SSM Supporting Team Events Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

An Agile Team completes all their iteration backlog items two days before the end of the iteration. During the Iteration Planning meeting for the next cycle, the Product Owner asks why they didn't pull in extra work mid-iteration. How should the Scrum Master explain the team's action?

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

Accepted Answer

Pulling work mid-iteration risks the iteration goal, so the team focused on quality, testing, and technical debt.. Pulling new work mid-iteration destabilizes the iteration goal and disrupts focus. The Scrum Master should explain that finishing early allows the team to focus on technical debt, quality improvements, or helping other release train members rather than frantically pulling unrefined stories.

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The team took an unauthorized vacation for the remaining two days of the iteration.

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The Scrum Master forbade the team from doing any work once the initial stories were completed.

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The team should have pulled in 20 more user stories immediately without refinement.

Question 2

Refer to the exhibit. Given these findings, which action should the Scrum Master prioritize to improve team flow?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion on how to protect the team from mid-iteration requests and pull testing earlier.. The Scrum Master must address the root causes of flow disruption. By focusing on the mid-iteration requests, the team can stabilize their work-in-progress, which directly impacts their ability to complete testing on time. Addressing the stand-up duration is important, but flow stability is a higher priority because it directly impacts the team's ability to meet the Iteration Goal and quality standards.

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Implement a strict rule that no new work can be added after the planning session.

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Enforce a timebox of 15 minutes for the Daily Stand-up and cut off any long discussions.

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Ask the team to move testing tasks to the start of the iteration to avoid delays.

Question 3

Which behavior should the Scrum Master demonstrate during the Team Sync to ensure it remains effective?

Accepted Answer

Ensure that the discussion focuses on identifying and clearing impediments to progress.. The Scrum Master acts as a facilitator, ensuring that the Team Sync remains focused on the iteration goal and progress toward the objectives. By fostering an environment where team members feel safe to share progress and challenges, the Scrum Master promotes transparency and collective ownership of the iteration's success, which is critical for identifying and clearing impediments quickly.

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Act as the primary speaker to ensure all status updates are delivered quickly.

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Require each team member to provide a detailed report on every task they worked on yesterday.

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Direct the discussion to only the technical architecture of the upcoming user stories.

Question 4

During an Iteration Retrospective, the team decides they want to improve their collaboration. What is the Scrum Master's best role in this?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate the discussion to identify specific, actionable improvements and how to measure them.. The Scrum Master's role is to help the team identify actionable improvements and support the execution of those changes. By facilitating a safe environment, the Scrum Master encourages the team to take ownership of their own process. This is crucial because sustainable improvement only happens when the team identifies their own pain points and commits to specific, measurable changes for the next iteration.

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Choose the most important collaboration improvement for the team and assign it as an objective.

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Provide the team with a list of proven collaboration techniques to implement immediately.

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Document the team's concerns but wait for management to provide a solution.

Question 5

Which action should the Scrum Master take if a team member repeatedly misses the Daily Stand-up?

Accepted Answer

Discuss the impact of their absence on the team's ability to sync and solve blockers privately.. The Scrum Master must address the behavior in a private setting to understand the underlying issue without causing public embarrassment. Ensuring attendance is vital for team synchronization and transparency, but understanding the cause allows for a constructive resolution. This approach protects team dynamics and ensures that everyone remains aligned toward the common goals of the iteration while maintaining a respectful, professional, and collaborative environment.

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Call out the team member in front of the team to ensure accountability.

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Ask the Product Owner to remove the team member from the project for lack of commitment.

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Ignore the behavior if the team member completes their assigned tasks on time.

Question 6

Refer to the exhibit. Given the velocity fluctuations, what is the best topic for the team's next Retrospective?

Accepted Answer

Discuss why the velocity dropped in Iteration 3 and what caused the variation.. Velocity fluctuations are a signal for the team to investigate what factors hindered their consistency. By analyzing the dip in Iteration 3 and the subsequent recovery, the team can identify process bottlenecks or external dependencies that affected their performance. This investigation is essential for the team to become more predictable and to ensure they are accurately forecasting their capacity for future planning cycles.

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Set a higher velocity target for the next iteration to encourage the team to work faster.

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Inform the team that their velocity is inconsistent and needs to stabilize immediately.

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Compare the team's velocity against other teams to ensure they are performing well.

Question 7

Which of these is the most appropriate purpose of the Iteration Review?

Accepted Answer

To demonstrate the working software to stakeholders and gather their feedback.. The Iteration Review is a collaborative event for the team to show their work to stakeholders, gather feedback, and adjust the backlog. It serves as a vital feedback loop that ensures the team is building the right product for the customer. Without this event, the team risks spending time on features that do not align with user needs or current business priorities.

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To provide a status update to management on how many stories were finished.

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To identify process improvements for the team's internal way of working.

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To discuss and resolve all technical blockers encountered during the iteration.

Question 8

Refer to the exhibit. If the team consistently exceeds the 'timebox_max_hours' during planning, what is the Scrum Master's best next step?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a session to review the team's preparation process and the quality of backlog items.. The Scrum Master must investigate why the planning process is dragging. It could be due to ill-defined stories, lack of preparation by the Product Owner, or poor facilitation. By addressing the root cause, the Scrum Master helps the team regain efficiency and respect the timebox, which is essential for maintaining a sustainable pace and avoiding fatigue during the iteration planning process.

