SSM Practice Test 10 — 10 Questions

Question 1

A Scrum Master notices that a team is consistently failing to complete their User Stories during the iteration. What is the most effective first step for the Scrum Master to take?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a team discussion to analyze the root cause of the incomplete work.. The Scrum Master must first facilitate a discussion within the team to identify the root cause of the failure to meet the Definition of Done. Rather than blaming the team, the Scrum Master encourages transparency and empirical observation. By understanding whether the issue is related to technical debt, scope creep, or poor estimation, the team can implement targeted process improvements that directly address the specific challenges causing the delays.

Answer

Report the team to the Release Train Engineer for poor performance.

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Assign the incomplete work to the next iteration automatically.

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Require the team to work longer hours to finish the current stories.

Question 2

What is the primary focus of the Scrum Master when coaching a newly formed Agile Team in a SAFe enterprise?

Accepted Answer

Establishing foundational team norms, fostering psychological safety, and coaching the group toward effective self-organization.. Newly formed Agile Teams require intensive foundational coaching on Agile principles, team norms, and self-organization to establish high performance. The Scrum Master focuses on building psychological safety, establishing working agreements, and ensuring clear understanding of built-in quality practices to enable future delivery success.

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Maximizing individual billable hours and enforcing strict time tracking for every hour spent on functional tasks.

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Writing all the user stories and acceptance criteria on behalf of the Product Owner to accelerate backlog grooming sessions.

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Reporting daily individual productivity metrics directly to executive leadership to justify the team's funding.

Question 3

During the first day of PI Planning, a team realizes that a critical architectural dependency will prevent them from completing their committed features. How should the Scrum Master coach the team for the Management Review and Problem-Solving session?

Accepted Answer

Summarize the dependency and its impact on the team's draft plan for the RTE.. The Management Review and Problem-Solving session is a pivotal event where leadership addresses challenges that teams cannot resolve alone. By clearly articulating the impact of the dependency, the Scrum Master ensures that the Release Train Engineer and Business Owners can make informed decisions about scope adjustments or resource reallocation to maintain the integrity of the ART.

Answer

Wait until the second day to see if other teams can take over the work.

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Advise the team to mark the feature as uncommitted without informing management.

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Instruct the team to ignore the dependency and plan as if it were resolved.

Question 4

Which TWO of the following behaviors should a Scrum Master demonstrate during the Team Retrospective? (Select TWO)

Accepted Answer

Ensure that the team identifies at least one actionable improvement to implement next iteration.. The Retrospective is a safe environment for continuous improvement. The Scrum Master must ensure the discussion remains constructive and focused on systemic issues rather than individual blame. By facilitating an environment where the team feels safe to share insights, the Scrum Master helps the team identify actionable improvements that lead to higher quality, better flow, and increased team satisfaction in future iterations.

Answer

Focus the discussion on identifying the individual team member responsible for failures.

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Strictly follow the same agenda format every time to maintain consistency.

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Report all team issues directly to the Release Train Engineer without telling the team.

Question 5

Refer to the exhibit. As the Scrum Master during the middle of the iteration, how should you coach the team regarding their commitment?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion with the Product Owner to renegotiate scope based on current capacity.. The exhibit shows the team is currently over-committed based on their velocity of 10 points. The Scrum Master must coach the team to reprioritize their focus with the Product Owner. This is critical in SAFe to ensure the team produces high-value, quality increments rather than attempting to finish everything poorly. It encourages the team to practice radical transparency and effective scope management during the iteration.

Answer

Encourage the team to work overtime to ensure all stories are completed.

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Advise the team to drop Story A and focus on completing Stories B and C.

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Ignore the velocity discrepancy as velocity is only an estimate and not a guarantee.

Question 6

Who is the primary audience for the System Demo?

Accepted Answer

Business Owners and external stakeholders.. The System Demo is the primary event for stakeholders to see the progress of the Agile Release Train. It provides objective evidence of the work completed and allows for feedback that can influence the future direction of the product. The Scrum Master ensures the team is prepared to present their work meaningfully.

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The Development Team members within the ART.

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The Scrum Master and Release Train Engineer.

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The System Architect and technical leads.

Question 7

A Scrum Master / Team Coach is supporting an Agile Team that has been operating for several Iterations. The team consistently delivers value, but during the Iteration Retrospective, several members express that they feel the Scrum Master is not adding value because the team rarely faces blockers. The Scrum Master wants to evolve their role to better serve the team's growth. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master / Team Coach to take?

Accepted Answer

Shift focus to teaching the team advanced Agile engineering practices and facilitating cross-team collaboration within the Agile Release Train.. A mature Agile Team requires the Scrum Master / Team Coach to evolve from impediment removal to coaching advanced practices and fostering collaboration across the Agile Release Train. This aligns with the SAFe principle of continuous improvement and helps the team reach higher performance levels. The other choices either revert to command-and-control, add unnecessary overhead, or misunderstand the role's enduring value.

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Report the team's lack of blockers to the Release Train Engineer as evidence that the Scrum Master role is redundant.

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Begin assigning tasks to team members to ensure they remain fully utilized and meet Iteration goals.

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Introduce additional status meetings to increase visibility and create more opportunities for the Scrum Master to contribute.

Question 8

Refer to the exhibit. As a Scrum Master, how should you address the situation described in the log?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a re-planning session to adjust the plan based on velocity.. The team is over-committing, as evidenced by the gap between their average velocity (42) and their planned capacity (60). The Scrum Master must guide the team to use historical data for realistic planning. This is important because over-committing leads to burnout, technical debt, and missed commitments, which destabilize the entire ART's predictability and value delivery for the PI.

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Encourage the team to work overtime to meet the 60-point commitment.

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Assign the extra 18 points of work to Team B to balance the load.

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Ignore the velocity discrepancy as it is common for teams to overestimate.

Question 9

Which event serves as the primary mechanism for a Scrum team in SAFe to reflect on their process and identify improvements?

Accepted Answer

The Iteration Retrospective.. The Iteration Retrospective is the dedicated event for process improvement. In SAFe, this is vital because teams must constantly optimize their workflow to keep pace with the ART. By identifying what went well and what didn't, the team can implement small, actionable changes, fostering a culture of continuous improvement that is central to the Agile mindset and SAFe principles.

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The Inspect and Adapt (I&A) event.

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The Sprint Planning meeting.

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The Daily Stand-up.

Question 10

Refer to the exhibit. If the team consistently exceeds the 'timebox_max_hours' during planning, what is the Scrum Master's best next step?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a session to review the team's preparation process and the quality of backlog items.. The Scrum Master must investigate why the planning process is dragging. It could be due to ill-defined stories, lack of preparation by the Product Owner, or poor facilitation. By addressing the root cause, the Scrum Master helps the team regain efficiency and respect the timebox, which is essential for maintaining a sustainable pace and avoiding fatigue during the iteration planning process.

Answer

Extend the timebox to 6 hours to ensure the team can finish their planning thoroughly.

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Ask the Product Owner to select the stories and provide them to the team beforehand.

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Stop the meeting at 4 hours regardless of whether the plan is complete or not.