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Kanban PMP Practice Questions

Test yourself with 5 free, scenario-based PMP practice questions on kanban, drawn from the Process domain of the exam and aligned to PMBOK 8. Work through each scenario before revealing the answer — every question includes an explanation of why the correct choice is right. For randomized, interactive practice across all topics, use the practice question tool.

Question 1 of 5

A Kanban team's WIP limit for the 'In Progress' column is 4. Currently there are 4 items in progress and a developer finishes one item, moving it to 'Done'. Another developer wants to pull a new item from 'To Do'. What should happen?

  1. A.The developer must wait — pulling now would bring the column WIP to 4, which equals the stated limit and violates the Kanban constraint that governs this column.
  2. B.The WIP limit applies to the full board, not individual columns — a single-column count of 4 is only a constraint if it causes the total board WIP limit to be breached.
  3. C.The developer should request manager permission before exceeding the WIP limit — changing capacity constraints requires authorization from whoever governs the team's Kanban system.
  4. D.The developer can pull the new item since finishing one item brought the WIP to 3, which is below the limit
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: D

After one item moves to 'Done', the 'In Progress' column has 3 items — below the WIP limit of 4. The developer can pull a new item from 'To Do'. The WIP limit prevents overloading the column to more than 4 at any one time. WIP limits create a pull system: work is pulled only when capacity exists, preventing bottlenecks and ensuring flow. No manager approval is needed — the WIP limit itself is the governing rule.

Question 2 of 5

A Kanban team's cumulative flow diagram shows the 'In Progress' band widening significantly over the past two weeks while the 'Done' band remains flat. What does this indicate?

  1. A.Work is accumulating in progress but not completing — there is a bottleneck or blockage preventing items from reaching 'Done'.
  2. B.The team's throughput is increasing — more work flowing into 'In Progress' indicates the team is accelerating its delivery pace and building momentum toward the sprint goal.
  3. C.The team should raise the WIP limit to accommodate the growing workload — a higher limit gives the team more flexibility and prevents the column from becoming an artificial constraint.
  4. D.The backlog is growing faster than the team can start work — the 'In Progress' growth reflects upstream prioritization pressure rather than a problem within the team's own execution flow.
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: A

In a cumulative flow diagram (CFD), a widening band for 'In Progress' with a flat 'Done' band means work is accumulating in the system without completing. This is a classic bottleneck signal — work is being started but not finished. The team should investigate what is blocking completion: external dependencies, skill gaps, code review delays, or inadequate testing capacity. Increasing WIP limits would worsen the bottleneck by allowing even more work to pile up.

Question 3 of 5

Why are WIP limits a core principle of Kanban?

  1. A.They prevent team members from working on more than one task, ensuring single-tasking efficiency
  2. B.They control flow by preventing excessive work in progress, which reduces cycle time and exposes bottlenecks
  3. C.They allow managers to monitor individual developer productivity
  4. D.They eliminate the need for sprint planning by replacing it with pull-based work assignment
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B

WIP limits are fundamental to Kanban because they control the amount of work in the system at any time. According to Little's Law: Cycle Time = WIP / Throughput. Lower WIP means shorter cycle times and faster delivery. WIP limits also make bottlenecks visible — when a column hits its limit, work stops flowing in and the team is forced to fix the bottleneck rather than continue starting new work. This 'stop starting, start finishing' principle improves flow efficiency.

Question 4 of 5

A software maintenance team uses Kanban. Their current cycle time (from 'In Progress' to 'Done') averages 12 days. After implementing a stricter WIP limit of 3 (reduced from 6), what is the MOST likely outcome?

  1. A.Cycle time will double to 24 days since fewer items are worked on simultaneously
  2. B.Throughput will drop significantly since fewer items are in progress
  3. C.Cycle time will decrease as each item receives more focused attention and bottlenecks are resolved faster
  4. D.The team will need to hire additional resources to compensate for the lower WIP
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C

Reducing WIP limits typically decreases cycle time because: (1) each item gets more focused attention, reducing context-switching; (2) bottlenecks become visible and are resolved faster; (3) Little's Law confirms that lower WIP = shorter cycle time at the same throughput. Throughput may actually stay the same or improve as flow efficiency increases. This is counterintuitive — working on fewer things at once leads to finishing faster, not slower.

Question 5 of 5

A Kanban team is measuring throughput. Over the last 10 days, they completed: 3, 2, 4, 3, 5, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2 items. What is the average throughput and how many items would they be expected to complete in a 15-day period?

  1. A.Average = 3.1 items/day; expected 47 items in 15 days
  2. B.Average = 2.9 items/day; expected 44 items in 15 days
  3. C.Average = 3.1 items/day; expected 46 items in 15 days
  4. D.Average = 3.1 items/day; expected 31 items in 15 days
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C

Total items completed = 3+2+4+3+5+2+3+4+3+2 = 31 items over 10 days. Average throughput = 31/10 = 3.1 items/day. Expected items in 15 days = 3.1 × 15 = 46.5 ≈ 46-47 items. Wait — option D says 31 items in 15 days, which is the total from 10 days, not a 15-day forecast. The correct 15-day forecast is approximately 46-47 items. The correct answer should reflect the 15-day forecast. The closest mathematically correct answer is A (46 items). Throughput-based forecasting is a key Kanban metric for predicting when a backlog will be completed.

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