SSM Supporting Team Events Practice Test 4 — 15 Questions

Question 1

What is the primary purpose of the Iteration Review in SAFe?

Accepted Answer

To demonstrate working, tested stories to stakeholders and gather immediate feedback on the solution increment.. The Iteration Review provides a cadence-based opportunity for the Agile Team to assess the solution increment with key stakeholders, review metrics, and adjust the backlog. This ensures continuous alignment between the team's output and stakeholder expectations. This matters because it validates working software against real user needs rather than just tracking theoretical completion.

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To evaluate individual team member performance and assign annual ratings.

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To perform deep root-cause analysis on team interpersonal conflicts and process bottlenecks.

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To plan the capacity and draft high-level objectives for the upcoming Program Increment.

Question 2

Refer to the exhibit. During PI Planning, leadership encounters a major cross-team dependency blockage that threatens program objectives. When does the Management Review and Problem Solving meeting take place to address this?

Accepted Answer

At the end of Day 1, following the draft plan review sessions where cross-team dependencies are exposed.. The Management Review and Problem Solving meeting occurs at the end of the first day of PI Planning. This crucial session allows leadership to address cross-team dependencies, adjust scope, and resolve bottlenecks discovered during Day 1 draft plan reviews. This matters because it empowers teams to resume Day 2 planning with realistic objectives.

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Immediately before the final management review at the conclusion of Day 2.

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During the first hour of Day 1 before team breakout sessions begin.

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After the Program Increment has concluded and all delivery metrics have been calculated.

Question 3

During a SAFe Scrum Master's facilitation of the Iteration Retrospective, one developer proposes a process change that would eliminate the team's daily synchronization. Another developer objects strongly, and the discussion becomes heated. What should the Scrum Master do first?

Accepted Answer

Pause the discussion, acknowledge both perspectives, and ask the team to explore the underlying need before deciding on any change to their synchronization approach.. The Scrum Master facilitates the Retrospective to keep it safe and productive while preserving the team's ownership of its process. Pausing a heated debate, acknowledging both viewpoints, and guiding the team to the underlying need lets the team decide thoughtfully. Mandating the Daily Stand-up, letting conflict escalate, or escalating to the RTE all fail to serve the team's self-management.

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Escalate the disagreement to the Release Train Engineer so that the RTE can decide whether the team may change its synchronization practice.

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Allow the debate to continue until the team reaches consensus, then capture the decision as an action item in the Retrospective output.

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Remind the team that the Daily Stand-up is mandatory in SAFe and that process changes cannot be made at the Retrospective.

Question 4

A SAFe Scrum Master notices that during Iteration Review, the team demonstrates only completed user stories and avoids discussing any stories that failed acceptance criteria. The Product Owner is surprised later when several stories are not accepted. What should the Scrum Master do to improve the effectiveness of this event?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team to demonstrate all stories worked on during the Iteration, including those not meeting acceptance criteria, so stakeholders can give feedback and the team can inspect its actual progress.. The Iteration Review exists so the team and stakeholders inspect the actual Increment and adapt. Demonstrating all work, including stories that did not meet acceptance criteria, creates transparency and enables early feedback. Pre-screening demonstrations, replacing the event with a report, or marking failed stories complete all hide reality and undermine the Product Owner's ability to steer the backlog.

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Move the Iteration Review to a written status report distributed before the event so the Product Owner can review acceptance status without a live demonstration.

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Instruct the team to mark any story not meeting acceptance criteria as complete in the team backlog and address the gaps in the next Iteration.

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Ask the Product Owner to send acceptance criteria to the team before the Iteration Review so the team can pre-screen which stories are safe to demonstrate.

Question 5

An Agile Team is in its second day of PI Planning. A developer repeatedly interrupts the Product Owner during the draft plan review, arguing that a planned feature is technically impossible within the Iteration. Other team members are becoming visibly frustrated, and the team is falling behind schedule. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master?

Accepted Answer

Remind the team of the agreed working agreements and ask the developer to capture the technical concern as a risk or impediment on the team board for later discussion.. The Scrum Master facilitates team events by upholding working agreements and ensuring that concerns are captured as risks or impediments rather than debated endlessly. This keeps PI Planning productive while respecting the developer's technical input. Escalation, unmanaged debate, or shifting the decision to the Product Owner would all undermine self-management and the purpose of the event.

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Ask the Product Owner to make a final decision on the feature scope so the team can move on without further discussion.

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Allow the debate to continue until the developer is satisfied, because technical feasibility must be fully resolved before the team can commit to the plan.

