SSM Practice Test 16 — 15 Questions

Question 1

An Agile Team is preparing for its Iteration Review. The Scrum Master wants to ensure the event fulfills its purpose in SAFe. Which two actions should the Scrum Master take to support the team during this event? (Choose two.)

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Help the team prepare a working, demonstrable increment and a clear narrative that connects the iteration's work to the Iteration Goals.. The Iteration Review exists so the team can demonstrate a working increment and stakeholders can inspect it and provide feedback that shapes the next iteration. The Scrum Master supports this by helping the team prepare a demonstrable increment tied to the Iteration Goals and by facilitating stakeholder engagement. The Scrum Master does not present on the team's behalf, approve stories, or convert the event into a release gate.

Answer

Convert the Iteration Review into a formal sign-off gate where stakeholders approve the release before the team proceeds.

Answer

Approve the final acceptance of each user story with stakeholders before the team demonstrates the increment.

Answer

Present the team's velocity charts and burn-down metrics on behalf of the team to demonstrate progress to stakeholders.

Question 2

A Scrum Master is facilitating the Iteration Retrospective for a team that has consistently missed its Iteration Goals. The team is discouraged and reluctant to speak openly. Which TWO actions best support the team in this event? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Establish psychological safety by reinforcing that the Retrospective is a blame-free space and that the team owns its improvement actions.. The Scrum Master supports the Retrospective by creating a safe, blame-free environment and using a structured approach to uncover root causes and choose a few actionable experiments. These actions help a discouraged team speak honestly, learn from missed goals, and regain ownership of its improvement.

Answer

Ask the Product Owner to attend and explain why the Iteration Goals were too ambitious so the team does not feel responsible.

Answer

Document each team member's individual contributions to missed goals so accountability is clear.

Answer

Reduce the number of Iteration Goals for the next Iteration so the team can experience success and rebuild confidence.

Question 3

A SAFe team is preparing for its first Iteration Review with stakeholders. The Product Owner plans to present all completed stories and then ask stakeholders for feedback. The Scrum Master notices the team has not prepared any working software demonstration and the backlog items are mostly technical enablers with no user-facing functionality. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team to demonstrate the working enablers and their impact, and invite stakeholders to give feedback on the technical direction and upcoming functionality.. The Iteration Review is an inspect-and-adapt event where the team demonstrates the working increment and collects stakeholder feedback. Even when the increment consists mainly of technical enablers, the Scrum Master should coach the team to present that work meaningfully and invite feedback on technical direction. Canceling the event, fabricating user stories at the last minute, or excluding stakeholders all undermine transparency and the purpose of the review.

Answer

Replace the Iteration Review with a technical deep-dive session for the architects and skip stakeholder involvement.

Answer

Ask the Product Owner to create last-minute user stories and have developers implement them quickly before the review.

Answer

Instruct the Product Owner to cancel the Iteration Review because there is no user-facing functionality to demonstrate.

Question 4

During the Inspect and Adapt event, the ART reviews metrics and identifies that the predictability measure has dropped from 90% to 70% over the last two PIs. The Scrum Master for Team Echo notices that the team consistently overcommits during PI Planning but meets its iteration goals. What is the most likely root cause the Scrum Master should help the team investigate during the Problem-Solving Workshop?

Accepted Answer

The team is committing to more PI Objectives than it can realistically deliver given its capacity and dependencies.. Predictability measures the percentage of PI Objectives met. When a team consistently meets iteration goals but misses PI Objectives, the problem is usually at the PI planning level: the team is committing to more than it can deliver. The Scrum Master should guide the team to examine its PI planning process, capacity allocation, and dependency management to align commitments with realistic delivery.

Answer

The team is not conducting daily stand-ups effectively, leading to poor coordination.

Answer

The team is not using the Program Board to track dependencies, causing integration delays.

Answer

The team is not breaking down features into stories small enough to fit within an iteration.

Question 5

A SAFe Scrum Master is facilitating the Team Sync (a SAFe event replacing the Daily Stand-up in some contexts) for a distributed team. The team members are in three time zones, and the meeting often runs long because two team members engage in detailed problem-solving. What is the most effective action for the Scrum Master to take?

Accepted Answer

Interrupt the two team members and ask them to take the detailed discussion offline or into a separate focused session after the Team Sync, so the whole team can finish the synchronization.. The Team Sync is a timeboxed event for synchronization, and the Scrum Master protects that timebox while fostering collaboration. When two members dive into detailed problem-solving, the most effective action is to redirect that conversation to a separate session so the whole team can complete its synchronization. This keeps the event focused, respects all participants' time, and still allows the technical issue to be resolved.

Answer

Ask the two team members to stop discussing the issue entirely and focus only on their individual task updates.

