CSM Practice Test 3 — 30 Questions

Question 1

A new Developer joins the team and asks the Scrum Master to explain who is responsible for the final decisions on the product's release date. What should the Scrum Master say?

Accepted Answer

The Product Owner holds the final responsibility.. The Product Owner holds the accountability for the release strategy and decision-making. Since the Product Owner manages the Product Backlog and maximizes value, they decide when and what to release. The Scrum Master must clarify this accountability to ensure the team understands their roles and maintains focus on their respective domains, preventing confusion about authority within the team.

Answer

The Scrum Team decides collectively by a majority vote.

Answer

The Stakeholders decide at the Sprint Review.

Answer

The Scrum Master manages the release calendar.

Question 2

Which action best demonstrates the Scrum Master's commitment to serving the Scrum Team as a coach?

Accepted Answer

Asking open-ended questions that lead the team to find their own solutions.. A Scrum Master acts as a coach to help the team discover their own solutions to challenges. This shifts the team toward maturity and self-management, which is a fundamental goal of Scrum. By asking powerful, open-ended questions, the Scrum Master encourages reflection and ownership, rather than simply providing answers or directives, which would foster dependency instead of the desired cross-functional team autonomy.

Answer

Updating the team's Jira board daily to ensure tasks are tracked correctly.

Answer

Assigning specific tasks to each team member during the Sprint Planning meeting.

Answer

Attending all meetings to ensure nobody deviates from the official Scrum Guide.

Question 3

A Scrum Master observes that the Scrum Team lacks trust and avoids conflict during Retrospectives. Which TWO actions should the Scrum Master take to improve the situation?

Accepted Answer

Introduce team-building exercises and formats for Retrospectives that encourage open communication and psychological safety.. A Scrum Master focuses on creating a safe environment where team members feel comfortable being vulnerable. By choosing activities that foster open communication and by coaching the team on conflict resolution, the Scrum Master directly improves team health. This is essential because without trust and the ability to navigate healthy conflict, teams cannot effectively inspect their process or continuously improve their performance over time.

Answer

Report the team's lack of trust to the department head to initiate performance management.

Answer

Conduct private interviews with each member and present the findings to the team.

Answer

Facilitate the Retrospective by acting as the sole arbiter of which team member is right in a disagreement.

Question 4

A Product Owner is struggling to maximize product value because they view backlog refinement as an administrative chore rather than a strategic opportunity. Which TWO actions should the Scrum Master take to serve the Product Owner effectively in this situation? (Choose the best TWO answers.)

Accepted Answer

Coach the Product Owner on linking backlog items directly to strategic product goals and measurable customer value outcomes.. The Scrum Master serves the Product Owner by coaching them on techniques for Product Backlog management and product value maximization. By demonstrating how refinement drives empirical learning and release readiness, the Scrum Master helps transform a perceived chore into a powerful strategic advantage for the entire team.

Answer

Take full ownership of maintaining, ordering, and refining the Product Backlog so the Product Owner can focus solely on external marketing.

Answer

Cancel all future refinement sessions and rely entirely on spontaneous discussions that occur ad-hoc during the execution of Sprints.

Answer

Report the Product Owner's lack of engagement to their functional line manager to request disciplinary action or a role replacement.

Question 5

An organization is transitioning to Scrum. The Scrum Master notices that middle management continues to assign specific tasks to developers during the Sprint. How should the Scrum Master handle this?

Accepted Answer

Coach the management team on the benefits of self-organizing teams.. The Scrum Master must facilitate an understanding of self-organization. By coaching management on the Scrum framework, the Scrum Master helps them shift from a command-and-control style to a supporting role. This is crucial because organizational culture change is a key part of the Scrum Master's service to the organization, ensuring the Scrum Team retains ownership of their Sprint Backlog and execution plan.

Answer

Ask the Product Owner to prevent managers from entering the team area.

Answer

Instruct the developers to politely refuse the assigned tasks.

Answer

Include the managers in the Daily Scrum to improve communication.

Question 6

A department head complains that they don't know the exact release date for the next major feature. What is the most effective way for the Scrum Master to serve the organization in this situation?

Accepted Answer

Coach the department head on how to use Sprint Reviews for transparency.. The Scrum Master must help the organization understand Scrum's empirical approach. By shifting focus from fixed-date delivery to outcome-based progress, the Scrum Master educates stakeholders on the value of transparency and adaptation. This helps manage expectations while aligning with the reality of complex work, where scope and time are variables that must be managed through iterative inspection.

Answer

Ask the Product Owner to provide a firm date to appease them.

Answer

Explain that the team works in Sprints and dates are irrelevant.

Answer

Create a Gantt chart showing projected delivery dates for them.

Question 7

Refer to the exhibit. The organizational security audit policy is preventing teams from delivering a Done increment within a 14-day Sprint. How does the Scrum Master best serve the organization?

Accepted Answer

Help the organization transition to a continuous security integration model.. The Scrum Master must facilitate a dialogue about how this policy fundamentally blocks the core Scrum requirement of delivering a Done increment every Sprint. By presenting this as a systemic impediment, the Scrum Master helps the organization see the need to integrate security earlier in the development process. This service is critical because it moves the organization toward 'security as code' and continuous quality, rather than reliance on slow, batch-oriented gatekeeping processes.

