PMP · Question #855
A team has been working for two months and has consistently missed planned user stories. How should the project manager address this issue?
The correct answer is A. Ensure the sprint size is appropriate for the iteration duration.. When a team consistently misses planned user stories, the project manager should address the issue by ensuring the sprint size and scope are appropriately aligned with the team's capacity and iteration duration.
Question
A team has been working for two months and has consistently missed planned user stories. How should the project manager address this issue?
Options
- AEnsure the sprint size is appropriate for the iteration duration.
- BEngage is recruiting a highly skilled resource to reinforce the skills.
- CPromote changing the iteration duration in order to commit as planned.
- DConsider using a reward system to encourage timely delivery.
How the community answered
(57 responses)- A82% (47)
- B2% (1)
- C5% (3)
- D11% (6)
Why each option
When a team consistently misses planned user stories, the project manager should address the issue by ensuring the sprint size and scope are appropriately aligned with the team's capacity and iteration duration.
Consistently missing planned user stories indicates an issue with sprint planning and commitment, often due to overcommitment or an unrealistic amount of work planned. Ensuring the sprint size (amount of work) is appropriate for the iteration duration helps the team make realistic commitments based on their historical velocity and capacity, preventing burnout and missed deliveries.
Recruiting new resources might be a long-term solution for capacity, but it doesn't immediately address the issue of *missed planned stories*, which primarily suggests a planning or scoping problem, not necessarily a skill shortage.
Changing the iteration duration to fit commitments is generally discouraged in agile as it disrupts rhythm and doesn't solve the underlying planning problem that leads to overcommitment.
A reward system does not address the root cause of overcommitment or unrealistic planning and can lead to lower quality work or increased stress rather than solving capacity issues.
Concept tested: Agile sprint planning and capacity management
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/devops/plan/agile/define-sprints
Topics
Community Discussion
8
Olusegun A.Jun 12, 2026A. In agile, if the team keeps missing planned stories, the first move is to check whether the sprint is being overcommitted relative to the iteration duration. B and D are band-aids, and C is a red flag - you size the work to the timebox, not the other way around.
Yuki V.Jun 3, 2026Went with A on my exam last month because consistently missing stories usually points to the team overcommitting on sprint capacity rather than a skills gap. Does anyone know if the PMBOK seventh edition still frames this as a process group adjustment versus an agile principle thing, because I saw a couple of variations of this question and the wording tripped me up on practice tests.
Imani T.Jun 4, 2026A is right and you nailed the reasoning, but PMBOK 7 frames this under the Deliver value and Measure performance performance domains rather than process groups, so dont overthink which framework lens they use as long as you tie the answer back to capacity versus skill.
Imani T.May 19, 2026I first leaned toward B because adding a skilled resource sounds like a practical fix, but two months of consistently missed stories points to a sizing problem, not a skills gap. A is the PMI answer because if the team keeps missing commitments, the sprint workload needs to be adjusted to match what the iteration can actually deliver.
Samuel O.May 20, 2026Agree on A, and in practice that conversation goes over better when you bring velocity data to the table rather than just telling the team to take on less.
Samuel O.May 20, 2026Took my PMP last spring and this exact scenario came up. I almost bit on B because bringing in a ringer feels like the instinctive fix when a team keeps missing, but two months of missed stories points straight to a sizing problem. A is the play, because iteration length has to match what the team can actually swallow, and adjusting that is a process fix rather than a people fix.
Olusegun A.May 22, 2026Co-sign A, but the real tell is two months of misses means the team never sized the work to capacity in the first place, so shorten the iteration and repoint the backlog before you touch anything else.
Luis F.May 16, 2026I leaned toward B first but two months missing stories means sprint size is off.