CST Facilitation Techniques & Coaching Skills 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A CST notices that a Scrum team consistently agrees with whatever the Scrum Master suggests. This pattern is BEST described as:
- High trust and alignment within the team
- Groupthink, which inhibits genuine empiricism and healthy conflict (Correct answer)
- Evidence that the Scrum Master has effective facilitation skills
- A sign the team has internalized Scrum values well
Correct answer: Groupthink, which inhibits genuine empiricism and healthy conflict
When teams default to agreement without genuine debate, groupthink suppresses the empirical, inspect-and-adapt foundation that Scrum depends on.
Question 2: Which ICF core competency is MOST directly demonstrated when a coach summarizes what a coachee just said and reflects it back without adding interpretation?
- Establishing Trust and Intimacy
- Active Listening (Correct answer)
- Coaching Presence
- Evoking Awareness
Correct answer: Active Listening
Reflecting back without interpretation is a hallmark of active listening, which ensures the coachee feels heard and helps them hear themselves more clearly.
Question 3: During Sprint Planning, the team is unable to forecast a Sprint Goal because requirements are unclear. As a facilitating CST, the BEST action is:
- Help the team craft a learning-oriented Sprint Goal focused on the uncertainty itself (Correct answer)
- Postpone Sprint Planning until the Product Owner clarifies all requirements
- Suggest the team pull in the highest-priority backlog items regardless of a goal
- Recommend shortening the Sprint to reduce risk
Correct answer: Help the team craft a learning-oriented Sprint Goal focused on the uncertainty itself
When requirements are unclear, a learning-oriented Sprint Goal ('we will know X by end of Sprint') aligns with empiricism and allows the team to move forward productively.
Question 4: A coaching agreement at the start of an engagement should include all of the following EXCEPT:
- The specific outcomes the coachee wants from the engagement
- Confidentiality boundaries and how information will be shared
- A detailed script of questions the coach will ask in each session (Correct answer)
- Roles, responsibilities, and how progress will be measured
Correct answer: A detailed script of questions the coach will ask in each session
Coaching is emergent and coachee-led; pre-scripting questions removes the responsiveness that makes coaching effective.
Question 5: A CST is running a training class and notices half the room has disengaged. The MOST likely root cause to explore first is:
- Participants lack motivation to learn Scrum
- The training design may not be meeting the learners where they are (Correct answer)
- The room setup is not conducive to learning
- Participants were required to attend and are resistant to change
Correct answer: The training design may not be meeting the learners where they are
Disengagement most often signals a mismatch between training design and learner needs — the facilitator should adapt before attributing the problem to learners.
Question 6: The coaching mode that involves sharing observations and suggesting options without directing is BEST described as:
- Mentoring
- Consulting
- Teaching
- Coaching (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Coaching
Pure coaching holds back advice and uses questions, but sharing observations while leaving choices to the coachee is the coaching mode distinguished from consulting or mentoring.
Question 7: A Scrum team says they 'don't need retrospectives because everything is going fine.' As a CST, the MOST appropriate coaching response is:
- Respect the team's autonomy and discontinue retrospectives per their request
- Ask the team what evidence they have that nothing could be improved (Correct answer)
- Explain to the team that the Scrum Guide requires retrospectives
- Schedule retrospectives anyway because continuous improvement is mandatory
Correct answer: Ask the team what evidence they have that nothing could be improved
Asking for evidence of their claim invites reflection without being directive, helping the team discover blind spots they may not know they have.
CST Facilitation Techniques & Coaching Skills 3
A CST notices that a Scrum team consistently agrees with whatever the Scrum Master suggests.
This pattern is BEST described as: