Professional Scrum Master Scrum Team Accountabilities 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A new team member argues that the Product Owner should assign tasks to Developers each Sprint. What is the correct Scrum stance?
- The Product Owner assigns tasks based on priority
- Developers self-manage and decide how to accomplish Sprint Goal work (Correct answer)
- The Scrum Master assigns tasks to balance workload
- Stakeholders suggest task assignments during Sprint Planning
Correct answer: Developers self-manage and decide how to accomplish Sprint Goal work
Developers are self-managing and decide internally how to turn Product Backlog items into a Done Increment without direction from outside.
Question 2: During a Sprint, a Developer realizes the selected Sprint Backlog work will take longer than expected. Who is responsible for resolving this?
- The Scrum Master negotiates the Sprint Goal with stakeholders
- The Product Owner removes items from the Sprint Backlog
- Developers collaborate to re-plan and negotiate scope with the Product Owner (Correct answer)
- Management extends the Sprint duration
Correct answer: Developers collaborate to re-plan and negotiate scope with the Product Owner
Developers own the Sprint Backlog and collaborate with the Product Owner to negotiate scope while protecting the Sprint Goal.
Question 3: What is the PRIMARY accountability of the Product Owner regarding the Product Backlog?
- Writing detailed technical specifications for each item
- Ensuring the backlog is transparent, visible, and understood (Correct answer)
- Prioritizing items based on the development team's capacity
- Approving all backlog items before Developers can work on them
Correct answer: Ensuring the backlog is transparent, visible, and understood
The Product Owner is accountable for ensuring the Product Backlog is transparent, visible, and understood by all who inspect it.
Question 4: A Scrum Master notices team members are reluctant to raise impediments publicly. What should the Scrum Master do?
- Report team members' issues to management on their behalf
- Create a safe environment where impediments can be surfaced and removed (Correct answer)
- Add impediment resolution as a Definition of Done criterion
- Ask the Product Owner to address impediments during Sprint Review
Correct answer: Create a safe environment where impediments can be surfaced and removed
The Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team by helping establish an environment of trust where impediments are surfaced and removed quickly.
Question 5: How many Product Owners can a Scrum Team have?
- One per product area or feature set
- One, who may delegate responsibilities but remains accountable (Correct answer)
- As many as needed based on product complexity
- One per Developer on the team
Correct answer: One, who may delegate responsibilities but remains accountable
The Scrum Guide specifies one Product Owner per Scrum Team who may delegate work but retains full accountability.
Question 6: A Developer completes their assigned work mid-Sprint. What should they do next?
- Wait for the next Sprint Planning to receive new assignments
- Notify the Scrum Master, who will find them more work
- Pull the next highest-priority item from the Sprint Backlog to help meet the Sprint Goal (Correct answer)
- Ask the Product Owner to approve additional work
Correct answer: Pull the next highest-priority item from the Sprint Backlog to help meet the Sprint Goal
Developers self-organize and pull work from the Sprint Backlog to best meet the Sprint Goal, not wait for assignments.
Question 7: What does it mean for a Scrum Team to be 'cross-functional'?
- Team members each have a single specialty and hand off work between them
- The team collectively has all skills necessary to create value each Sprint (Correct answer)
- Each team member can perform every task equally well
- The team works across multiple products simultaneously
Correct answer: The team collectively has all skills necessary to create value each Sprint
Cross-functional means the team as a whole possesses all the skills needed to create a Done Increment without depending on external parties.
Professional Scrum Master Scrum Team Accountabilities 2
A new team member argues that the Product Owner should assign tasks to Developers each Sprint.
What is the correct Scrum stance?