SSM Practice Test 3 — 10 Questions

Question 1

During the Problem-Solving Workshop of the Inspect and Adapt event, several teams identify 'lack of automated testing' as a root cause. What is the Scrum Master's role in the next step?

Accepted Answer

Help the team define a specific improvement story for the PI Planning backlog.. The Problem-Solving Workshop is designed to produce actionable improvement items. Once a root cause is identified, the Scrum Master must guide the team to create specific, measurable backlog items that can be integrated into the next PI. This ensures that the I&A results in real change rather than just identifying complaints.

Answer

Assign the testing tasks to the most experienced developers immediately.

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Create a new Feature for 'Automated Testing' and add it to the Funnel.

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Escalate the issue to the System Architect to solve for the whole ART.

Question 2

A newly formed Scrum Team inside an Agile Release Train has just held its first Iteration Planning event. The Scrum Master notices the team is building a detailed, task-level plan for the entire Program Increment and treating it as a commitment to be tracked daily. What should the Scrum Master do to align the team with Scrum as practiced in SAFe?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team that the Iteration is the planning horizon for team-level commitment, while the PI Objectives and team PI plan represent the broader forecast they refine with their Product Owner and during the Inspect and Adapt workshop.. Within SAFe, the Iteration remains the team's commitment horizon, while the Program Increment is a forecast captured through team PI Objectives. Keeping the detailed, committable plan at the Iteration level and refining the PI plan with the Product Owner and during the Inspect and Adapt workshop preserves Scrum's empirical control while fitting the train's cadence.

Answer

Instruct the team to abandon Iteration Planning and instead generate all User Stories for the Program Increment up front so the plan is stable for the whole train.

Answer

Have the team stop using Iteration Goals and instead report only against PI Objectives at the end of each Iteration so leadership has consistent metrics.

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Advise the team to make the Program Increment plan a firm commitment and escalate any deviation to the Release Train Engineer during the daily Scrum of Scrums.

Question 3

A Scrum Master notices that during team discussions, two senior developers consistently dominate the conversation, preventing quieter team members from sharing valuable technical insights. How should the Scrum Master respond?

Accepted Answer

Establish facilitation techniques that encourage equal participation and create psychological safety for quieter members.. The Scrum Master must act as a facilitator who actively draws out quieter team members by employing inclusive facilitation techniques, ensuring all voices contribute to problem-solving. Fostering psychological safety and equal participation maximizes team intelligence and drives better technical outcomes.

Answer

Reassign the senior developers to a different Agile Release Train so the remaining members can speak freely.

Answer

Promote the two senior developers to Scrum Masters so they can run all team meetings officially.

Answer

Instruct the quieter team members to send their feedback via email after meetings conclude.

Question 4

A SAFe Scrum Master observes that the team frequently fails to meet their Iteration goals because they take on too many Stories that are not fully understood. What is the most effective way for the Scrum Master to coach the team in this situation?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a deep-dive session into estimation techniques and the importance of Backlog Refinement.. The Scrum Master serves as a coach for the team, helping them understand and apply Lean-Agile values. By facilitating estimation techniques like Planning Poker and ensuring the definition of ready is met, the Scrum Master ensures the team does not overcommit based on historical velocity. This protects predictability and fosters a sustainable pace, which is essential for maintaining long-term productivity and quality.

Answer

Instruct the Product Owner to stop adding Stories to the Iteration Backlog until the current work is finished.

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Reduce the team's available capacity for the next three Iterations to ensure they have enough buffer time.

Answer

Assign the most complex Stories to the most senior developers to ensure they are completed on time.

Question 5

The Coach Sync (formerly Scrum of Scrums) and the PO Sync are two vital ART synchronization events. Which TWO statements accurately describe the focus of the Coach Sync? (Choose 2)

Accepted Answer

Gaining visibility into progress and impediments across the train. The Coach Sync focuses on the execution and health of the Agile Release Train. It is a meeting for Scrum Masters and the RTE to discuss progress, dependencies, and impediments. Unlike the PO Sync, which focuses on content and priority, the Coach Sync ensures the process is working and the teams are collaborating effectively.

