Blog_Banner_Asset
    Homebreadcumb forward arrow iconBlogbreadcumb forward arrow iconSoftware Developmentbreadcumb forward arrow icon44 Must Know Agile Methodology Interview Questions & Answers: Ultimate Guide 2024

44 Must Know Agile Methodology Interview Questions & Answers: Ultimate Guide 2024

Last updated:
18th Feb, 2024
Views
Read Time
30 Mins
share image icon
In this article
Chevron in toc
View All
44 Must Know Agile Methodology Interview Questions & Answers: Ultimate Guide 2024

Attending an agile interview and wondering what are all the questions and discussions you will go through? Before attending an agile testing interview, it’s better to have an idea of the type of agile interview questions so that you can mentally prepare answers for them.

Let’s accept, we all get a bit nervous about interviews. No matter how capable you are or how much experience and knowledge you possess, at the end of the day, interviews are about how do you present yourself, how well you manage to put your knowledge into answering the questions in the most suitable way. Hence, it is always preferable to do a bit of research before an interview. Revise answers, brush up our skills. ‘doing’ and ‘explaining how to do’ are two different things. Agile interview questions and answers can include all aspects of the Agile methodology. The list below will help you become a pro!

Agile methodology is an iterative project management technique that prioritizes cross-functional collaboration and continuous improvement. It segregates the project into different phases and directs the team through planning, evaluation, and execution. Scrum and Agile team members play an integral role in any organization. 

Whether you are an expert or a novice in the world of Agile technology, these Agile interview questions can help you immensely in your technical rounds. We have briefly brushed upon all levels of difficulty in this article on agile methodology questions and answers.

Ads of upGrad blog

Check out our free courses related to software development.

One-Of-Its-Kind Program That Creates Skilled Software Developers. Apply Now!

Explore Our Software Development Free Courses

Recently, the Agile Methodology has gained traction in the industry, with an increasing number of companies incorporating the concept into their organizational infrastructure. As a result, job postings in this domain is increasing rapidly. If you, too, wish to land a promising job in the IT sector, you must be well-versed in the Agile Methodology.

Check out our Advanced Certification in Blockchain

In this article, we will be looking at some most important agile interview questions and answers. There are certain agile methodology questions that are generally asked in an interview. We’ve created this agile interview questions and answers guide to understand the depth and real-intend behind the questions. These Agile questions and answers will address all your queries about the subject and give you a better understanding of the methodology. 

Top Agile Interview Questions & Answers

1. What is Agile Testing?

The first question of agile interview question tests your knowledge about the basic of agile testing. Agile testing is a practice based on the principles of agile software development. It includes all members of an agile team with specific skills and a certain expertise to ensure the timely delivery of a product with the release of additional features at frequent intervals.

Check out our Advanced Certification in Cloud Computing

2. How is Agile Methodology different than Traditional Waterfall process?

This is the most commonly asked agile interview question. In agile methodology, features of the software are delivered frequently, so that the testing activity is done simultaneously with the development activity. Testing time is shortened as only small features are need be tasted at once.

agile interview questions

Source

While, in the waterfall model, testing activities take place at the end of the entire development process. Testing time, in this case, is as long as the entire product is to be tested in one go. Waterfall methodology is a closed process where all stakeholders are not involved in the development process whereas agile methodology requires the involvement of various stakeholders including customers. Learn more about agile vs waterfall.

A Beginner’s Guide to MVC Architecture in Java

3. What are the pros and cons of Agile Methodology?

This is one of the most frequently asked agile interview questions.

Pros of the agile methodology:

  • Speedy and continuous delivery of the software ensures customer satisfaction.
  • All the stakeholders (customers, developers, and testers) are involved in the process which leads to technical excellence and good design.
  • It facilitates close interaction between business people and developers.
  • Its flexibility ensures the adaptation to changing circumstances. Changes added at the last moment or at a later stage of development can be incorporated without any problem.

In-Demand Software Development Skills

upGrad’s Exclusive Software and Tech Webinar for you –

SAAS Business – What is So Different?

 

However, it does have some disadvantages too:

  • Sometimes when software deliverables are large ones, it is tough to determine the effort level required at the beginning of the software development lifecycle.
  • In agile methodology, documentation and designing take a back seat.
  • The decision-making crucial for the development process comes with seniority and experience. Hence, freshers can hardly manage to find a place in the agile software development process.

Get Software Engineering degrees from the World’s top Universities. Earn Executive PG Programs, Advanced Certificate Programs, or Masters Programs to fast-track your career.