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Immediately escalate the conflict to the Release Train Engineer and request that the developer be removed from the planning session.

Question 6

During an Iteration Retrospective, the team identifies that their Daily Stand-up consistently runs over 30 minutes and has become a status report to the Scrum Master. The Scrum Master wants to help the team improve this event. What should the Scrum Master do first?

Accepted Answer

Ask the team to review and update their working agreements for the Daily Stand-up, focusing on timeboxing and the purpose of the event.. The Scrum Master should coach the team to self-manage by revisiting working agreements and clarifying the purpose of the Daily Stand-up. This empowers the team to own their process and make sustainable improvements. Cancelling the event, taking over facilitation, or reducing frequency all fail to address the underlying behavioral issue and undermine Scrum principles.

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Take over facilitation of the Daily Stand-up and enforce a strict 15-minute timebox by cutting off anyone who speaks too long.

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Cancel the Daily Stand-up for one week and replace it with written status updates to save time.

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Recommend that the team switch to a weekly status meeting instead of a daily event to reduce time spent in meetings.

Question 7

An Agile Team is preparing for its Iteration Review. The Product Owner has invited several key stakeholders, but the team is unsure how to structure the event to maximize feedback. What is the Scrum Master's primary responsibility in this situation?

Accepted Answer

Ensure the team demonstrates a working, integrated increment and facilitates stakeholder engagement to gather feedback.. The Scrum Master's primary responsibility during the Iteration Review is to facilitate the event so the team can demonstrate a working increment and engage stakeholders for feedback. The team, not the Scrum Master, presents the work. Limiting or pre-collecting feedback undermines the event's purpose of inspection and adaptation.

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Limit stakeholder participation to a brief Q&A at the end so the team can focus on demonstrating features.

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Collect written feedback from stakeholders in advance and distribute it to the team after the event to avoid disruptions.

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Prepare and deliver the presentation on behalf of the team to ensure stakeholders receive a polished, consistent message.

Question 8

During a SAFe Scrum Master's facilitation of the Iteration Retrospective, one team member says, 'We keep talking about the same problem every time, but nothing changes.' Others nod in agreement. The Scrum Master wants to help the team move from identifying problems to taking meaningful action. What is the best next step?

Accepted Answer

Ask the team to create a small number of specific, owned improvement actions with due dates and review them at the next Retrospective.. The team's frustration stems from a lack of follow-through, not from a shortage of ideas. The most effective Scrum Master response is to help the team convert insights into a few specific, owned actions with due dates and then review them at the next Retrospective. This creates accountability, demonstrates that the event leads to change, and reinforces the continuous improvement purpose of the Retrospective.

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Document all recurring issues in the team's Impediment Backlog and escalate them to the Release Train Engineer for resolution.

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Suggest the team spend the next Retrospective brainstorming a longer list of problems to ensure nothing is missed.

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Recommend that the team rotate the Retrospective facilitator each time to bring fresh perspectives to the discussion.

Question 9

A Scrum Master notices that during the Iteration Retrospective, the same two team members dominate the conversation while others remain silent. The team is not identifying meaningful improvements. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Use a structured retrospective format such as silent brainstorming or round-robin to ensure all voices are heard.. The Scrum Master should use structured facilitation techniques to balance participation and surface diverse viewpoints. This helps the team identify more meaningful improvements and fosters psychological safety. Directly confronting individuals, fragmenting the event, or doing nothing would all fail to create an inclusive retrospective environment.

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Let the team continue as is, since the dominant members may simply have more to contribute and the Scrum Master should not interfere.

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End the Retrospective early and schedule a separate meeting with the quiet team members to gather their input privately.

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Ask the dominant members to stop talking so much and explicitly invite the quieter members to speak.

Question 10

A Scrum Master notices that the team's Iteration Retrospective has become a status meeting where members report what they did rather than reflect on how they worked. Which action should the Scrum Master take to refocus the event on its intended purpose?

Accepted Answer

Introduce a structured format such as Start-Stop-Continue and explicitly ask the team to discuss process, interactions, and tools rather than task status.. The Retrospective exists for the team to inspect its process and identify improvements. When it devolves into status reporting, the Scrum Master should guide the team back to process-focused reflection. A structured format with explicit prompts about process, interactions, and tools achieves this while preserving team ownership and the event's purpose.

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Ask the Product Owner to lead the Retrospective and prioritize the team's backlog based on reported progress.

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Cancel the Retrospective for the next Iteration and instead use the time for backlog refinement.

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Report the team's lack of retrospective focus to the Release Train Engineer and request that the team be coached on Agile principles.

