SSM Defining the Scrum Master / Team Coach Role Practice Test 5 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A SAFe Scrum Master/Team Coach is working with a newly formed Agile Team. The team's Product Owner frequently assigns tasks directly to individual developers, bypassing the team's self-organization. The developers are frustrated but hesitant to confront the Product Owner. What is the most effective action for the Scrum Master to take?

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

Accepted Answer

Meet with the Product Owner to explain the importance of team self-organization and coach them to communicate priorities through the Team Backlog rather than direct assignments.. The most effective action is to coach the Product Owner on the importance of team self-organization and guide them to communicate through the Team Backlog. This addresses the root cause, respects roles, and avoids putting developers in a confrontational position. It also models servant leadership and reinforces SAFe's principle that teams pull work rather than receive assignments.

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Instruct the developers to ignore the Product Owner's task assignments and instead pull work from the Team Backlog as a team.

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Raise the issue at the next Scrum of Scrums and ask the Release Train Engineer to enforce self-organization across all teams.

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Suggest that the developers accept the assignments for now and bring up the issue during the next Iteration Retrospective.

Question 2

A Scrum Master/Team Coach wants to strengthen the team's ability to self-manage and improve continuously. Which TWO actions best support this goal? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Teach the team to facilitate their own events and rotate facilitation among members over time.. Rotating facilitation and using the team's own metrics and retrospectives both transfer ownership of how the team works back to the team. They build skills and habits that persist without the coach, which is the essence of developing self-management. The other actions keep the coach or external roles in control and do not grow team capability.

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Attend every team event and provide detailed instructions on how each should be run.

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Escalate all process problems to the Release Train Engineer so the team can focus on delivery.

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Assign each team member a specific improvement task and track completion in a spreadsheet.

Question 3

A Scrum Master / Team Coach is helping an Agile Team improve its collaboration with the Product Owner. The team complains that backlog items are unclear and priorities shift mid-Iteration. Which TWO actions best fulfill the Scrum Master / Team Coach role in this situation? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Coach the Product Owner and team on backlog refinement practices so items are ready before Iteration Planning.. The Scrum Master / Team Coach improves collaboration by coaching the Product Owner and team on backlog refinement and by facilitating a shared agreement on how scope changes are handled during an Iteration. These actions address unclear items and shifting priorities at their source. Directing the Product Owner, taking over refinement, or escalating for a replacement bypasses coaching and undermines the team's ownership and the Product Owner's accountability.

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Instruct the Product Owner to stop changing priorities and freeze the backlog for the entire Program Increment.

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Escalate to the Release Train Engineer that the Product Owner is not performing and request a replacement.

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Take over backlog refinement meetings and write the acceptance criteria for each story on behalf of the team.

Question 4

A SAFe Scrum Master / Team Coach is working with a team that has recently adopted SAFe. The team is struggling to understand how their role fits into the larger Agile Release Train. Which TWO actions should the Scrum Master / Team Coach take to help the team connect with the ART? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Facilitate the team's participation in PI Planning and help them prepare their iteration plans and objectives.. The Scrum Master / Team Coach helps the team connect with the ART by facilitating their participation in PI Planning and System Demos. These events provide the context for alignment, dependency management, and feedback across teams. Encouraging active involvement in these cadences builds the team's understanding of how their work contributes to the train's objectives and fosters collaboration.

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Ask the Release Train Engineer to assign the team a mentor from another team to explain SAFe.

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Instruct the team to focus solely on their own iteration goals and avoid distractions from other teams.

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Coach the team to establish and maintain their team board and information radiators for transparency.

Question 5

A SAFe Scrum Master / Team Coach is working with an Agile Team that has a strong technical lead who makes most of the technical decisions and often overrides the team's input during Iteration Planning. Other team members have stopped voicing opinions. What should the Scrum Master do to address this situation?

Accepted Answer

Speak with the technical lead privately to share observations about the team's reduced participation, and coach them on how to facilitate shared decision-making during planning.. The Scrum Master / Team Coach should address the imbalance through private coaching and by helping the technical lead facilitate broader participation. Public confrontation, escalation, or formalizing the lead's authority all fail to build a healthier team dynamic. Coaching the individual while modeling inclusive behaviors best supports self-management.

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Report the technical lead's behavior to the Release Train Engineer and request that the lead be removed from the team to restore balance.

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Assign the technical lead as the team's facilitator for all Iteration Planning sessions so they can formally own the decision-making process.

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During the next Iteration Planning, publicly ask other team members to challenge the technical lead's decisions to ensure all voices are heard.

