- A
Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for guidance
Why wrong: This is a team-level impediment that the Scrum Master should address.
- B
Mandate that standups be held only twice a week
Why wrong: Imposing without team consensus may reduce effectiveness.
- C
Coach the team to keep standups within the 15-minute timebox and focus on the three key questions
The Scrum Master should help the team adhere to agile best practices.
- D
Cancel daily standups entirely to save time
Why wrong: Standups are a key agile ceremony; canceling them is not appropriate.
Question 525 of 892
Daily Standup Timebox Management — Scrum Master Role
This PMP practice question tests your understanding of process — managing technical aspects. 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 retrospective, the team identifies that the daily standups have become too long (45 minutes instead of 15). Several team members feel the standups are unproductive. As the Scrum Master, what should you do?
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
✓
Coach the team to keep standups within the 15-minute timebox and focus on the three key questions
Option C is correct because the Scrum Master’s primary responsibility is to coach the team on Scrum practices, including enforcing the 15-minute timebox for daily standups and ensuring they focus on the three key questions (what was done, what will be done, and impediments). This directly addresses the root cause—lack of discipline and focus—rather than bypassing the event or escalating unnecessarily. By coaching, the team learns to self-organize and improve their process, which is a core agile principle.
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.
- ✗
Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for guidance
Why it's wrong here
This is a team-level impediment that the Scrum Master should address.
- ✗
Mandate that standups be held only twice a week
Why it's wrong here
Imposing without team consensus may reduce effectiveness.
- ✓
Coach the team to keep standups within the 15-minute timebox and focus on the three key questions
Why this is correct
The Scrum Master should help the team adhere to agile best practices.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Cancel daily standups entirely to save time
Why it's wrong here
Standups are a key agile ceremony; canceling them is not appropriate.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think canceling or reducing the frequency of standups (Option B or D) is a valid time-saving measure, but the PMP exam expects adherence to the Scrum framework where daily standups are mandatory and must be kept within the 15-minute timebox through coaching, not elimination.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The daily standup is a time-boxed event (max 15 minutes) designed for the Development Team to plan work for the next 24 hours by answering three questions: what did I do yesterday, what will I do today, and what impediments are in my way. Under the hood, this event supports the Scrum pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation; if it runs long, it often indicates that detailed problem-solving is happening during the standup instead of being deferred to a separate follow-up conversation. In a real-world scenario, a team that consistently exceeds the timebox may be using the standup as a status meeting rather than a synchronization event, which can be corrected by the Scrum Master reminding the team to take detailed discussions offline.
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PMP question test?
Process — Managing Technical Aspects — This question tests Process — Managing Technical Aspects — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Coach the team to keep standups within the 15-minute timebox and focus on the three key questions — Option C is correct because the Scrum Master’s primary responsibility is to coach the team on Scrum practices, including enforcing the 15-minute timebox for daily standups and ensuring they focus on the three key questions (what was done, what will be done, and impediments). This directly addresses the root cause—lack of discipline and focus—rather than bypassing the event or escalating unnecessarily. By coaching, the team learns to self-organize and improve their process, which is a core agile principle.
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
3 more ways this is tested on PMP
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. During a sprint retrospective, the team identifies that the daily standups are taking too long and are not focused. Several team members suggest canceling them to save time. What should the scrum master do?
medium- A.Agree to cancel the daily standups as the team suggests
- ✓ B.Facilitate a discussion to identify ways to make the standups more focused and time-boxed
- C.Keep the standups as they are and remind the team of their importance
- D.Enforce the timebox strictly without discussion
Why B: The Scrum Master's role is to facilitate the Scrum process and remove impediments. Canceling the daily standup would eliminate a key inspection and adaptation opportunity. Instead, the Scrum Master should facilitate a discussion to help the team improve the focus and time-boxing of the standup, addressing the root cause of the issue.
Variation 2. During a sprint retrospective, the team identifies that the daily standups are taking too long and are not productive. Several team members suggest canceling them to save time. As the scrum master, what is the best course of action?
medium- A.Shorten the standup time to 5 minutes without discussion.
- B.Cancel the daily standups as suggested and replace them with a weekly meeting.
- ✓ C.Facilitate a discussion to identify the root cause of the unproductive standups and agree on improvements.
- D.Keep the standups as they are; the team will adapt over time.
Why C: The scrum master should facilitate a discussion to improve the standup rather than cancel it. Option C is correct because it addresses the issue constructively.
Variation 3. During a sprint retrospective, the team identifies that the daily standups are too long and not adding value. They suggest implementing a timebox of 15 minutes and a strict 'three questions' format. What should the scrum master do?
easy- ✓ A.Support the team's decision and help enforce the new format in future standups
- B.Escalate to the product owner for approval
- C.Overrule the suggestion because the scrum master is responsible for facilitating standups
- D.Ignore the suggestion because the team has already discussed it and no action is needed
Why A: Option A is correct because the Scrum Master is a servant-leader who empowers the team to self-organize and improve its processes. By supporting the team's decision to timebox standups to 15 minutes and enforce the 'three questions' format, the Scrum Master fosters continuous improvement and team ownership, which is a core agile principle. The team's suggestion directly addresses the identified waste (too-long standups) and aligns with the Scrum Guide's recommendation for a focused, timeboxed daily Scrum.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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