Agile Project Manager Interview Questions

Agile project management places less emphasis on hierarchical leadership and more on team collaboration. Kanban, Scrum, Adaptive Project Framework, and Extreme Programming (XP) are a few of the most well-liked frameworks for implementing Agile (APF). According to Scrum, the team should share the duties of the conventional project manager, with a designated Scrum master acting as their mentor and facilitator. In an Agile environment, the role of a traditional project manager changes depending on the task and organizational structure.

However, before we start with the interview questions, here are certain roles and responsibilities carried out by an agile project manager.

• Key facilitator: They want to embolden their team and remove any potential barriers to the success of the project.
• Expert in change management: Experts in change management will be responsible for rallying the entire organization around Agile project management, implementing new procedures, and interacting with stakeholders.
• Strategic trainer and coach: In an agile setting, change happens rapidly. Project managers will have to assist their teams in learning how to use the most recent tools, processes, and workflows.

Since the roles of an agile project manager assist in increasing the efficiency of the workplace, they are quite a in demand. Therefore, bagging a job in this particular role can be quite rewarding.

We have divided the questions into two categories for easy understanding and learning. They are:

• For freshers
• For Experienced
• FAQ's

Top 10 Agile Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers 

1. What Does a Typical Day Look Like for an Agile Project Manager?
2. What Crucial Functions Make Up an Agile Project Management Team?
3. How do you, as an agile project manager, approach risk analysis?
4. How do you deal with and control an unforeseen situation while working on a project?
5. What is a project's life cycle?
6. What Benefits Do Agile Metrics Offer?
7. How can you as a project manager get a derailed project back on track?
8. Can Software Testing Use Agile Techniques?
9. How Are You Going to Manage a Project Which Has Veered Off Course?
10. How does an agile project manager debrief their team?

Agile Project Manager Questions for Freshers

1. How Are You Going to Handle a Team Member Who Isn't Managing a Project Well?

The interviewers are looking for a manager who can assist someone in enhancing but is also strict enough to let them go if there is no room for improvement. You must persuade the interviewers that you can influence such a worker to think and act in their unique manner. Tell them about your tactics, such as surrounding the weaker employees with the more capable ones so they can maximize their potential. By setting up appropriate follow-ups and rewarding and praising their accomplishments, you should motivate them.

2. How Are You Going to Manage a Project Which Has Veered Off Course?

There are a few signs that a project has veered off course, and these are as follows:

• The budget goes over the allotted amount.
• The project takes longer than expected.
• Original objectives weren't defined or reached. 
• The project's scope is always shifting.

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3. How can you as a project manager get a derailed project back on track?

• Determine the cause of the issue
• To make up for the lost time, work harder and longer hours.
• Try to adhere to the original goal or vision.
• Review how you are using your various resources and human resources.

4. How Are You Going to Handle a Difficult Stakeholder or Client?

Clients and stakeholders play a significant role in projects, and getting their approval is very important. They can be challenging to work with occasionally because of their great authority. In such circumstances, the following advice will help you interact with them more smoothly:

• Recognize their anxiety
• Set aside your ego and respect their authority.
• Attend to them and solicit their advice.
• Speak favorably of them and strike up a rapport
• Resist any negative feelings you may have for them.
• Always be sincere and true in your decision-making.

5. How do you manage the project's progress?

Being organized is crucial for project managers who use agile methods. Have a variety of backup plans in place and employ a variety of techniques all through the project so you can monitor its progress and be ready to correct it if necessary. The micro objectives and milestones, which have dates associated with them, are frequently monitored by project managers. Applications for tracking project status, like Kanban, are very helpful for keeping an eye on the project's progress because they provide individual status reports for each team member or employee.

6. How do you order your objectives by priority?

Setting your tasks in order of importance is a very involved process. Here are some guidelines to aid you in establishing your priorities:

• Create a list of the team members and monitor their work.
• Understand the deadlines and what needs to be done immediately.
• Determine the value of each goal.
• Be adaptable, flexible, and prepared to improvise.
• Determine the effort needed for each task and assign responsibility to your team members.

