What Should a Scrum Master Do When Acceptance Criteria Are Unclear?
In a Scrum project, the development team is consistently missing sprint commitments. The daily standup reveals that they are blocked by unclear acceptance criteria. What should the scrum master do?
Quick Answer
The correct answer is to coach the product owner on writing clear acceptance criteria and ensure stories are refined before sprint planning. This is the right action because the scrum master serves as a servant-leader and process coach, not a task assigner; when the team misses sprint commitments due to unclear acceptance criteria, the root cause is a breakdown in backlog refinement, which the scrum master must address by guiding the product owner to define precise, testable conditions of satisfaction before the sprint begins. On the PMP exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the scrum master’s role in facilitating stakeholder collaboration and removing impediments at the process level, often appearing as a distractor where you might be tempted to have the scrum master rewrite the criteria themselves or simply tell the team to “try harder.” A common trap is confusing the scrum master with a project manager who directly fixes the work; instead, remember that the scrum master empowers others to improve. Memory tip: “Coach, don’t fix—teach the PO to write the mix.”
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse the Scrum Master's role as a facilitator with that of a problem-solver who directly removes technical blockers, rather than recognizing that the correct action is to coach the Product Owner to prevent the blockers from recurring.
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 product owner on writing clear acceptance criteria and ensure stories are refined before sprint planning
The Scrum Master's primary responsibility is to ensure the Scrum framework is followed and to coach the team and Product Owner in effective practices. Unclear acceptance criteria are a symptom of insufficient backlog refinement, which the Product Owner owns. By coaching the Product Owner on writing clear acceptance criteria and ensuring stories are refined before sprint planning, the Scrum Master addresses the root cause of the blockers, enabling the team to deliver committed work consistently.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reduce the team's velocity for the next sprint to match their actual performance
Why it's wrong here
Lowering velocity records the symptom without addressing the unclear acceptance criteria blocking the team, so the commitments keep failing. Velocity adjustment is valid after sustained, understood capacity changes, not as a substitute for resolving backlog refinement problems.
- ✗
Increase the sprint length to give the team more time to complete work
Why it's wrong here
Lengthening the sprint delays feedback without resolving the unclear acceptance criteria blocking the team; the scrum master should coach the product owner and team to refine criteria before planning. Longer sprints suit teams whose work items genuinely exceed two weeks, not those needing clearer definitions of done.
- ✓
Coach the product owner on writing clear acceptance criteria and ensure stories are refined before sprint planning
Why this is correct
The blockage stems from unclear acceptance criteria, a product owner responsibility. Coaching the product owner to write clear criteria and refine stories before sprint planning removes the root cause, enabling the team to meet commitments rather than merely masking the symptom.
- ✗
Remove the blockers during the standup by clarifying the acceptance criteria yourself
Why it's wrong here
The scrum master facilitates and coaches rather than authoring acceptance criteria; clarifying them personally removes the Product Owner's accountability and masks the underlying refinement gap. This intervention suits a genuine process blocker, not a product-backlog ownership issue.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Planning Project Scope and Requirements
Key term
Daily Standup
A short, time-boxed daily meeting where team members share progress, plans, and blockers to stay aligned.
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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Same concept, more angles
2 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. In a Scrum project, the development team consistently fails to complete all committed stories in each sprint. The daily stand-up meetings are running long and often devolve into problem-solving sessions. As the Scrum Master, what should you do?
easy- ✓ A.Coach the team to keep the stand-up focused and time-boxed, and facilitate separate sessions for detailed discussions
- B.Add more stories to the sprint backlog to increase velocity
- C.Cancel the daily stand-up and replace it with email updates
- D.Allow the stand-up to run longer to ensure issues are resolved
Why A: The Scrum Master's role is to enforce the time-boxed nature of the daily stand-up (15 minutes) and prevent it from becoming a problem-solving session, which violates the Scrum Guide. By coaching the team to keep the stand-up focused on the three key questions (what was done, what will be done, and impediments) and facilitating separate sessions for detailed discussions, the Scrum Master addresses the root cause of the long meetings and helps the team improve sprint commitment completion. This aligns with the 'Process — Managing Technical Aspects' domain, as it involves optimizing team workflow and meeting efficiency.
Variation 2. During a sprint retrospective, a team member complains that the daily standups are too long and unproductive. Several others agree. What is the BEST action for the Scrum Master to take?
medium- A.Enforce a strict 15-minute timebox for future standups
- B.Cancel the daily standups and replace them with written status reports
- C.Move the standup to a later time when team members are more focused
- ✓ D.Ask the team to propose improvements to the standup format and agree on changes
Why D: The Scrum Master serves the team as a facilitator and coach, not a directive manager. When the team raises a process concern, the BEST action is to empower the team to self-organize and solve the problem collaboratively. Asking the team to propose improvements and agree on changes respects Scrum's principle of self-management and ensures the solution is owned by those who must follow it. This approach also addresses the root cause (unproductive format) rather than imposing a superficial fix.
JA
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.