SSM Supporting ART Events Practice Test 7 — 15 Questions

Question 1

During the Inspect and Adapt problem-solving workshop, a team traces a recurring integration failure to a root cause of inconsistent interface contracts between two teams. The team wants to ensure the corrective action is durable. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master to support?

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

Accepted Answer

Add a prioritized improvement backlog item that establishes and validates interface contracts through automated tests.. The Inspect and Adapt problem-solving workshop ends by generating corrective actions that are prioritized into the ART's improvement backlog and planned into the next PI. A durable fix for inconsistent interface contracts is to define them explicitly and enforce them with automated contract tests, which prevents the defect from recurring. This makes the improvement systemic rather than dependent on individual vigilance.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the Release Train Engineer to mediate a permanent boundary between the two teams.

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Document the fix in a one-time email to both teams so they remember the correct interface.

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Assign one engineer to manually review all future integrations between the two teams.

Question 2

During the Inspect and Adapt event, the ART's metrics show that the predictability measure has dropped for three consecutive PIs. The Scrum Master of one team believes the drop is caused by unplanned work entering mid-PI. Which action best supports the ART in addressing this?

Accepted Answer

Help the ART use the problem-solving workshop to analyze the unplanned work trend and identify root causes before agreeing on improvement items.. A sustained drop in predictability is a systemic signal that belongs in the Inspect and Adapt event's problem-solving workshop. There, the ART analyzes data, identifies root causes such as unplanned work, and agrees on improvement items with owners. The Scrum Master supports this by facilitating the analysis and helping the ART turn findings into concrete improvements rather than masking or gaming the metric.

Answer

Advise the Release Train Engineer to exclude any team with unplanned work from the next PI Planning session.

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Suggest the team simply commit to fewer objectives next PI so the percentage improves regardless of unplanned work.

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Recommend that the ART stop tracking the predictability measure since it is causing unnecessary pressure on teams.

Question 3

During the ART Sync, the Scrum Master for Team Delta observes that their team has completed all committed stories for the current iteration, but the team's Features are not yet integrated with the other teams' work. The Release Train Engineer asks how Team Delta plans to support the Iteration Review and System Demo. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master to take?

Accepted Answer

Advise the team to focus on integrating their completed work with other teams and prepare for the System Demo.. The System Demo requires integrated work from all teams to provide a comprehensive view of the ART's progress. Team Delta should proactively integrate their completed Features with other teams' work and prepare to demonstrate a working solution. This supports the ART's cadence and the SAFe principle of frequent integration, enabling effective inspect and adapt at the ART level.

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Ask the Product Owner to reprioritize the team's backlog to include only integration tasks for the next PI.

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Escalate to the Release Train Engineer to assign another team to complete the integration work on Team Delta's behalf.

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Instruct the team to stop working on new stories and wait until the System Demo to see if integration is needed.

Question 4

During the Scrum of Scrums (SoS) meeting, a representative from Team Delta reports that they are blocked by an external vendor's API change that was not anticipated. The representative asks for help from other teams. As the Scrum Master facilitating the SoS, what is the most appropriate action?

Accepted Answer

Ask the representative to provide details and facilitate a discussion to identify which team can help resolve the dependency.. The Scrum of Scrums is a key ART event for coordinating and resolving cross-team dependencies. When an impediment is raised, the Scrum Master should facilitate a discussion to engage other teams in finding a solution. This collaborative approach leverages the ART's collective knowledge and maintains alignment, rather than escalating prematurely or deferring the issue.

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Instruct Team Delta to wait until the next PI Planning to address the vendor dependency with the ART.

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Record the impediment on the program board and ask the RTE to escalate it to the Business Owners.

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Advise Team Delta to work around the vendor issue by descoping the affected feature for the current sprint.

Question 5

During the Inspect and Adapt, the ART's quantitative measurement shows program predictability dropped sharply in the last PI. Several teams blame an unplanned production incident that consumed capacity. As the Scrum Master facilitating the problem-solving workshop, what should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Guide the group through root-cause analysis to understand why the incident had such an outsized effect, then agree on corrective actions the ART can carry into the next PI.. The problem-solving workshop applies structured root-cause analysis to a significant ART problem and produces corrective actions for the next PI. Treating the production incident as the root cause stops at a symptom; facilitating the group to understand why the incident was so disruptive surfaces the systemic conditions the ART can actually change. The output then feeds the next PI's planning.