7. What is your team's communication style?

In this manner, an interviewer can determine how you would behave in the role of team leader and whether you are able to put together the team they are looking for. Here, it's crucial for the interviewer to understand that you value communication. You come across as more approachable to team members if you have good communication skills. Instead of giving orders, have a discussion with the team and solicit their ideas so they feel involved in the process. Furthermore, they may even have some original ideas. Establish quick communication with your team so that issues and setbacks can be resolved quickly and easily.

8. How can you make sure that both you and your team meet the expectations of the client?

Making sure the client's expectations are met, if not exceeded, is one of the project manager's more crucial duties. So that you are prepared to respond to this question with examples of the procedures you've followed to satisfy clients, keep a record of the previous successful projects you managed, along with the process and action in each project. Project management has a process that must be followed, and if it is adhered to with flexibility, the project can be deemed successful. Additionally, you can list any resources or tools that you have used in the past or intend to use in the future.

9. How can you and your team develop a good working repo?

Relationships and appropriate coordination are essential for a proposal to proceed as planned and to be completed successfully. Project managers should concentrate on honing their skills by having to look to learn from failure, even if a project is a failure. When a project is finished, the project manager creates a report detailing the procedure, highlighting what went wrong, and making adjustments to the plan for the future. Only when a project manager ensures his team member's professional development and advancement can the team's performance improve. Meeting with each team member individually to discuss goals, provide targets, and solicit feedback is a good idea.

10. How would you review and monitor the delegates' goals?

One of an agile project manager's primary duties is to divide the project down into smaller tasks and assign each task to a team member in accordance with their expertise. Without all of this, the project cannot proceed as planned, so it is critical to demonstrate to the questioner that you are competent in assigning tasks. You must comprehend the team members and each one's strengths and weaknesses in order to decide which team member is the best fit for a particular responsibility. Leading by example is one of the best ways to do so. Assure that if a member isn't functioning properly, he is aware of it and can fix the issue.

11. What project plans and career goals do you have for the upcoming 12 months?

Setting goals for your professional and personal development is crucial. Make sure the interviewer is talking about a specific time frame because there are short-term and long-term goals. There is no universal response to this question because career and personal goals differ from person to person. Instead, try concentrating on the professional rather than the personal aspect. Avoid giving generic responses that other applicants may have offered instead, and make your answer memorable. Include a plan for achieving these objectives as well. By outlining your strategy for achieving these objectives, you demonstrate your insight and level of organization.

12. What Are the Agile Methodologies Weaknesses?

• You won't always be questioned by the interviewer about the benefits and traits of the agile model. You should be ready by being aware of its weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
• A task's level of effort cannot be predicted in advance. When working on large projects, it can become very complicated.
• Customers cannot be met if the client's requirements are improperly understood, which leads to conflict.
• A team leader has the most influence and is the only person with the authority to make important choices. The other team members either don't participate in decision-making at all or only slightly. This results in the employee's professional growth potential being very limited or nonexistent.

13. What Else do You Mean When You Say a "Scrum of Scrums"?

One of the most typical interview questions for agile project managers is this one.

Presume there is an initiative in progress with 6 teams of 6 people each working on various project goals. Every team holds an internal meeting known as a scrum meeting. This is carried out to monitor the task's advancement. The exertion of all the teams is, however, coordinated at a separate meeting. A scrum of scrums refers to these types of meetings held to maintain proper cooperation among the teams. Every team sends a team leader, referred to as an ambassador, to this meeting.

14. Can Software Testing Use Agile Techniques?

An agile method is a flexible approach that can be applied to a variety of professional fields because it is as flexible as the individual implementing it. Agile methods for project management can be used anywhere there is an absence of coordination, improper information, or an improper flow of work. This method is helpful in a variety of fields, including biophysics, biochemistry, and biomedicine.

15. Give an example of a Scrum impediment to help you explain.

An impediment is anything that a scrum team runs into during the course of their work. Here are some examples of impediments:

• Lack of resources or team members
• Inadequate internal or external support
• Incomplete knowledge and undeveloped abilities
• Natural conditions such as the terrain
• It's critical to outline your strategy for handling each of these issues for the interviewer.