Question 6

An Agile Team's Scrum Master / Team Coach observes that the team consistently treats the Iteration Retrospective as a status meeting, reviewing completed Stories and reporting metrics to the Product Owner instead of improving their process. The Scrum Master wants to correct this behavior and restore the ceremony's purpose. What should the Scrum Master / Team Coach do?

Accepted Answer

Teach the team the purpose of the Retrospective and facilitate it so they reflect on how they work and choose improvement actions.. The Iteration Retrospective is the team's dedicated time to inspect how it works and adapt its process. When it degrades into status reporting, the Scrum Master / Team Coach must re-teach its purpose and facilitate genuine reflection that produces improvement actions. Cancelling it, excluding the Product Owner, or delegating it to the RTE all fail to restore the team's ownership of continuous improvement.

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Ask the Product Owner to stop attending team ceremonies so the team can discuss process issues freely.

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Cancel the Retrospective and replace it with a metrics review so the team still has time to inspect progress.

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Report the team's process problems to the Release Train Engineer and let the RTE run the next Retrospective.

Question 7

A SAFe Scrum Master/Team Coach is supporting an Agile Team that is struggling with internal conflicts and low trust. The team often blames individuals for missed commitments and avoids open discussion during retrospectives. Which TWO actions should the Scrum Master take to improve the team's health? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a team-building session focused on psychological safety and shared norms, using techniques like working agreements and conflict resolution.. The Scrum Master should facilitate a team-building session on psychological safety and model constructive conflict. These actions directly build trust, establish shared norms, and teach the team how to engage in healthy disagreement. They address the root causes of blame and avoidance, empowering the team to improve their own dynamics. Punitive or avoidant measures would worsen the situation.

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Publicly reprimand the individuals who blame others, to set an example of acceptable behavior.

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Recommend that the team skip retrospectives until they can interact without conflict, to avoid further tension.

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Ask the Release Train Engineer to reassign the most vocal team members to other teams to reduce friction.

Question 8

During a PI Planning session, an Agile Team's Scrum Master notices that two team members are dominating the conversation and dismissing input from quieter members. The team is at risk of missing key dependencies with another team. As the Scrum Master / Team Coach, what is the most appropriate action to take?

Accepted Answer

Use a facilitation technique such as round-robin or silent brainstorming to ensure all members contribute, then explicitly ask the team to identify and record cross-team dependencies.. The Scrum Master / Team Coach facilitates effective team interactions, especially during critical events like PI Planning. Using inclusive facilitation techniques and prompting the team to identify dependencies keeps ownership with the team while ensuring all perspectives are heard. This approach addresses both the behavioral issue and the practical risk of missed dependencies, without taking over or ignoring the problem.

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Interrupt the dominant members and take over the discussion to ensure all voices are heard and dependencies are captured.

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Allow the conversation to continue as is, since the team is self-organizing and the Scrum Master should not intervene in team dynamics.

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Privately speak with the dominant members after the session and ask them to apologize to the team for their behavior.

Question 9

Priya is the Scrum Master / Team Coach for the Payments Agile Team on an ART. During a mid-Iteration check-in, she notices the team has completed nine of ten planned Stories, but the last Story has been 'In Progress' for six days with no updates. Two engineers are actively working on it, yet neither has posted a comment or moved the card. The team's Kanban board in their Agile tooling shows the Story sitting in the 'Develop' column. What is the most effective action for Priya to take first?

Accepted Answer

Ask the two engineers directly what is blocking them and whether they need help removing an impediment.. A Story that sits In Progress without updates usually means the people doing the work are blocked, uncertain, or coordinating outside the board. The Scrum Master / Team Coach serves the team by surfacing and removing impediments, so a direct, non-judgmental conversation with the engineers is the fastest path to the real problem. Process changes, board edits, and escalations all skip that essential diagnostic step.

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Move the Story back to the 'To Do' column so the board reflects that it is not actually being worked on.

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Add a new team policy requiring daily written status comments on every In Progress Story.

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Escalate to the Release Train Engineer so the ART can be informed of a delivery risk at the next PO Sync.

Question 10

An Agile Team new to SAFe has been limiting its Iteration Planning to only the Stories it is certain it can finish, leaving buffer capacity unused each Iteration. The Release Train Engineer notices the team's velocity is flat while other teams on the train are improving. As the Scrum Master / Team Coach, which action best reflects your role in this situation?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team on using its historical velocity and Iteration capacity to plan more realistically, and facilitate the conversation during Iteration Planning.. The Scrum Master / Team Coach serves the team by teaching and facilitating, not by directing work or imposing targets. Using historical velocity and real capacity to plan is a learnable team skill, and the coach's job is to make that learning happen during Iteration Planning. Escalating, reassigning, or inflating the backlog all bypass the team's ownership and fail to build the self-management SAFe expects.

