CSM Service to the Scrum Team Practice Question
During a Sprint Retrospective, a Developer says the team's Daily Scrum has become a 30-minute round-robin status update for the Scrum Master. Several teammates nod in agreement. What should the Scrum Master do?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is thinking the Scrum Master should fix a broken Daily Scrum by changing the format, shrinking the timebox, or stepping away, rather than coaching the Developers to reclaim ownership of their own event.
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
✓
Remind the Developers that the Daily Scrum is their event and facilitate a discussion about how they want to use the 15-minute timebox to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal.
The Daily Scrum belongs to the Developers, who use it to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog. When it degrades into a status report for the Scrum Master, the right service is coaching and facilitation that returns ownership of the event to the Developers and reconnects it to the Sprint Goal within its timebox.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Stop attending the Daily Scrum so the Developers are forced to run it themselves without the Scrum Master present.
Why it's wrong here
Withdrawing without coaching leaves the Developers with the same misunderstanding and no support to correct it. A Scrum Master may step back when the team is functioning well, but here the team has just said the event is not working, so abandoning it removes the very service the team needs at this moment.
- ✗
Shorten the Daily Scrum to 10 minutes and require each Developer to submit a written update before the meeting to save time.
Why it's wrong here
Imposing a shorter timebox and a written status template keeps the event centred on reporting to the Scrum Master rather than on the Developers' inspection of their work. It replaces conversation with bureaucracy and does not address the underlying misunderstanding that the Daily Scrum is a status meeting for the Scrum Master.
- ✗
Ask the Product Owner to attend the Daily Scrum and redirect the discussion toward the highest-value Product Backlog items each morning.
Why it's wrong here
The Daily Scrum is for the Developers to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt their plan; the Product Owner's attendance is optional and not the fix for a status-meeting pattern. Redirecting the conversation toward backlog value shifts the event away from the Developers' own coordination and does not restore self-management of the event.
- ✓
Remind the Developers that the Daily Scrum is their event and facilitate a discussion about how they want to use the 15-minute timebox to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal.
Why this is correct
The Daily Scrum is owned by the Developers, and the Scrum Master serves them by teaching Scrum and facilitating improvement, not by running the event. Steering the conversation toward the purpose of the Daily Scrum and the 15-minute timebox lets the Developers redesign how they inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and plan their day.
About these practice questions
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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.