4. What kind of projects is suitable for the Agile Methodology?

The traditional methodology is suited for projects with predefined, clearly stated requirements while agile development methodology is suitable for projects with dynamic requirements where frequent changes in the product come up on a regular basis.
15 Must-Know Spring MVC Interview Questions

5. What are the different types of Agile Methodologies?

An agile interview question and answers guide will not be complete without this question. There are several types of agile development methodology. Scrum is one of the most popular and widely used agile methods. Other types of agile development methodology are; development like Crystal Methodology, DSDM(Dynamic Software Development Method), Feature-driven development(FDD), Lean software development and Extreme Programming(XP).

Explore our Popular Software Engineering Courses

6. Difference between extreme programming and scrum?

Scrum teams usually have to work in iterations which are known as sprints which generally last up to two weeks to one month long while XP team works in the iteration that lasts for one or two weeks.
XP teams are more flexible as they can change their iterations while Scrum teams do not allow any change in their iterations.
The product owner prioritizes the product backlog but the team decides the sequence in which they will develop the backlog items in scrum methodology. Whereas XP team works in strict priority order, features developed are prioritized by the customers.

Our learners also read: Java free online courses!
agile interview question and answers

7. Can you explain the lean methodology in detail?

Lean software development method follows the principle of “Just in time production”. It aims at increasing the speed of software development and decreasing cost.
The basic idea of lean is to reduce non-value-added activities (known as “wastes”) in order to increase customer value. The agile process itself is a lean method for software development lifecycle. However, activities like backlog grooming (when team review items on the backlog to ensure the appropriate items are in the backlog, that they are prioritized well, and that the items at the top of the backlog are ready for delivery) code refactoring (process of restructuring existing computer code – changing the factoring — without changing its external behavior) fits agile methodology more in tune with lean principles.

What is Test-driven Development: A Newbie’s Guide

8. What is Kanban?

It is one of the common agile interview questions. Kanban is a tool which helps the team to keep a close eye the work i.e., to measure its progress. Apart from the progress, the status of a development story can be seamlessly described with the help of ‘kanban board’.
Kanban board aids in writing the whole scenario of a project at a single place to give a perfect picture of the bottleneck, a task done, workflow progress. It helps in the continuous delivery of the product without overburdening the team.

9. Is there any difference between incremental and iterative development?

Yes, the iterative methodology is a process of software development without any interruption. In this method, software development cycles consisting of sprint and release are repeated until the final product is obtained. Whereas, the incremental model is a process of software development where the product is designed, implemented and tested incrementally until the product is finished. It involves both development and maintenance.

10. What are burndown and burn-up charts in agile methodology?

To track the progress of an ongoing project, these charts are used. Burn-up charts indicate the work that has been completed while Burn-down chart shows the amount of remaining work in a project.
Why Companies are Looking to Hire Full Stack Developers

11. Can you explain pair programming and its benefits?

It is one of the general agile interview questions and answers guide. The combined effort in the team where one programmer writes the code and the other one reviews it is called pair programming. There are several benefits of pair programming, it not only improves the quality of code but also facilitates the knowledge transfer. It reduces the chance of mistakes as two people are simultaneously working on a code.

12. Do you know what is the scrum of scrums?

This is one of the most important Agile interview questions. The term “Scrum of Scrums” is used when there are multiple teams involved in a project. It refers to the scaling of the daily Scrum meeting. In this scenario, each team is responsible for conducting and leading its separate scrum meeting. However, to maintain coordination and communication among all the different teams, a separate meeting must be conducted wherein all the teams participate. This is known as the “Scrum of Scrums.”

In this meeting, one team leader from every team (known as the “ambassador”), will represent their team. The main idea behind this is to encourage Agile teams to collaborate and coordinate their work with each other. 

agile interview questions and answers

13. What is the velocity of a sprint and how it is measured?

This question is categorized under agile project management interview questions and is among the most frequently asked ones. 

Velocity is one of the planning tool used to estimate the speed of the work and time of completion of the project. The calculation of velocity is done by reviewing the work team has successfully completed during earlier sprints; for example, if the team completed 5 stories during a two-week sprint and each story was worth 3 story points, then the team’s velocity is 15 story points per sprint.
How to Become a Full Stack Developer

14. According to you what are some qualities that a good agile tester must have?

A competent agile tester must possess the following qualities:

  • They should be capable of understanding the requirements quickly.
  • An agile tester should be aware of all the agile principles and concepts and values as listed down in an agile manifesto.
  • They should be able to prioritize the work based on the requirements.
  • They should have excellent communication skills as continuous communication between business associates, developers and tester is a backbone of the agile development process.