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Extend the timebox to 6 hours to ensure the team can finish their planning thoroughly.

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Ask the Product Owner to select the stories and provide them to the team beforehand.

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Stop the meeting at 4 hours regardless of whether the plan is complete or not.

Question 9

During the Iteration Review, a stakeholder heavily criticizes a feature. How should the Scrum Master intervene?

Accepted Answer

Encourage the stakeholder to provide specific, actionable feedback that the team can consider.. The Scrum Master must maintain the psychological safety of the team while allowing constructive feedback. By redirecting the conversation toward the specific, actionable aspects of the feedback, the Scrum Master ensures the session remains productive. This professional handling of conflict models the behavior expected in a collaborative environment and prevents the review from devolving into a personal attack on developers.

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Defend the team immediately to prevent the stakeholder from being rude.

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Ask the stakeholder to leave the review if they cannot be respectful to the team.

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Apologize to the stakeholder for the feature and promise to redo it immediately.

Question 10

What is the primary role of the Scrum Master in the Iteration Retrospective?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate the meeting to ensure a focus on improvement, safety, and action.. The Scrum Master acts as a facilitator and coach, ensuring the retrospective remains a productive, safe, and focused event. By designing the agenda and moderating the discussion, the Scrum Master helps the team uncover systemic issues and identify actionable improvements. This role is crucial for fostering an environment of continuous improvement and psychological safety where team members feel empowered to share their candid feedback.

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Assign action items to team members to ensure improvements are implemented.

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Take notes and provide a formal report to management after the meeting.

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Directly address individual personality conflicts within the team.

Question 11

A team is struggling with meeting the Iteration Goal because they have too many 'carry-over' stories. What should the Scrum Master suggest?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a root cause analysis to identify why stories are not being completed within the iteration.. The Scrum Master must help the team understand the root cause of the carry-over, such as poor estimation, scope creep, or technical debt. By analyzing these trends, the team can adjust their planning approach to be more realistic and focused. This helps the team become more predictable, which is essential for building confidence with stakeholders and delivering value consistently every single iteration.

Answer

Instruct the team to work longer hours to finish the carry-over stories.

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Suggest the team stop taking on new stories until all carry-over stories are finished.

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Update the Definition of Done to exclude testing for the carry-over stories.

Question 12

Which TWO of the following are the primary responsibilities of the Scrum Master during the Iteration Planning meeting?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate the process to ensure the team plans effectively within the timebox.. The Scrum Master acts as a facilitator to ensure the planning process remains on track, respects the timebox, and results in a realistic, agreed-upon plan. By focusing the team on capacity and the goal, the Scrum Master prevents common pitfalls like over-commitment or lack of focus, which is essential for ensuring the team is set up for success at the start of every iteration.

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Prioritize the product backlog items for the team.

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Assign tasks to team members based on their specific technical skills.

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Define the acceptance criteria for all user stories in the iteration.

Question 13

During the Iteration Planning meeting, the team is struggling to commit to the proposed Iteration Goal because they are uncertain about a dependency from another team. As the Scrum Master, what is the best approach?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a brief sync with the other team's Scrum Master to clarify the dependency status.. The Scrum Master facilitates the removal of blockers and ensures the team has a clear path forward. By encouraging the team to reach out to the other team's Scrum Master immediately, the team can clarify the dependency. If uncertainty remains, the team should plan for the known work while documenting the dependency as a risk, ensuring the team does not over-commit on unvalidated assumptions.

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Ask the Product Owner to redefine the user stories to exclude the dependency.

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Commit to the stories anyway and fix issues when they arise during the iteration.

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Cancel the planning meeting and reschedule it for when the dependency is resolved.

Question 14

Which TWO of the following behaviors should a Scrum Master demonstrate during the Team Retrospective? (Select TWO)

Accepted Answer

Ensure that the team identifies at least one actionable improvement to implement next iteration.. The Retrospective is a safe environment for continuous improvement. The Scrum Master must ensure the discussion remains constructive and focused on systemic issues rather than individual blame. By facilitating an environment where the team feels safe to share insights, the Scrum Master helps the team identify actionable improvements that lead to higher quality, better flow, and increased team satisfaction in future iterations.

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Focus the discussion on identifying the individual team member responsible for failures.

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Strictly follow the same agenda format every time to maintain consistency.

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Report all team issues directly to the Release Train Engineer without telling the team.

Question 15

During the Daily Stand-up, a developer spends several minutes detailing a highly technical architectural disagreement with another developer. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Interrupt the discussion and ask the two developers to hold a 'meet-after' to resolve the issue.. The Daily Stand-up is a time-boxed, 15-minute event meant for synchronization, not deep-dive problem solving. The Scrum Master must protect the meeting's purpose and ensure it remains focused on progress toward the Iteration Goal. By redirecting deep technical discussions to a follow-up meeting, the Scrum Master respects the team's time while ensuring the technical issue gets the attention it requires.

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Allow the discussion to continue so the issue is resolved immediately.

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Join the debate to provide an expert opinion and force a quick resolution.

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End the Daily Stand-up immediately as the team is clearly not aligned.