16. Describe what Agile and Scrum mean.

The agile methodology encompasses many different project management techniques, and scrum is just one way to implement them. Agile is a process that completes projects incrementally by segmenting them. Scrum is a clear strategy for efficiently implementing the agile process.

17. How well-versed are you in the Agile Manifesto's guiding principles?

This theory can be applied to the agile management methodology very effectively. There are four manifestos and twelve principles. You must describe them as precisely and plainly as you can. To best convey the values of the principles, pay attention to the following guidelines.

• Being adaptable and embracing change rather than dreading it
• Simple ways to collaborate with customers
• Showcase the ongoing project on a regular basis
• There should be positive, organized, and self-motivating interaction.

Related Article: Agile Interview Questions and Answers

18. What do you think increments are?

This is one of the frequently asked interview questions for agile managers. The maximum of all the backlog items for a product that has been completed in a sprint is referred to as an increment. Since an increment is cumulative in nature, all previous values are included. Regular increment releases are necessary because they enable projects to be completed successfully.

19. What Does a Typical Day Look Like for an Agile Project Manager?

There is no standard operating procedure for an agile manager because everything is based on the individual and the project's requirements. However, there are a few important guidelines that an agile manager must follow on a daily basis.

• In addition to assigning tasks to his team members, an agile manager must plan the day's activities.
• It's crucial to hold a meeting with the entire team to go over the tasks from the previous day.
• If any technical issues come up during the stand-up meeting, the manager must organize a technical discussion to address them.

20. What Crucial Functions Make Up an Agile Project Management Team?

An agile project management team consists of four main key roles: the team manager, the project owner, the product owner, and the team members. Coordination and oversight of all the tasks that must be completed in order to successfully complete a project are the duties of a project manager. To perform his duties effectively, he needs the team's cooperation as well as that of the product and project owner.

The entire project team, including the manager, project owner, and product owner, are considered team members. Their responsibility is to successfully complete the tasks assigned by the project manager within the allotted time.

Related Article: Agile Project Management

Agile Project Manager interview questions for Experienced

1. What most recent improvements have been made to the agile project management tool?

An agile manager must stay informed about new developments and market trends related to the project management tool. This is crucial because the agile management tool is constantly being updated to reflect new advances in technology. These market trends include:

• Data processing and artificial intelligence have had a significant impact on the management tool.
• In order to more effectively integrate artificial intelligence into the process, agile project managers across the world are increasing their knowledge of the topic.
• Agile project management has been carried out using a variety of techniques, such as the combination project management method.

2. How Can an Agile Project Manager Diversify Their Project Management Team?

Today's project management market requires diversification due to quickly developing technology. Here are a few strategies for diversifying your team: -

• Include every team member in your plan to avoid any members feeling excluded.
• Maintain open lines of communication with one's team members and get to know them personally.
• Give your team members praise and rewards for their achievements and constructive criticism
• Never harbor prejudices against members of your team.

3. How will you identify bad project ideas as an agile project manager?

Different opinions exist when you collaborate with others and you must take them into consideration before you decide. There will be a majority view that will be chosen because all decisions cannot be made by unanimous vote. There may be team members whose opinions differ and whose suggestions are useless for the project. It is important to handle this situation delicately so that no members feel excluded.

4. How do you, as an agile project manager, approach risk analysis?

Every project carries a certain amount of risk, and it is the project manager's job to evaluate those risks and choose the best course of action. To identify all the risks, their likelihood of occurring, and their level of danger, and to implement a preventive measure, a risk burn-down chart is created.

Make sure to discuss the specific risks in each member's area of expertise with them so they are all aware of them. While assessing project risks, factors such as budget, productivity, personnel, knowledge, and safety must be taken into consideration.

5. How does an agile project manager debrief their team?

Reflection is one of the most crucial post-project processes because the team talks about the work completed, any errors made, and suggestions for how they can improve and streamline their processes going forward. Making sure that everyone is aware that opinions and suggestions are welcome from anyone is crucial to a successful debrief. The team should review every task that was completed successfully and unsuccessfully on the prior project and offer suggestions for how to avoid it in the future. To ensure that it appears in the report, this must be done first before the team leader creates the project report.

