CSM Practice Test 23 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A 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?

Accepted Answer

Coach the CTO on why all work must be ordered in the Product Backlog.. The Scrum Master must protect the team from external interference and maintain the Product Backlog's transparency. By coaching the CTO on the Scrum framework, the Scrum Master ensures that all work flows through the proper channels. This is crucial for maintaining the team's focus and the integrity of the product, as 'hidden' features undermine the Product Owner's ability to prioritize effectively and manage stakeholder expectations.

Answer

Ask the Developers to work on it quietly during the night.

Answer

Allow the feature if the CTO promises it will be quick.

Answer

Report the CTO to HR for violating the Scrum process.

Question 2

A Product Owner wants to validate a new product direction with key stakeholders but is unsure how to structure the conversation to avoid endless debate. The Scrum Master offers to help. Which approach best serves the Product Owner in this situation?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a focused workshop with clear objectives and timeboxes to gather stakeholder input and align on the Product Goal.. Facilitating a focused, timeboxed workshop with clear objectives directly serves the Product Owner by enabling efficient stakeholder collaboration and alignment on the Product Goal. This approach reduces endless debate and helps the Product Owner validate direction without abdicating accountability.

Answer

Create a detailed survey for stakeholders to fill out asynchronously and compile the results for the Product Owner.

Answer

Recommend that the Product Owner postpone the validation until the next Sprint Review to use that event instead.

Answer

Advise the Product Owner to make the decision alone and inform stakeholders afterward to save time.

Question 3

During a meeting with senior leadership, the Scrum Master notes that leadership is confused about the role of the Product Owner. What should the Scrum Master do to provide service to the organization?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a workshop to explain the accountabilities and benefits of the Product Owner role.. The Scrum Master must clarify the accountabilities of the Product Owner, emphasizing their focus on maximizing value and product success. By educating leadership, the Scrum Master helps ensure the Product Owner is given the authority and support needed to make effective decisions. This service is vital because a misunderstood role leads to conflicting expectations and poor product outcomes, ultimately undermining the entire Scrum effort within the organization.

Answer

Take over the responsibilities of the Product Owner to avoid further confusion.

Answer

Ask the Developers to clarify the Product Owner's role for leadership.

Answer

Ignore the conversation and wait for the leadership to figure it out on their own.

Question 4

The Product Owner is concerned that the Developers are not working on the most valuable items in the backlog. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion to ensure the Developers understand the Product Owner's priorities and the value behind them.. The Scrum Master should facilitate a discussion between the Product Owner and the Developers. It is possible there is a misunderstanding of the backlog order or the value of the items. By ensuring transparency and open communication, the Scrum Master helps the team realign their efforts with the Product Owner's strategic vision and the agreed-upon priorities.

Answer

Instruct the Developers to immediately change their work to match the Product Owner's order.

Answer

Check the team's commit history to see if they are working on unauthorized tasks.

Answer

Tell the Product Owner to stop complaining and trust the team's judgment.

Question 5

A Product Owner consistently struggles to explain the value of Product Backlog items to the Developers during refinement. The Scrum Master wants to help the Product Owner improve this skill. What is the most appropriate action?

Accepted Answer

Coach the Product Owner on techniques for effectively defining and communicating Product Backlog items.. The Scrum Master serves the Product Owner by coaching on effective Product Backlog management and communication. Helping the Product Owner articulate value directly addresses the struggle and strengthens collaboration with Developers, while keeping product accountability where it belongs.

Answer

Recommend that the Product Owner delegate the explanation of value to a senior Developer.

Answer

Ask the Developers to write the Product Backlog items themselves to save the Product Owner time.

Answer

Suggest the Product Owner skip refinement sessions and instead send written specifications to the Developers.

Question 6

A department manager wants to see the team's 'Individual Performance' report to decide on annual bonuses. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Advise the manager on team-based performance incentives.. The Scrum Master must protect the team from metrics that discourage collaboration and promote individual competition. Annual bonuses based on individual performance are a legacy management practice that conflicts with the team-based approach of Scrum. The Scrum Master's role is to educate the manager on why this policy is detrimental and suggest alternative, team-based metrics that better align with the organization's agile goals.

Answer

Provide the report, but warn the manager it is inaccurate.

Answer

Refuse to speak with the manager about the bonus policy.

Answer

Create a new reporting tool to hide the individual data.

Question 7

A 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?

Accepted Answer

Coach the Product Owner to focus on the Sprint Goal and Product Backlog prioritization, and coach the Developers to self-organize around the work.. To foster self-management, the Scrum Master should coach the Product Owner to focus on value and prioritization, and coach the Developers to take ownership of how the work is done. This reinforces the distinct accountabilities within Scrum and helps the team become more autonomous and engaged.

Answer

Ask the Developers to ignore the Product Owner's instructions and choose tasks independently without discussion.

Answer

Assign tasks yourself to model effective task distribution for the team.

Answer

Encourage the Product Owner to continue providing detailed instructions to ensure clarity and speed.

Question 8

A Scrum Team is having difficulty finishing their Sprint Backlog items. As a Scrum Master, what is the best way to help them improve?

Accepted Answer

Suggest they perform a deep dive into their Sprint Retrospective to find root causes.. The Scrum Master facilitates continuous improvement by encouraging the team to analyze their workflow and capacity. By focusing on the Retrospective as a tool for process improvement, the Scrum Master helps the team identify why they are struggling. This encourages the team to inspect and adapt their own practices, ensuring they develop a sustainable pace that is realistic and results in a high-quality, done increment at the end of every sprint.

