best answer, as iteliminates future interruptionsandenables sustainable knowledge sharingacross the organization.

Agile prioritizes delivering the highest possible value to customers by iterating, adapting, and responding to feedback. This approach contrasts with traditional methods that prioritize efficiency, budget, and scope but may not always maximize value due to rigid upfront planning​​.

Agile embraces change and learning from experience. By accepting that unexpected events will occur and using them as opportunities to learn and adapt, teams can improve over time. This mindset is key to the Agile principle of responding to change over following a plan​​.

A compelling vision gives the team purpose and direction, fostering engagement. When the team understands the value of their work and how it contributes to the product, their motivation and sense of ownership increase. Team-building events or bonuses may offer temporary boosts but will not address the root cause of disengagement​​.

The Product Owner’s primary responsibility is to maximize the value of the product by prioritizing the most valuable features and ensuring that the Scrum Team is focused on delivering work that meets customer needs. The Product Owner acts as the bridge between the Scrum Team and stakeholders​​.