CSPO Certified Scrum Product Owner®(CSPO) Managing the Product Backlog Questions and Answers 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of Product Backlog refinement?
- To assign tasks to individual developers
- To add detail, estimates, and order to Product Backlog items (Correct answer)
- To remove all low-priority items from the backlog
- To create the Sprint Backlog
Correct answer: To add detail, estimates, and order to Product Backlog items
Refinement is the ongoing activity of adding detail, estimates, and order to items in the Product Backlog so they are ready for selection in Sprint Planning.
Question 2: Who is responsible for ordering the Product Backlog?
- The Scrum Master
- The Development Team
- The Product Owner (Correct answer)
- The stakeholders
Correct answer: The Product Owner
The Product Owner is the sole person responsible for ordering the Product Backlog to maximize the value delivered by the Scrum Team.
Question 3: A stakeholder requests a feature that conflicts with the current product strategy. What should the Product Owner do?
- Immediately add it to the top of the backlog
- Reject the request without discussion
- Evaluate the request against the Product Goal and discuss trade-offs with the stakeholder (Correct answer)
- Ask the Scrum Master to handle the conversation
Correct answer: Evaluate the request against the Product Goal and discuss trade-offs with the stakeholder
The Product Owner should evaluate all requests against the Product Goal and transparently discuss trade-offs with stakeholders before making ordering decisions.
Question 4: Which technique helps a Product Owner split large Product Backlog items into smaller ones?
- Gantt charting
- INVEST criteria (Correct answer)
- Critical path analysis
- Resource leveling
Correct answer: INVEST criteria
The INVEST criteria (Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable) guide Product Owners in creating well-sized backlog items.
Question 5: What happens to Product Backlog items that are not selected during Sprint Planning?
- They are removed from the Product Backlog
- They remain in the Product Backlog for future consideration and re-ordering (Correct answer)
- They are automatically moved to the next Sprint
- They must be re-submitted by stakeholders
Correct answer: They remain in the Product Backlog for future consideration and re-ordering
Unselected items remain in the Product Backlog and may be refined, re-ordered, or selected in future Sprints based on evolving priorities.
Question 6: How should a Product Owner handle dependencies between Product Backlog items?
- Ignore dependencies since Scrum Teams are self-managing
- Order dependent items to minimize risk and coordinate with affected teams (Correct answer)
- Assign all dependent items to the same Sprint regardless of capacity
- Delegate dependency management entirely to the Scrum Master
Correct answer: Order dependent items to minimize risk and coordinate with affected teams
The Product Owner should order dependent items thoughtfully to reduce risk and collaborate with teams to manage cross-team dependencies effectively.
CSPO Certified Scrum Product Owner®(CSPO) Managing the Product Backlog Questions and Answers 2
What is the primary purpose of Product Backlog refinement?