You must select the response that keeps the team self-managing and the Scrum Master serving rather than directing. The single most important thing is to never take ownership of the team's work or decisions; coach, facilitate, and remove impediments instead.
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Domain overview
This domain covers the Scrum Master's servant-leadership stance: coaching the team, removing impediments, and shielding from interference without becoming a project manager. Questions present realistic team or stakeholder scenarios and ask you to choose the response that best upholds Scrum values, self-management, and the Scrum Master's defined accountabilities under the Scrum Guide.
Exam objectives
Coaching the Product Owner and Developers toward self-management during Sprint Planning and Daily Scrum.
Facilitating Scrum events so they stay within timebox and produce their intended outcomes.
Removing impediments and protecting the team from disruptive stakeholder requests.
Teaching the organization how Scrum works and fostering an empirical, collaborative culture.
Choosing to assign tasks or make decisions for the team, which undermines self-management and violates the Scrum Master's role.
Accepting status-reporting duties or acting as a proxy for the Product Owner, confusing the Scrum Master with a project manager.
Escalating or fixing team conflict directly instead of coaching the team to resolve it and improve its own dynamics.
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A newly formed Scrum Team is struggling to reach a 'Definition of Done'. Which TWO actions should the Scrum Master prioritize to support the team?
2Refer to the exhibit. As a Scrum Master, how do you address this misinterpretation of the Sprint Review?
3A team has a very high 'WIP' limit and consistently fails to finish items. What is the most appropriate Scrum Master intervention?
4Which THREE traits demonstrate that a Scrum Master is effectively acting as a servant-leader?
5A Scrum Master notices that the team is silent during the Daily Scrum, and the Developers only provide status updates to the Scrum Master. How should they respond?
6A stakeholder asks the Scrum Master to add a high-priority feature to the current Sprint. What is the correct response?
7A Scrum Master discovers that the team is not holding Retrospectives because they feel they are 'too busy'. Which THREE actions should the Scrum Master take?
8Which of the following is the best way for a Scrum Master to help a team become self-managing?
9During the Sprint Planning, the team is struggling to agree on a Sprint Goal. What is the Scrum Master's role?
10A team member is consistently negative during meetings, which is impacting the team's morale. What should the Scrum Master do?
11A stakeholder demands that the Scrum Master provide a detailed progress report at the end of every week. How should the Scrum Master respond?
12The team is struggling with technical debt. What should the Scrum Master do to address this?
13During a Sprint Planning event, the development team expresses concern that the Product Owner is pushing to include more user stories than their historical velocity suggests is feasible. As the Scrum Master, how should you facilitate this situation?
14During a Sprint, a stakeholder interrupts the Developers to request an urgent feature addition. How should the Scrum Master facilitate this?
15A Scrum Master observes that the team's Daily Scrum frequently lasts over 30 minutes, with the team getting lost in technical deep-dives. Which TWO actions should the Scrum Master take to improve the effectiveness of the event?
16Refer to the exhibit. The team is struggling with transparency regarding their progress during the Sprint. Based on the provided policy, what should the Scrum Master prioritize to improve the situation?
17A Scrum Master notices that the team has been consistently failing to meet their Sprint Goal for three consecutive Sprints. What is the most appropriate first step to take?
18Which of the following is a primary responsibility of a Scrum Master regarding the Product Backlog?
19A team is experiencing frequent interpersonal conflicts that are hindering their velocity. Which THREE actions should a Scrum Master take?
20An organization is transitioning to Scrum, and the middle managers are struggling to relinquish control over task assignment. How should the Scrum Master address this?
21During a Sprint, a Developer asks the Scrum Master to resolve a disagreement with the Product Owner regarding the definition of 'Done'. What should the Scrum Master do?
22Refer to the exhibit. As a Scrum Master, what is the most critical issue shown in the error log?
23A newly formed team is struggling to identify their first Sprint Goal. How should the Scrum Master guide them?
24Which TWO of the following are effective ways for a Scrum Master to foster self-management in a team?
25A team has been asked by the CTO to add a 'hidden' feature that isn't on the Product Backlog. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master?
26During the Sprint Retrospective, the team identifies that they are too dependent on a single specialist for testing. What is the best way for the Scrum Master to help the team address this?
27A Product Owner is struggling to break down large features into smaller, manageable items. How can the Scrum Master support them?
28A team has decided to shorten their Sprint length to one week to increase feedback. What should the Scrum Master ensure the team considers?
29During a Sprint Planning event, the Development Team realizes they cannot complete the forecast without understanding a complex third-party API integration. The Product Owner insists the item must remain in the Sprint Backlog. How should the Scrum Master facilitate this resolution?
30A newly formed Scrum Team is experiencing intense interpersonal conflict during Daily Scrums, frequently devolving into finger-pointing regarding missed targets. The team looks to the Scrum Master to assign individual accountability and arbitrate disputes. What is the most effective coaching stance?
31A Scrum Master is observing a mature Scrum Team that consistently meets its commitments but shows signs of complacency during Retrospectives, offering superficial feedback and avoiding deep systemic issues. Which TWO actions should the Scrum Master take to revitalize the Retrospective? (Choose two.)
32During a Sprint Planning event, the Developers state they cannot commit to the Product Owner's high-priority items because technical debt is slowing down their delivery velocity. As a Scrum Master, how should you facilitate this situation?