6. As an agile project manager, how will you maintain calm and anxiety-free surroundings for your team?

One of your duties as an agile project manager is to maintain the team's spirits and make sure they have a comfortable workspace. You can accomplish this by wanting to hold a stand-up meeting each morning and motivating your team with a speech about the day's plan of action.

This can be accomplished by projecting a warm and approachable professional image. Your members of the team will be more likely to voice their opinions and concerns.

7. How do you deal with and control an unforeseen situation while working on a project?

Every project is thoroughly examined for risks, and all identified risks are examined in great detail, but it is impossible to plan for every scenario that might arise throughout the project. This indicates that there is a chance that the project or team will encounter an unexpected risk or circumstance. Agile project management involves adapting to changing circumstances and taking appropriate action. Internet agile management tools are useful in this situation because they allow you to track a project's operation and progress in real-time, which aids in addressing any irregularities.

8. To use the agile manager method, go over the entire project management process.

Agile projects can appear very complicated and overwhelming, but if followed precisely, the following steps can speed things up:

• It is wise to start by segregating and breaking the project up into different tasks that will be later finished by each member of the sprint team.
• The next step is sprint planning, which essentially involves acknowledging the tasks and choosing which task should be completed at which project stage. The final approval of each task is then planned by the team.
• Holding stand-up gatherings every morning and getting updates from each worker about the previous day's work is a good way to stay on top of a project that is already in progress.

9. What is your sprint planning process?

Agile management places a lot of importance on sprint planning. All project-related roles should be involved in an elaborate and thorough process.

• Once the team is prepared, it is crucial to reaffirm the direction you, the project manager, have set for the project as well as the goals of the sprint.
• The method of risk assessment follows. Each team member participates in the analysis of each task so they are aware of their responsibilities and potential risks.
• Once all potential risks have been considered and the plan has been put into action, all of the pertinent data should be uploaded to an online database so that it can be followed along with real-time updates.

10. What happens during your daily stand-up meeting?

Holding daily follow-up meetings, preferably in the morning, is a good habit. Through these meetings, you can keep the team's efforts coordinated and keep track of

The team's tasks were distributed. Any team member can express a worry or mistake in this way.

Each team member updates the group on the task they have been given and discusses any obstacles they have encountered. The allocation of tasks for the very next day is also discussed at this meeting.

These gatherings ought to be succinct and direct.

11. How Is a Sprint Retrospective Conducted?

The sprint master will convene a retrospective meeting to discuss the previous sprint. The upcoming sprints can be enhanced and better planned by reviewing the previous sprint and taking the errors into account. Members of the team can talk about internal matters, the previous sprint's good and bad points, and improvised ideas during such a meeting.

12. What is a project's life cycle?

The life cycle of a project includes:

• Starting 
• Planning
• Executing 
• Closing

13. How should you handle a team member who isn't performing up to par?

A poorly performing team member should be handled as follows:

• Informal dialogue
• Recognize the root cause
• Offer assistance and mention the possibility of a role change
• Change out the underwhelming resource

14. Is it essential to keep a requirement traceability matrix?

Every requirement is tracked by the traceability matrix at every stage of the project's development. This makes sure no phase ends before you meet the requirements. You also avoid forgetting any necessities.

15. Can you start giving me a few instances when you had to make a difficult choice that ended up being a mistake?

This is a challenging question for candidates to answer because it reveals your level of self-awareness and forces you to share a time when you failed. Regardless of how competent you are at your job, setbacks will still occur, so your interviewer wants to know how you handle them. They are most interested in learning what you took away from these experiences. Describe how you used some of these setbacks to become a better project manager overall when you give examples.

Most Common Agile Project Manager FAQs

1. How can you handle a project?

The answer to this question is completely dependent on your personal achievements in the field. Follow these tips to answer this question.

