SSM Defining the Scrum Master / Team Coach Role Practice Question
A Scrum Master/Team Coach is asked by a manager to provide a weekly status report listing each developer's individual productivity and hours worked. The team delivers value together and tracks progress at the team level. What should the coach do?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is treating a manager's reporting request as automatically valid, rather than examining whether the metric supports or undermines team-based delivery.
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
✓
Educate the manager on why team-level flow metrics better reflect delivery and offer a report based on Iteration progress and impediments.
The coach should protect the team from individual productivity tracking and educate the manager about team-level flow and Iteration progress. Offering a suitable alternative meets the real need for visibility without undermining collaboration. This is a core part of the Scrum Master/Team Coach's role in fostering a healthy, team-oriented system.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Provide the individual productivity and hours data as requested to maintain a good relationship with the manager.
Why it's wrong here
Complying reinforces individual performance management that damages trust and collaboration. It can lead team members to optimize for visible activity rather than value delivery. The Scrum Master/Team Coach is expected to challenge metrics that conflict with team-based delivery, not simply pass them through.
- ✓
Educate the manager on why team-level flow metrics better reflect delivery and offer a report based on Iteration progress and impediments.
Why this is correct
This protects the team from individual performance surveillance while meeting the manager's legitimate need for visibility. Team-level flow and Iteration progress are the meaningful measures in SAFe, and offering them reframes the request. It also models the coach's role in shielding the team from counterproductive reporting that undermines collaboration.
- ✗
Refuse the request outright and tell the manager that such reports are prohibited in SAFe.
Why it's wrong here
A flat refusal without alternatives damages the relationship and does not help the manager get the visibility they need. SAFe does not ban reporting; it favors team-level flow measures. The coach should redirect rather than reject, using the opportunity to explain better metrics and preserve trust with stakeholders.
- ✗
Ask the Product Owner to compile the individual report because they already interact with stakeholders and own team communication.
Why it's wrong here
This shifts an inappropriate request to the Product Owner and still produces individual surveillance data. It also misuses the Product Owner's role, which centers on backlog value and stakeholder collaboration, not personnel reporting. The coach should address the request directly rather than route it through another role.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every SSM question from scratch — 385 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or 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.