Answer

Extend the Team Sync by 15 minutes to accommodate the problem-solving, and ask the other team members to wait.

Answer

Allow the problem-solving to continue so that the team can resolve the issue immediately, since the team is distributed and ad hoc conversations are difficult.

Question 6

During the ART Sync, the Release Train Engineer asks each Scrum Master to report on team progress toward PI Objectives. The Scrum Master for Team Delta observes that the team's burn-down chart is flattening and two features are blocked by an external vendor. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master to take at this event?

Accepted Answer

Escalate the vendor dependency to the Release Train Engineer and ask the team to reprioritize work on unblocked features.. At the ART Sync, Scrum Masters surface impediments and dependencies that affect multiple teams. The vendor blockage is a cross-team dependency that the RTE can help resolve. Simultaneously, the team should focus on unblocked features to protect PI Objectives. This response combines escalation with pragmatic reprioritization, which is consistent with SAFe principles of transparency and relentless improvement.

Answer

Instruct the team to work overtime to recover the schedule and report a positive burn-down at the next sync.

Answer

Wait until the Inspect and Adapt event to raise the vendor issue so the team can present a complete root-cause analysis.

Answer

Ask the Product Owner to remove the blocked features from the Program Board and replace them with new features.

Question 7

During the System Demo for a two-week iteration, the Product Owner for Team Delta notices that the new feature is not actually integrated with another team's component, but the demo still shows it working. The Scrum Master investigates and finds the presenter used a local stub instead of the real integration. What should the Scrum Master do first?

Accepted Answer

Ask the presenter to stop the demo and explain that the System Demo must reflect the integrated solution from all teams in the ART.. The System Demo exists to show the integrated solution produced by all teams in the ART, so using a local stub misrepresents progress and removes the opportunity for genuine inspection. The Scrum Master's first responsibility is to protect the event's purpose by clarifying that only integrated work is demonstrated, then help the team address the underlying integration gap.

Answer

Accept the demo as valid because the team's own iteration goals were met and the feature works in their environment.

Answer

Log a defect against the other team for failing to provide an integrated build to Team Delta before the demo.

Answer

Cancel the remainder of the System Demo and reschedule it for the next iteration once integration is complete.

Question 8

A Scrum Master notices that the team's Team Sync consistently runs long because members dive into detailed problem-solving. The Scrum Master wants to support the event while preserving its purpose. What is the best action?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate the team in keeping the Team Sync focused on progress toward the Iteration Goals and park detailed topics for a follow-up after the event.. The Scrum Master supports the Team Sync by helping the team keep it timeboxed and focused on progress toward the Iteration Goals, while parking detailed problem-solving for a follow-up. This preserves the event's purpose, respects the value of deeper discussions, and reinforces the team's self-management.

Answer

Cancel the Team Sync and replace it with a weekly problem-solving meeting until the team learns to be concise.

Answer

Allow the extended discussions because they are valuable and reschedule the team's other meetings to accommodate them.

Answer

Ask each team member to submit a written status update before the Team Sync so the meeting can be shorter.

Question 9

A Scrum Master notices that the team's Daily Stand-up consistently runs over 15 minutes because members dive into detailed problem-solving. The Scrum Master wants to keep the event timeboxed and focused on coordination. What is the most appropriate action?

Accepted Answer

Let the current stand-up finish, then coach the team on timeboxing and suggest moving detailed discussions to a follow-up 'after-party'.. The Daily Stand-up is a timeboxed event for coordination, not detailed problem-solving. The Scrum Master should coach the team to respect the timebox and move deeper discussions to a follow-up. Allowing overruns, canceling the event, or taking over facilitation all fail to build the team's self-management skills. Coaching after the event preserves the current flow and addresses the root cause.

Answer

Take over facilitation of the Daily Stand-up and strictly cut off anyone who speaks longer than one minute.

Answer

Cancel the Daily Stand-up and replace it with a weekly status meeting to reduce meeting fatigue.

Answer

Allow the detailed discussions to continue because problem-solving is more valuable than adhering to a timebox.

Question 10

Midway through PI Planning, the Scrum Master for Team Bravo notices that the team has stopped refining their draft plan and is instead waiting for another team to finish before continuing. The dependency is real, but the other team will not be ready for several hours. What is the most effective action for the Scrum Master to take?

Accepted Answer

Have the team continue planning around the dependency, capture it on the program board, and coordinate with the other team's Scrum Master to resolve it.. Dependencies are expected during PI Planning and are made visible on the program board. The team should keep planning the work within its control, record the dependency, and the Scrum Master should coordinate directly with the other team's Scrum Master or the RTE. This preserves the timebox, keeps transparency high, and addresses the dependency through the normal collaboration path.

