CSM Service to the Scrum Team Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A Scrum Team is struggling to finish their work during every Sprint because they frequently accept new requests from stakeholders mid-Sprint. How should the Scrum Master best support the team in this situation?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Coach the Product Owner on their role in managing stakeholder expectations and protecting the team from scope creep.. The Scrum Master facilitates the protection of the Sprint Backlog by coaching stakeholders and the Product Owner on the impact of scope creep. By ensuring the team's capacity is respected, the Scrum Master fosters a sustainable development pace. This intervention is critical because the team's ability to achieve the Sprint Goal depends on maintaining focus and avoiding unnecessary distractions that undermine the integrity of the Sprint agreement.

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Direct the team to accept the changes but adjust the Sprint end date to accommodate the extra work.

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Ask the Product Owner to stop attending the Daily Scrum to minimize stakeholder interruption.

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Ask the developers to work overtime to ensure both original and new requests are completed.

Question 2

A Scrum Team has reported that their Daily Scrum meetings are consistently exceeding 20 minutes because members spend too much time solving technical problems. What is the Scrum Master's best course of action?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion with the team to re-examine the purpose of the Daily Scrum and encourage them to move technical problem-solving to separate sessions.. The Daily Scrum is a 15-minute event for inspection of progress toward the Sprint Goal and adaptation of the Sprint Backlog. When technical issues arise, the Scrum Master should coach the team to identify these as topics for separate, focused discussions after the Daily Scrum. This ensures the event remains efficient and focused on planning, while keeping the team's collaboration centered on achieving the shared outcome within the designated timebox.

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Require the team to record their meetings and review them later to identify the talkative members.

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Take over the facilitation of the Daily Scrum to ensure the team stays on track and finishes in 15 minutes.

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Increase the timebox of the Daily Scrum to 30 minutes to accommodate the technical discussions.

Question 3

During a Sprint, a key developer is assigned to work on a separate project by their department manager, leaving the Scrum Team short-handed. How should the Scrum Master address this?

Accepted Answer

Discuss the impact of this change with the department manager and the Scrum Team to find a resolution that respects the Sprint commitment.. The Scrum Master must act as a change agent and protector of the Scrum Team's integrity. By addressing this with organizational management, the Scrum Master highlights the negative impact of interrupted focus and broken team cohesion. This intervention is vital because it preserves the team's ability to self-organize and deliver on their commitments, ultimately preventing structural disruptions that lead to failed Sprints and lowered morale.

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Advise the team to work harder and accept that management has the final say on resources.

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Remove the task from the Sprint Backlog immediately without consulting the Product Owner.

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Ask the remaining developers to pick up the missing developer's tasks without adjustment.

Question 4

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.

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

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

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

Question 5

The Scrum Team is finding it difficult to self-organize because they feel the need to ask their manager for permission before changing their development process. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Coach the manager on the benefits of self-management and how it aligns with the team's ability to deliver value faster.. The Scrum Master must act as a coach to the entire organization, helping them understand that Scrum Teams are self-managing units. By facilitating a conversation about autonomy and the benefits of empirical process control, the Scrum Master helps the manager transition to a supportive role. This is critical for the team to mature, as persistent reliance on external permission prevents true agility and innovation.

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Tell the team to ignore the manager and proceed with changes as they see fit.

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Create a formal request form for the team to submit to the manager whenever they want to change a process.

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Invite the manager to every Sprint Planning session so they can approve the team's process changes.

Question 6

A new Scrum Team is frustrated because their Sprint Burndown chart shows a flat line for the first few days of the Sprint. What is the most effective way for the Scrum Master to help?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a session on better task decomposition and the importance of incremental progress.. The Scrum Master should coach the team on the value of breaking down work into smaller, manageable tasks. A flat burndown often indicates that items are too large or that the team is waiting for a final push. By helping the team learn to increment work early and often, the Scrum Master improves transparency and ensures the team has early indicators of potential failure, allowing for faster adaptation.

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Mandate that the team update their tasks every hour to keep the chart moving.

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Ignore the chart as it is just a tool and not a requirement of the Scrum Guide.

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Tell the team that the Product Owner is worried about the lack of progress.

Question 7

A Scrum Master observes that the Product Owner is consistently unavailable to clarify requirements, leading to team idleness. Which THREE actions should the Scrum Master take?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting between the team and the Product Owner to discuss the impact of the delays on the Sprint Goal.. The Scrum Master serves the Product Owner by helping them understand the need for clear communication and team engagement. By facilitating a discussion with the team, identifying the impact on the Sprint, and coaching the Product Owner, the Scrum Master addresses the systemic issue of lack of availability. This is critical because a missing Product Owner prevents the team from maintaining flow, causing significant waste and frustration for the developers.

