CSM Scrum Team Roles and Accountabilities Practice Question
A senior stakeholder frequently approaches Developers during the Sprint to request 'minor' changes. What should the Developers do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates mistakenly choose options where developers negotiate minor changes themselves or reject them rudely, forgetting the proper channel through the Product Owner.
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
✓
Inform the stakeholder that they must discuss these requests with the Product Owner.
The Developers must protect the Sprint Backlog from outside interference to ensure the Sprint Goal is met. Directing the stakeholder to the Product Owner maintains the integrity of the Scrum process. The Product Owner is the person responsible for the backlog and the value delivery, so they must assess any new requests against existing priorities and determine if they should be included in the product.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Implement the changes if they are small to keep the stakeholder happy.
Why it's wrong here
Implementing changes outside of the Product Owner's priority control creates scope creep and disrupts the Sprint Goal. This leads to unpredictable delivery and undermines the Product Owner's authority. It is a common trap that compromises the team's focus and leads to missed deadlines and decreased overall quality.
- ✓
Inform the stakeholder that they must discuss these requests with the Product Owner.
Why this is correct
Directing the request to the Product Owner is the correct process. It ensures that the Product Owner can manage the work based on value and urgency while protecting the Developers from distraction. This keeps the workflow orderly and ensures that the team stays focused on their agreed-upon Sprint Goal.
- ✗
Accept the work but delay a lower-priority task in the Sprint.
Why it's wrong here
The Sprint Backlog should not be modified to accommodate changing requirements unless the Sprint Goal is threatened and the Product Owner agrees. Making unilateral decisions to swap tasks undermines the planning performed at the start of the Sprint and breaks the commitment the team made to the Product Owner.
- ✗
Ask the Scrum Master to handle the stakeholder's request.
Why it's wrong here
The Scrum Master is not a filter for product work. Their role is to coach the team to handle such situations themselves. By passing this to the Scrum Master, the team fails to practice self-management and fails to respect the clear role boundaries defined for the Product Owner.
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.