CSM Practice Test 8 — 10 Questions

Question 1

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.

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

Answer

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

Question 2

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.

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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 3

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.

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

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

Question 4

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.

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Report the failure to the team's functional manager.

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Reduce the team's velocity for the next Sprint.

Question 5

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 6

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.

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

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

Question 7

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.

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

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

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

Question 8

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.

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

Question 9

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.

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

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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 10

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.

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

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Taking notes during every meeting to ensure reporting consistency.

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Directing the team on which technical practices to implement.