SSM Introducing Scrum in SAFe Practice Question
A Scrum Master joins an Agile Release Train where several teams have adopted Scrum ceremonies but still rely on a separate integration team to combine their work at the end of the Program Increment. The teams pass all their iteration reviews individually but the system demo repeatedly reveals broken integration. What should the Scrum Master focus on first?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is reaching for more coordination or a hardening buffer when the real problem is that teams never adopted continuous integration themselves.
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 teams to integrate and verify their combined work every iteration so the system demo reflects continuous integration rather than a late handoff
The recurring failure at the system demo shows that integration is being deferred to a separate team instead of being owned continuously by the teams that build the solution. Coaching teams to integrate and verify their combined work every iteration restores early feedback and aligns with SAFe's expectation that the ART demonstrates an integrated increment at each system demo. More meetings, a hardening iteration, or backlog reshuffling all leave the root behavior intact.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the frequency of the Scrum of Scrums so the integration team receives earlier notice of completed work
Why it's wrong here
Adding more coordination meetings does not change the underlying behavior of deferring integration to a separate group. The problem is that teams are not integrating continuously themselves, so more reporting to the integration team would preserve the handoff pattern and delay the feedback the system demo is meant to provide.
- ✗
Ask the Product Management group to reorder the Program Backlog so dependent features land in the same iteration for all teams
Why it's wrong here
Reordering the backlog may reduce some dependencies but does not teach the teams to integrate continuously, and dependencies cannot be fully eliminated by sequencing alone. The recurring failure is behavioral and technical, so backlog reshuffling would mask rather than fix the absence of team-owned integration.
- ✗
Recommend that the Release Train Engineer add a hardening iteration at the end of the Program Increment for the integration team
Why it's wrong here
A hardening iteration institutionalizes deferred integration and extends the feedback delay, which is the opposite of what SAFe intends. It also keeps responsibility with a separate team rather than the teams producing the work, so the recurring broken integration would continue in the next Program Increment instead of being resolved.
- ✓
Coach the teams to integrate and verify their combined work every iteration so the system demo reflects continuous integration rather than a late handoff
Why this is correct
In SAFe, teams on an ART are expected to integrate their work continuously and demonstrate the integrated solution at the system demo each iteration. Coaching the teams to own integration restores the fast feedback loop the late handoff destroyed, which is the root behavior to change before adding coordination or tooling.
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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.