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Take over the Product Owner's duties for the duration of the Sprint.

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Encourage the team to make assumptions and proceed without the Product Owner's input.

Question 8

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.

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

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

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

Question 9

A team member is frequently late to the Daily Scrum, disrupting the flow of the meeting. How should the Scrum Master address this?

Accepted Answer

Speak privately with the team member to understand the reasons for their lateness and remind them of the importance of the event.. The Scrum Master's role is to support the team in maintaining their Scrum events, but they should avoid being a 'policing' figure. By coaching the team to recognize the impact of late arrivals, the Scrum Master empowers the team to solve the problem themselves. This ensures the resolution is accepted by the group and addresses the root cause of the behavior, fostering accountability and mutual respect within the team.

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Start the meeting exactly on time and do not allow the late member to speak.

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Publicly call out the team member during the Daily Scrum to enforce discipline.

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Reschedule the Daily Scrum to a time that is more convenient for the late member.

Question 10

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.

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

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

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

Question 11

How can a Scrum Master best serve the Scrum Team in improving their definition of 'Done'?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate sessions where the team inspects their current Definition of Done and identifies areas for improvement.. The Scrum Master facilitates discussions about quality standards and ensures the Definition of Done is transparent and understood. By encouraging the team to continually raise the bar for quality, the Scrum Master helps eliminate technical debt and ensures a higher-quality product increment. This is vital for maintaining the team's agility and ensuring that the work produced is genuinely releasable, preventing hidden issues from accumulating over time.

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Define the Definition of Done for the team to ensure it meets high industry standards.

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Ask the stakeholders to provide a list of requirements for the Definition of Done.

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Ignore the Definition of Done unless the team's quality drops significantly.

Question 12

A team is transitioning to Scrum and struggling with self-management. Which THREE strategies should the Scrum Master employ to support them?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team on how to manage their own tasks and support each other in achieving the Sprint Goal.. The Scrum Master serves the team by gradually shifting the responsibility of task management and process improvement to the developers. By coaching, facilitating, and providing a safe space for experimentation, the Scrum Master helps the team build confidence and competence. This transition is essential for the team to move from being told what to do to becoming an autonomous unit capable of delivering high-value, high-quality work.

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Assign tasks to each team member at the start of every day to ensure work is completed.

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Create a rigid checklist of steps for them to follow until they become more experienced.

Question 13

A Scrum Master notices that the team is not using the Daily Scrum to plan the next 24 hours of work, but instead using it for reporting progress to the Scrum Master. How should the Scrum Master intervene?

Accepted Answer

Explain the purpose of the Daily Scrum and coach the team to focus on their plan for the next 24 hours.. The Scrum Master must help the team understand that the Daily Scrum is for the developers to coordinate their work, not to report to the Scrum Master. By shifting the focus of the meeting, the Scrum Master promotes self-management. This is critical because reporting to a leader reinforces a traditional hierarchy, whereas planning together builds a collaborative team dynamic essential for Scrum success.

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Tell the team that they should not talk to them during the Daily Scrum.

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Stop attending the Daily Scrum entirely so the team is forced to self-organize.

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Ask the Product Owner to facilitate the Daily Scrum instead of the Scrum Master.

Question 14

Which of the following describes the most effective way for a Scrum Master to help a new Scrum Team build trust?

Accepted Answer

Create a safe environment where team members feel comfortable to be vulnerable and share their observations.. Trust is built through transparency and the successful delivery of value. By fostering an environment where failures can be discussed openly and successes are celebrated, the Scrum Master helps the team build psychological safety. This is fundamental for high-performing teams, as it allows for honest communication and risk-taking, both of which are required to innovate and improve consistently over time within the Scrum framework.

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Force the team to have social lunches every day to get to know each other.

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Publicly reward the team member who finishes the most tasks in a Sprint.

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Monitor the team members' performance to ensure everyone is pulling their weight.

Question 15

During a Sprint, a developer approaches the Scrum Master complaining that a senior engineer constantly overrides technical decisions during daily synchronization. How should the Scrum Master address this conflict?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a direct conversation between the developer and senior engineer, coaching them to establish team norms for collaborative decision-making.. The Scrum Master facilitates an environment of psychological safety and collaboration. By coaching the team on self-organization, the Scrum Master empowers members to resolve technical disagreements directly rather than acting as a proxy. This builds team maturity, aligns with servant leadership principles, and fosters collective ownership over architecture and implementation details without creating dependency on the Scrum Master.

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Reassign the senior engineer to a different team to immediately eliminate interpersonal friction and restore harmonious workflow.

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Escalate the behavior to the engineering manager to enforce disciplinary action against the senior engineer.

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Dictate a strict voting process for all technical disagreements to ensure every developer has an equal voice.