SSM Supporting Team Events Practice Question
A Scrum Master is facilitating the Iteration Retrospective for a team that has consistently missed its Iteration Goals. The team is discouraged and reluctant to speak openly. Which TWO actions best support the team in this event? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is trying to fix low morale by reducing goals or assigning individual accountability, instead of building psychological safety and using a structured format to find root causes and experiments.
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
✓
Establish psychological safety by reinforcing that the Retrospective is a blame-free space and that the team owns its improvement actions.
The Scrum Master supports the Retrospective by creating a safe, blame-free environment and using a structured approach to uncover root causes and choose a few actionable experiments. These actions help a discouraged team speak honestly, learn from missed goals, and regain ownership of its improvement.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Establish psychological safety by reinforcing that the Retrospective is a blame-free space and that the team owns its improvement actions.
Why this is correct
Psychological safety is foundational for an effective Retrospective. By reinforcing a blame-free space, the Scrum Master helps team members speak candidly about what is not working, which is necessary to identify real improvements. This supports the team's ownership of its actions and aligns with the Scrum Master's role in facilitating team events and fostering self-management.
- ✗
Ask the Product Owner to attend and explain why the Iteration Goals were too ambitious so the team does not feel responsible.
Why it's wrong here
Bringing the Product Owner in to assign blame or excuse the team undermines safety and shifts ownership away from the team. The Retrospective is the team's event for inspecting its own process. While the Product Owner may be invited in some formats, using their presence to explain away missed goals does not help the team learn or improve.
- ✓
Use a structured format to help the team identify root causes of missed goals and select a small number of experiments to try in the next Iteration.
Why this is correct
A structured format moves the team from vague frustration to specific root causes and concrete experiments. Selecting a small number of experiments keeps improvement manageable and testable, and it gives the team a sense of progress. This directly supports the Retrospective's purpose and the Scrum Master's facilitation responsibility.
- ✗
Document each team member's individual contributions to missed goals so accountability is clear.
Why it's wrong here
Focusing on individual accountability for missed goals damages psychological safety and encourages finger-pointing. The Retrospective examines the system and process, not individuals. The Scrum Master should facilitate team-level learning and shared ownership, not produce a record of individual blame, which would suppress the openness needed for real improvement.
- ✗
Reduce the number of Iteration Goals for the next Iteration so the team can experience success and rebuild confidence.
Why it's wrong here
Lowering goals without understanding root causes is a short-term fix that masks the underlying issues. It may improve morale temporarily but does not help the team learn how to meet commitments. The Retrospective should generate insights and experiments, not simply reduce scope to manufacture success.
About these practice questions
This SSM question is part of Courseiva's 385-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.