Professional Scrum Master Facilitating Scrum Events 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which statement about the Sprint is correct from a Scrum facilitation perspective?
- Sprints can be extended if the Development Team needs more time to complete all Sprint Backlog items
- The Sprint is a container for all other Scrum events and should not be extended or shortened mid-Sprint (Correct answer)
- The Scrum Master can pause the Sprint if the team encounters a major impediment
- The Product Owner can add work to the Sprint Backlog at any time without consulting the team
Correct answer: The Sprint is a container for all other Scrum events and should not be extended or shortened mid-Sprint
The Sprint is a fixed-length container; its duration cannot be changed once it starts, and all other Scrum events occur within it.
Question 2: A Scrum Master is facilitating the first Sprint Retrospective for a new team that is reluctant to share negative feedback. Which technique is most appropriate?
- Skip structured activities and just ask 'What went wrong?' directly
- Use anonymous techniques like written cards or dot voting to surface honest feedback in a psychologically safe way (Correct answer)
- Ask the Product Owner to provide feedback on behalf of the team
- Tell the team that negative feedback is required by Scrum and mandate participation
Correct answer: Use anonymous techniques like written cards or dot voting to surface honest feedback in a psychologically safe way
Facilitating anonymized feedback techniques lowers the barrier for new teams who have not yet built psychological safety for open verbal criticism.
Question 3: The Development Team informs the Scrum Master that they do not need the Daily Scrum because they sit together and communicate constantly. What should the Scrum Master do?
- Agree and cancel the Daily Scrum to respect the team's self-organization
- Explain that the Daily Scrum is a mandatory Scrum event and coach the team on its purpose even for co-located teams (Correct answer)
- Reduce the Daily Scrum to twice per week as a compromise
- Report the team's non-compliance to the Product Owner
Correct answer: Explain that the Daily Scrum is a mandatory Scrum event and coach the team on its purpose even for co-located teams
The Daily Scrum is a mandatory Scrum event; even highly collaborative co-located teams benefit from the structured 15-minute inspection and adaptation of their plan.
Question 4: What is the Scrum Master's role during the Sprint Review?
- Present the Increment to stakeholders on behalf of the Development Team
- Evaluate the quality of the Increment and determine if it meets the Definition of Done
- Facilitate the event and ensure it is productive and stays within the timebox (Correct answer)
- Approve or reject stakeholder feedback before it reaches the Product Owner
Correct answer: Facilitate the event and ensure it is productive and stays within the timebox
The Scrum Master's role in the Sprint Review is to facilitate the event, ensuring it is collaborative, focused, and within the timebox.
Question 5: How should the Scrum Master handle a situation where the Sprint Review becomes a one-way presentation instead of a collaborative working session?
- Allow it since stakeholders prefer passive presentations
- Facilitate interactive activities, demonstrations, and open Q&A to make the Sprint Review a genuine two-way inspection and feedback session (Correct answer)
- Replace the Sprint Review with a written report distributed to stakeholders
- Limit attendees to only the Product Owner and Development Team to avoid one-way dynamics
Correct answer: Facilitate interactive activities, demonstrations, and open Q&A to make the Sprint Review a genuine two-way inspection and feedback session
The Sprint Review should be a collaborative working session, not a gate or one-way presentation; the Scrum Master facilitates engagement and active inspection.
Question 6: During Sprint Planning, the Development Team disagrees about which technical approach to use for a key backlog item. How should the Scrum Master facilitate?
- Make the technical decision to unblock the team and move Sprint Planning forward
- Ask the Product Owner to choose the technical approach since they own the backlog
- Create space for the team to discuss the tradeoffs briefly, then encourage them to make a decision together and move forward (Correct answer)
- Defer the item to the next Sprint to allow more time for technical analysis
Correct answer: Create space for the team to discuss the tradeoffs briefly, then encourage them to make a decision together and move forward
The Scrum Master facilitates the team's self-organization by creating space for the discussion while guiding them to a timely decision, since technical choices belong to the Development Team.
Question 7: What should the Scrum Master do if the Product Owner tries to add new items to the Sprint Backlog mid-Sprint without team consent?
- Allow it since the Product Owner controls the backlog and can change it at any time
- Coach the Product Owner that new work can be added only with the Development Team's consent, as it may affect the Sprint Goal (Correct answer)
- Immediately escalate the issue to the Scrum Team's management
- Remove the new items from the backlog without telling the Product Owner
Correct answer: Coach the Product Owner that new work can be added only with the Development Team's consent, as it may affect the Sprint Goal
The Sprint Backlog belongs to the Development Team; the Scrum Master coaches that mid-Sprint additions require team agreement and should be evaluated against the Sprint Goal.
Professional Scrum Master Facilitating Scrum Events 5
Which statement about the Sprint is correct from a Scrum facilitation perspective?