15. Can you list some responsibilities that a scrum team have to undertake?

This is one of the important agile interview questions. Major responsibilities that a scrum team has to include:

  • Breaking down the requirements, creating tasks, estimating and distributing the created tasks. To put simply they are in charge of creating sprint backlogs.
  • They have to arrange daily sprint meeting.
  • It is a responsibility of the team to ensure that every functional feature is delivered on time. They have to create a sprint burndown diagram to know to get the exact estimate of work done and the work that needs to be done.

16. Mention the principles of Agile testing.

Not many people are aware of the importance of such Agile questions.

The principles of Agile testing are:

  • Continuous testing – This ensures the continuous progress of the product. An interesting aspect of the Agile testing process is that unlike the traditional methodologies where only the testing team is focused on product testing, it requires the entire team to participate equally in the testing process. 
  • Continuous feedback – With every test, the client feedback is encouraged to ensure that the product meets the business requirements of the client. 
  • Simple and clean code – Whatever errors and defects arise during the testing phase are fixed within the same iteration by the Agile team. This allows for simple, concise, and clean code. 
  • Less documentation – Agile teams use a reusable checklist. Here, they are more focused on the testing process rather than the incidental details.

17. Differentiate between Agile and Scrum.

A critical agile interview question you need to be aware of. Agile and Scrum have their fair share of similarities and differences. Since Scrum is a part of the Agile Methodology, both of them promote the completion of projects incrementally in small fragments. Also, both methodologies are iterative in nature.

However, the main difference between Agile and Scrum is that the former has a broader spectrum. While Agile Methodology is used for project management, Scrum is ideal for projects where the requirements change rapidly. In the Agile Methodology, leadership holds the most pivotal position, whereas Scrum encourages the creation of a self-organizing and cross-functional team.

18. What are the crucial Agile Matrices? 

Some of the essential Agile Matrices are:

  • Velocity – It is essential to keep track of the project’s velocity so that the Agile team can have a clear about your progress, capacity, and other metrics. 
  • Work category allocation – Allocating separate work categories provides a clear idea about where different team members are investing their time and what is the order of priority of the various tasks in a project. 
  • Defect removal awareness – When team members work proactively and correct the errors simultaneously as they develop and test a product, the quality of the end product improves significantly.
  • Cumulative flow diagram – It represents a workflow in which the x-axis represents time, and the y-axis depicts the effort of members. 
  • Sprint burn-down matric – This allows the Agile team to track and monitor the completion of the work along with the sprint.
  • Deliver business value – It is primarily concerned with the overall work efficiency of the Agile team. Only when all the team members are productive that the Agile team can deliver business value to their clients. 
  • Time coverage – The time required to develop and test each iteration is measured using the ratio between the number of lines in a code (test suite) and the number of relative lines of codes.
  • Defect resolution time – As the name suggests, it pertains to the time required to detect and fix bugs and issues. This is an elaborate process that requires the Agile team to collaborate and deliver improved results in the most productive manner possible.

19. Explain “Zero Sprint” in Agile.

One of the important agile interview questions.

In Agile Methodology, Zero Sprint refers to the first step that comes before the first sprint. So, it is more like a pre-step to the first sprint. Thus, Zero Sprint would include a host of activities that are to be completed before starting a project, including setting up the development environment, preparing backlog, and other such tasks that are usually done before beginning the actual development process. 

20. What is the ideal duration of a Scrum Sprint?

The duration of a Scrum Sprint or the Scrum Cycle primarily depends on the project size and the team working on it. A Scrum team may consist of 3-9 members, and it takes about 3-4 weeks to draft and complete a Scrum script. Going by this calculation, the average duration of a Scrum Sprint is four weeks.

21. Explain the role of the Scrum Master.

One of the popular agile interview questions. The Scrum Master is the leader and supervisor of the Scrum team. The main job of the Scrum Master is to ensure that the team abides by the Agile values and principles and follows the agreed-upon processes and practices. Some of the most crucial responsibilities of the Scrum Master are:

  • To eliminate all the obstacles that could hamper the productivity of the Scrum team.
  • To establish a productive and collaborative work environment for the Scrum team.
  • To protect the team from the interruptions and distractions of the outside world.
  • To maintain a good relationship between the team, clients, and all the other stakeholders involved in a project. 
  • To supervise the operations of the Scrum team and motivating them as and when needed. 