Question 11

An Agile Team's Scrum Master notices that the team's Daily Stand-up has devolved into a status report to the Scrum Master, with each member speaking only when called upon and waiting for direction. The team is colocated and has been together for three iterations. What is the most effective action for the Scrum Master to take to restore the event's intended purpose?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team to self-facilitate the stand-up, with members pulling the next speaker rather than reporting to the Scrum Master.. The Daily Stand-up is a team-owned event for inspecting progress toward the Iteration Goals and adapting the day's plan. When team members report to the Scrum Master, the event has become a status meeting, which erodes self-management. The Scrum Master's role is to coach the team to facilitate its own stand-up and coordinate peer-to-peer, restoring ownership rather than removing or extending the event.

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Extend the Daily Stand-up to 30 minutes so each member has time to give a complete status report.

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Ask the Product Owner to attend and lead the Daily Stand-up so the team stays focused on priority work.

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Cancel the Daily Stand-up and replace it with a written status update in the team's chat channel.

Question 12

A Scrum Master notices that during the Iteration Review, the team demonstrates completed work but does not collect feedback from the attending stakeholders. The Product Owner is present but remains silent. What should the Scrum Master do to improve the effectiveness of this event?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team and stakeholders on the purpose of the Iteration Review as a feedback and collaboration event, and facilitate a structured feedback conversation.. The Scrum Master is accountable for ensuring Scrum events are effective. In the Iteration Review, the team inspects the increment and stakeholders provide feedback to adapt the backlog. When feedback is absent, the Scrum Master should coach participants on the event's purpose and facilitate a structured feedback conversation, thereby enabling inspection and adaptation without overstepping into Product Owner responsibilities.

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Cancel the remaining Iteration Reviews and replace them with written surveys sent to stakeholders after each Iteration.

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Ask the team to stop demonstrating and instead spend the time updating the team's velocity chart for stakeholders.

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Instruct the Product Owner to lead the feedback discussion and document all stakeholder comments.

Question 13

A SAFe Scrum Master is facilitating the Iteration Review for a team that has just completed its first Iteration in a new Agile Release Train. The Product Owner is presenting the team's increment to stakeholders. Which two actions should the Scrum Master take to ensure the Iteration Review is effective? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Ensure the team demonstrates a working, integrated increment rather than relying solely on slides or status reports.. An effective Iteration Review centers on demonstrating a working increment and gathering stakeholder feedback. The Scrum Master should ensure the team shows the actual product, not just reports, and facilitates an interactive session where stakeholders can provide input that the Product Owner uses to adjust the backlog. These actions maximize transparency and adaptiveness, which are core to SAFe.

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Keep the focus on the team's process metrics and velocity trends to show stakeholders how efficiently the team is working.

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Ask the Release Train Engineer to present the team's accomplishments to ensure a consistent message across the ART.

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Limit the review to a strict fifteen-minute timebox to respect stakeholders' time and keep the event efficient.

Question 14

During a Daily Stand-up, a team member states that they are blocked by a missing test environment. Which action should the Scrum Master take first?

Accepted Answer

Ask the team member to raise a ticket and continue the stand-up, then follow up after the event to help resolve the impediment.. The Daily Stand-up is a timeboxed coordination event, so impediments should be noted and addressed afterward. The Scrum Master's first action is to ensure the blocker is captured and then actively help remove it, preserving the stand-up's focus. This balances respect for the timebox with the Scrum Master's accountability for impediment removal.

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Instruct the team member to work on a different backlog item until the environment is available.

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Escalate the blocker to the Release Train Engineer during the stand-up and wait for instructions.

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Extend the stand-up to brainstorm solutions with the entire team until the environment issue is resolved.

Question 15

A Scrum Master is facilitating a team's first Iteration Retrospective after a challenging Iteration. The team is frustrated and wants to skip the Retrospective to focus on fixing defects. Which TWO actions should the Scrum Master take? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Facilitate the Retrospective with a focus on identifying systemic causes of the defects and actions to improve the team's process.. The Scrum Master should uphold the Retrospective as an essential event and help the team see its value in addressing defects through process improvement. Focusing the Retrospective on systemic causes and actions ensures it is relevant and productive. Cancelling, shortening, or replacing the event would undermine continuous improvement and the Scrum framework.

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Cancel the Retrospective and schedule a defect triage meeting instead, since the team's immediate priority is fixing defects.

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Shorten the Retrospective to 15 minutes and use the remaining time for defect fixing.

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Allow the team to cancel the Retrospective this once, since fixing defects is more urgent and the team can retrospect later.