CSM Scrum Team Roles and Accountabilities Practice Question
A Scrum Team has members in three different time zones. The Product Owner is in a time zone that makes synchronous collaboration during the Daily Scrum impossible. What is the most Scrum-appropriate solution?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume that every Scrum event requires mandatory attendance from all Scrum Team members, including the Product Owner, failing to recognize that the Daily Scrum is primarily for Developers.
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 is not required to attend the Daily Scrum, so the team proceeds without them.
Scrum requires that the Scrum Team adapts to its environment while maintaining the core accountabilities and events. When synchronous meetings are difficult, the team must find a way to meet the purpose of the event—alignment and progress tracking—without necessarily relying on a rigid, live daily call. The focus must be on keeping the team informed and ensuring the work remains transparent to everyone.
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 Product Owner is not required to attend the Daily Scrum, so the team proceeds without them.
Why this is correct
The Daily Scrum is for the Developers to plan their work. If the Product Owner is not a Developer, their presence is not mandatory. This respects the reality of the team's constraints while keeping the focus on the Developers' collaboration, which is the actual purpose of the Daily Scrum event.
- ✗
The Scrum Master should mandate that the Product Owner works overtime to join the call.
Why it's wrong here
Mandating overtime is unsustainable and violates the principle of respect. It creates burnout and resentment. The Scrum Master should seek solutions that allow the team to work effectively without forcing individuals to compromise their well-being or violate local labor laws and personal commitments for a daily meeting.
- ✗
The team should replace the Daily Scrum with a daily email update.
Why it's wrong here
Replacing the event with email eliminates the synchronous collaboration and 'inspect and adapt' capability of the Daily Scrum. The Daily Scrum is meant for rapid adjustments; an email is a static status report. The goal is to facilitate interaction, not just move information, which email fails to achieve.
- ✗
The team should split into two Scrum Teams based on time zones.
Why it's wrong here
Splitting a team based on time zones is a radical change that destroys the team structure. It creates silos and duplicate backlogs, which makes managing a single product much harder. Before taking such a step, the team should try to adapt their existing collaboration patterns to their current reality.
Visual reference
About these practice questions
This CSM question is part of Courseiva's 312-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 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.