22. Differentiate between “Sprint Planning Meeting” and “Sprint Retrospective Meeting.”

Although the two terms may sound similar, Sprint Planning Meeting and Sprint Retrospective Meeting are quite different from one another. A Sprint Planning Meeting involves all the Scrum roles – product owner, scrum team, and scrum master – coming together to discuss the project priorities and backlog items. Usually, the Sprint Planning Meeting is a weekly event that lasts for about an hour. A Sprint Retrospective Meeting, on the other hand, is one where all the Scrum roles (product owner, scrum team, and scrum master) come together to discuss the good and bad elements of the sprint and the sprint improvements. This meeting is generally an extension of the Sprint Planning Meeting and can last up to two to three hours.

Apart from these agile methodology interview questions, questions based on your previous experience in case you are already acquainted with agile methodology can be asked by the interviewer. You might want to revisit your on-the-job learnings and prepare answers to questions like:

    1. How long were your sprints for the projects you have worked on?
    2. What is the maximum number of scrum you have handled at a time?
    3. What kind of project management tools were used for your project?
    4. Have you used automated test tools earlier? How was your experience?
    5. Did your iterations overlap?

23. Is agile development a framework?

Agile signifies all-embracing values for software development. It emphasizes the value of iterating rapidly and frequently to meet customers’ expectations. So, an agile framework is defined as an explicit software-development approach depending on the Agile philosophy expressed in the Agile Manifesto.

24.What are Agile Methodology Frameworks?

It is one of the common Agile capital services interview questions. The Agile framework works on the Agile approach that offers data on the particular Agile-development practices. The disparities in the software development processes lead to Agile frameworks. The Agile methodology frameworks are also known as processes or methodologies. They lay the basis of Agile transformation. Some of the prominent Agile methodology frameworks used are  Scrum, Disciplined Agile, The crystal method, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Feature Driven Development (FDD), Lean Software Development (LSD), Rapid Application Development (RAD), Scrumban, and Kanban.

25.How to enhance the impact of Agile?

You can include this question when preparing for the Agile capital services interview questions. Considering the increasing adaptation of Agile in many organizations, Agile’s impact renders the desired outcomes of effective agile transformation. The four metrics included in the Agile impact framework are customer satisfaction, operational performance, employee engagement, and financial performance.

Organizations can assess the Agile impact by determining how Agile teams enhance the customer experience. Alternatively, you can do that by comparing the new values generated by Agile teams with the traditional waterfall output’s value.

26.How do you deal with distributed teams in Agile?

Dealing with distributed teams is significant in many organizations. So, this one is one of the frequently asked Agile interview questions. The following tips help you to deal with distributed teams in Agile. (i) Uniformly distribute work and maintain apparent task allocation. (ii) Recruit self-reliant and dedicated individuals to fulfil the vision.  (iii) Create co-located teams and let them invent ways to share the work. (iv) Capitalize on collaboration technology to increase teamwork efficiency. (v) Arrange daily stand-up meetings to explore potential roadblocks and decrease dependencies.

27.How are Agile and DevOps different?

Many leading organizations ask these types of Agile interview questions. Agile and DevOps both started their journeys to enhance the software development process. Agile prioritized working on software development rather than rigid processes. DevOps prioritized production and development. They both share a fundamental concept, but they target diverse stakeholders with unique business objectives. Each of them addresses dissimilar yet critical parts of software development. Agle sets the stage for DevOps and provides ways to develop software faster. On the other hand, DevOps focuses on quality and offers teams to deploy frequently.

28.How does Agile save you money?

It is one of the popular Agile interview questions and answers from a business perspective. Agile processes are cost-effective. They are well-known for quality assurance, scope optimization, and cost saving. It only focuses on developing only the required aspects to save time and let businesses generate more revenue. The quality of deliverables is guaranteed when the iteration terminates. Agile reduces the completion time by motivating the compartmentalization of work. Agile delivery is faster because it focuses on high-priority tasks. Communication transparency guarantees faster product delivery. So, time saved ultimately saves money.

29.When should you use Agile project management?

Companies have adopted an agile style of project management that stresses fostering collaboration and efficiency. This particular question is categorized as one of the popular agile project management questions and answers from a managerial perspective. 

It is one of the common Agile interview questions and answers when it comes to enhancing organizational work efficiency. Agile characteristics like iteration, adaptability, short time frames, and continuous delivery make it suitable for project management. So, Agile is suitable for continuing projects and projects where some details are unknown at the outset. Agile project management is therefore useful when a project lacks clear timelines or resources. For example, designing a new product may create some challenges. Implementing an Agile methodology allows frequent product testing, quick iteration, and smooth communication with stakeholders.

