CSPO Scrum Product Owner 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A stakeholder demands a feature be added immediately to the current Sprint. What should the Product Owner do?
- Add it to the Sprint Backlog immediately
- Evaluate it, prioritize it in the Product Backlog, and address it in a future Sprint (Correct answer)
- Ask the Development Team to extend the Sprint
- Reject it outright without discussion
Correct answer: Evaluate it, prioritize it in the Product Backlog, and address it in a future Sprint
The Product Owner protects Sprint integrity by routing new requests through the Product Backlog rather than disrupting the current Sprint.
Question 2: Which activity best describes the Product Owner's role during Sprint Review?
- Presenting a status report to senior management
- Inspecting the Increment and deciding what to do next with the Product Backlog (Correct answer)
- Approving or rejecting each individual user story
- Assigning tasks for the next Sprint
Correct answer: Inspecting the Increment and deciding what to do next with the Product Backlog
Sprint Review is an inspect-and-adapt event where the Product Owner collaborates with stakeholders to assess the Increment and update the Product Backlog.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of the Product Goal?
- To list all features the product will ever have
- To provide a long-term target that gives the Scrum Team direction (Correct answer)
- To replace the Product Backlog
- To define the Sprint Goal for each Sprint
Correct answer: To provide a long-term target that gives the Scrum Team direction
The Product Goal describes the future state of the product and serves as a long-term objective the Scrum Team works toward.
Question 4: When multiple Scrum Teams work on the same product, how should the Product Backlog be managed?
- Each team maintains a separate Product Backlog
- There is one Product Backlog managed by one Product Owner (Correct answer)
- Each team's Scrum Master manages a shared backlog
- There should be a Product Backlog per Sprint team
Correct answer: There is one Product Backlog managed by one Product Owner
Scrum requires one Product Backlog per product, managed by a single Product Owner, even when multiple teams collaborate.
Question 5: A Product Owner notices the team's velocity has significantly dropped. What is the most appropriate response?
- Demand the team work overtime to compensate
- Collaborate with the team to understand impediments and adjust the Product Backlog accordingly (Correct answer)
- Replace underperforming team members
- Add more items to the Sprint Backlog mid-Sprint
Correct answer: Collaborate with the team to understand impediments and adjust the Product Backlog accordingly
The Product Owner should work collaboratively with the team, treating velocity changes as feedback to inspect and adapt upon.
Question 6: What is the role of the Product Owner in refining Product Backlog items?
- The Product Owner does all refinement alone before each Sprint
- The Product Owner collaborates with the Development Team to add detail, estimates, and order to backlog items (Correct answer)
- Refinement is solely the Scrum Master's responsibility
- Product Backlog items are never refined once created
Correct answer: The Product Owner collaborates with the Development Team to add detail, estimates, and order to backlog items
Product Backlog refinement is a collaborative activity where the Product Owner and Developers break down and clarify items together.
Question 7: A Product Owner is pressured by an executive to commit to a specific set of features for a release date. What should the Product Owner do?
- Commit immediately to preserve the relationship
- Explain Scrum's empirical approach and negotiate based on current knowledge and velocity data (Correct answer)
- Cancel all upcoming Sprints
- Delegate the decision to the Scrum Master
Correct answer: Explain Scrum's empirical approach and negotiate based on current knowledge and velocity data
The Product Owner should use empirical data and transparency to set realistic expectations rather than making commitments that undermine the team's autonomy.
CSPO Scrum Product Owner 2
A stakeholder demands a feature be added immediately to the current Sprint.
What should the Product Owner do?