SSM Supporting ART Events Practice Question
A Scrum Master is preparing a team for its first PI Planning on a new Agile Release Train. The team asks which activities they will participate in during the two-day event. Which TWO activities are part of the team's PI Planning responsibilities? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is attributing portfolio or management-level accountabilities, such as funding and solution intent, to teams during PI Planning.
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
✓
Creating and committing to team PI Objectives during team breakout sessions.
During PI Planning, each team works in breakout sessions to review its backlog, estimate capacity, draft PI Objectives, and identify dependencies and risks. These outputs feed the program board and the draft plan review. Budgeting, management review facilitation, and solution intent negotiation belong to other roles and are not team responsibilities within the event.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Establishing the ART's budget and approving the Lean Portfolio Management funding for the next PI.
Why it's wrong here
Budgeting and funding decisions belong to Lean Portfolio Management, not to teams during PI Planning. Teams plan work within the funded capacity already provided to the ART. Involving teams in budget approval would confuse the roles and distract from their planning responsibilities, and it is not an activity performed in team breakouts.
- ✓
Creating and committing to team PI Objectives during team breakout sessions.
Why this is correct
Team breakout sessions are where each team reviews its backlog, estimates capacity, identifies dependencies, and drafts its PI Objectives for the upcoming PI. These objectives express the business value the team intends to deliver and are committed during the event. This is a core team-level responsibility in PI Planning and directly shapes the ART's plan.
- ✓
Identifying and recording cross-team dependencies and risks during breakout sessions.
Why this is correct
During team breakouts, teams surface dependencies on other teams and record program risks that could jeopardize the PI. These are visualized on the program board and addressed through ROAM during the event. Identifying dependencies and risks is a fundamental team responsibility because teams best understand their own work and the external needs that could block delivery.
- ✗
Facilitating the management review and problem-solving session that follows the draft plan review.
Why it's wrong here
The management review and problem-solving session is led by business owners and the Release Train Engineer, not by individual teams. Teams may be asked to adjust their plans based on its outcomes, but facilitating that session is not a team PI Planning responsibility. Assigning it to teams misplaces accountability and misunderstands the event's structure.
- ✗
Negotiating the ART's top-level solution intent with enterprise architects outside the planning event.
Why it's wrong here
Solution intent and high-level architectural direction are established by architects and product management, often before PI Planning, and are inputs to the event rather than team activities within it. Teams consume this guidance when planning their work. Negotiating solution intent outside the event is not a PI Planning responsibility and would remove teams from the collaborative planning the event requires.
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.