•  In order to understand your attitude toward project management, the interviewer will ask you this question. You have the opportunity to showcase your agile management approach and leadership abilities.
• When this question is posed, the first thing to mention is the most recent successful venture you oversaw, emphasizing how you applied agile management techniques.
• You should then project a sense of teamwork. The majority of organizations seek a project manager who really can lead a team of people rather than operate as a one-man army.
• Last but not least, you should demonstrate your flexibility and acknowledge the fact that each project is unique and requires a different approach.

2. How is proactive project management possible?

A proactive manager ought to be able to assess impending risks and take appropriate action or implement measures to lessen the threat. A proactive manager is able to keep records of all the problems and implement numerous small changes that increase productivity and efficiency. They frequently set up meetings with their team and colleagues to discuss their issues and stay on top of them.

3. What Benefits Do Agile Metrics Offer?

Agile metrics are benchmarks that assess a team's efficiency during different phases of the software development life cycle (SDLC). Some typical agile metrics include:

• Work Categorization Allocation: This provides crucial details about which tasks should be given priority and how much duration should be devoted to each.
• Accumulated flow graph: A graph is created after carefully examining the particular workflow.
• Providing business value: This demonstrates a team's effectiveness. The business's various goals are given numerical values.
• Sprint burndown: On a Scrum scale, this graph displays implemented or unimplemented sprints. Sprint can be used to monitor completed work.

Related Article: Agile Metrics That Matter

4. What Do You Think of Your Most Recent Project?

Again, this question depends on your personal projects or tasks. In an interview, talking about your prior engagements and employment history is very common. Your response will give the interviewer a little more insight. Selecting the appropriate example is crucial. You ought to pick a project that you're familiar with and at ease delving into in detail. Instead of just focusing on the fact that you completed the task, the interviewer is much more involved in how you did it.

5. Have you worked on any difficult projects? If so, how did you handle them?

Although it is helpful to the interviewer to have experience with successful projects, it is not strictly necessary to succeed in the interview. Being truthful and sure of yourself in your responses is crucial because they place equal emphasis on your character and your accomplishments. You should approach this positively and discuss the difficulties you encountered and how you overcame them. You should also discuss the lessons you took away from those difficulties and the steps you took to prevent similar problems in the future.

6. What do you Understand About Kanban?

A project can be managed and improved upon using the principles and methodologies of the Kanban method. This approach produces larger-scale improvements by making numerous small, gradual changes to a project. It is beneficial to write the entire scenario at once and to have a general understanding of the project's development, workflow, flaws, and overall functionality.

7. What exactly is the scrum cycle?

A team completes a predetermined amount of work during a timed period called a Scrum sprint cycle. Each sprint begins as soon as the prior one is over and lasts for two to four weeks on average. The Scrum agility cycle is frequently described as a continuous development process.

8. How are status updates provided?

The interviewer demands to learn how responsible you are in this question. You will adhere to your schedule and produce results on time if you provide regular status updates. Describe your reporting procedure and how often you do it. Say in detail that you always provide reports, regardless of requests. You must persuade the interviewer that you may be relied upon and assume responsibility.

9. What dangers, in your opinion, do project managers face when they work on them?

Here are a few typical risks to watch out for when managing a project:

• Costs
• Schedule
• Performance
• Market dangers
• Strategic dangers
• Legal danger
• Operational hazard
• Regulatory external risk

10. What communication channels do you employ in a project?

Agile management necessitates effective team communication as well. Different communication channels are required for various teams and projects. One of the best ways to communicate within the team is through direct interaction (team meetings), reliable electronics (mobile phones, radio), and written communication (email, letter).

Skills of an agile project manager

Anyone given the task of managing in an Agile environment should have the following qualities for success, regardless of how an organization defines the position of an Agile project manager:

• Outstanding organizational abilities, including the capacity to set priorities. Project managers working in an agile environment must prioritize the project's crucial elements while letting go of extraneous or distracting tasks.
• the capacity to perform well and maintain composure under pressure.
• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills.
• superior critical-thinking skills, including the capacity for quick decision-making.
• Comfortable with priorities that change frequently and possess a high level of flexibility and adaptability.

Key Upshots

The most crucial project management abilities and skills are covered in the interview questions, which also serve as a test of the applicant's readiness for the position of project manager. Simply having the right answers is insufficient.