Professional Scrum Master Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield Professional Scrum Master facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. In Scrum, who is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team? → The Product Owner
2. A Scrum Master notices that the team consistently fails to meet their Sprint Goals. What is the BEST course of action? → Facilitate a discussion during the Sprint Retrospective to identify root causes
3. Which of the following is NOT a responsibility of the Developers in Scrum? → Prioritizing items in the Product Backlog
4. Which statement best describes the relationship between Scrum events and empiricism? → Each event is a formal opportunity for inspection and adaptation
5. What happens to empirical process control when a Scrum Team's Definition of Done is vague or inconsistent? → Transparency is compromised, making inspection unreliable
6. A stakeholder approaches a Developer directly and asks them to add a feature mid-Sprint. What should the Developer do? → Redirect the stakeholder to the Product Owner
7. A stakeholder asks a Developer directly to add an urgent feature during the current Sprint. What should happen? → The Developer should direct the stakeholder to the Product Owner to discuss prioritization
8. A stakeholder asks to see a feature that was completed during the Sprint but does not yet meet the Definition of Done. What is the correct response? → It cannot be presented at Sprint Review as part of the Increment
9. If the Definition of Done for an Increment is part of the standards of the organization, what is the Scrum Team's responsibility towards it? → All Scrum Teams must follow the organizational standard as a minimum and can add to it.
10. A Development Team delivers an Increment that does not meet the Definition of Done. What should the Scrum Master do? → Coach the team on the importance of transparency and adherence to the Definition of Done
11. Which outcome indicates that a Scrum Master is effectively leading as a servant-leader? → The team is self-managing, continuously improving, and delivering value consistently
12. A team has no organizational standard for Definition of Done. What should happen? → The Scrum Team must create a Definition of Done appropriate for the product
13. Who keeps an eye on job progress throughout a Sprint? → None of the Above
14. A Scrum Team has been using two-week Sprints but consistently fails to deliver a Done Increment. What should the Scrum Master do first? → Help the team identify why they cannot finish work within the Sprint
15. Which technique helps the Product Owner validate assumptions about product value before committing significant development effort? → Conducting experiments or building minimal viable increments to gather user feedback
16. The Daily Scrum is timeboxed to how many minutes? → 15 minutes
17. What happens to work that is not completed by the end of a Sprint but was part of the Sprint Backlog? → It returns to the Product Backlog for re-prioritization
18. During Sprint Review, a stakeholder requests a feature that conflicts with the current Product Goal. What is the most appropriate response? → The Product Owner captures the feedback and decides how to order it on the Product Backlog
19. A stakeholder frequently interrupts the Sprint Review to criticize the team's technical decisions. How should the Scrum Master respond? → Redirect the conversation to focus on the product increment and gathering feedback
20. If one of the three pillars of empiricism (Transparency, Inspection, Adaptation) is weak or missing, what is the likely outcome? → The value delivered will be diminished, and risk will increase.
21. During a Sprint, a Developer realizes that a Product Backlog item cannot meet the current Definition of Done. What should happen? → The item should not be considered part of the Increment
22. If an organization does not have a formal standard for a Definition of Done, who is accountable for creating one for the product? → The Scrum Team.
23. Which Scrum artifact provides transparency into the work selected for the current Sprint? → Sprint Backlog
24. Who is responsible for monitoring progress toward the Sprint Goal during the Daily Scrum? → The Development Team
25. During a Sprint, the Product Owner wants to replace a Product Backlog item that Developers have already started working on. What should happen? → Only the Developers can cancel their current work and no one may force them
26. The Sprint Goal is set during which event? → Sprint Planning
27. During Sprint Planning, who is responsible for selecting Product Backlog items to include in the Sprint? → The Developers
28. Which of the following is an explicit accountability of the Developers within a Scrum Team? → Instilling quality by adhering to a Definition of Done.
29. How does the Scrum Master serve the organization beyond the Scrum Team? → By leading, training, and coaching the organization in its Scrum adoption
30. What does transparency mean in the context of stakeholder communication in Scrum? → Making Scrum artifacts and progress visible and understandable to those who need them