Answer

Advise the team to extend their Sprint length to 24 days to accommodate the audit.

Answer

Ask the security department to waive the audit for all Scrum Teams.

Answer

Report the security department to the CEO for blocking the team's progress.

Question 8

A Scrum Team is struggling to meet its Sprint Goal because external dependencies from a shared QA team continually block their progress mid-sprint. What is the most effective action for the Scrum Master?

Accepted Answer

Collaborate with the teams involved to make the workflow bottlenecks visible and establish cross-functional alignment.. The Scrum Master serves the wider organization by removing organizational impediments that hinder team progress. By engaging stakeholders and helping visualize systemic bottlenecks across value streams, the Scrum Master protects the team's focus and drives structural improvements. This ensures sustainable flow and prevents burnout caused by external operational dependencies outside the direct control of the developers.

Answer

Adjust the Definition of Done to exclude QA validation so items can be marked as complete by the end of the Sprint.

Answer

Advise the Product Owner to stop accepting items that require shared QA testing until the next release cycle.

Answer

Personally test all backlog items during the Sprint to ensure they meet quality expectations before the review.

Question 9

A Scrum Team has a two-week Sprint. During Sprint Planning, the Developers estimate that they can complete 8 Product Backlog items. However, the Product Owner insists on adding 3 more items to meet a stakeholder request, even though the Developers believe this exceeds their capacity. The Scrum Master is facilitating. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion so the Developers and Product Owner agree on a realistic Sprint Goal and a set of items the Developers are confident they can complete.. The Developers are responsible for determining how much work they can take on during Sprint Planning. The Product Owner may negotiate and prioritize, but cannot unilaterally impose more work than the Developers believe is feasible. The Scrum Master facilitates collaboration to reach a realistic Sprint Goal. Escalation or forced overtime undermines self-management and empiricism, and does not address the root issue of capacity versus stakeholder demand.

Answer

Allow the Product Owner to add the items, but plan to work overtime to meet the commitment.

Answer

Instruct the Developers to accept the additional items because the Product Owner represents the stakeholder's interests.

Answer

Escalate the disagreement to the stakeholders so they can decide which items should be included in the Sprint.

Question 10

What is the maximum timebox for a one-month Sprint's Sprint Planning event?

Accepted Answer

Eight hours.. The Scrum Guide defines timeboxes as maximum durations. For a one-month Sprint, Sprint Planning is capped at eight hours. This ensures that planning is concise and focused, forcing the team to prioritize effectively. If a team feels they need more time, it is usually a sign that they need to improve their backlog refinement process rather than simply extending the meeting time.

Answer

Four hours.

Answer

Sixteen hours.

Answer

Two days.

Question 11

The Scrum Master is serving the team during the Sprint Retrospective. Which TWO of the following actions are appropriate for the Scrum Master to take? (Choose two)

Accepted Answer

Facilitate the meeting to ensure all participants have a chance to contribute.. The Scrum Master acts as a facilitator and coach during the Retrospective. They must ensure the event is positive, productive, and focused on improvement. By creating a safe environment and ensuring that actionable items are identified, the Scrum Master helps the team grow. These actions encourage the team to take responsibility for their own process improvements, which is the core purpose of the Sprint Retrospective event in Scrum.

Answer

Direct the team on exactly which process changes they must implement next.

Answer

Invite external stakeholders to witness the team's internal conflicts.

Answer

Assign the least performing team member to lead the next Retrospective.

Question 12

Refer to the exhibit. What does this reveal about the team's structure and role expectations?

Accepted Answer

The team is not truly cross-functional, as they rely on functional hand-offs.. The team is currently operating as a collection of silos (Backend, Frontend, QA) rather than a truly cross-functional team. The fact that the frontend team is 'waiting' indicates that they lack the necessary skills within their sub-group to complete the work, or that they are not collaborating as a single unit. The team needs to cross-train to become truly cross-functional and move away from siloed thinking.

Answer

The team size is too small; they need more developers.

Answer

The Product Owner is not providing clear requirements for the backend work.

Answer

The Scrum Master failed to assign the backend work to the frontend developers.

Question 13

During the Sprint Planning event, the Development Team realizes they have pulled in significantly more Product Backlog items than their historical velocity supports. What is the most appropriate action according to Scrum principles?

Accepted Answer

Collaborate with the Product Owner to negotiate and remove items until the forecast matches their actual capacity.. Scrum relies on transparency and realistic forecasting to establish a sustainable cadence. The Development Team must collaborate immediately with the Product Owner to right-size the Sprint Backlog before finalizing the plan. This ensures the team commits only to work they can realistically complete, maintaining predictability and avoiding burnout.

Answer

Quietly work overtime throughout the upcoming Sprint to ensure all selected items are successfully completed.

Answer

Keep all items in the Sprint Backlog and allow the Scrum Master to assign tasks to individual developers.

Answer

Immediately cancel the entire Sprint and restart the Sprint Planning meeting with a brand new Product Owner.