Answer

Reviewing and adjusting the Feature priorities in the Program Backlog

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Demonstrating newly completed Features to the Business Owners

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Determining the Business Value for the team's PI Objectives

Question 6

Refer to the exhibit. As a Scrum Master attending the ART Sync, what is the most appropriate action to take regarding DEP-102?

Accepted Answer

Highlight the risk to the RTE and discuss potential mitigations. The ART Sync is primarily for coordinating dependencies across teams and identifying risks that require management intervention. In this scenario, a dependency is blocked by an external factor (hardware). The Scrum Master should ensure this is escalated to the Release Train Engineer so it can be addressed at the train level or during a Management Review.

Answer

Tell Team-Beta to move the dependent stories to Iteration 1.4

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Direct Team-Alpha to prioritize hardware procurement over coding

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Update the Program Board to show the dependency is now resolved

Question 7

During the final plan review of PI Planning, the train is ROAMing risks. A team identifies a risk that they cannot resolve themselves, but the Release Train Engineer (RTE) takes ownership of it to find a solution later. How should this risk be categorized?

Accepted Answer

Owned. The ROAM acronym stands for Resolved, Owned, Accepted, and Mitigated. When a risk is 'Owned,' it means that someone (in this case, the RTE) has taken responsibility for the risk because it cannot be resolved during the planning event. The owner will track the risk to ensure it is eventually addressed.

Answer

Accepted

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Mitigated

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Resolved

Question 8

What is the primary responsibility of the Scrum Master during PI Planning?

Accepted Answer

Ensuring the team commits to realistic objectives and manages dependencies.. During PI Planning, the Scrum Master facilitates the team's participation, ensuring they understand the program vision and contribute to the team's PI objectives. They help manage the team's capacity, coordinate dependencies with other teams, and ensure the draft plan is realistic. This phase is critical because it sets the foundation for the entire PI, aligning individual team efforts with the overall business objectives of the train.

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Defining the features and writing the user stories for the backlog.

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Assigning specific tasks to individual team members to ensure total coverage.

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Approving the final program roadmap proposed by the System Architect.

Question 9

A SAFe Scrum Master is facilitating the Iteration Review. The Product Owner has just presented the team's increment, and a key stakeholder expresses strong dissatisfaction with a feature that was not completed as expected. The stakeholder demands an immediate commitment to deliver it in the next Iteration. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion where the stakeholder's feedback is captured, the Product Owner prioritizes it against other work, and the team assesses feasibility for the next Iteration.. The Iteration Review is a feedback-gathering event, not a commitment meeting. The Scrum Master should facilitate a discussion that captures the stakeholder's concerns, allows the Product Owner to prioritize the feedback against existing work, and enables the team to assess feasibility. This preserves team ownership and the Product Owner's role in backlog management.

Answer

Tell the stakeholder that their feedback is out of scope for the Iteration Review and should be sent via email to the Product Owner later.

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Ask the Release Train Engineer to mediate the conflict and decide whether the team should take on the work.

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Instruct the team to accept the stakeholder's demand to maintain a good relationship and avoid conflict.

Question 10

When should the Iteration Retrospective occur in a SAFe team?

Accepted Answer

Immediately following the Iteration Review, before the next Iteration Planning.. The Iteration Retrospective must occur after the Iteration Review and before the next Iteration Planning. This timing is essential because it allows the team to reflect on the results of the review and incorporate lessons learned into their next planning cycle. This creates a continuous improvement loop that directly informs how the team organizes and executes their work in the subsequent iteration.

Answer

During the System Demo to ensure maximum attendance.

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At the end of the Program Increment only, to save time.

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Whenever the team feels they have enough to discuss.