SSM Practice Test 23 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Which Agile Release Train event provides the primary mechanism for synchronizing the work of all Agile Teams on the train?

Accepted Answer

Program Increment Planning. Program Increment Planning is the foundational cadence-based event where all teams align on a shared mission and vision. It synchronizes the entire Agile Release Train around a common set of objectives for the upcoming program increment, establishing visibility and dependency management across all participating teams.

Answer

The Daily Stand-up

Answer

The Scrum of Scrums

Answer

System Demo

Question 2

During the system demo at the end of PI iteration 4, a Product Owner for one team challenges whether a feature shown by another team is genuinely integrated, since the two teams' work was only validated separately. As the Scrum Master, what is the most appropriate action?

Accepted Answer

Ask the presenting team to demonstrate the feature end to end with the contributing team's components running in the integrated environment, and capture any gap as a problem for the ART.. The system demo exists to show the integrated solution produced by all teams on the ART each iteration, so a challenge about whether cross-team functionality truly works together should be answered inside the demo by demonstrating it end to end. If the integration is incomplete, that finding is valuable feedback the ART can act on, which is precisely the inspect-and-adapt behavior the event is designed to produce.

Answer

Suggest the Product Owner raise the concern at the next Scrum of Scrums so the two teams can negotiate a joint verification approach outside the demo.

Answer

Escalate to the Release Train Engineer and request that the feature be removed from the demo until both teams have completed their separate component tests.

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Remind the Product Owner that the system demo is a staging environment event and that integration verification belongs to the teams' own iteration reviews.

Question 3

A Scrum Master is facilitating a team's first Iteration Retrospective after several iterations of declining predictability. The team wants to identify root causes rather than symptoms. Which two facilitation techniques best support this goal? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Use a fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram to trace contributing factors across categories such as people, process, tools, and environment.. Root-cause analysis requires techniques that push past symptoms and engage the whole team. A fishbone diagram organizes contributing factors across categories, while the Five Whys drills from an observed symptom to an underlying cause. Both keep the team in control of the analysis and lead to countermeasures aimed at the system, which is more likely to restore predictability than quick votes or individual blame.

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Have the Scrum Master present a slide deck of the team's velocity chart and recommend the changes the team should adopt.

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Ask each team member to state one thing that went well and one thing that did not, then immediately vote on the top action.

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Conduct a round-robin where each member names a person who contributed to the predictability problems so accountability is clear.

Question 4

A Scrum Master is helping a newly formed team understand how Scrum operates within SAFe during its first iterations. Which TWO statements accurately describe how the team's Scrum practices relate to the Agile Release Train? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

The team's Iteration Goals should align with the ART's PI Objectives so team-level delivery supports the train's committed outcomes.. Two statements correctly describe Scrum within SAFe. Iteration Goals align with PI Objectives so team delivery supports the train's committed outcomes, and systemic Retrospective improvements can be escalated to the Inspect and Adapt workshop for ART-wide resolution. The other statements misassign accountability to the Scrum Master or Release Train Engineer, or remove team-level planning, all of which conflict with self-management and SAFe's decentralized decision-making.

Answer

The team must wait for the Release Train Engineer to approve each User Story before it can be started in an iteration.

Answer

The team's Scrum Master is accountable for delivering the ART's PI Objectives on behalf of the team.

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The team should skip its own Iteration Planning when the ART has already completed PI Planning for the increment.

Question 5

An Agile Team is preparing for their upcoming Iteration Review. A key stakeholder demands a formal, highly polished slide deck and a sign-off document before attending. How should the Scrum Master coach the team to handle this request?

Accepted Answer

Coach the stakeholder on the purpose of the Iteration Review, inviting them to inspect the actual working system increment and provide feedback.. The Iteration Review in SAFe focuses on demonstrating working, tested system increments rather than slide decks or static documentation. The Scrum Master should coach the team to invite the stakeholder to inspect the actual working software and gather direct feedback. Emphasizing working system demos aligns with Agile principles and prevents teams from wasting valuable time on wasteful documentation.

Answer

Comply with the stakeholder by assigning two developers to build a comprehensive presentation deck and sign-off paperwork.

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Exclude the stakeholder from the Iteration Review entirely to prevent them from imposing traditional waterfall review habits.

Answer

Postpone the Iteration Review by one week to give the team adequate time to produce the requested formal management report.

