Coaching and Facilitation Flashcards
7 cards from real Professional Scrum Master practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Coaching and Facilitation flashcards as text
A Scrum Master is facilitating a large-group Sprint Retrospective with a team of 12. Which facilitation approach is MOST effective for generating diverse input?
Answer: Divide into small groups for discussion then reconvene to share findings with the whole team
Breaking large groups into smaller sub-groups increases participation, reduces social loafing, and surfaces more diverse perspectives before reconvening to synthesize.
The Scrum Master notices the team avoids discussing failures at Retrospectives and focuses only on what went well. Which technique BEST addresses this?
Answer: Create a blameless postmortem culture by framing failures as learning opportunities and modeling psychological safety
Blameless postmortem culture and psychological safety allow teams to discuss failures openly as learning opportunities, which is the foundation of continuous improvement.
A Product Owner frequently changes priorities mid-Sprint, causing the team significant disruption. How should the Scrum Master coach the Product Owner?
Answer: Help the Product Owner understand that protecting the Sprint Goal gives the team focus while major scope changes can be addressed in the next Sprint
The Scrum Master coaches the Product Owner on how the Sprint Goal provides focus and why mid-Sprint scope changes undermine the team's ability to deliver a coherent increment.
What is the PRIMARY purpose of the Scrum Master facilitating the Daily Scrum when asked by the team?
Answer: To enable the Development Team to inspect and adapt their plan for the day while keeping the event effective
The Daily Scrum's purpose is for the Development Team to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt their plan; facilitation serves this purpose, not status collection.
A Scrum Master wants to help the team improve its estimation accuracy. Which coaching approach is MOST consistent with Scrum values?
Answer: Facilitate team reflection on past estimates versus actuals and coach the team to refine its estimation technique collaboratively
Coaching teams to reflect on their own estimation history and refine their approach builds sustainable capability aligned with Scrum's empirical principles.
Which of the following is a sign that a Scrum Master is acting as a coach rather than a traditional project manager?
Answer: Asking the team powerful questions that lead them to discover solutions themselves
Coaching manifests through powerful questions that build team capability; project management behaviors like assigning work and tracking hours contradict the servant-leader role.
A Scrum Team's retrospective actions are never completed before the next retrospective. What should the Scrum Master do?
Answer: Limit retrospective action items to one or two high-priority improvements per Sprint and track them visibly
Limiting retrospective actions to one or two priority items and making them visible increases follow-through by preventing overcommitment and maintaining focus.