Professional Scrum Master Coaching and Facilitation Questions and Answers

Question 1

Two Developers have a recurring disagreement about the best technical approach for a Product Backlog Item.
The disagreement is creating tension during the Daily Scrum.
As a Scrum Master, what is the most effective initial action to take?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a conversation between the two Developers, helping them to explore their perspectives and find a mutually agreeable path forward.

Answer

Decide on the technical approach for them to end the argument and keep the Sprint on track.

Answer

Advise them to table the discussion until the Sprint Retrospective to maintain focus on the Sprint Goal.

Answer

Report the issue to their functional manager to resolve the conflict.

Question 2

A Scrum Master observes that the team is consistently unable to create a realistic plan during Sprint Planning and often fails to meet their forecast. Which stance should the Scrum Master primarily adopt in this situation?

Accepted Answer

Teaching, by explaining techniques for forecasting, breaking down work, and creating a plan focused on the Sprint Goal.

Answer

Facilitating, by simply ensuring the Sprint Planning event finishes on time regardless of the outcome.

Answer

Coaching, by asking powerful questions to help them discover their own solution over many Sprints.

Answer

Mentoring, by sharing a personal story of how they solved a similar problem in a past role.

Question 3

A Scrum Team is frequently interrupted by requests from various department heads, which prevents the Developers from focusing on their Sprint Goal. As a Scrum Master, how should you address this organizational impediment?

Accepted Answer

Work with the department heads and the Product Owner to establish a clear process for engaging with the team, reinforcing the Product Owner's accountability for the Product Backlog.

Answer

Ask the Product Owner to add a buffer to every Sprint to account for the interruptions.

Answer

Tell the Developers to ignore all requests from anyone other than the Product Owner.

Answer

Create a separate 'interrupt-driven' team to handle all ad-hoc requests so the Scrum Team can focus.

Question 4

During a Sprint Retrospective, a Scrum Master wants to ensure all team members have an equal opportunity to contribute ideas for improvement before group discussion begins. Which of the following facilitation techniques is most effective for this purpose?

Accepted Answer

Silent Writing/Brainwriting, where individuals write down their ideas independently before sharing them with the group.

Answer

Open Discussion, where the Scrum Master asks the group for thoughts and lets the conversation flow.

Answer

Fist of Five, to quickly check for agreement on a proposed solution.

Answer

Round Robin, where each person speaks one after the other in a circle.

Question 5

A Product Owner is struggling to get meaningful feedback from stakeholders during the Sprint Review. The event feels more like a one-way demo than a collaborative session. How can the Scrum Master best coach the Product Owner?

Accepted Answer

Coach the Product Owner on preparing key questions and collaboration activities that invite stakeholders to actively inspect the Increment and adapt the Product Backlog.

Answer

Advise the Product Owner to create a more detailed presentation to better explain the work that was done.

Answer

Suggest that the Product Owner only invite the stakeholders who have provided feedback in the past.

Answer

Take over facilitation of the Sprint Review to ensure it runs correctly and serves as a model for the Product Owner.

Question 6

Which of the following actions best exemplifies the Scrum Master's role as a servant-leader?

Accepted Answer

Listening to the team's challenges and asking questions that help them identify and remove their own impediments.

Answer

Tracking each Developer's hours and tasks to ensure the team meets its forecast.

Answer

Acting as the chairperson for the Daily Scrum, calling on each person to give their update.

Answer

Creating the Sprint Backlog for the Developers to ensure they have a clear plan.

Two Developers have a recurring disagreement about the best technical approach for a Product Backlog Item.The disagreement is creating tension during the Daily Scrum.As a Scrum Master, what is the most effective initial action to take?

Two Developers have a recurring disagreement about the best technical approach for a Product Backlog Item.
The disagreement is creating tension during the Daily Scrum.
As a Scrum Master, what is the most effective initial action to take?