SSM Practice Test 8 — 10 Questions

Question 1

Which role on the Agile Release Train does the Scrum Master collaborate with most closely to resolve cross-team impediments?

Accepted Answer

The Release Train Engineer (RTE), who facilitates the ART and removes program-level obstacles.. The Release Train Engineer (RTE) is the 'Chief Scrum Master' for the ART. When a Scrum Master identifies an impediment that is outside the team's control or involves multiple teams, they work with the RTE to escalate and resolve it. This collaboration ensures that the train's overall flow is maintained and that systemic issues are addressed.

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The System Architect, to ensure the technical solution is robust enough to handle the blocker.

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The Product Manager, to reprioritize the Feature so the impediment is no longer relevant.

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The Business Owner, to gain the necessary funding to hire more resources for the team.

Question 2

A newly formed Scrum team inside an Agile Release Train keeps asking the Scrum Master to assign tasks, resolve every technical disagreement, and approve their design decisions. The Scrum Master wants to establish the appropriate Scrum Team self-management behavior described in SAFe. What should the Scrum Master do first?

Accepted Answer

Teach the team that they own how they do the work, and coach them to pull work and decide technical matters themselves.. A Scrum Team in SAFe is self-managing and cross-functional, meaning the team determines how it accomplishes its work. When a team repeatedly looks to the Scrum Master for task assignment and technical decisions, the correct response is coaching that transfers ownership back to the team. Directing, escalating, or delegating that authority to the Product Owner all preserve the dependency instead of building self-management.

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Escalate to the Release Train Engineer so that the RTE can direct the team until it matures.

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Ask the Product Owner to assign tasks and arbitrate technical disagreements during Iteration Planning.

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Begin assigning tasks for one more iteration while the team builds technical confidence, then gradually withdraw.

Question 3

A Scrum Master is facilitating the ART Sync for a newly launched Agile Release Train. The Product Manager has not attended the last three sessions, and the System Architect is also consistently absent. The teams are still sharing progress and dependencies. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master?

Accepted Answer

Raise the attendance gap with the Release Train Engineer and help the Product Manager and System Architect understand their role in the ART Sync.. The ART Sync exists to synchronize teams and surface dependencies, and it relies on the Product Manager and System Architect for content and technical decisions. When those roles are absent, the Scrum Master should coach and escalate through the Release Train Engineer rather than cancel or replace the event. This preserves the cadence while addressing the root cause of the attendance problem.

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Take over the Product Manager's backlog prioritization duties during the ART Sync to keep the meeting productive.

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Replace the ART Sync with a written status report distributed by email to the Product Manager and System Architect.

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Cancel the ART Sync until the Product Manager and System Architect can attend.

Question 4

During an Iteration, an Agile Team member repeatedly bypasses the team's agreed-upon engineering practices, causing rework and integration issues. Other team members are frustrated but hesitant to confront the individual. As the Scrum Master / Team Coach, what is the most appropriate first action?

Accepted Answer

Privately coach the individual on the impact of their actions and remind them of the team's working agreements.. The Scrum Master / Team Coach should first address the behavior privately with the individual, coaching them on the impact and reinforcing the team's working agreements. This respects the individual, maintains psychological safety, and aligns with servant leadership. Escalation or public confrontation should be avoided unless the behavior persists and cannot be resolved within the team.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the Release Train Engineer so they can enforce the engineering standards.

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Update the team's definition of done to include stricter checks that will catch the individual's mistakes.

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Raise the issue during the next Daily Scrum to ensure everyone is aware and can hold each other accountable.

Question 5

During PI Planning, a team identifies a major technical risk that could block their progress for three iterations. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master to take?

Accepted Answer

Add the risk to the ART's ROAM board during the PI Planning session.. The Scrum Master must facilitate transparency regarding the risk. In SAFe, risks are managed using the ROAM technique (Resolved, Owned, Accepted, Mitigated). By bringing this to the attention of the ART during the PI Planning 'ROAMing' session, the Scrum Master ensures that leadership is aware and can provide the necessary support or resources to mitigate the issue before it derails the entire Program Increment.

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Keep the risk hidden from management to avoid looking incompetent.

