CSM Scrum Events Practice Question
At the start of Sprint Planning, the Product Owner presents a set of high-priority items, but the Developers realize they lack sufficient clarity on user expectations to commit to a realistic Sprint Goal. What is the best course of action?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often think the team should postpone the Sprint or refuse to start until the Product Owner brings perfectly refined items, ignoring the collaborative nature of planning and scope negotiation.
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
✓
Collaborate with the Product Owner during Sprint Planning to clarify the items, negotiate scope, and formulate a viable Sprint Goal.
Sprint Planning requires a clear understanding of the proposed work and its value. If items lack clarity, the Developers must collaborate with the Product Owner during the event to refine them, or adjust the scope. While Product Backlog refinement is ongoing, the team cannot plan effectively with ambiguous requirements, necessitating immediate real-time clarification.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Proceed with planning by guessing the missing requirements to avoid delaying the start of the new Sprint cycle.
Why it's wrong here
Guessing requirements fabricates acceptance criteria the Product Owner never confirmed, producing a Sprint Goal built on assumptions that surface as rework mid-Sprint. Planning proceeds only once the Developers and Product Owner clarify the high-priority items together; guessing substitutes invention for the collaboration Sprint Planning exists to force.
- ✗
Refuse to pull the items into the Sprint and demand that the Product Owner rewrite them alone before the next daily meeting.
Why it's wrong here
Refusing the items and demanding a solo rewrite blocks collaboration and delays the Sprint; the Developers and Product Owner should refine unclear backlog items together during Sprint Planning. Refusal would only fit if the Product Owner were genuinely unavailable and no clarification could occur before committing.
- ✓
Collaborate with the Product Owner during Sprint Planning to clarify the items, negotiate scope, and formulate a viable Sprint Goal.
Why this is correct
Sprint Planning is collaborative. The Scrum team defines a Sprint Goal that communicates why the Sprint is valuable. If items lack clarity, the team works with the Product Owner right then to refine them sufficiently for commitment.
- ✗
Permanently remove all Sprint Planning events from future iterations and replace them with continuous on-demand kanban flow.
Why it's wrong here
Removing Sprint Planning abandons the Scrum framework's inspect-and-adapt cadence, so the Developers never resolve the unclear user expectations; the Sprint Goal cannot emerge from continuous flow. Kanban suits teams whose work arrives unpredictably and needs no timeboxed commitment, but here the fix is refining backlog items with the Product Owner before committing.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every CSM question from scratch — 312 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or 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.