CSM Scrum Team Roles and Accountabilities Practice Question
During Sprint Planning, the Product Owner demands that the Development Team commit to a specific set of items to meet a quarterly company milestone. What is the most appropriate action for the Scrum Master?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates believe the Product Owner or management can force a commitment to meet external milestones, ignoring that the Development Team forecasts its own capacity.
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
✓
Educate both parties that the Development Team forecasts its capacity and pulls work iteratively.
The Scrum Master must protect the integrity of the Scrum framework by clarifying that the Development Team alone estimates and pulls work. Product Owners manage value, not capacity. This distinction matters because forcing arbitrary commitments destroys morale and distorts forecasting metrics.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Support the Product Owner by enforcing the quarterly milestone as a binding team commitment.
Why it's wrong here
Enforcing a milestone as a binding commitment converts the Sprint Goal into a fixed-scope contract, contradicting empiricism; the Development Team forecasts, it does not commit to scope. It tempts because Product Owners legitimately own value ordering and stakeholder deadlines, but that authority covers backlog priority, not compelling a forecast.
- ✓
Educate both parties that the Development Team forecasts its capacity and pulls work iteratively.
Why this is correct
The Scrum Master acts as a coach to ensure all roles understand their boundaries within the framework. Clarifying that the team creates a forecast rather than a rigid commitment preserves sustainable pacing and genuine accountability.
- ✗
Realign the Product Backlog items into smaller tasks so the team can absorb the extra pressure.
Why it's wrong here
Splitting backlog items into smaller tasks does not change the team's capacity, so it cannot absorb the demanded scope; it merely disguises an overloaded Sprint Backlog. Decomposition is genuinely useful for refining large items into estimable, transparent work, but it is not a mechanism for meeting externally imposed pressure.
- ✗
Take over Sprint Planning facilitation and unilaterally assign tasks to balance the workload.
Why it's wrong here
Unilateral task assignment by the Scrum Master removes the Development Team's self-management, which Sprint Planning exists to enable. Facilitation means guiding the event, not dictating work. This would be tempting where a team is genuinely unable to self-organise, but even then the Scrum Master coaches rather than reassigns tasks.
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.