SSM Supporting Team Events Practice Question
Which TWO of the following are the primary responsibilities of the Scrum Master during the Iteration Planning meeting?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often choose options where the Scrum Master makes the technical decisions or selects the stories for the team, violating the team's self-organizing autonomy.
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 the process to ensure the team plans effectively within the timebox.
The Scrum Master acts as a facilitator to ensure the planning process remains on track, respects the timebox, and results in a realistic, agreed-upon plan. By focusing the team on capacity and the goal, the Scrum Master prevents common pitfalls like over-commitment or lack of focus, which is essential for ensuring the team is set up for success at the start of every iteration.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Prioritize the product backlog items for the team.
Why it's wrong here
Prioritizing the product backlog is the exclusive role of the Product Owner. The Scrum Master should not interfere with the PO's responsibility but rather support the team in understanding those priorities. This separation of concerns is vital for the health of the Agile team and the clarity of their mission.
- ✓
Facilitate the process to ensure the team plans effectively within the timebox.
Why this is correct
Facilitation is the Scrum Master's primary contribution to the planning meeting. By managing the timebox and keeping the team focused on the goal, the Scrum Master ensures the planning is efficient and productive. This creates a clear, shared understanding of the work ahead, which is vital for iteration success.
- ✓
Ensure the team identifies and discusses the capacity available for the iteration.
Why this is correct
Capacity planning is essential for making realistic commitments. The Scrum Master must ensure the team factors in holidays, time off, and other non-development commitments. This avoids the common mistake of over-committing, which leads to carry-over stories, low morale, and broken trust with stakeholders who expect the team to deliver.
- ✗
Assign tasks to team members based on their specific technical skills.
Why it's wrong here
Assigning tasks destroys team autonomy and the self-organizing culture of Agile. Team members should pull tasks based on their own judgment of their skills and the team's needs. The Scrum Master should encourage self-assignment, which fosters a sense of personal responsibility and team-wide ownership of the work being delivered.
- ✗
Define the acceptance criteria for all user stories in the iteration.
Why it's wrong here
Acceptance criteria are defined by the Product Owner in collaboration with the team, not the Scrum Master. The Scrum Master ensures that these criteria are clear and testable, but they should not be the one writing them. This keeps the roles clear and ensures the PO retains product focus.
About these practice questions
This SSM question is part of Courseiva's 385-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam 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.