CSM Practice Test 2 — 25 Questions

Question 1

The team is having recurring arguments during Sprint Retrospectives that never result in actionable improvements. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate the meeting using a structured format that focuses on identifying concrete, team-owned action items.. The Scrum Master must shift the team's focus from airing grievances to collaborative problem-solving. By introducing structured Retrospective techniques that prioritize actionable items, the Scrum Master helps the team move past the conflict. This is vital because Retrospectives are the engine for continuous improvement; without concrete actions, the team will remain stuck in a cycle of frustration and lack of progress, leading to disengagement and stagnation.

Answer

Limit the Retrospective to 30 minutes to prevent the arguments from escalating.

Answer

Tell the team that arguing is unprofessional and they should stop immediately.

Answer

Ask the manager to attend the Retrospective to mediate the disputes.

Question 2

Refer to the exhibit. Senior management is evaluating Scrum Team performance using the metrics shown in the exhibit and publishing a monthly stack ranking of teams based on velocity. As a ScrumMaster, how should you address this practice to best serve the organization?

Accepted Answer

Coach management on the destructive impact of using internal planning metrics for performance evaluation, guiding them toward measuring customer value and outcomes.. Velocity is a capacity measure intended solely for internal team planning, not a performance metric for comparison across teams. Publishing stack rankings based on velocity incentivizes gaming the system, inflates story points, and destroys psychological safety and collaboration. The ScrumMaster must coach leadership away from using internal metrics for evaluation, guiding them instead toward tracking value delivery, customer satisfaction, and business outcomes that reflect true organizational health.

Answer

Help management refine the formula used to calculate velocity so that team comparisons become mathematically fair and statistically accurate.

Answer

Instruct all development teams to artificially inflate their story point estimates so that every single team ties for the top ranking every month.

Answer

Publicly publish the salaries and individual performance reviews of the management team to create parity and force them to abandon their stack-ranking practice.

Question 3

A newly appointed Product Owner asks the Scrum Master how to effectively communicate product progress and release forecasts to executive stakeholders. Which approach should the Scrum Master recommend to best support the Product Owner?

Accepted Answer

Encourage the use of empirical data from completed Sprints, such as average velocity and transparent product backlogs, for realistic forecasting.. Empirical process control relies on transparency, making historical velocity and backlog burndown charts ideal for forecasting. The Scrum Master helps the Product Owner utilize these transparent artifacts to manage stakeholder expectations realistically without resorting to speculative, rigid long-term project plans.

Answer

Create a detailed five-year Gantt chart containing fixed dates and locked scope milestones to satisfy executive reporting requirements completely.

Answer

Advise the Product Owner to withhold all progress metrics from executives until the final product release is fully deployed to production.

Answer

Delegate all stakeholder communication responsibilities to the Development Team so the Product Owner can focus exclusively on technical tasks.

Question 4

A newly formed Scrum Team is struggling to establish a shared understanding of their Definition of Done, leading to inconsistent increments at the end of sprints. How should the Scrum Master best serve the team in this situation?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate dedicated sessions for the team to inspect their current workflow and collaboratively build their own Definition of Done.. The Scrum Master facilitates collaboration rather than imposing rules, helping the team inspect their current practices and build collective ownership over their quality standards. This empowers self-management and ensures the resulting Definition of Done genuinely reflects their technical capabilities and organizational constraints.

Answer

Draft a comprehensive Definition of Done based on industry best practices and mandate that the team adopt it immediately.

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Escalate the inconsistency to functional managers so they can enforce strict quality guidelines across the development department.

Answer

Postpone increments until quality improves and advise the Product Owner to reject any backlog items that fail basic testing.

Question 5

How should a Scrum Master help an organization that is struggling with high levels of 'technical debt' across multiple products?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a conversation to make the technical debt transparent and prioritized in the Product Backlog.. The Scrum Master serves the organization by facilitating transparency regarding the impact of technical debt on velocity and quality. By encouraging the Product Owners and leadership to balance feature work with technical refinement, the Scrum Master helps the organization move toward sustainable development. This service is crucial because unchecked debt leads to slower delivery cycles and increased maintenance costs, ultimately hindering the organization's ability to respond to competitive market pressures over time.