Question 14

A 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?

Accepted Answer

Bring up the observations at the next Sprint Retrospective to encourage inspection.. The Scrum Master must facilitate a conversation to uncover the root cause of the failure. By observing the team and encouraging them to inspect their process, the Scrum Master helps them identify systemic issues. This is a crucial diagnostic step that respects team autonomy while fulfilling the Scrum Master's duty to improve the team's effectiveness and agility through empirical process control.

Answer

Change the team members to improve performance.

Answer

Report the failure to the team's functional manager.

Answer

Reduce the team's velocity for the next Sprint.

Question 15

During Sprint Planning, the team realizes they have committed to more work than they can handle. What is the Scrum Master's role?

Accepted Answer

Advise the team to negotiate the scope with the Product Owner until the commitment is realistic.. The Scrum Master serves the team by ensuring they do not overcommit, which protects the team's sustainability and maintains the quality of the product. By coaching the team and the Product Owner to inspect their velocity and capacity, the Scrum Master facilitates a realistic plan. This is crucial because over-committing leads to technical debt and failed Sprint Goals, which undermines trust with stakeholders.

Answer

Encourage the team to work faster to complete the items in the Sprint Backlog.

Answer

Do nothing, as the team must learn from their mistakes by failing to finish the work.

Answer

Direct the team to remove the items with the lowest priority to satisfy the timebox.

Question 16

A Product Owner is being pressured by a senior executive to add a feature to the current Sprint. What is the best way for the Scrum Master to support the Product Owner?

Accepted Answer

Advise the Product Owner on how to explain the impact of the change to the executive and suggest adding it to the Product Backlog.. The Scrum Master must support the Product Owner in maintaining the integrity of the Sprint. By coaching the Product Owner on how to communicate the impacts of such changes—such as jeopardizing the Sprint Goal or reducing quality—the Scrum Master helps them stand firm against external pressure. This reinforces the Product Owner's authority and protects the team from unnecessary disruptions.

Answer

Tell the Product Owner to refuse the request and inform the executive that the Scrum Master blocked it.

Answer

Agree to the request to avoid conflict with the senior executive.

Answer

Ask the Developers to work overtime to include the new feature without affecting current tasks.

Question 17

During a Sprint, a developer approaches the Scrum Master complaining that another team member's coding style violates internal standards, creating friction during code reviews. How should the Scrum Master address this service to the Scrum Team?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a conversation between the developers to help them establish shared coding norms and update their team agreements.. The Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team by facilitating self-organization and helping them resolve internal conflicts rather than imposing external rules. Encouraging the developers to collaborate on updating their Definition of Done or team agreements fosters ownership. This approach builds team maturity and sustainable engineering practices while preventing reliance on the Scrum Master as a mediator.

Answer

Report the compliance issue to the engineering manager so management can formally discipline the developer.

Answer

Rewrite the problematic code yourself to align with standards and demonstrate the expected technical quality.

Answer

Cancel the Sprint immediately because technical disagreements prevent the team from meeting their Sprint Goal.

Question 18

Which THREE actions are appropriate for the Scrum Master to take during the Sprint Retrospective to ensure it is effective?

Accepted Answer

Ensure the event is timeboxed and that the team identifies actionable improvements.. A successful Retrospective requires a safe, objective environment where the team can reflect on their process without fear. By facilitating the session, ensuring it is timeboxed, and focusing on actionable improvements, the Scrum Master enables the team to grow. These three actions protect the integrity of the event and ensure that the team actually evolves its practices rather than just complaining about the past.

Answer

Insist that the team focuses only on negative feedback to drive change.

Answer

Document the team's performance data to present at the next management review.

Question 19

During 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?

Accepted Answer

Coach the Product Owner on the negative impact of interruptions and establish a structured channel for handling urgent backlog changes.. The Scrum Master must act as a facilitator and coach, helping the Product Owner understand how constant context switching degrades development flow and predictability. By coaching the Product Owner on sustainable backlog management and channelizing requests through the proper refinement process, the Scrum Master protects the team while preserving Product Owner autonomy.

Answer

Escalate the Product Owner's behavior to the department head to enforce organizational boundaries around the Scrum Team.

Answer

Instruct the developers to completely ignore all direct communications originating from the Product Owner during the active Sprint.

Answer

Modify the Sprint Backlog unilaterally to accommodate the urgent items and formally extend the current Sprint duration accordingly.

Question 20

Which TWO of the following actions best demonstrate a Scrum Master serving the organization during an enterprise-wide transformation? (Choose two)

Accepted Answer

Hosting training sessions for stakeholders on Scrum values.. A Scrum Master serves the organization by fostering an environment conducive to Scrum. This involves both internal coaching and external advocacy. By focusing on systemic improvements and cultural alignment, the Scrum Master ensures that Scrum is implemented effectively and sustainably across all levels of the business, rather than just within the isolated boundaries of individual Scrum Teams.

Answer

Managing the team's JIRA tickets to ensure perfect velocity.

Answer

Taking notes during every meeting to ensure reporting consistency.

Answer

Directing the team on which technical practices to implement.