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Recommend that the ART defer the analysis until the next PI Planning, when all stakeholders are present and capacity can be reallocated more easily.

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Record the production incident as the root cause and assign the infrastructure team to create a preventive runbook before the next PI.

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Poll the teams to determine which one lost the most capacity and prioritize that team's improvement items in the next PI.

Question 6

A Scrum Master notices that the team's representatives arrive at the Scrum of Scrums unprepared, giving vague status and failing to raise dependencies that later surface as blockers. What is the most effective action to improve this ART event?

Accepted Answer

Work with the team to prepare its representative before the event by reviewing progress, dependencies, and impediments in advance.. The Scrum of Scrums works when representatives come prepared with accurate progress, dependencies, and impediments. Helping the team prepare its representative addresses that root cause and keeps the event a peer coordination forum. Replacing the attendee, converting the event into a status meeting, or having the Scrum Master attend instead all remove the team's ownership and fail to build the preparation habit.

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Have the Scrum Master attend in place of the team representative and relay information back to the team afterward.

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Ask the Release Train Engineer to convert the Scrum of Scrums into a status meeting with a fixed template that each team must submit.

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Replace the representatives with the Product Owner so that priorities and dependencies are communicated more authoritatively.

Question 7

A Scrum Master is coaching her team on how to participate effectively in the ART's Inspect and Adapt event. Which TWO activities should she emphasize as responsibilities the team has during this event? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Participating in the PI system demo to show the integrated solution to stakeholders.. During the Inspect and Adapt event, teams contribute to the PI system demo by presenting integrated work, and they help analyze the measurement data and identify root causes in the problem-solving workshop. These activities align with the event's purpose of inspecting the PI outcome and improving the system, and they are the two direct responsibilities teams carry within it.

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Re-baselining the PI objectives for the next PI and committing the team to new business value targets.

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Approving the ART's budget and staffing changes for the next fiscal period during the event.

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Negotiating individual team velocity targets with the Release Train Engineer for the upcoming PI.

Question 8

During the Inspect and Adapt (I&A) event, the ART is analyzing metrics and identifies that the Program Predictability Measure has dropped from 85% to 60% over the last PI. As the Scrum Master, what is the most appropriate action to facilitate improvement?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a problem-solving workshop to identify root causes and create improvement stories for the next PI.. The Inspect and Adapt event culminates in a problem-solving workshop where the ART identifies root causes of issues like declining predictability and creates improvement stories. The Scrum Master facilitates this workshop, ensuring the ART uses data to drive systemic improvements. This approach aligns with SAFe's continuous improvement cycle and empowers teams to own their improvement actions.

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Instruct the teams to lower their PI Objectives to match the actual delivered business value.

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Ask the Release Train Engineer to adjust the Program Predictability Measure calculation to exclude unplanned work.

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Recommend that the ART increase the number of iterations per PI to allow more time for feature completion.

Question 9

During the PI Planning event, the ART is conducting the draft plan review. A team presents a plan that includes a feature with a dependency on another team, but the dependency is not reflected on the program board. As the Scrum Master for that team, what should you do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion with the team and the dependent team to make the dependency visible on the program board and adjust the plan if needed.. During the draft plan review, dependencies should be made visible on the program board and discussed collaboratively. The Scrum Master facilitates a conversation between the teams to adjust the plan and ensure alignment. This proactive approach prevents integration issues later and leverages the event's purpose of surfacing and resolving cross-team dependencies.

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Wait until after PI Planning to update the program board with the dependency to avoid disrupting the session.

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Escalate the missing dependency to the Release Train Engineer immediately and ask them to resolve it.

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Instruct the team to remove the feature from the plan to avoid cross-team complications.