Answer

Direct the developers to stop all feature work until all technical debt is resolved.

Answer

Report the developers' lack of quality to the human resources department.

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Advise the organization to ignore technical debt as it is not a direct customer-facing feature.

Question 6

An organization's HR department requires every employee to complete an annual compliance training module. The Scrum Teams are asked to pause their Sprint work for two days to attend a mandatory, off-site training. The Scrum Master observes that this disrupts the Sprint and reduces transparency. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master to take?

Accepted Answer

Work with HR and leadership to explore alternative delivery options, such as online modules that can be completed during non-Sprint hours.. The Scrum Master serves the organization by helping it adopt Scrum while respecting necessary organizational policies. Mandatory training is a legitimate need, but its delivery should minimize disruption to Sprints. Collaborating with HR and leadership to find alternative delivery options, such as online modules outside Sprint hours, balances compliance with Scrum's timeboxing and transparency.

Answer

Instruct the teams to ignore the training because it violates Scrum principles.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the CEO and demand that the training be cancelled for all Scrum Teams.

Answer

Accept the disruption and coach the teams to extend the Sprint by two days to compensate for lost time.

Question 7

Which TWO are responsibilities of the Developers during the Sprint?

Accepted Answer

Ensuring the Increment meets the Definition of Done.. The Developers are accountable for delivering high-quality, 'Done' work each Sprint. By managing their own progress and collaborating closely, they ensure that the Increment meets the team's definition of quality. These responsibilities are essential for the team to achieve its Sprint Goal and remain a self-managing unit that delivers consistent value to the customer.

Answer

Prioritizing the Product Backlog to maximize value.

Answer

Managing the team's budget and external vendor relationships.

Answer

Approving all changes requested by external stakeholders.

Question 8

In the Scrum framework, how should a team handle a conflict between two Developers regarding a technical approach?

Accepted Answer

The Developers collaborate to reach a consensus or experiment to find the best solution.. The team should use self-management to resolve the conflict internally. Since the Developers are accountable for the technical quality of the Increment, they must decide the best approach. If they cannot resolve it, the Scrum Master can facilitate a session, but ultimately the team must own the decision. This fosters ownership and maturity, ensuring the team functions as a unified, collaborative unit rather than waiting for external instructions.

Answer

Ask the Product Owner to choose the better approach.

Answer

The Scrum Master makes the final technical decision.

Answer

The team should vote, and the majority choice is implemented.

Question 9

A Scrum Team is struggling to maintain focus during the Sprint because external stakeholders frequently interrupt Developers with requests for minor feature tweaks. How should the Scrum Master address this?

Accepted Answer

Coach the stakeholders on why the Product Owner is the sole person responsible for managing the Product Backlog.. The Scrum Master must protect the team from external interference to ensure the Sprint Goal remains achievable. By coaching stakeholders on the role of the Product Owner, the Scrum Master establishes a clear channel for requirements, allowing Developers to focus on their commitments. This intervention is vital for maintaining velocity and ensuring the Scrum framework's integrity, preventing the team from being constantly derailed by ad-hoc, unplanned tasks.

Answer

Direct the Developers to ignore all external communication until the Sprint ends.

Answer

Update the Sprint Backlog to include these minor tweaks immediately.

Answer

Require that the Developers hold a formal meeting with stakeholders every day.

Question 10

Refer to the exhibit. The organization is pressuring all teams to reach 100% code coverage. How should the Scrum Master respond?

Accepted Answer

Challenge the metric-driven goal with leadership.. A Scrum Master serves the organization by ensuring that quality is built in, but also by preventing 'metric-driven' development that ignores the business context. While code coverage is a useful internal metric, mandating a universal, rigid target can lead to 'gaming' the metric. The Scrum Master must help the organization understand that value and quality are multifaceted, and teams should choose practices that maximize overall outcome.

