Anti-Pattern
A recognizable but faulty way of working that should be avoided.
Key Points
- A repeatable practice known to cause waste, delays, or quality issues.
- Often emerges from habit, misunderstanding, or pressure to locally optimize.
- Spotting anti-patterns enables teams to stop harmful behaviors early.
- Replace them with proven practices that support flow, value, and teamwork.
Example
In a Scrum team, a manager runs the daily standup to gather individual status updates and assign tasks. Team members wait for direction instead of coordinating with each other. Impediments go unaddressed and collaboration drops. This is an anti-pattern; the standup should be team-led to plan the day and surface blockers.
PMP Example Question
Which action best illustrates an anti-pattern in an agile team?
- The team sets WIP limits to reduce multitasking.
- A manager uses the daily standup to collect individual status and assign tasks.
- The Product Owner reprioritizes the backlog based on value and risk.
- The team timeboxes the retrospective to one hour.
Correct Answer: B — Turning the daily standup into a manager-led status meeting
Explanation: Using the standup for top-down status collection undermines self-organization and collaboration, making it a well-known anti-pattern.