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Escalate to the Release Train Engineer that the team is underperforming and request that the RTE set a minimum number of Story Points per Iteration.

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Reassign the team's capacity planning to the Product Owner so the Product Owner can commit to the right amount of work for the team each Iteration.

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Direct the Product Owner to add more Stories to the Team Backlog so the team is forced to take on additional work each Iteration.

Question 11

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.

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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 12

A SAFe Scrum Master/Team Coach notices that the Agile Team's Iteration Retrospective has become a status meeting where members report what they did rather than reflecting on how to improve. Which action should the Scrum Master take to restore the retrospective's purpose?

Accepted Answer

Introduce a structured retrospective format that focuses on team interactions and process, and coach the team to avoid status reporting.. The Scrum Master should introduce a structured retrospective format that focuses on team interactions and process, and coach the team away from status reporting. This restores the retrospective's purpose as a tool for inspect-and-adapt, fosters psychological safety, and helps the team improve how they work together. Other actions either avoid the problem or dilute the retrospective's intent.

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Allow the team to continue as they are, since status updates can be useful for transparency.

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Ask the Product Owner to attend and lead the retrospective to ensure it stays focused on business value.

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Cancel the retrospective and replace it with a working session to catch up on delayed Stories.

Question 13

An Agile Team in a SAFe ART has been consistently delivering value, but the Scrum Master / Team Coach notices that the team rarely interacts with other teams during the PI. As a result, dependencies are discovered late and cause delays. What should the Scrum Master do to improve cross-team collaboration?

Accepted Answer

Encourage team members to attend the ART Sync and use the Program Board during PI Planning to make dependencies visible and coordinate with other teams.. The Scrum Master / Team Coach should coach the team to use SAFe's built-in coordination mechanisms: the Program Board for visualizing dependencies and the ART Sync for addressing them. These tools foster direct cross-team collaboration. Delegating to the Product Owner, refusing dependent work, or adding redundant meetings all fail to improve the team's ability to coordinate effectively.

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Instruct the team to stop accepting any work that involves other teams until the ART improves its dependency management process.

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Ask the Product Owner to represent the team at all cross-team meetings so developers can stay focused on delivering Stories.

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Schedule daily cross-team stand-ups with all Scrum Masters in the ART to discuss dependencies, and require each team to report blockers to the RTE.

Question 14

During PI Planning, the Scrum Master / Team Coach for an Agile Team notices that the Product Owner is answering most of the team's questions about backlog priority, while developers remain silent and disengaged. The team is at risk of missing its Iteration Goals because they are not surfacing technical risks or dependencies. Which action should the Scrum Master / Team Coach take to improve the team's planning effectiveness?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate the conversation so developers voice technical risks and dependencies, then help the team adjust its plan and objectives accordingly.. During PI Planning the Scrum Master / Team Coach facilitates so the whole team contributes, not just the Product Owner. Drawing out developers' technical risks and dependencies produces a more realistic plan and stronger Iteration Goals. Taking over prioritization, excluding the Product Owner, or escalating readiness all fail to improve the team's engagement and planning quality.

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Ask the Product Owner to leave the session so the developers can plan freely without influence.

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Take over the discussion and reorder the team's Stories to ensure the most valuable work is planned first.

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Escalate to the Release Train Engineer that the team is not ready to commit to PI Objectives this quarter.

Question 15

A SAFe Scrum Master / Team Coach is coaching a team that has recently adopted SAFe. Which TWO actions best exemplify the servant-leader behavior expected in this role? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Coaching the Product Owner on effective backlog refinement and helping the team improve their estimation and forecasting techniques.. Servant leadership in SAFe involves removing impediments and coaching the team and Product Owner to improve. Removing blockers, whether directly or by escalation, enables the team to focus on value delivery. Coaching the PO and team on refinement and estimation enhances the system. In contrast, assigning tasks, deciding story selection, or escalating performance issues without discussion are command-and-control actions that undermine self-organization and trust.

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Making final decisions on which stories to include in the Iteration to avoid conflicts during Iteration Planning.

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Escalating individual team members' performance issues to their functional manager without discussing them first with the team.

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Assigning each team member their daily tasks to ensure the Iteration plan is followed precisely.