SSM Supporting ART Events Practice Question
You are a Scrum Master for an Agile Release Train that is preparing for the upcoming PI Planning event. The RTE asks you to help ensure that the teams are ready for productive breakout sessions. Which two actions should you take to best support this? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is thinking that pre-assigning features or finalizing objectives saves time, when in fact it undermines the team's ability to self-organize and commit during PI Planning.
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
✓
Ensure each team has a clear understanding of their capacity and velocity to inform realistic planning.
To support productive PI Planning breakout sessions, the Scrum Master should help teams understand their capacity and velocity and review dependencies using the program board. These actions enable realistic planning and cross-team coordination. Pre-assigning features or finalizing objectives in advance undermines team autonomy and the collaborative nature of the event.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Ensure each team has a clear understanding of their capacity and velocity to inform realistic planning.
Why this is correct
Understanding capacity and velocity helps teams create realistic plans during breakout sessions. The Scrum Master should facilitate discussions or provide data so teams can estimate how much work they can take on. This preparation reduces the risk of overcommitment and helps teams align with the ART's objectives, making the breakout sessions more productive and grounded in actual team performance.
- ✗
Ensure all team members have completed their individual performance reviews before the event.
Why it's wrong here
Performance reviews are unrelated to PI Planning readiness and do not contribute to productive breakout sessions. The focus should be on preparing for planning activities such as reviewing the vision, understanding capacity, and identifying dependencies. Requiring performance reviews before the event would distract from planning and is not a Scrum Master responsibility in this context.
- ✗
Finalize the team's PI objectives before PI Planning so they can be presented immediately.
Why it's wrong here
PI objectives are developed collaboratively during PI Planning, not beforehand. Pre-defining them would bypass the team's input and the negotiation that occurs during breakout sessions. The objectives should reflect the team's plan and commitments made during the event, and finalizing them early defeats the purpose of the planning process and reduces team ownership.
- ✗
Pre-assign all features to teams based on previous PI performance to save time during the event.
Why it's wrong here
Pre-assigning features undermines the collaborative planning process that is central to PI Planning. Teams should have the autonomy to negotiate and commit to features during the event, considering dependencies and capacity. Doing so in advance removes the team's ability to self-organize and may lead to misaligned commitments, reducing the effectiveness of the breakout sessions.
- ✓
Review the program board and identify dependencies with other teams before the event.
Why this is correct
Reviewing the program board and identifying dependencies beforehand allows teams to come prepared to discuss and resolve cross-team issues during PI Planning. This proactive step helps teams sequence work and avoid surprises, making the breakout sessions more efficient. It also supports the Scrum Master's role in facilitating coordination and removing impediments before they escalate.
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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
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