The correct answer is to facilitate a discussion to refine the story with the product owner and team, and suggest splitting it. This is correct because the Scrum Master’s core responsibility is to coach the team in Agile principles, ensuring that work is clear and actionable; when a vague user story is insisted upon, the Scrum Master must bridge the gap between the product owner’s deadline pressure and the team’s need for shared understanding, using techniques like story splitting to deliver incremental value without committing to ambiguity. On the PMP exam, this scenario tests your grasp of the servant-leader role and Agile facilitation, often appearing as a trap where you might mistakenly prioritize the stakeholder deadline over team clarity. A common memory tip is “Split to fit, don’t commit to grit”—if the story feels too vague, split it into smaller, clearer pieces that can still meet the sprint goal.
PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
This PMP practice question tests your understanding of people — leading projects. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
During a sprint planning meeting, the product owner proposes a user story that the team believes is too vague and lacks clear acceptance criteria. The product owner insists it must be included in the sprint to meet a stakeholder deadline. What should the scrum master do?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Facilitate a discussion to refine the story with the product owner and team, and suggest splitting it
Option C is correct because the Scrum Master's primary responsibility is to facilitate collaboration and ensure the team works with clear, actionable items. By facilitating a discussion to refine the story and suggesting splitting it, the Scrum Master helps the team achieve a shared understanding and create acceptance criteria, while still addressing the stakeholder deadline. This approach aligns with the Agile principle of delivering value incrementally and avoids committing to vague work that could lead to rework or failure.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Accept the story as is to meet the deadline
Why it's wrong here
This risks rework and low quality.
✗
Escalate to the project sponsor
Why it's wrong here
Escalation is not the first step; the scrum master can facilitate resolution.
✓
Facilitate a discussion to refine the story with the product owner and team, and suggest splitting it
Why this is correct
Collaborative refinement ensures clarity and value while meeting deadlines.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Remove the product owner from the meeting
Why it's wrong here
This is disrespectful and escalates conflict.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think the Scrum Master should enforce strict rules by removing the product owner (Option D) or blindly accept the story to please stakeholders (Option A), but the PMP exam tests the servant-leader role of facilitating collaboration and negotiation, not unilateral action or avoidance.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In Scrum, the Sprint Planning event has a time-box of up to 8 hours for a one-month sprint, and the team must agree on a Sprint Goal and a set of Product Backlog items that are 'Ready' (typically defined by the team's Definition of Ready). A user story without acceptance criteria is not 'Ready' because it lacks the conditions that must be met for the product owner to accept it as complete. Splitting a vague story into smaller, more concrete stories (e.g., using the INVEST criteria) allows the team to commit to a subset that meets the deadline while deferring unclear aspects to a future sprint, thus maintaining velocity and quality.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A practitioner preparing for the PMP exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this PMP question in full detail.
People — Leading Projects — This question tests People — Leading Projects — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Facilitate a discussion to refine the story with the product owner and team, and suggest splitting it — Option C is correct because the Scrum Master's primary responsibility is to facilitate collaboration and ensure the team works with clear, actionable items. By facilitating a discussion to refine the story and suggesting splitting it, the Scrum Master helps the team achieve a shared understanding and create acceptance criteria, while still addressing the stakeholder deadline. This approach aligns with the Agile principle of delivering value incrementally and avoids committing to vague work that could lead to rework or failure.
What should I do if I get this PMP question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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