SSM Supporting Team Events Practice Question
A Scrum Master is facilitating the team's Iteration Review. The Product Owner is presenting the increment to stakeholders, but a stakeholder begins to challenge the team's technical design decisions. Which action should the Scrum Master take?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse transparency with allowing any topic, which leads to letting technical debates derail the Iteration Review.
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
✓
Redirect the conversation to the product outcomes and offer to schedule a separate technical discussion with the stakeholder after the review.
The Iteration Review is for inspecting the increment and collecting stakeholder feedback, not for resolving technical design debates. The Scrum Master should keep the event on track by redirecting the technical discussion to a separate forum. This preserves the event's purpose, respects the stakeholder's concern, and ensures the team still benefits from broader feedback.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Redirect the conversation to the product outcomes and offer to schedule a separate technical discussion with the stakeholder after the review.
Why this is correct
The Iteration Review focuses on the product increment and stakeholder feedback. Redirecting the technical debate to a separate forum preserves the event's purpose, respects the stakeholder's concern, and allows the team to continue gathering valuable feedback. This action demonstrates effective facilitation and protects the team's time while addressing the stakeholder's interest.
- ✗
Allow the technical debate to continue so that all concerns are transparently addressed.
Why it's wrong here
While transparency is valuable, the Iteration Review is intended to inspect the increment and gather feedback, not to debate technical design. Allowing an extended technical debate derails the event's purpose, consumes time needed for other stakeholders, and may prevent the team from receiving broader feedback. The Scrum Master should intervene to keep the event focused.
- ✗
End the Iteration Review early and reschedule it for a time when only supportive stakeholders can attend.
Why it's wrong here
Ending the review early penalizes all stakeholders and prevents the team from receiving feedback. The Scrum Master should manage the situation in the moment rather than avoid it. Rescheduling with a curated audience reduces transparency and contradicts the principle of frequent, open inspection. This is an overreaction to a manageable facilitation challenge.
- ✗
Ask the Product Owner to answer the stakeholder's technical questions since they own the product vision.
Why it's wrong here
The Product Owner may not have the technical depth to address design decisions, and doing so could undermine the team's ownership of technical choices. The Product Owner's role is to maximize value, not to defend technical design. This response fails to address the disruption and may put the Product Owner in an awkward position.
Visual reference
About these practice questions
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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.