30.Which is the best Agile method?

This is one of the common agile questions when studying different Agile methods. Scrum is the best and most extensively used Agile methodology globally. The Scrum framework addresses two critical pain points of software development i.e. speed and altering client requirements. This approach executes the software development project in phases and each phase is called a Sprint.

31.How agile methodology is more advantageous compared to traditional methodologies?

The key difference between Agile and traditional approaches is the order of project phases – gathering requirements, planning, designing, development, testing, and UAT. The sequence of the project development phase is linear in traditional development methodologies, whereas it is iterative in Agile. Testing is undertaken after the development phase completes in Agile methodology. Testing and development occur simultaneously in traditional methodologies. Client involvement is less in traditional development than in Agile development. Traditional methodologies are less secure.

32. How agile methodology works in testing?

It is one of the advanced level Agile questions. Testing happens early and frequently in Agile development. Rather than waiting for development to be completed before testing starts, testing takes place constantly as features are added. The tests are prioritized similarly to user stories. Testers target to complete as many tests as possible.

33.What is included in the Agile Testing Lifecycle in Scrum?

The Scrum Agile testing lifecycle includes the following points. (i) Contributing to user stories according to the system’s expected behaviour  (ii)Release planning as per test defects and effort. (iii)Sprint Planning according to user defects and stories. (iv)Sprint execution with continuous testing. (v)Regression testing after the Sprint planning completes. (vi)Reporting Test Results. (vii)Automation Testing

34.When to choose Agile methodology?

It can be considered as expert-level Agile questions and answers. Agile methodology can be chosen in the following scenarios. (i) The developers are ready to lose work of a few days or hours when implementing a new feature. (ii) When limited planning is needed to begin the project. (iii) When there is more focus on what has to be done and less focus on scheduling and documentation. (iv) When requirements and priorities need to be easily adjusted all through the project to fulfil the stakeholders’ needs.

35.What are the risks of using agile methodology?

Certain organizations may ask these types of Agile questions and answers in interviews. Here are the three key risks of using Agile methodology. (u) Budget risks –It denotes that occasionally, it’s difficult to accurately estimate the cost of a new product’s development during its early stages. (ii) Scope creep risk –It assumes scope changes during the development that leads to changing deliverables, shifting timelines, and budget increases. (iii) Less predictability -Agile adopts constant changes and it is occasionally challenging to provide long-term predictions. This risk deals with changing the deadlines for the vendor.

36. What is the Agile Manifesto and its core values?

This is one of the agile interview questions that do not come under the technical repository of questions, but you must be familiar with the topic. The Agile Manifesto is a documentation that outlines four fundamental values and twelve principles that software developers should implement to guide their work. The developers who introduced the Agile Manifesto sought to find stability between existing ways of development and other possible alternatives. 

The four core values documented in the Agile Manifesto are as follows:

  • Individuals and interactions should be given priority over processes and tools.
  • Demonstration of working software at regular time intervals over comprehensive documentation.
  • Precedence to be given to customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
  • Incorporating change over following a project plan. 

37. What do you mean by Scrumban?

This is one of the latest interview questions on agile methodology, as Scrumban is one of the core developments in agile procedure.

Scrumban is a project management strategy that combines two Agile methods — Scrum and Kanban. It integrates Scrum’s structured framework of sprints, standups, and retrospectives with Kanban’s visual workflow. This allows teams to benefit from iterative development and continuous flow, enhancing adaptability and efficiency.

Scrumban came into prominence to help software teams switch from Scrum to Kanban and vice versa. If the teams are competent in working with both methodologies, this layout can assist them in the smooth shift to other methodologies.

38. What are Scrum Ceremonies, and name the essential team members in them?

Scrum Ceremonies, also termed events, are gatherings that occur before, during, and subsequent sprints embedded in the scrum framework. The framework partitions projects into regular intervals, for example, 30 days to complete the task. During a scrum sprint, they allow ease in communication. 

The prominent team members include:

  • Scrum Master – The Scrum Master ensures that everyone in the team has the equipment and guidance to be productive. The Scrum Master schedules meetings and conveys the team’s progress and problems. 
  • Product Owner – The product owner takes essential decisions and prioritizes each item before a Scrum sprint. They constitute the interests of the clients and stakeholders.
  • Development Team – The development team is a cross-functional group that develops the product. This group comprises developers, quality assurance analysts, and designers involved in transporting and developing products.

