SSM Supporting Team Events Practice Question
During an Iteration Review, a stakeholder asks the team to add an unplanned feature to the current iteration. The Product Owner is present and the team is mid-iteration with committed Iteration Goals. What should the Scrum Master do?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is thinking the Scrum Master should either protect the team by refusing all changes or satisfy the stakeholder by accepting them, instead of facilitating the Product Owner's prioritization and the team's impact assessment.
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 discussion where the Product Owner evaluates the request against the Iteration Goals and backlog, and the team assesses the impact on current commitments.
New requests during an Iteration Review should be evaluated, not automatically accepted or rejected. The Product Owner decides priority against the backlog and Iteration Goals, while the team assesses the impact on current work. The Scrum Master facilitates this exchange so feedback is captured transparently and scope decisions remain with the accountable roles rather than being forced or dismissed.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Facilitate a discussion where the Product Owner evaluates the request against the Iteration Goals and backlog, and the team assesses the impact on current commitments.
Why this is correct
The Iteration Review is a time to inspect the increment and gather feedback, and new requests should flow through the Product Owner's backlog management. Facilitating a discussion lets the Product Owner weigh value and priority while the team assesses capacity and impact on the Iteration Goals. This preserves transparency, respects the team's commitments, and keeps scope decisions with the accountable roles.
- ✗
Ask the stakeholder to submit the request directly to the team's backlog tool so the team can pick it up the next day.
Why it's wrong here
Routing requests directly into the team's backlog bypasses the Product Owner's prioritization and can create conflicting direction. Backlog content and ordering are the Product Owner's accountability. The Scrum Master should help the request enter the proper flow, where value and impact are discussed, rather than encouraging a side channel that undermines the Product Owner and the team's current commitments.
- ✗
Instruct the team to accept the request immediately so the stakeholder sees responsiveness.
Why it's wrong here
Accepting mid-iteration work without evaluating impact undermines the team's commitment to the Iteration Goals and can destabilize the iteration. The Product Owner owns backlog ordering and scope decisions, and the team should assess capacity and trade-offs. The Scrum Master's role is to facilitate that conversation, not to direct the team to absorb unplanned work that may jeopardize the iteration's objectives.
- ✗
Tell the stakeholder that no changes are possible until the next PI Planning, and end the discussion.
Why it's wrong here
While PI Planning sets the broader plan, teams and Product Owners can adjust scope within an iteration when it makes sense, and shutting down the request dismisses legitimate feedback. The Iteration Review is specifically for eliciting stakeholder input. Refusing to even evaluate the request reduces transparency and collaboration, and it is not the Scrum Master's decision to make unilaterally.
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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.