Answer

Escalate immediately to the Release Train Engineer and ask them to reassign the dependency to a third team that is available now.

Answer

Remove the dependent feature from the team's PI objectives so the team can commit to a plan without external risk.

Answer

Instruct the team to pause all planning until the other team's plan is finalized so the dependency can be sequenced correctly.

Question 11

During PI Planning, the Scrum Master for Team Gamma notices that one team member is dominating the discussion and dismissing others' ideas during the team breakout. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master to take?

Accepted Answer

Intervene to ensure all voices are heard and the team remains focused on the PI objectives.. The Scrum Master should intervene to ensure all voices are heard and the team stays focused. Facilitating inclusive discussions is a key Scrum Master responsibility during PI Planning. By addressing the dominating behavior, the Scrum Master helps the team leverage diverse perspectives and create a more robust plan.

Answer

Ignore the behavior because PI Planning is time-boxed and the team must complete their plan.

Answer

Escalate the behavior to the functional manager of the dominating team member.

Answer

Let the team resolve the issue on their own to encourage self-management.

Question 12

During the Inspect and Adapt event, the ART's quantitative measurement shows that the current PI delivered only 60 percent of planned business value. The Scrum Master is helping the team prepare for the problem-solving workshop. What is the most appropriate first step for the team?

Accepted Answer

Identify and agree on the problem to be solved before conducting root cause analysis.. The Inspect and Adapt problem-solving workshop is a structured, timeboxed activity that begins with agreeing on the problem, then moves to root cause analysis, corrective actions, and prioritization. Starting with a clear problem statement keeps the team aligned and ensures subsequent analysis targets the real cause of the missed business value rather than a symptom.

Answer

Ask the Release Train Engineer to adjust the PI Objectives retroactively to reflect the delivered value.

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Immediately assign a new improvement story to the next Sprint to raise the metric.

Answer

Move directly to brainstorming corrective actions so the team can finish the workshop early.

Question 13

During the System Demo, the Scrum Master for Team Golf notices that the team's features are not integrated with another team's components, causing the demo to show only isolated functionality. The Release Train Engineer asks for an explanation. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master to take?

Accepted Answer

Acknowledge the integration gap and commit to working with the other team to resolve it before the next System Demo.. The System Demo is a critical event for inspecting the integrated solution. When integration is lacking, the Scrum Master should facilitate collaboration between teams to resolve the issue. Acknowledging the gap and committing to work with the other team demonstrates ownership and aligns with the Scrum Master's role of removing impediments and promoting cross-team coordination.

Answer

Explain that the team followed its own iteration plan and integration was not scheduled until the next PI.

Answer

Blame the other team for not delivering their components on time and request that the RTE intervene.

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Suggest that the team skip the System Demo until all components are fully integrated to avoid showing incomplete work.

Question 14

A Scrum Master is preparing to facilitate the Inspect and Adapt event for the first time. Which sequence correctly describes the structure of the Inspect and Adapt?

Accepted Answer

System demo and metrics review, then the program-level retrospective, then the problem-solving workshop.. The Inspect and Adapt event follows a fixed sequence: the system demo and metrics review establish the current state, the program-level retrospective lets the ART reflect on that evidence, and the problem-solving workshop applies root-cause analysis to the most significant issue. This order keeps improvement grounded in data rather than opinion and ends with concrete actions.

Answer

Program-level retrospective, then the problem-solving workshop, then the system demo and metrics review.

Answer

Problem-solving workshop, then the program-level retrospective, then the system demo and metrics review.

Answer

Problem-solving workshop, then the system demo and metrics review, then the program-level retrospective.

Question 15

A Scrum Master is helping a new SAFe Scrum team establish its Iteration cadence. The team wants to skip the Iteration Retrospective for the first two iterations to focus on delivering features, arguing that they need more development time. What is the most appropriate response from the Scrum Master?

Accepted Answer

Explain that the Iteration Retrospective is a core Scrum event that enables continuous improvement, and facilitate it as scheduled.. The Iteration Retrospective is a core Scrum event that gives the team a dedicated opportunity to inspect and adapt its process and interactions. In SAFe, these improvements also inform the Inspect and Adapt workshop at the end of the PI. The Scrum Master should uphold Scrum by ensuring the Retrospective occurs as scheduled, while helping the team keep it efficient and valuable so it does not feel like a burden.

Answer

Let the team decide by majority vote, since self-organizing teams have the authority to choose which Scrum events to hold.

Answer

Agree to skip the Retrospectives for two iterations, but require the team to hold a longer retrospective at the end of the PI.

Answer

Allow the team to skip the Retrospective but replace it with a daily 15-minute sync to discuss improvements.