Question 6

During the first Sprint of a newly formed SAFe Scrum team, the Scrum Master observes that the Product Owner is assigning tasks to individual developers and asking for status updates twice a day. The team members have stopped self-organizing and are waiting for direction. What should the Scrum Master do first to address this situation?

Accepted Answer

Coach the Product Owner on the Scrum principle of self-organizing teams and clarify that task assignment and daily coordination belong to the Developers.. The Scrum Master is a servant-leader who coaches the team and others in Scrum principles. When the Product Owner oversteps by assigning tasks and demanding frequent status updates, the Scrum Master should first coach the Product Owner on self-organizing teams and the boundaries of the Product Owner role. This addresses the root cause without escalating or undermining the team's autonomy, and it preserves a healthy working relationship.

Answer

Instruct the Developers to ignore the Product Owner's task assignments and continue working only on items they select during Iteration Planning.

Answer

Escalate the Product Owner's behavior to the Release Train Engineer and request that the Product Owner be replaced on the team.

Answer

Take over the daily coordination of tasks yourself to shield the team from the Product Owner and allow them to focus on development.

Question 7

During the Iteration Retrospective, an Agile Team expresses frustration that management frequently bypasses the Product Owner to assign urgent tasks directly to developers. How should the Scrum Master address this impediment?

Accepted Answer

Coach management on the single-voice principle of the Product Owner role and redirect all external requests through formal backlog refinement.. The Scrum Master acts as an organizational coach and protector by establishing boundaries with management to prevent unauthorized work disruption. By reinforcing the Product Owner's role as the single voice of authority for backlog prioritization, the Scrum Master restores order and transparency to the team's workflow.

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Accept the management instructions as mandatory directives and force the Product Owner to update the backlog to match.

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Escalate the managers to the human resources department for disciplinary action and demand their immediate removal from the project.

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Instruct the developers to work extra hours to complete both the official iteration backlog items and the unplanned management tasks.

Question 8

During the Iteration Planning meeting, the Agile Team realizes that a key user story lacks clear acceptance criteria and depends on an external subsystem. What should the Scrum Master encourage the team to do?

Accepted Answer

Remove the story from the iteration backlog until the Product Owner refines the acceptance criteria and resolves dependencies.. The Scrum Master should guide the team to remove the story from the current iteration backlog if it cannot be successfully completed within the timebox. Bringing unrefined work into the execution phase increases technical risk and lowers predictability. Proper backlog refinement ensures stories meet the Definition of Ready before planning begins, protecting team velocity and flow.

Answer

Commit to the story anyway and attempt to clarify the dependencies during the middle of the iteration.

Answer

Accept the story into the iteration but assign it entirely to the external dependency owner.

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Extend the iteration length by two days to allow the Product Owner time to write the missing acceptance criteria.

Question 9

Which THREE of the following are essential responsibilities of the Scrum Master during the System Demo? (Select THREE)

Accepted Answer

Ensure the environment is prepared and the team is ready to present their progress.. The System Demo is a critical event for stakeholder feedback and integration validation. The Scrum Master ensures the team is prepared, manages the flow of the demo, and encourages active participation. By coaching the team to present effectively and gathering stakeholder feedback, the Scrum Master ensures the team learns from the demo and adapts their plan for the next iteration or PI.

Answer

Demonstrate all the team's features personally on behalf of the developers.

Answer

Set the goals for the next iteration based on the feedback received during the demo.

Question 10

Marcus is the Scrum Master / Team Coach for the Identity Agile Team. At the ART's Inspect and Adapt, the team's problem-solving workshop reveals that their Stories frequently fail to meet the Definition of Done because testing is squeezed into the last two days of the Iteration. The developers say they cannot test earlier because the test environment is unstable, and the testers say they cannot plan earlier because Stories arrive late. The team agrees the root cause is a handoff-based workflow. Which action best reflects the Scrum Master / Team Coach role in improving this systemic issue?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team to slice Stories smaller, pair developers and testers earlier, and use the team's working agreements to enforce a shared Definition of Done from the first day of the Iteration.. The Scrum Master / Team Coach helps the team improve its system of work rather than fixing symptoms. The handoff-based workflow is the root cause, so the effective action is to coach changes in how work is sliced, when testers engage, and how the Definition of Done is applied. This keeps ownership with the team and aligns with SAFe's built-in quality and small-batch flow principles. Owning the environment fix, adding a hardening Iteration, or creating a testing gate all leave the root cause intact.

Answer

Recommend that the team add a hardening Iteration before the PI System Demo so testing has dedicated time without changing the workflow.

