CSPO Release Planning and Sprint Goals 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of release planning in Scrum?
- To lock down scope and dates for stakeholder contracts
- To forecast when product goals and features may be delivered based on current understanding (Correct answer)
- To assign work packages to individual developers
- To replace the Sprint Review ceremony
Correct answer: To forecast when product goals and features may be delivered based on current understanding
Release planning provides a forecast of when goals may be achieved so stakeholders can plan, while remaining flexible as new information emerges.
Question 2: Who is primarily responsible for release planning in a Scrum Team?
- The Scrum Master, because they facilitate all planning events
- The Development Team, because they own the technical roadmap
- The Product Owner, because they own the Product Backlog and product value (Correct answer)
- An external project manager assigned by the organization
Correct answer: The Product Owner, because they own the Product Backlog and product value
The Product Owner owns release planning because they are accountable for maximizing product value and managing the Product Backlog.
Question 3: How frequently should a Scrum Team produce a potentially releasable Product Increment?
- Only at the end of a release cycle
- Once per quarter during a program increment
- At least once per Sprint (Correct answer)
- Whenever the Scrum Master approves the release
Correct answer: At least once per Sprint
Scrum requires a potentially releasable Increment at the end of every Sprint, giving the Product Owner the option to release at any time.
Question 4: What does a 'potentially releasable' Product Increment mean in the context of Scrum?
- The increment passed code review but still requires QA sign-off
- The increment meets the Definition of Done and could be released to users (Correct answer)
- The increment has been approved by the Product Owner for a future release
- The increment includes at least 80% of the planned Sprint Backlog items
Correct answer: The increment meets the Definition of Done and could be released to users
Potentially releasable means the Increment meets the Definition of Done and is in a usable state, regardless of whether the Product Owner chooses to release it.
Question 5: Which artifact most directly supports the Product Owner in communicating the long-term release direction to stakeholders?
- The Sprint Backlog
- The Definition of Done
- The Product Roadmap (Correct answer)
- The Sprint Burndown Chart
Correct answer: The Product Roadmap
The Product Roadmap communicates the planned sequence of product releases and feature themes over time to align stakeholders with the product direction.
Question 6: What is the relationship between release planning and the Product Goal in Scrum?
- Release planning replaces the need for a Product Goal
- Release plans are created independently of the Product Goal
- Release planning helps chart a path toward achieving the Product Goal (Correct answer)
- The Product Goal is set only after release planning is complete
Correct answer: Release planning helps chart a path toward achieving the Product Goal
Release planning helps the Product Owner and team understand how a series of Sprints and releases can progressively move toward achieving the longer-term Product Goal.
Question 7: Which of the following best describes empirical release planning in Scrum?
- Committing to fixed scope and fixed dates upfront using detailed estimates
- Using historical velocity and current backlog size to forecast delivery ranges (Correct answer)
- Delegating all planning decisions to an external PMO
- Creating a Gantt chart approved by all stakeholders before the first Sprint
Correct answer: Using historical velocity and current backlog size to forecast delivery ranges
Empirical planning uses actual measured velocity and current backlog data to produce probabilistic forecasts, updated each Sprint as new information arrives.
CSPO Release Planning and Sprint Goals 1
What is the primary purpose of release planning in Scrum?