PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
During a sprint retrospective, the team identifies that the daily standup meetings are not effective because they are too long and lack focus. Which THREE actions should the Scrum Master take to improve the standup?
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
✓
Time-box the standup to 15 minutes and enforce it
To improve daily standups, the Scrum Master should enforce time-boxing, encourage focused updates, and perhaps change the format or location to keep them concise. Assigning a rotating facilitator can also help.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Cancel the standup and replace it with written reports
Why it's wrong here
Daily Scrums (standups) are crucial for fostering real-time, face-to-face communication, identifying impediments promptly, and promoting team self-organization. Replacing them with written reports eliminates the immediate, dynamic interaction necessary for quick problem-solving and collaborative adjustment, thereby diminishing transparency and the team's ability to adapt daily. This approach contradicts Agile principles that prioritize individuals and interactions over processes and tools, hindering rapid feedback loops.
- ✓
Time-box the standup to 15 minutes and enforce it
Why this is correct
The Daily Scrum is strictly time-boxed to a maximum of 15 minutes for a typical sprint, regardless of the team size or sprint length. Enforcing this time-box ensures the meeting remains focused on the three key questions (what was done, what will be done, any impediments) and prevents it from becoming a detailed problem-solving session, which should occur separately with relevant individuals after the standup. This discipline maintains efficiency and respects team members' time, aligning with Scrum's lean principles.
- ✓
Have the team stand up during the meeting to discourage long discussions
Why this is correct
The practice of having team members stand during the Daily Scrum is a physical technique designed to naturally limit the duration of the meeting. Standing encourages brevity and discourages participants from settling into lengthy discussions or deep dives into specific issues, reinforcing the meeting's purpose as a quick synchronization point rather than a problem-solving session. This physical constraint helps maintain focus and efficiency, ensuring the meeting serves its intended agile purpose.
- ✓
Use a talking stick or rotate facilitators to keep the meeting structured
Why this is correct
Implementing a talking stick mechanism ensures that only the person holding the stick speaks, promoting active listening and preventing interruptions, thereby maintaining structure and focus. Alternatively, rotating the role of facilitator among team members can enhance shared ownership and accountability for the meeting's effectiveness, encouraging adherence to the agenda and time-box. Both techniques improve discipline, equitable participation, and overall meeting efficiency.
- ✗
Encourage team members to give detailed status reports
Why it's wrong here
The Daily Scrum is intended for quick synchronization and identification of impediments, not for comprehensive status reporting to stakeholders or the Scrum Master. Encouraging detailed reports would significantly extend the meeting beyond its time-box, shift its focus from collaborative planning to individual accountability, and detract from its primary purpose of fostering transparency and rapid adaptation. Detailed discussions should be deferred to separate, smaller meetings as needed, preserving the standup's brevity.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Leading Teams and Empowering Team Members
Key term
Sprint Retrospective
A Sprint Retrospective is a time-boxed meeting at the end of a Scrum sprint where the team reflects on their process and identifies improvements for the next sprint.
Key term
Scrum Methodology
Scrum is a lightweight process framework that helps teams deliver complex projects in small, iterative chunks called sprints.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PMP practice question is part of Courseiva's free PMI certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PMP exam.