39. What are the quality strategies of agile?

This is one of the basic agile methodology interview questions

  • Initiation – During formation, it is often termed Sprint 0 in Scrum or Iteration 0 in agile technologies. The primary goal of the team leader is to define goals and guide the team in the right direction. From the point of view of testing, the main tasks have to be organized according to your approach to testing and commence setting up the test environment. 
  • Development team strategies – Agile development teams adhere to a team strategy in which testers are inducted into the development team, and the team is held responsible for testing. This works in favor of many instances, but when your environment is composite, you will need an independent testing team to work in tandem with the development team. 
  • Parallel independent testing – The team’s approach of inducting agile testers to the group is a significant start but doesn’t suffice in the long run. The idea is to constitute an independent test team that performs some advanced tests. This team does not require a detailed set of requirements but may require specifics such as architecture diagrams. 

40. What do you understand by the term Daily Stand-Up?

This is one of the frequently asked agile scrum interview questions.

The Daily Stand-Up, or Daily Scrum, is a short, daily meeting in Scrum where team members discuss progress, plan for the day, and identify any obstacles. Participants stand to keep it brief, typically lasting 15 minutes or less, promoting quick updates and issue resolution. It is advisable to host these meetings in the presence of the project manager and with all employees in attendance. 

41. What do you mean by impediments? State instances of impediments.

Impediments are roadblocks or obstacles faced by the members of the Scrum team that affects the speed of their work. Impediments can assume various forms like – i) Missing resources or absence of a team member, ii) Business troubles, iii) Lack of essential skills or knowledge iv) organizational problems. 

Certain organizations ask these agile testing interview questions to evaluate a candidate for a role where user stories will be used. These agile process interview questions test the candidate’s knowledge in understanding the customer’s perspective. If you are applying for a senior role, you must prepare these agile interview questions and answers for experienced Agile testers.

42. What is a user story?

A user story is a simple description of a feature delivered to the end users. User stories are used in agile technologies to understand the requirements of the customers or users. The purpose of a user story is to express how the company will add value to the customer’s requirements. 

43. What are the 3 Cs of user stories? 

The 3 Cs of user stories are:

  • Cards – User stories are written on cards. They form the foundation for a conversation. It doesn’t matter what kind of card (digital, index, or post-in) is used. The written content on the card signifies the story’s priority and the cost involved.
  • Conversation – A card portrays user requirements, but they have to be refined and presented to the developers. When a user story is documented on a card and written on a board, it reflects how committed the team is to discussing a user story.
  • Confirmation – Confirmation is one of the criteria for acceptance prior to development. The team may preside over a meeting regarding a user story, but there lies an iota of suspicion if the user requirements are met or not. So, confirmation ensures that the user requirements have been delivered.

Every individual who is a part of the scrum and agile team should uphold the company’s ethics and values. To explore the core components of Agile, have a look at this agile question and answer.

44. What do you mean by a Build-Breaker?

A build-breaker is a team member responsible for impeding the team’s progress. The individual introduces probable changes to the applications that make them impossible to run. 

The Steps of Agile Methodology

Agile methodology aims to deliver more regular product launches and shorter project cycles than traditional project management. The Agile interview questions and answers mentioned above will help you understand the methodology in detail. Candidates can also create Agile interview questions and answers pdf for better access to questions for revision. 

You may employ a variety of Agile models, including Kanban and Scrum, which are two among the most popular. However, any Agile approach will adhere to the same fundamental steps, which are as follows:

1. Planning the project 

As with any other project, you should have a clear understanding of the final product, its value to the customer or company, and the way it will be accomplished before work starts.

You may create a project goal here, but keep in mind that Agile project management’s goal is to make it simple to address modifications and modifications to the program. As a result, the scope of the project shouldn’t be viewed as impervious to change.

2. Developing a product roadmap

An outline of the characteristics that make up the finished product is called a master plan. Due to the fact that you will develop each of these distinct features during each sprint, this is an essential part of the Agile planning phase.

You will also create a product inventory at this time, which is a checklist of all the features that will go into the finished item. Later, while planning sessions, you can select items from this checklist.

3. Planning the release

In traditional project management, there is one date that matters the most. The final date after all the planning and development is when you release the product. Agile, on the other hand, employs reduced development periods, also known as ‘sprints’, with features being delivered at the conclusion of each cycle.