33During the Daily Scrum, a Developer starts a deep technical discussion about a complex architectural design flaw discovered that morning. As the Scrum Master, what is your best immediate action?
34During a Sprint, a developer approaches the Scrum Master complaining that the Product Owner frequently interrupts the team with urgent ad-hoc requests that disrupt their planned work. Which action should the Scrum Master take first to best serve the team?
35A Scrum Team is halfway through a Sprint. The Scrum Master observes that the Developers have stopped using the Daily Scrum to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and instead are giving detailed status reports to the Scrum Master. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master?
36A Scrum Master is helping a Product Owner who struggles to keep the Product Backlog ordered and refined. Which two actions best fit the Scrum Master's accountabilities in this situation? (Choose two.)
37A Scrum Master is working with a new Scrum Team. During the first Sprint Retrospective, the Developers say they feel the Scrum Master should assign tasks to each person to ensure fairness. What is the most appropriate response?
38A Scrum Master at a software company observes that the Developers have started sending daily status reports to the Product Owner and waiting for approval before moving tasks on the Sprint Backlog. The Scrum Master wants to reinforce self-management without undermining the Product Owner's authority. What is the most appropriate action?
39A Scrum Team has been working together for several Sprints. During a Daily Scrum, the Scrum Master notices that two Developers are discussing a technical design decision in depth, and the conversation is drifting away from the purpose of the event. The other Developers are waiting. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master?
40A Scrum Master joins a team that has been using Scrum for six months. During the Daily Scrum, the Developers give a detailed status report to the Scrum Master, who then updates the Sprint Burndown Chart and assigns follow-up tasks. The team consistently meets its Sprint Goal, but the Scrum Master is concerned about long-term effectiveness. What should the Scrum Master do first?
41A Scrum Master is working with a Product Owner who frequently changes the Sprint Goal mid-Sprint based on new stakeholder requests. The Developers are frustrated and feel their work is being undermined. What should the Scrum Master do first?
42A Scrum Team is six Sprints into a product. The Scrum Master notices that the Product Owner has started attending the Daily Scrum and asking each Developer for a status update, which has stretched the event to nearly 30 minutes. Several Developers have privately complained that the Daily Scrum now feels like a reporting session to the Product Owner. What should the Scrum Master do first?
43During Sprint Retrospective, a Developer says, 'I don't see the point of these meetings. Nothing ever changes.' Other team members nod in agreement. The Scrum Master wants to turn this into a productive Retrospective. What is the most appropriate action?
44A Scrum Master joins a team that has been using Scrum for a year. The team's Sprint Retrospectives have become a recurring complaint session about a single difficult stakeholder, and no improvement actions are ever produced. The Scrum Master wants to help the team get more value from the event. Which action best reflects the Scrum Master's accountability?
45A Scrum Master is working with a team that has a Product Owner who frequently changes priorities mid-Sprint, causing the Developers to switch tasks and leave work unfinished. The Scrum Master wants to protect the Sprint Goal while maintaining a good relationship with the Product Owner. What should the Scrum Master do?
46A Scrum Master is working with a newly formed Scrum Team. During the first Sprint, the Developers repeatedly ask the Scrum Master to assign tasks to individuals and to decide who should pair with whom. The Scrum Master wants to foster self-management. Which two actions best serve this goal? (Choose two.)
47A Scrum Master is coaching a team that has been asked by senior management to provide weekly progress reports with percentage completion for each Product Backlog item. The team is spending significant time preparing these reports, and the Scrum Master wants to reduce this overhead while still meeting management's need for transparency. Which two actions are most appropriate? (Choose two.)
48A Scrum Master is coaching a newly formed Scrum Team. The Developers are unsure about who should estimate the Product Backlog items. What should the Scrum Master advise?
49A Scrum Master is asked by a line manager to provide a weekly report showing exactly how many hours each Developer spent on each Product Backlog item, so the manager can assess individual productivity. The team's Developers are uneasy about this request. What is the most appropriate response from the Scrum Master?
50During a Sprint Review, the Product Owner presents a polished slide deck of planned features for the next three releases and takes questions from stakeholders for most of the timebox. The Developers have a working increment but never demonstrate it. Afterward, a key stakeholder says they assumed the features shown were already built. What should the Scrum Master do?
51A Scrum Master notices that the Developers often wait for the Product Owner to assign tasks during Sprint Planning. The Product Owner is comfortable giving detailed instructions. What should the Scrum Master do to foster self-management?
52A Scrum Team has been delivering increments for several Sprints, but the Scrum Master notices that the Developers rarely update the Sprint Backlog during the Sprint. Instead, they rely on the Scrum Master to track progress and remind them of remaining work. Which action best aligns with the Scrum Master's accountability?
53A Scrum Master joins a Scrum Team that has been working together for six months. The team consistently meets its Sprint Goal, but the Scrum Master observes that the Developers never challenge the Product Owner's decisions during Sprint Planning, even when they have technical concerns. The Product Owner often makes detailed technical decisions without consulting the Developers. What should the Scrum Master do first?
You must select the response that keeps the team self-managing and the Scrum Master serving rather than directing. The single most important thing is to never take ownership of the team's work or decisions; coach, facilitate, and remove impediments instead.
The Courseiva CSM question bank contains 53 questions in the Scrum Master Core Competencies domain. Click any question to see the full explanation and answer breakdown.
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