Answer

Ensure all teams prioritize coverage above new features.

Answer

Publish the coverage results to create healthy competition.

Answer

Ask the Developers to stop tracking coverage for HR.

Question 11

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?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a session to define criteria that ensure the increment is releasable.. The Scrum Master serves as a coach to improve team efficacy. By facilitating the creation of a 'Definition of Done', the Scrum Master helps the team establish a shared understanding of quality. These actions ensure that the product increment meets the necessary standards for release, reducing technical debt and increasing transparency, which is vital for empirical process control and long-term organizational value.

Answer

Write the Definition of Done for the team.

Answer

Force the team to meet daily until they agree on criteria.

Answer

Wait for the Product Owner to define the criteria.

Question 12

A team is transitioning to Scrum and is facing friction regarding self-management. Which THREE of the following actions should the Scrum Master take to serve the team?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a session to help the team define their own working agreements.. The Scrum Master must lead by coaching and facilitating, not by dictating. These three actions empower the team to take ownership, learn from experience, and structure their work, which are foundational for self-management. By creating a safe environment and focusing on team-level reflection, the Scrum Master helps the team mature into a self-organizing unit that can handle complex work effectively without being micro-managed or directed by external leadership.

Answer

Assign a team lead to ensure that everyone follows the Scrum process.

Answer

Ensure that every team member has a clear and distinct role defined by management.

Question 13

Which THREE of the following actions best describe a Scrum Master providing service to the organization regarding the removal of impediments?

Accepted Answer

Coaching the organization to solve their own systemic impediments over time.. Removing impediments is a key responsibility that requires both immediate tactical support and long-term strategic influence. By identifying patterns, teaching others to solve their own problems, and involving management when necessary, the Scrum Master helps the organization improve its overall system of delivery. This work is essential because it turns the focus from merely 'doing' Scrum to truly 'being' agile, allowing the organization to operate more effectively and with less friction.

Answer

Fixing all impediments personally so the team stays focused on their tasks.

Answer

Escalating every single issue immediately to the CTO to ensure it is fixed.

Question 14

During a Sprint Retrospective, the Scrum Team identifies that their technical debt is preventing them from meeting the Definition of Done. What is the most effective way for the Scrum Master to serve the team?

Accepted Answer

Advise the Developers to discuss the impact of technical debt with the Product Owner.. The Scrum Master serves the team by facilitating discussions on process improvement and encouraging the team to address impediments. Technical debt is a systemic issue that impacts the quality of increments. By guiding the team to include technical debt reduction in their planning, the Scrum Master helps the team align their work with the Definition of Done and ensures long-term sustainability of the product delivery process.

Answer

Force the team to dedicate 50% of every Sprint exclusively to technical debt.

Answer

Ask the Product Owner to remove items from the Product Backlog to save time.

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Request that management hire additional developers to handle the technical debt.

Question 15

A team is experiencing frequent interpersonal conflicts that are hindering their velocity. Which THREE actions should a Scrum Master take?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a session to help the team establish team agreements.. The Scrum Master is responsible for coaching the team in self-management and conflict resolution. By fostering an environment of trust and open communication, the Scrum Master helps the team resolve issues independently. These actions are vital because unresolved conflict creates technical debt, reduces morale, and ultimately prevents the team from delivering high-quality, frequent increments of value as expected in the Scrum framework.

Answer

Address each conflict by disciplining the team members involved.

Answer

Separate the conflicting individuals into different teams immediately.

Question 16

A Scrum Team is halfway through a two-week Sprint. The Scrum Master notices that the Developers have stopped holding the Daily Scrum because they say it interrupts their flow. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master to take?

