An agile project is in its fifth of ten iterations. After the last retrospective the team realizes they had to work extra hours to deliver the committed work. What should the project manager do?

The correct answer is to conduct a focused retrospective to help the team discover the root cause. A retrospective is a key agile event designed for continuous improvement. When a team consistently works extra hours, it indicates a systemic issue that needs to be understood and addressed, not just managed by reducing commitment or adding resources without understanding why the problem exists. A focused retrospective allows the team to collaboratively identify the underlying reasons for overcommitment or inefficient work, leading to sustainable solutions. Asking the team to have a lower commitment might temporarily alleviate the problem but doesn't address the root cause, which could be anything from poor estimation to unforeseen technical debt. Implementing a checkpoint is a monitoring activity, not a problem-solving one; it helps track progress but doesn't explain why the team is struggling. Asking for additional team members without understanding the root cause could lead to increased communication overhead and potentially lower productivity (Brooks's Law).