CAPM Agile Frameworks and Methodologies Practice Question
A Scrum team's Sprint Retrospective keeps producing the same three improvement actions every Sprint, and none of them get implemented. The Scrum Master wants the team to actually finish improvements. Which approach best fits Scrum practice?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that more improvement ideas automatically produce more improvement, when Scrum actually depends on a small number of visible, completed actions reviewed in the next Sprint.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Limit the team to one or two improvement items per Sprint, add them to the Sprint Backlog, and review their status at the next Retrospective.
Scrum's Retrospective exists to produce concrete adaptation, not a recurring list of intentions. Choosing a small number of improvements and pulling them into the Sprint Backlog makes them visible, sized like other work, and reviewable at the next Retrospective. This creates a closed feedback loop where the team inspects the effect of its own change, which is the essence of empirical process control.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Stop holding Retrospectives until the team demonstrates it can complete the existing improvement actions.
Why it's wrong here
Cancelling Retrospectives removes the team's primary inspect-and-adapt mechanism for its own process, which would make the underlying problem worse, not better. Scrum does not permit skipping this event to punish slow follow-through. The real issue is that too many actions were chosen and never made visible, so eliminating the event addresses the symptom rather than the cause.
- ✗
Escalate the recurring actions to the Product Owner and ask that they be added to the Product Backlog as product features.
Why it's wrong here
Process improvements are not product features and do not belong in the Product Backlog, which is ordered for value delivery to stakeholders. Mixing internal team improvements into the product backlog dilutes product focus and confuses prioritization. The Product Owner owns product value, not the team's working process, so escalation here targets the wrong backlog entirely.
- ✗
Have the Scrum Master personally implement all improvement actions between Sprints so the team can stay focused on delivery.
Why it's wrong here
The Retrospective is a team-owned event; improvement is a shared responsibility, not a Scrum Master service. If the Scrum Master unilaterally implements actions, the team never builds the habit of owning change, and the improvements may not match how the team actually works. It also contradicts the Scrum Master's role as a facilitator and coach rather than a doer of team tasks.
- ✓
Limit the team to one or two improvement items per Sprint, add them to the Sprint Backlog, and review their status at the next Retrospective.
Why this is correct
Scrum favors empirical, incremental improvement. By selecting only one or two actions and placing them in the Sprint Backlog, the team makes the improvement work visible alongside product work, and reviewing status at the next Retrospective closes the inspect-and-adapt loop. This is exactly how the Sprint Retrospective is meant to produce a tangible change rather than a wish list.
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Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official PMI exam blueprint
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