Accepted Answer

Coach the Developers on the purpose and structure of the Daily Scrum, and help them reinstate it as a daily event.. The Daily Scrum is a mandatory daily event owned by the Developers, used to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog. When a team abandons it, the Scrum Master should coach them on its purpose and help them restore it. Allowing omission, escalating to the Product Owner, or substituting a weekly meeting all violate Scrum principles and fail to address the root cause.

Answer

Replace the Daily Scrum with a weekly status meeting led by the Scrum Master to reduce disruption to the Developers' work.

Answer

Allow the Developers to skip the Daily Scrum if they demonstrate that they are self-managing and communicating continuously.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the Product Owner so that the Product Owner can require the Developers to attend the Daily Scrum.

Question 17

A Scrum Team has experienced low stakeholder attendance at their Sprint Reviews for three consecutive iterations. The Developers suggest canceling the Sprint Review and instead sending a written progress report via email. How should the Scrum Master respond?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion with the Product Owner and team to discover why stakeholders are absent, coaching them to demonstrate tangible value.. The Sprint Review is a collaborative inspect-and-adapt event designed for active stakeholder engagement and feedback, not a status reporting meeting. Replacing it with an email destroys transparency and eliminates the empirical loop. The Scrum Master must coach the team and Product Owner on engaging stakeholders effectively rather than bypassing the core event.

Answer

Approve the email report format temporarily, provided the stakeholders reply with their written feedback within forty-eight hours.

Answer

Escalate the stakeholder absence to senior management and mandate their attendance at all future Sprint Reviews through company policy.

Answer

Agree to cancel the Sprint Review and allocate those four hours directly to the Developers for additional refactoring and technical debt reduction.

Question 18

During the middle of a Sprint, the Development Team realizes they will not be able to complete all the items selected during Sprint Planning. What is the most appropriate course of action according to Scrum?

Accepted Answer

Collaborate with the Product Owner to renegotiate the scope of the Sprint Backlog based on revised capacity.. The Product Owner and Development Team collaborate to renegotiate the scope of the Sprint Backlog. Scrum relies on transparency and inspection, allowing adjustments when new constraints emerge. The Product Owner must understand what can be delivered to maximize value while maintaining a sustainable pace. Canceling the entire Sprint is too extreme for a partial miss, and unilaterally dropping items violates collaborative commitment.

Answer

Cancel the Sprint immediately and schedule a new Sprint Planning meeting to reset the team capacity.

Answer

Work mandatory overtime to ensure all selected Product Backlog items are completed by the end of the Sprint.

Answer

Independently drop the lowest priority items from the Sprint Backlog without consulting the Product Owner.

Question 19

Which TWO of the following statements are accurate regarding the Daily Scrum event? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

The Developers can use any structure and techniques they want, as long as their Daily Scrum focuses on progress toward the Sprint Goal.. The Daily Scrum is an internal inspection event for the Developers to synchronize activities and create a actionable plan for the next 24 hours. Because it belongs to them, external stakeholders do not dictate its agenda, and adherence to a strict rigid format is secondary to achieving synchronization and adaptation toward the Sprint Goal.

Answer

The event is strictly a 15-minute timeboxed status report delivered by the Developers to the Scrum Master and Product Owner.

Answer

Management must attend to track individual task completion rates and update enterprise project management tools in real time.

Answer

Developers are strictly required to answer the three legacy questions regarding yesterday, today, and impediments every single day.

Question 20

Which TWO of the following are true regarding the Daily Scrum?

Accepted Answer

It is a 15-minute event for the Developers to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal.. The Daily Scrum is a brief, 15-minute event for Developers to synchronize their work and adjust their plan for the next 24 hours. It is critical for transparency and immediate adaptation. Understanding these two truths—that it is for the Developers and that it is for planning, not status reporting—is essential for maintaining the autonomy and focus of the Scrum Team during the Sprint.

Answer

It is a mandatory event for the Product Owner to track task completion.

Answer

It is a forum for the Scrum Master to assign tasks to the Developers.

Answer

It is used to update the stakeholder on the team's velocity and burndown charts.