SSM Supporting Team Events Practice Question
During the Iteration Planning meeting, the Agile Team realizes that a key user story lacks clear acceptance criteria and depends on an external subsystem. What should the Scrum Master encourage the team to do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often think the team should commit to the story anyway and figure it out during the iteration, violating the basic principle of the Definition of Ready.
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
✓
Remove the story from the iteration backlog until the Product Owner refines the acceptance criteria and resolves dependencies.
The Scrum Master should guide the team to remove the story from the current iteration backlog if it cannot be successfully completed within the timebox. Bringing unrefined work into the execution phase increases technical risk and lowers predictability. Proper backlog refinement ensures stories meet the Definition of Ready before planning begins, protecting team velocity and flow.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Commit to the story anyway and attempt to clarify the dependencies during the middle of the iteration.
Why it's wrong here
Committing to a story with undefined acceptance criteria and unresolved dependencies defers clarification into the iteration, where it typically causes rework and unfinished work. It is tempting because teams want to appear cooperative and trust that details will emerge, and mid-iteration clarification would be acceptable for minor refinements, not for a story with no acceptance criteria at all.
- ✗
Accept the story into the iteration but assign it entirely to the external dependency owner.
Why it's wrong here
Handing the whole story to the external dependency owner removes it from the team's control and leaves acceptance criteria undefined, so no shared definition of done exists. It is tempting because external subsystems often need specialist input, and that would be correct for a genuine integration task the team cannot perform, not for an unclear user story.
- ✓
Remove the story from the iteration backlog until the Product Owner refines the acceptance criteria and resolves dependencies.
Why this is correct
A story lacking acceptance criteria and carrying unresolved external dependencies cannot meet the Definition of Ready. Removing it from the iteration backlog until the Product Owner refines criteria and resolves dependencies protects the iteration goal from predictable mid-sprint blockage.
- ✗
Extend the iteration length by two days to allow the Product Owner time to write the missing acceptance criteria.
Why it's wrong here
Extending the iteration by two days breaks the fixed-length timebox to accommodate missing acceptance criteria, which should be clarified before or during planning instead. It is tempting because more time feels like it solves incomplete requirements, and a longer iteration would be legitimate only where the team deliberately renegotiates its cadence as a lasting process change.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every SSM question from scratch — 385 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.