Answer

Take ownership of the test environment stabilization by working with the System Team and report status back to the team each day.

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Ask the Product Owner to stop accepting Stories into the Iteration until the testers confirm they have capacity to test them all.

Question 11

A team is struggling to keep their Iteration Planning within the allotted time box. What is the most effective way for the Scrum Master to support them?

Accepted Answer

Require the team to prepare by reviewing the backlog before the meeting starts.. Time-boxing is vital to keep the team focused and efficient. When a team consistently goes over time, it indicates a need for better preparation or improved facilitation techniques. By analyzing the root cause—such as lack of backlog readiness—the Scrum Master can help the team improve their processes, ensuring future planning sessions are concise, productive, and respectful of everyone's time.

Answer

Extend the time box to ensure all details are fully discussed and agreed upon.

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Skip the capacity planning portion to save time for user story estimation.

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Invite the manager to facilitate the meeting to ensure it stays on schedule.

Question 12

A newly formed SAFe Scrum team has been running one-week iterations, and the Scrum Master notices that the team treats the Iteration Review as a status meeting where the Product Owner reads through completed tickets. The Product Owner argues that this is efficient because stakeholders only want a summary. What should the Scrum Master do to align the team with Scrum in SAFe?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team to demonstrate a working, tested increment to stakeholders at the Iteration Review and use their feedback to adapt the Team Backlog.. In SAFe, the Iteration Review is the team's inspect-and-adapt event, and its value comes from demonstrating a working, tested increment and using stakeholder feedback to adjust the Team Backlog. A ticket-reading status meeting removes that feedback loop, so the Scrum Master should coach the team to demonstrate functionality and capture input that shapes the next iteration.

Answer

Cancel the Iteration Review and let the Product Owner review completed tickets privately before the System Demo.

Answer

Keep the format but invite the Release Train Engineer to validate the Product Owner's summary before it is shared.

Answer

Replace the Iteration Review with a written status report circulated to stakeholders so the team can protect its iteration time.

Question 13

A Scrum Master is facilitating the preparation for an upcoming System Demo. The ART wants to ensure the demo effectively supports the Inspect and Adapt event. Which TWO actions should the Scrum Master take to help the ART achieve this goal? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Coordinate with the Release Train Engineer to define a consistent demo environment and data set.. The System Demo should showcase an integrated solution, and preparation is key. Coordinating a consistent demo environment with the RTE and facilitating a pre-demo dry run are two actions that help teams identify and resolve integration issues early. These steps ensure the demo runs smoothly and provides meaningful input for the Inspect and Adapt event, enabling the ART to inspect the actual solution and adapt effectively.

Answer

Ensure that each team demonstrates only their individual features without integration.

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Instruct teams to present their features in a random order to simulate real-world usage.

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Encourage teams to demonstrate only completed stories that have passed all tests.

Question 14

A SAFe team is struggling with meeting their Definition of Done (DoD). What is the first thing the Scrum Master should do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a team discussion to understand the barriers to meeting the DoD.. The Scrum Master must facilitate a conversation with the team to identify why the DoD is not being met. Understanding the root cause—whether it is a lack of resources, technical blockers, or unrealistic standards—is the necessary first step toward improvement. This is important because the DoD is the team's quality baseline, and failing to meet it compromises the integrity of the entire release train.

Answer

Lower the standards of the DoD to ensure it is always met.

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Ask the Product Owner to reduce the amount of work in the iteration.

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Report the team to the RTE for poor performance.

Question 15

A SAFe Scrum Master is facilitating the Iteration Review for a team that has just completed its first Iteration in a new Agile Release Train. The Product Owner is presenting the team's increment to stakeholders. Which two actions should the Scrum Master take to ensure the Iteration Review is effective? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Ensure the team demonstrates a working, integrated increment rather than relying solely on slides or status reports.. An effective Iteration Review centers on demonstrating a working increment and gathering stakeholder feedback. The Scrum Master should ensure the team shows the actual product, not just reports, and facilitates an interactive session where stakeholders can provide input that the Product Owner uses to adjust the backlog. These actions maximize transparency and adaptiveness, which are core to SAFe.

Answer

Keep the focus on the team's process metrics and velocity trends to show stakeholders how efficiently the team is working.

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Ask the Release Train Engineer to present the team's accomplishments to ensure a consistent message across the ART.

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Limit the review to a strict fifteen-minute timebox to respect stakeholders' time and keep the event efficient.