You will develop a comprehensive strategy for product releases before the project begins, and at the start of each sprint, you will review and reevaluate the plan.

4. Planning sprint

The parties must have a sprint strategy meeting before the start of each sprint to decide what the role of each individual be and how it will be accomplished. To ensure that everyone on the team completes their allocated responsibilities throughout the sprint, it’s critical to distribute the workload fairly.

A visual record of your workflow is also necessary for team transparency, shared knowledge, and the detection and elimination of bottlenecks.

5. Planning daily tasks

Hold quick daily meetings to assist your team to complete their responsibilities throughout each sprint and determine if any adjustments are necessary. Each colleague will briefly discuss their upcoming daily tasks. These daily sessions should be brief. 

How to Become a Full Stack Developer

6. Testing

The testing stage checks whether the product meets the company guidelines and customer requirements. Testing is an indispensable part of the Agile life cycle and is performed while developing the product roadmap. As the developer teams continue to complete the unfinished tasks, the testing team will take over and continue executing test cases to identify bugs in the code.

7. Maintenance

The maintenance stage establishes that the software meets user requirements over time. Your team needs to observe the software and resolve errors as and when they arise. You can collect feedback from users from different sources. The input gathered from the sources should be used to identify potential threats and arrive at a conclusive solution.

To prepare for an upcoming interview where Agile questions and answers may be asked, it is necessary to understand all aspects of Agile methodology and go through the Agile interview questions and answers pdf thoroughly.

Read our Popular Articles related to Software Development

Tips to Help You Prepare For An Agile Interview as a Developer

A simple way to prepare for agile methodologies interview questions is to use the repository of resources available in the public domain. Agile practices are used widely across a range of sectors from software development to healthcare and financial services. Digital.ai’s 16 State of Agile Report states the technology sector uses agile methodologies the most, almost 27%. It is crucial to understand global agile fundamentals to have clarity on the global impact of agile technology.

This article covers all aspects of agile methodology interview questions and answers. Fundamental agile questions and answers are asked of candidates applying for entry positions and the level increases according to the role.

Preparing for an Agile interview as a developer requires a combination of technical knowledge, practical experience, an understanding of Agile principles and methodologies, and many more things. So, keeping this in mind let’s learn some valuable tips to help you succeed in your Agile interview:

  • Understand Agile Principles

Before your interview, ensure you have a solid understanding of Agile principles and methodologies. Familiarize yourself with iterative development, collaboration, continuous feedback, and change adaptation.

  • Know Scrum and Kanban

Be well-versed in popular Agile frameworks like Scrum and Kanban. Understand the roles (Scrum Master, Product Owner, Development Team) and ceremonies (Sprint Planning, Daily Standup, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective) in Scrum, as well as Kanban principles such as visualizing work, limiting work in progress, and managing flow.

  • Technical Skills

Brush up on your technical skills, especially those related to the job you’re applying for. Be prepared to discuss programming languages, frameworks, version control systems, and other tools commonly used in Agile development environments.

  • Practice Agile Tools

Familiarize yourself with popular Agile tools like Jira, Trello, or Asana. Many Agile teams use these project management tools, so that hands-on experience can be a significant advantage.

  • Collaboration and Communication

Agile emphasizes collaboration and communication. Be prepared to discuss your experiences working in teams, how you handle conflicts, and how you communicate progress and challenges.

  • Problem-Solving Scenarios

Expect scenario-based questions where you might be asked how you would handle specific Agile-related challenges. Practice answering questions related to prioritizing tasks, handling scope changes, or resolving conflicts within a team.

  • Continuous Improvement

Agile focuses on continuous improvement. Be ready to discuss how you’ve contributed to process improvement in your previous projects. Discuss any initiatives you’ve taken to optimize workflows, increase efficiency, or enhance team collaboration.

  • Cultural Fit

Agile teams often have a unique collaboration, trust, and adaptability culture. Be prepared to demonstrate how your values align with Agile principles. Share examples of how you’ve worked in environments that value these principles.

  • Be Adaptable

Agile is all about adaptability. Show your willingness to learn and grow, emphasizing that you can easily adapt to new tools, methodologies, and project requirements.

  • Ask Questions

Ads of upGrad blog

Finally, be prepared with thoughtful questions for the interviewer. Ask about their Agile processes, team structures, and how they handle challenges. This shows your interest and helps you assess if the company’s Agile practices align with your expectations.

Conclusion

With that, we come to the end of our list of agile interview questions and answers guide. Although these agile interview questions are selected from a vast pool of probable questions, these are the ones you are most likely to face.

