Professional Scrum Master Stakeholder Management and Engagement 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Who is primarily responsible for managing stakeholder expectations and engagement in Scrum?
- The Scrum Master
- The Product Owner (Correct answer)
- The Developers
- The entire Scrum Team equally
Correct answer: The Product Owner
The Product Owner is accountable for managing stakeholders, maximizing product value, and communicating the Product Goal and Product Backlog to stakeholders.
Question 2: During which Scrum event are stakeholders most directly invited to provide feedback on the Increment?
- Sprint Planning
- Daily Scrum
- Sprint Review (Correct answer)
- Sprint Retrospective
Correct answer: Sprint Review
The Sprint Review is the formal event where the Scrum Team and key stakeholders inspect the Increment and adapt the Product Backlog based on feedback.
Question 3: A key stakeholder continuously bypasses the Product Owner and requests features directly from the Developers. What should the Scrum Master do?
- Allow it since stakeholders are important customers
- Coach the stakeholder on proper channels and reinforce the Product Owner's role (Correct answer)
- Escalate to executive management immediately
- Have the Developers reject all direct requests outright
Correct answer: Coach the stakeholder on proper channels and reinforce the Product Owner's role
The Scrum Master should coach stakeholders and the organization to respect Scrum roles, especially the Product Owner's authority over the Product Backlog.
Question 4: What is the best description of a stakeholder in Scrum?
- Only the paying customer or client
- Anyone with a direct financial interest in the product
- People outside the Scrum Team with an interest in or affected by the product (Correct answer)
- Only senior management and executives
Correct answer: People outside the Scrum Team with an interest in or affected by the product
Stakeholders in Scrum include anyone external to the Scrum Team who has an interest in the product or is affected by it, such as customers, users, and sponsors.
Question 5: How frequently should stakeholders be invited to the Sprint Review?
- Only for major milestones or releases
- At the end of each release cycle
- Every Sprint (Correct answer)
- Quarterly or as needed
Correct answer: Every Sprint
The Sprint Review occurs at the end of every Sprint, and key stakeholders should be invited each time to inspect the Increment and collaborate on the Product Backlog.
Question 6: A stakeholder insists that a critical bug fix be added to the current Sprint mid-way through. What is the correct approach?
- Add the bug fix immediately to respect the stakeholder's urgency
- The Scrum Master decides whether to add it based on priority
- The Product Owner assesses urgency and may negotiate scope with the Developers or defer to the next Sprint (Correct answer)
- The Developers independently decide whether to accept the additional work
Correct answer: The Product Owner assesses urgency and may negotiate scope with the Developers or defer to the next Sprint
Only the Product Owner can add or reprioritize items; if scope must change mid-Sprint, that is negotiated collaboratively with Developers, not unilaterally by stakeholder mandate.
Question 7: What is a key Scrum Master responsibility regarding stakeholders and the broader organization?
- Writing status reports and dashboards for stakeholders
- Shielding the Developers from all stakeholder contact
- Helping stakeholders and the organization understand and enact Scrum (Correct answer)
- Approving stakeholder change requests before they reach the Product Owner
Correct answer: Helping stakeholders and the organization understand and enact Scrum
The Scrum Master serves the organization by leading, training, and coaching in Scrum adoption and helping everyone understand empirical product development.
Professional Scrum Master Stakeholder Management and Engagement 1
Who is primarily responsible for managing stakeholder expectations and engagement in Scrum?