SSM Defining the Scrum Master / Team Coach Role Practice Question
An Agile Team in a SAFe ART has been consistently delivering value, but the Scrum Master / Team Coach notices that the team rarely interacts with other teams during the PI. As a result, dependencies are discovered late and cause delays. What should the Scrum Master do to improve cross-team collaboration?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is adding new meetings or escalating to the RTE when SAFe already prescribes the Program Board and ART Sync as the primary tools for cross-team dependency management.
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
✓
Encourage team members to attend the ART Sync and use the Program Board during PI Planning to make dependencies visible and coordinate with other teams.
The Scrum Master / Team Coach should coach the team to use SAFe's built-in coordination mechanisms: the Program Board for visualizing dependencies and the ART Sync for addressing them. These tools foster direct cross-team collaboration. Delegating to the Product Owner, refusing dependent work, or adding redundant meetings all fail to improve the team's ability to coordinate effectively.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Encourage team members to attend the ART Sync and use the Program Board during PI Planning to make dependencies visible and coordinate with other teams.
Why this is correct
Attending the ART Sync and using the Program Board are the primary SAFe mechanisms for cross-team coordination. The Program Board visualizes dependencies and milestones, while the ART Sync provides a forum to address them. Coaching the team to use these tools directly addresses late dependency discovery and builds the collaboration needed across the ART.
- ✗
Instruct the team to stop accepting any work that involves other teams until the ART improves its dependency management process.
Why it's wrong here
Refusing work with dependencies would reduce the team's contribution and damage ART flow. Dependencies are inevitable in a scaled environment, and the Scrum Master's role is to help the team manage them, not avoid them. This action also conflicts with the SAFe principle of optimizing the whole, which values collaboration over local optimization.
- ✗
Ask the Product Owner to represent the team at all cross-team meetings so developers can stay focused on delivering Stories.
Why it's wrong here
Delegating all cross-team interaction to the Product Owner isolates the team from the broader ART and may not resolve technical dependencies. Developers need direct communication with their peers to coordinate technical work. While the Product Owner handles backlog and priority alignment, cross-team technical coordination is a shared responsibility that benefits from direct team involvement.
- ✗
Schedule daily cross-team stand-ups with all Scrum Masters in the ART to discuss dependencies, and require each team to report blockers to the RTE.
Why it's wrong here
Adding daily cross-team stand-ups creates excessive meeting overhead and does not directly involve the team members who understand the technical dependencies. The ART Sync and Program Board already provide structured coordination. Escalating all blockers to the RTE centralizes problem-solving and undermines the team's ability to resolve dependencies directly.
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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.