SSM Defining the Scrum Master / Team Coach Role Practice Question
During Iteration Planning, an Agile Team attempts to commit to a scope of work that significantly exceeds their historical velocity. What is the primary responsibility of the Scrum Master in this situation?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often choose 'let the team try to work harder' or 'accept the scope to keep stakeholders happy,' ignoring the Scrum Master's duty to prevent burnout.
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 transparent capacity discussion, helping the team negotiate a realistic scope based on historical velocity and upcoming time off.
The Scrum Master protects the team from burnout and ensures realistic commitments by coaching them to balance demand against capacity. By guiding the team toward sustainable pacing, the Scrum Master promotes reliable execution and prevents the quality degradation associated with overburdened iterations.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Override the team's concerns and mandate the acceptance of the complete backlog scope to satisfy stakeholder expectations for the Program Increment.
Why it's wrong here
The Scrum Master facilitates the team's own commitment; mandating scope overrides self-management and hides the velocity mismatch rather than surfacing it. It is tempting because stakeholder pressure for the Program Increment is real, but directing scope is the correct choice only where the role legitimately owns delivery decisions, which the Scrum Master does not.
- ✓
Facilitate a transparent capacity discussion, helping the team negotiate a realistic scope based on historical velocity and upcoming time off.
Why this is correct
Facilitating a transparent capacity discussion grounded in historical velocity and upcoming time off lets the team itself recognise the overcommitment and renegotiate scope, which is the Scrum Master's servant-leadership responsibility rather than dictating the commitment.
- ✗
Redefine the acceptance criteria for all selected Stories to make the implementation faster without consulting the Product Owner.
Why it's wrong here
Acceptance criteria define what satisfies the Product Owner and cannot be weakened unilaterally to fit capacity; doing so corrupts the increment's value. It is tempting because trimming criteria appears to speed delivery, but redefining them is the correct choice only with the Product Owner's collaboration, not as a unilateral Scrum Master action.
- ✗
Cancel the Iteration Planning event immediately and refer the prioritization conflict to the Release Train Engineer for final resolution.
Why it's wrong here
Cancelling Iteration Planning removes the team's opportunity to negotiate scope against velocity; the Scrum Master should coach the team to re-plan within capacity. It is tempting because escalating prioritisation conflicts feels decisive, but referring to the Release Train Engineer is the correct choice only when the conflict genuinely spans multiple teams.
About these practice questions
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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.