These were the must-know questions and answers revolving around the agile methodology. Most companies practice agile development in one form or another, thanks to the features it has to offer. If you wish to make a flourishing software development career, what are waiting for? Master agile methodology. Explore more about Agile software development, check out upGrad’s Executive PG Programme in Software Development – Specialisation in Full Stack Development.

Profile

Arjun Mathur

Blog Author
Arjun is Program marketing manager at UpGrad for the Software development program. Prior to UpGrad, he was a part of the French ride-sharing unicorn "BlaBlaCar" in India. He is a B.Tech in Computers Science from IIT Delhi and loves writing about technology.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1Why do companies adopt Agile methodology?

Agile is popularly used by organisations since it can help improve the performance of teams and enhance product quality and the levels of customer satisfaction. Teams can quickly adapt to changes in product requirements better without impacting overall deliverables and timelines. In Agile, teams work in shorter, iterative cycles aiming at continuous improvement based on customer requirements. Agile also helps companies optimise technical debt, enforce better project control, and increase the versatility of the project. It also helps reduce risks and empowers companies to better respond to market dynamics which steers projects to successful completion. Overall, by adopting Agile, organisations can aim for faster ROI.

2Is Waterfall better than Agile methodology?

Waterfall and Agile are very different methods of project management that suit different project requirements. Agile is more suitable for projects where the stakeholders are very closely involved in every step of the project. On the other hand, the Waterfall model is more suitable for projects where you have a clear understanding of the project outcome right from the start; it does not offer too much flexibility and is a more structured model than Agile. Agile, as the name suggests, is best suited for teams that aim to move fast with a project and experiment in a specific direction despite not certainly knowing the outcomes of a project.

3Should you go for Scrum certification?

There are many benefits of becoming a certified Scrum master. According to experts, it takes less time to become a certified Scrum master and lead projects compared to the time to become a project manager. Besides, Scrum masters are in huge demand nowadays, and these skills are highly valuable when you are aiming to enhance your earning potential. A Scrum master certification can also help you steer ahead in your career progression by helping you demonstrate exemplary leadership skills and management expertise. Certified Scrum Master, Professional Scrum Master, SAFe Scrum Master, Certified Scrum Developer, and Scrum@Scale Practitioner are some of the most valuable certifications you can pick from.

Explore Free Courses

Suggested Blogs

Best Jobs in IT without coding
134264
If you are someone who dreams of getting into the IT industry but doesn’t have a passion for learning programming, then it’s OKAY! Let me
Read More

by Sriram

12 Apr 2024

Scrum Master Salary in India: For Freshers & Experienced [2023]
900305
Wondering what is the range of Scrum Master salary in India? Have you ever watched a game of rugby? Whether your answer is a yes or a no, you might h
Read More

by Rohan Vats

05 Mar 2024

SDE Developer Salary in India: For Freshers & Experienced [2024]
905062
A Software Development Engineer (SDE) is responsible for creating cross-platform applications and software systems, applying the principles of compute
Read More

by Rohan Vats

05 Mar 2024

System Calls in OS: Different types explained
5021
Ever wondered how your computer knows to save a file or display a webpage when you click a button? All thanks to system calls – the secret messengers
Read More

by Prateek Singh

29 Feb 2024

Marquee Tag & Attributes in HTML: Features, Uses, Examples
5134
In my journey as a web developer, one HTML element that has consistently sparked both curiosity and creativity is the venerable Marquee tag. As I delv
Read More

by venkatesh Rajanala

29 Feb 2024

What is Coding? Uses of Coding for Software Engineer in 2024
5053
Introduction  The word “coding” has moved beyond its technical definition in today’s digital age and is now considered an essential ability in
Read More

by Harish K

29 Feb 2024

Functions of Operating System: Features, Uses, Types
5132
The operating system (OS) stands as a crucial component that facilitates the interaction between software and hardware in computer systems. It serves
Read More

by Geetika Mathur

29 Feb 2024

What is Information Technology? Definition and Examples
5058
Information technology includes every digital action that happens within an organization. Everything from running software on your system and organizi
Read More

by spandita hati

29 Feb 2024

50 Networking Interview Questions & Answers (Freshers & Experienced)
5138
In the vast landscape of technology, computer networks serve as the vital infrastructure that underpins modern connectivity.  Understanding the core p
Read More

by Harish K

29 Feb 2024

Schedule 1:1 free counsellingTalk to Career Expert
icon
footer sticky close icon