Answer

Ask them to commit to more items so they have more motivation to finish.

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Suggest that the Developers stop writing documentation to save time.

Answer

Report the team's lack of progress to the management team immediately.

Question 9

During a Sprint, the Scrum Master notices that the Developers keep waiting for the Product Owner to assign tasks and resolve every technical disagreement. Which action best reflects the Scrum Master's accountability?

Accepted Answer

Coach the Scrum Team on self-management and facilitate the removal of the dependency on the Product Owner for technical decisions.. The Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team by coaching it in self-management and helping it focus on high-value Increments. When Developers defer every technical choice to the Product Owner, the Scrum Master should coach the team and remove that dependency, restoring the Developers' authority over how they do their work rather than issuing orders or taking over.

Answer

Instruct the Product Owner to stop assigning tasks and let the Developers self-organize.

Answer

Take over assigning tasks temporarily so the Sprint is not delayed, then hand control back later.

Answer

Raise the issue at the Sprint Retrospective only, and take no action during the current Sprint.

Question 10

Refer to the exhibit. As a Scrum Master, how do you handle this organizational policy that impedes the team's ability to deliver a Done increment at least every Sprint?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion with leadership about the impact of these dependencies on business agility.. The Scrum Master must act as an agent of change by exposing the impact of these bureaucratic bottlenecks on the organization's agility. By facilitating conversations with stakeholders and leadership, the Scrum Master helps the organization understand how these delays inhibit empirical learning and value delivery. This service to the organization is vital because it addresses systemic impediments, allowing the team to move toward a more sustainable and responsive release process aligned with Scrum.

Answer

Ignore the policy and deploy directly to production to satisfy the Definition of Done.

Answer

Ask the Product Owner to redefine 'Done' to exclude production deployment.

Answer

Update the Sprint Backlog to include tasks for seeking these three specific approvals.

Question 11

During a Sprint Retrospective, the team identifies a major impediment involving company-wide HR policies that restrict cross-functional collaboration. The team feels helpless to change it. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Take ownership of the impediment and collaborate with organizational leaders to drive systemic change.. The Scrum Master serves as a servant-leader who helps remove impediments that lie outside the team immediate sphere of influence. When systemic organizational roadblocks prevent agility, the Scrum Master must engage with broader leadership and HR to advocate for structural changes. Empowering the team means taking ownership of these macro impediments while coaching the organization toward agile maturity and removing systemic waste.

Answer

Tell the team to ignore the HR policies and work around them without seeking management support.

Answer

Remove the impediment from the Retrospective action items because it falls outside the Scrum Team control.

Answer

Instruct the Product Owner to rewrite the Product Backlog items to avoid cross-functional dependencies.

Question 12

A department head asks for a detailed project plan covering the next six months. How does the Scrum Master provide service to the organization?

Accepted Answer

Explain how Scrum provides transparency through the Product Backlog and empirical data.. The Scrum Master serves the organization by educating them on the difference between predictive, plan-driven approaches and empirical, value-driven ones. By demonstrating how a living Product Backlog provides better visibility and flexibility, the Scrum Master helps the organization shift away from rigid, unreliable forecasts. This service is crucial for setting realistic expectations and promoting an adaptive organizational mindset that thrives on real-time data rather than outdated, speculative documentation.

Answer

Create a six-month project plan to keep the department head satisfied.

Answer

Tell the department head that Scrum does not allow for any planning beyond the current Sprint.

Answer

Ask the Product Owner to stop answering the department head's questions.

Question 13

A 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?

Accepted Answer

After the Daily Scrum, coach the Developers on keeping the event focused, and suggest they take detailed technical discussions offline.. The Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team by ensuring the Daily Scrum is effective. When the event drifts, the best approach is to let the Developers self-manage during the event and then coach them afterward on keeping it focused. This preserves ownership while improving the team's ability to inspect and adapt their daily plan.

Answer

Allow the discussion to continue, as the Developers are self-managing and the Scrum Master should not interfere.

Answer

Interrupt the discussion and remind the Developers that the Daily Scrum is time-boxed to 15 minutes.

Answer

Take over the Daily Scrum and facilitate it yourself to keep it on track.

Question 14

Refer to the exhibit. According to the Scrum Guide, which answer is correct?

Accepted Answer

The Scrum Team.. The Scrum Team, as a single unit, is accountable for creating a quality increment. While individual members have different skills, the responsibility for the Definition of Done and the quality of the final product rests with the team as a whole. This shared accountability encourages collaboration and prevents the siloing of quality as 'someone else's job,' which is a common failure point in traditional teams.

Answer

The testers.

Answer

The Product Owner.

Answer

The Developers.

Question 15

When a Scrum Master is asked to serve as a project manager, how should they respond?

Accepted Answer

Educate the organization on the differences between the roles.. The Scrum Master must clarify their role as a servant-leader, not a traditional project manager. This is a common point of confusion during organizational transformations. By explaining how the Scrum Master role is designed to remove impediments and facilitate team performance, they protect the team's autonomy and ensure the organization understands the distinct value of the Scrum Master position.

Answer

Accept the role to maintain good relationships with leadership.

Answer

Create a new role title called 'Scrum Project Manager'.

Answer

Perform the tasks of both roles to ensure nothing is missed.