SSM Introducing Scrum in SAFe Practice Question
During the first PI Planning event after introducing Scrum, a Scrum Master observes that a team is treating the iteration boundary as a hard checkpoint for demonstrating completed work to the Product Owner, and is skipping the continuous collaboration that Scrum recommends. The Scrum Master wants to explain why the team should not rely solely on the iteration review to validate work with the Product Owner. Which statement best reflects the SAFe and Scrum intent?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is treating the iteration review as the sole validation gate and assuming that mid-iteration Product Owner involvement creates churn rather than preventing it.
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
✓
The Product Owner should be involved continuously during the iteration so the team can get early feedback and adjust, with the iteration review serving as a broader inspect-and-adapt event for stakeholders.
Scrum and SAFe both rely on short feedback loops, which means the Product Owner collaborates with the team continuously during the iteration, not only at the review. The iteration review remains a formal inspect-and-adapt event, but it is not the first time the Product Owner or stakeholders see the work. This continuous engagement reduces rework and keeps the increment aligned with value.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The iteration review is the only formal inspect-and-adapt point, so the team should minimize Product Owner involvement mid-iteration to avoid scope churn.
Why it's wrong here
This misstates Scrum and SAFe practice. While the iteration review is a formal inspect-and-adapt event, both frameworks expect ongoing collaboration between the team and Product Owner throughout the iteration. Minimizing involvement mid-iteration increases the risk of building the wrong thing and delays feedback, which contradicts the short feedback loops Scrum and SAFe are designed to create.
- ✗
Because SAFe replaces the Scrum review with the System Demo, the team should wait until the end of the PI to show anything to the Product Owner.
Why it's wrong here
SAFe does not replace the iteration review with the System Demo; both exist, with the iteration review at the team level and the System Demo at the ART level. Waiting until the end of the PI to show work to the Product Owner eliminates the short feedback loop that Scrum and SAFe rely on to catch misalignment early and would be a serious anti-pattern.
- ✓
The Product Owner should be involved continuously during the iteration so the team can get early feedback and adjust, with the iteration review serving as a broader inspect-and-adapt event for stakeholders.
Why this is correct
Scrum and SAFe both expect the Product Owner to collaborate with the team throughout the iteration, answering questions, clarifying acceptance criteria, and reviewing work as it emerges. The iteration review then serves as a broader inspect-and-adapt event where the team demonstrates the integrated increment and stakeholders provide feedback, rather than being the first moment anyone sees the work.
- ✗
The team should involve the Release Train Engineer instead of the Product Owner during the iteration, since the RTE owns value delivery across the train.
Why it's wrong here
The Release Train Engineer facilitates ART events and helps remove impediments, but does not own value delivery for a team's backlog; that is the Product Owner's accountability. Substituting the RTE for the Product Owner during the iteration removes the person best positioned to clarify priorities and acceptance criteria, which would degrade the team's ability to deliver the right increment.
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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.