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Ask the team to ignore the risk and hope it resolves itself.

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Immediately disband the team and reassign them to other projects.

Question 6

During an Iteration Retrospective, a Scrum team identifies that too many stories were brought into the iteration, resulting in frequent context switching and low completion rates. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master to take?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team to calculate their velocity accurately and commit to a realistic amount of work that matches their capacity.. The Scrum Master should coach the team to establish and respect a realistic Work in Process (WIP) limit, ensuring they commit only to what they can realistically finish based on historical velocity. This prevents overloading the team and fosters a sustainable cadence of continuous flow.

Answer

Require the team to work mandatory weekend overtime to finish all the open stories before the next iteration starts.

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Remove the Scrum Master role from the team and let them self-manage without any coaching on process discipline.

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Assign stories arbitrarily to individual developers so that each person has a separate, isolated task list.

Question 7

A SAFe Scrum Master/Team Coach notices that during Iteration Retrospectives, the team consistently identifies the same improvement action but never implements it. The team agrees the action is valuable but claims they lack time during the Iteration. What should the Scrum Master do first?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a root-cause discussion to understand why the improvement is not being implemented and help the team adjust their Iteration plan or working agreements.. The Scrum Master/Team Coach should first facilitate a root-cause discussion to uncover why the improvement is not being implemented, then help the team adjust their plan or working agreements. This keeps ownership with the team, builds their problem-solving capability, and addresses the real obstacle. Imposing a solution or escalating prematurely would not create sustainable change.

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Escalate the issue to the Product Owner and ask them to reduce the team's Iteration commitment so they have time for improvements.

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Add the improvement action as a mandatory backlog item for the next Iteration and track it like a Story.

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Decide that the improvement is not a priority and remove it from the retrospective action list to avoid frustration.

Question 8

During a SAFe transformation, a Scrum Master notices that the team treats the Iteration Review as a status meeting for the Scrum Master and Product Owner only. Stakeholders are not invited, and no working software is demonstrated. What should the Scrum Master do to correct this when introducing Scrum in SAFe?

Accepted Answer

Invite stakeholders, coach the team to demonstrate the working increment, and use the feedback to adapt the backlog.. The Iteration Review exists so the team can demonstrate a working, tested increment to stakeholders and use their feedback to adapt. When it degrades into a status meeting, the Scrum Master must restore stakeholder participation and a demo of working software. That feedback also feeds the train-level System Demo and helps keep the Agile Release Train aligned to value.

Answer

Convert the Iteration Review into a second Retrospective so the team can focus solely on its internal process.

Answer

Replace the Iteration Review with a written status report distributed to stakeholders at the end of each iteration.

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Ask the Release Train Engineer to present the team's results at the next System Demo instead of holding a team-level review.

Question 9

A Scrum Master is preparing her team for their first ART Sync. The team is unsure what the primary purpose of this event is. What should she tell them?

Accepted Answer

It is where the train's teams and shared services coordinate their work and address dependencies and risks.. The ART Sync is a recurring train-level coordination event where teams, shared services, and other representatives align on progress, dependencies, and risks during PI execution. It complements team-level events like the daily stand-up and is distinct from PI Planning and the Inspect and Adapt. Explaining this purpose helps the team understand how their work connects to the broader train.

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It is the formal event where the train commits to the PI objectives that were drafted during PI Planning.

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It is a retrospective where the train inspects its process and identifies improvement items for the next PI.

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It replaces the daily stand-up for teams on the train so they only need to meet once per week.

Question 10

The ART Sync is becoming a status reporting meeting rather than a synchronization event. How can the Scrum Master help the RTE pivot the meeting?

Accepted Answer

Focus the agenda on dependencies and the ROAM board risks.. The ART Sync is intended for cross-team coordination and risk management, not for reading status reports that could be found in a tool. The Scrum Master should coach the RTE to focus the conversation on dependencies, risks, and progress toward PI Objectives, ensuring the time is spent solving problems.

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Extend the meeting time to allow for more detailed team status updates.

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Require each team to submit a detailed written report before the meeting.

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Cancel the meeting if there are no major issues to report that day.