SSM Defining the Scrum Master / Team Coach Role Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  Cancel the stand-up and replace it with a written status update in the team's collaboration tool.

  Why it's wrong here

  Replacing the stand-up with written updates removes the real-time coordination and rapid impediment surfacing that the ceremony provides. Written status also tends to become reporting rather than planning. The coach should fix the format and facilitation, not eliminate the event that keeps the team synchronized.

• ✗

  Shorten the stand-up to 5 minutes and forbid any discussion of impediments so the ceremony stays on time.

  Why it's wrong here

  Forbidding impediment discussion removes the very output the stand-up should generate and hides risks from the ART. Timeboxing is useful, but the goal is to surface blockers, not suppress them. The coach should redirect deep problem-solving to a follow-up, not eliminate the information.

• ✓

  Coach the team to keep the stand-up focused on flow and blockers, then take detailed problem-solving to a follow-up conversation.

  Why this is correct

  The Daily Stand-up is an inspect-and-adapt event for coordinating work and surfacing impediments, not a design meeting. Coaching the team to keep it focused and parking deep discussions for afterward preserves the timebox while ensuring blockers are visible. This improves flow and lets the coach address systemic impediments with the ART.

• ✗

  Ask the two vocal developers to stop attending so the quieter team members are forced to speak.

  Why it's wrong here

  Excluding the most engaged members harms collaboration and does not guarantee that others will contribute. The issue is facilitation and structure, not attendance. A SAFe Scrum Master / Team Coach should use techniques that invite balanced participation rather than removing team members from a required ceremony.