Agile Foundation guidance emphasizes building quality into the product from the very beginning rather than relying on late-stage inspection or escalation. When a minor quality control failure occurs during product creation, the most appropriate initial response is to revisit the development and test activities, making option C the correct answer. Agile promotes continuous quality assurance through iterative development, frequent testing, and fast feedback loops, allowing teams to correct issues as soon as they emerge.
In Agile environments, quality is a shared responsibility of the entire team. Minor defects or quality issues are viewed as learning opportunities rather than failures that require formal escalation. Revisiting development and testing activities allows the team to quickly identify root causes, such as unclear acceptance criteria, gaps in automated tests, or misunderstandings in requirements. By addressing the issue at its source, teams can prevent similar defects from recurring in future iterations.
Option A, escalating the issue to the project manager, is generally unnecessary for minor quality failures in Agile. Agile teams are empowered to self-manage and resolve issues at the team level whenever possible. Option B, performing an independent review, may be appropriate for major or systemic quality problems but is excessive as an initial response to a minor issue. Option D, discussing the issue with the chief product owner, is also not the first step unless the issue affects product value or requires a change in priorities.
Agile Foundation documents stress the importance of continuous improvement, built-in quality practices, and early defect resolution. Techniques such as test-driven development, continuous integration, peer reviews, and frequent retrospectives support this approach. By immediately revisiting development and test activities, Agile teams maintain flow, reduce rework, and ensure that quality issues are resolved quickly and effectively, reinforcing Agile principles of transparency, inspection, and adaptation.