CSM Service to the Organization Practice Question
The organization's CEO asks the Scrum Master to attend the Board of Directors meeting to report on 'Scrum Velocity' as a measure of company success. How should the Scrum Master respond?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates mistakenly believe the Scrum Master must obey any request from the CEO, choosing to report velocity rather than protecting organizational metrics from misuse.
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
✓
Politely decline and provide alternative value-based metrics.
The Scrum Master must act as a guardian of the Scrum framework by preventing the misuse of metrics. Velocity is a team-specific tool for capacity planning, not an organizational performance measure. By educating the CEO on why velocity is a poor indicator of company success and suggesting more meaningful business outcomes, the Scrum Master provides a higher level of service to the organization and its leadership.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Provide the velocity data and explain how it is calculated.
Why it's wrong here
Providing the data encourages the CEO to use an inappropriate metric for organizational performance. This can lead to disastrous decisions based on flawed data, such as comparing teams or pressuring them to increase velocity. The Scrum Master must challenge the usage of such metrics to protect the organization.
- ✓
Politely decline and provide alternative value-based metrics.
Why this is correct
Declining to report on a misleading metric is the responsible choice. By suggesting metrics like customer satisfaction, revenue growth, or time-to-market, the Scrum Master helps the leadership focus on what actually matters to the business. This is a high-impact service that supports the organization's true goals.
- ✗
Attend the meeting and present the velocity data anyway.
Why it's wrong here
Presenting data that one knows is misleading is unethical and harmful to the organization. The Scrum Master must be honest with leadership about the limitations of Scrum metrics. Doing so helps build trust and ensures that the organization makes decisions based on accurate and relevant information.
- ✗
Ask the Product Owner to attend instead of the Scrum Master.
Why it's wrong here
Redirecting the CEO to the Product Owner does not solve the underlying issue of the CEO requesting a poor metric. The Scrum Master should take the opportunity to educate the CEO on what metrics are truly meaningful in an agile organization, rather than passing the buck to someone else.
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.