SSM Introducing Scrum in SAFe Practice Question
A Scrum Master joins an ART where teams are running Iterations but nobody is coordinating cross-team dependencies, and risks are only discovered mid-Program Increment. The Release Train Engineer asks the Scrum Master to help establish the right forum. What should the Scrum Master recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is reaching for a train-wide daily status meeting instead of the representative-based Scrum of Scrums.
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 the Scrum of Scrums so team representatives meet several times per week to coordinate dependencies, surface risks, and decide whether an ART Sync is needed.
SAFe addresses cross-team coordination with the Scrum of Scrums, where designated team representatives meet several times per week to manage dependencies, surface risks, and decide if an ART Sync is required. Establishing this forum gives the train continuous coordination rather than discovering risks late in the Program Increment.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Ask each Product Owner to email a weekly dependency list to the Release Train Engineer, who will resolve conflicts during the Inspect and Adapt workshop.
Why it's wrong here
Deferring dependency resolution to a weekly email and the end-of-PI Inspect and Adapt workshop leaves risks undiscovered for most of the Program Increment, which is the problem described. The Scrum of Scrums exists to surface and address dependencies continuously, so a slow reporting channel would not provide the timely coordination the train lacks.
- ✓
Establish the Scrum of Scrums so team representatives meet several times per week to coordinate dependencies, surface risks, and decide whether an ART Sync is needed.
Why this is correct
The Scrum of Scrums is the ART-level event designed for exactly this need: team delegates meet multiple times per week to manage cross-team dependencies, escalate impediments, and determine whether the broader ART Sync is warranted. Recommending it directly addresses the missing coordination and late risk discovery described in the scenario.
- ✗
Add a second Daily Stand-up each afternoon where all teams join one call so every member hears every other team's progress.
Why it's wrong here
A train-wide daily call for all members does not scale and conflates the team's Daily Stand-up with train-level coordination. SAFe uses the Scrum of Scrums with designated representatives precisely to keep coordination lightweight, so mandating an all-hands daily call would add overhead without establishing the dependency-management forum the train needs.
- ✗
Schedule a daily Program Increment status meeting led by the Release Train Engineer where teams report percentage complete on their PI Objectives.
Why it's wrong here
A daily status meeting led by the Release Train Engineer focuses on reporting rather than peer-to-peer dependency resolution, and percentage complete on PI Objectives is a lagging measure. The train needs a forum where team representatives negotiate dependencies and remove impediments, which is the Scrum of Scrums, not a top-down reporting cadence.
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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.