SSM Defining the Scrum Master / Team Coach Role Practice Question
During a System Demo, a stakeholder challenges an Agile Team's Increment because a Story marked complete does not behave as the stakeholder expected in the integrated environment. The team insists it met its Definition of Done. As the Scrum Master / Team Coach, what is the most appropriate first action?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is treating a demo objection as either a defense case or an escalation, when the coach's first move is to facilitate understanding of the gap between the Definition of Done and stakeholder expectations.
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
✓
Facilitate a focused conversation after the demo to compare the team's Definition of Done with what the stakeholder actually expected, and capture any gap as an improvement item.
A challenge at the System Demo is feedback to be inspected, not a dispute to be won or escalated. The Scrum Master / Team Coach facilitates a comparison between the team's Definition of Done and the stakeholder's expectation, then helps the team capture the difference as an improvement item. That preserves transparency, keeps ownership with the team and Product Owner, and turns the objection into a concrete adaptation.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Immediately ask the Product Owner to rewrite the Story's acceptance criteria and reopen it so the team can rework the behavior before the next System Demo.
Why it's wrong here
Reopening the Story and rewriting acceptance criteria skips the diagnosis step. The mismatch might stem from a narrow Definition of Done, unclear acceptance criteria, or a stakeholder misunderstanding, and jumping straight to rework assumes the fault lies with the Story. It also preempts the Product Owner's ownership of backlog content and may waste effort on behavior that was never actually required.
- ✗
Record the stakeholder's objection in the program risks and escalate it to the Release Train Engineer so the ART can address it at the next Inspect and Adapt workshop.
Why it's wrong here
Escalating a single demo objection to the RTE and Inspect and Adapt workshop is disproportionate and delays learning. The team and Product Owner can usually resolve a Definition of Done or acceptance-criteria gap locally and quickly. Reserving program-level escalation for systemic, cross-team problems keeps the ART's improvement capacity focused, while local resolution keeps the feedback loop short and the team accountable.
- ✓
Facilitate a focused conversation after the demo to compare the team's Definition of Done with what the stakeholder actually expected, and capture any gap as an improvement item.
Why this is correct
The System Demo is an inspect-and-adapt event, and the Scrum Master / Team Coach helps the team use feedback constructively. Comparing the Definition of Done with stakeholder expectations reveals whether the DoD is too narrow, whether acceptance criteria were ambiguous, or whether the stakeholder's mental model was wrong. Capturing the gap as an improvement item turns a public challenge into a concrete change the team can act on.
- ✗
Defend the team publicly, explaining that the Story met the Definition of Done and that the stakeholder's expectation was out of scope.
Why it's wrong here
Publicly defending the team before understanding the gap closes off the inspection the System Demo exists to enable. Even if the Story technically met the Definition of Done, the mismatch between the definition and stakeholder expectation is valuable information. The coach's role is to surface and learn from that gap, not to adjudicate blame in front of stakeholders, which would also discourage the team from raising issues in future demos.
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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.