SSM Supporting Team Events Practice Question
A SAFe Scrum Master is facilitating the Iteration Review. The Product Owner has just presented the team's increment, and a key stakeholder expresses strong dissatisfaction with a feature that was not completed as expected. The stakeholder demands an immediate commitment to deliver it in the next Iteration. What should the Scrum Master do?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is treating the Iteration Review as a forum where stakeholders can directly assign work, when in fact the Product Owner owns prioritization and the team decides feasibility.
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
✓
Facilitate a discussion where the stakeholder's feedback is captured, the Product Owner prioritizes it against other work, and the team assesses feasibility for the next Iteration.
The Iteration Review is a feedback-gathering event, not a commitment meeting. The Scrum Master should facilitate a discussion that captures the stakeholder's concerns, allows the Product Owner to prioritize the feedback against existing work, and enables the team to assess feasibility. This preserves team ownership and the Product Owner's role in backlog management.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Tell the stakeholder that their feedback is out of scope for the Iteration Review and should be sent via email to the Product Owner later.
Why it's wrong here
Dismissing the stakeholder's feedback is inappropriate; the Iteration Review is precisely the forum for such input. The Scrum Master should not shut down the conversation but rather channel it productively. Redirecting to email would reduce transparency and could damage the relationship with the stakeholder.
- ✓
Facilitate a discussion where the stakeholder's feedback is captured, the Product Owner prioritizes it against other work, and the team assesses feasibility for the next Iteration.
Why this is correct
This is correct because the Iteration Review is for gathering feedback, not for making commitments. The Scrum Master should facilitate a conversation that captures the stakeholder's input, allows the Product Owner to prioritize it, and lets the team evaluate what is feasible. This respects team ownership and the Product Owner's role in managing the backlog.
- ✗
Ask the Release Train Engineer to mediate the conflict and decide whether the team should take on the work.
Why it's wrong here
Escalating to the Release Train Engineer for a team-level prioritization decision is unnecessary and bypasses the Product Owner's responsibility. The Scrum Master should facilitate the discussion within the event. Involving the RTE for this would undermine the team's autonomy and the PO's authority over the backlog.
- ✗
Instruct the team to accept the stakeholder's demand to maintain a good relationship and avoid conflict.
Why it's wrong here
Accepting an external demand without team deliberation undermines the team's self-organization and the Product Owner's authority over the backlog. The Scrum Master should protect the team from unplanned commitments and ensure that decisions about work are made collaboratively, not imposed by stakeholders during a review.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Scaled Agile exam blueprint
This SSM practice question is part of Courseiva's free Scaled Agile 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 SSM exam.