CSM Service to the Scrum Team Practice Question
A Scrum Master joins a team that has been using Scrum for a few months. The Scrum Master observes that during Sprint Retrospectives, the Developers list many improvement actions, but none are ever implemented. The Scrum Master wants to serve the team by helping it actually improve. What should the Scrum Master do first?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming the Scrum Master should personally implement improvements or hand them to the Product Owner instead of coaching the team to own a few concrete actions.
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 team in selecting one or two high-impact improvements and defining a concrete, testable action for the next Sprint.
The Scrum Master serves the team by coaching it to turn Retrospective insights into small, testable actions owned by the Developers. Selecting a few high-impact improvements and defining concrete next steps makes follow-through likely and keeps ownership where it belongs. This reinforces continuous improvement and self-management rather than creating dependence on the Scrum Master or the Product Owner.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Take ownership of the improvement actions and implement them yourself between Sprints so the team sees progress.
Why it's wrong here
Implementing improvements for the team removes ownership from the Developers and turns the Scrum Master into a doer rather than a coach. The team is best served when it learns to improve its own way of working. Doing it for them undermines self-management and likely leads to dependence rather than lasting change.
- ✗
Instruct the Product Owner to add the improvement actions to the Product Backlog so they are prioritized alongside other work.
Why it's wrong here
Adding improvement actions to the Product Backlog blends product work with process improvement and puts prioritization in the Product Owner's hands. Retrospective improvements are for the Scrum Team's way of working, not product features, so this would not help the team own and implement its own process changes.
- ✗
Stop holding Retrospectives until the team can demonstrate that it has implemented all previous actions.
Why it's wrong here
Canceling Retrospectives punishes the team and removes the primary inspect-and-adapt event for its process. The Scrum Master should help the team make the event effective, not withhold it. Removing the Retrospective would eliminate the very mechanism that surfaces and tracks improvements.
- ✓
Facilitate the team in selecting one or two high-impact improvements and defining a concrete, testable action for the next Sprint.
Why this is correct
The Scrum Master serves the team by coaching it to make improvements actionable. Narrowing many ideas to a few concrete, testable actions increases the chance they will be implemented and reviewed. This keeps ownership with the Developers and turns the Retrospective into a driver of continuous improvement rather than a list of wishes.
About these practice questions
One of 312 original CSM practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. 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 Scrum Alliance exam blueprint
This CSM practice question is part of Courseiva's free Scrum Alliance 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 CSM exam.