🎯 Complete Guide to PMI-ACP Certification

Master the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner certification with our comprehensive guide covering all 7 domains, methodologies, and exam strategies

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PMI-ACP Certification Overview

The PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) validates your knowledge of agile principles, practices, tools, and techniques across multiple agile methodologies.

3 Hours

Exam Duration

120 Questions

Multiple Choice

21 Hours

Agile Training Required

1,500 Hours

Agile Project Experience

Eligibility Requirements

Educational Background

Secondary degree (high school diploma, associate's degree, or global equivalent)

General Project Experience

2,000 hours working on project teams within the last 5 years

Agile Project Experience

1,500 hours working on agile project teams within the last 3 years

The 7 PMI-ACP Domains

Master all seven domains to excel in your PMI-ACP certification exam

16%

Domain 1: Agile Principles and Mindset

9 Tasks covering:

  • Advocating for agile principles and values
  • Ensuring common understanding of agile values
  • Supporting organizational change to agile
  • Practicing visualization techniques
  • Creating safe environments for teams
  • Enhancing creativity and innovation
  • Encouraging knowledge sharing
  • Fostering emergent leadership
  • Practicing servant leadership
20%

Domain 2: Value-Driven Delivery

14 Tasks covering:

  • Defining positive value for customers
  • Avoiding potential downsides and waste
  • Prioritization techniques and methods
  • Incremental and iterative development
  • Minimum Viable Product (MVP) concepts
  • Value-based prioritization
  • Early and frequent delivery
17%

Domain 3: Stakeholder Engagement

9 Tasks covering:

  • Understanding stakeholder needs and expectations
  • Ensuring stakeholder involvement and buy-in
  • Managing stakeholder expectations
  • Effective communication strategies
  • Collaboration techniques and workshops
  • Conflict resolution methods
  • Building trust and rapport
16%

Domain 4: Team Performance

9 Tasks covering:

  • Team formation and development
  • Team empowerment and self-organization
  • Team collaboration and commitment
  • Coaching and mentoring team members
  • Distributed team management
  • Team performance optimization
  • Conflict resolution within teams
12%

Domain 5: Adaptive Planning

10 Tasks covering:

  • Levels of planning (strategic, release, iteration)
  • Adaptation and replanning techniques
  • Agile sizing and estimation methods
  • Progressive elaboration
  • User story development and management
  • Release and iteration planning
  • Velocity tracking and forecasting
10%

Domain 6: Problem Detection and Resolution

5 Tasks covering:

  • Problem identification techniques
  • Issue resolution strategies
  • Threat and risk management
  • Root cause analysis
  • Escalation procedures
9%

Domain 7: Continuous Improvement

6 Tasks covering:

  • Product, process, and people improvement
  • Creating learning environments
  • Systemic improvements (Kaizen)
  • Retrospective facilitation
  • Process tailoring and optimization
  • Value stream mapping

Core Agile Methodologies

Master the key agile frameworks covered in the PMI-ACP certification

Scrum Framework

Key Components:

  • Roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team
  • Events: Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective
  • Artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Product Increment
  • Concepts: Definition of Done, Timeboxing, Self-organization

Extreme Programming (XP)

Core Values & Practices:

  • Values: Simplicity, Communication, Feedback, Courage, Respect
  • Practices: Test-Driven Development (TDD), Pair Programming
  • Techniques: Continuous Integration, Small Releases
  • Principles: Collective Code Ownership, Refactoring

Lean Software Development

Seven Principles:

  • 1. Eliminate Waste
  • 2. Amplify Learning
  • 3. Empower the Team
  • 4. Defer Decisions
  • 5. Deliver Fast
  • 6. Build Quality In
  • 7. Optimize the Whole

Kanban Development

Five Core Principles:

  • 1. Visualize the workflow
  • 2. Limit Work in Progress (WIP)
  • 3. Manage flow
  • 4. Make process policies explicit
  • 5. Improve collaboration

Crystal Methodology

Key Characteristics:

  • Family of methodologies (Clear, Yellow, Orange, Red)
  • Focus on people and communication
  • Frequent delivery and reflection
  • Osmotic communication

Feature-Driven Development

Five Processes:

  • 1. Develop an overall model
  • 2. Build a features list
  • 3. Plan by feature
  • 4. Design by feature
  • 5. Build by feature

Track Your Study Progress

Domain Mastery Progress

Domain 1: Agile Principles and Mindset 0%
Domain 2: Value-Driven Delivery 0%
Domain 3: Stakeholder Engagement 0%
Domain 4: Team Performance 0%
Domain 5: Adaptive Planning 0%
Domain 6: Problem Detection and Resolution 0%
Domain 7: Continuous Improvement 0%

Test Your Knowledge

Try this sample PMI-ACP question to test your understanding

Sample Question:

Which of the following is a core principle of the Agile Manifesto?

  • A) Comprehensive documentation over working software
  • B) Contract negotiation over customer collaboration
  • C) Responding to change over following a plan
  • D) Processes and tools over individuals and interactions
Get More Practice Questions

Exam Preparation Checklist

Complete 21 hours of agile training

Ensure you have documented proof of agile education from PMI-approved providers

Document 1,500 hours of agile project experience

Gather evidence of your hands-on agile project work within the last 3 years

Study all 7 domains thoroughly

Master each domain according to its exam weight percentage

Practice with sample questions

Take multiple practice exams to familiarize yourself with question formats

Review agile methodologies

Understand Scrum, XP, Lean, Kanban, and other agile frameworks in detail

Schedule your exam

Book your PMI-ACP exam through Pearson VUE testing centers

Study Resources & Materials

Official Guide

PMI-ACP Exam Prep Book

The official PMI guide covering all domains, methodologies, and exam strategies with practice questions.

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Online Course

Agile Project Pro PMI-ACP Course

Comprehensive video training covering all 7 domains with real-world examples and practice exercises.

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Practice Exams

PMI-ACP Mock Tests

Full-length practice exams with detailed explanations to help you prepare for the actual certification test.

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Reference

Agile Manifesto & Principles

Essential reading: The original Agile Manifesto and 12 principles that form the foundation of agile practices.

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Templates

Agile Project Templates

Downloadable templates for user stories, sprint planning, retrospectives, and other agile artifacts.

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Workshop

PMI-ACP Bootcamp

Intensive 3-day workshop covering all exam domains with hands-on exercises and expert guidance.

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Career Benefits of PMI-ACP Certification

Higher Salary Potential

PMI-ACP certified professionals earn 25% more on average compared to non-certified peers in agile project management roles.

Career Advancement

Open doors to senior agile roles including Scrum Master, Agile Coach, and Product Owner positions across industries.

Global Recognition

PMI-ACP is recognized worldwide as the premier agile certification, validating your expertise across multiple methodologies.

Professional Network

Join a global community of certified agile practitioners and access exclusive PMI resources and events.

Ready to Start Your PMI-ACP Journey?

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