Question 10

A Scrum Master is helping a team improve how it participates in the ART's Inspect and Adapt event. Which TWO activities correctly describe the team's role in this event? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Participate in the retrospective portion by reflecting on the completed Program Increment and identifying improvement opportunities.. The Inspect and Adapt event is where the ART measures the current state, reflects on the completed PI, and solves a significant problem. Teams contribute by participating in the retrospective reflection and by helping analyze root causes and define corrective actions in the Problem-Solving Workshop. Approving PI objectives, running a confidence vote, and owning the system demo belong to other ART events.

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Facilitate the confidence vote that determines whether the ART will proceed with the next Program Increment.

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Own and execute the system demo for the entire ART, presenting the integrated solution to stakeholders.

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Approve the final Program Increment objectives and re-baseline the Program Board for the next increment.

Question 11

Two iterations into a PI, a Scrum Master learns that a dependency her team agreed with Team Echo during PI Planning has slipped because Team Echo reprioritized. Her team's next iteration work is now blocked. What is the most appropriate first action?

Accepted Answer

Raise the blocked dependency at the ART Sync so the train can help re-plan and restore flow across the affected teams.. When a cross-team dependency slips mid-PI, the Scrum Master should surface it in the train-level coordination event so the affected teams and the ART can re-plan and restore flow. The ART Sync exists for exactly this kind of dependency and impediment management. Acting transparently at the train level is faster and safer than unilateral workarounds, dropped objectives, or waiting until the next PI Planning.

Answer

Instruct her team to build a temporary workaround and deliver it without informing Team Echo or the train.

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Ask the Product Owner to remove the blocked features from the team's PI objectives and reallocate the team to unrelated work.

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Wait until the next PI Planning to renegotiate the dependency, since dependencies are formally managed only at that event.

Question 12

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.

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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 13

During the Scrum of Scrums (SoS) meeting, a Scrum Master from Team Beta reports that they have a dependency on Team Gamma for an API that is critical for their current iteration goal. Team Gamma's Scrum Master is not present. What should the Scrum Master do first?

Accepted Answer

Record the dependency on the program board and follow up with Team Gamma's Scrum Master after the SoS.. In the Scrum of Scrums, dependencies are made visible. When a team's representative is absent, the Scrum Master should record the dependency on the program board and follow up with the missing team's Scrum Master afterward. This ensures the dependency is tracked and addressed without disrupting the SoS, and it maintains the collaborative spirit of the ART.

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Escalate the issue to the Release Train Engineer immediately during the SoS to force Team Gamma's attendance.

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Instruct Team Beta to work on other backlog items until Team Gamma is available to provide the API.

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Ask Team Beta to proceed without the API and adjust their iteration goal accordingly.

Question 14

A Scrum Master is preparing a team for its first System Demo. The team has completed several stories that are integrated with another team's work, but the team is unsure what to demonstrate. What should the Scrum Master advise?

Accepted Answer

Demonstrate the integrated functionality in the staging environment so stakeholders can evaluate the current system state.. The System Demo is the ART's opportunity to inspect the integrated solution in a staging environment and gather feedback from stakeholders. The team should demonstrate integrated functionality, not isolated stories or slides. This enables objective evaluation of the current system state and informs the next PI's planning, embodying the SAFe principle of frequent integration.

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Ask the Product Owner to present slides summarizing the team's completed stories instead of a live demonstration.

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Demonstrate only the stories that are fully complete and accepted by the Product Owner, and defer integrated work to the next demo.

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Have each developer demo their own code separately so that all individual contributions are visible to stakeholders.

Question 15

During the Problem-Solving Workshop of the Inspect and Adapt event, the ART identifies that a recurring root cause of defects is insufficient test data management. As the Scrum Master, what is the most appropriate action to support the ART in addressing this issue?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate the creation of improvement stories and ensure they are added to the Program Backlog for prioritization.. The Problem-Solving Workshop in the Inspect and Adapt event is designed to identify root causes and generate improvement stories. The Scrum Master facilitates this by helping the ART create specific, actionable improvement items and ensuring they enter the Program Backlog for prioritization. This approach ensures the improvements are owned by the ART and integrated into future planning, leading to sustainable systemic change.

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Ask the Release Train Engineer to assign a single team to own all test data management across the ART.

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Recommend that the ART immediately halt all testing until a centralized test data management tool is procured.

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Suggest that each team independently develop their own test data management solution without coordination.