Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I) Questions

When does the next Sprint begin?

Immediately after the conclusion of the previous Sprint.

Which statement best describes the Sprint Review?

It is when the Scrum Team and stakeholders inspect the outcome of the Sprint and figure out what to do in the upcoming Sprint. *Reason:* Every event in Scrum, besides the Sprint which is a container for the other events, is an opportunity to Inspect AND Adapt.

Which of the following services are appropriate for a Scrum Master in regard to the Daily Scrum?

Teach the Development Team to keep the Daily Scrum within the 15 minute time-box.

Who is required to attend the Daily Scrum?

The Development Team *Reason:* Only the people doing the work described on the Sprint Backlog need to inspect and adapt at the Daily Scrum. If the Scrum Master or Product Owner is also on the Development Team, they will need to be at the Daily Scrum. Otherwise, the Scrum Master simply has to make sure the Development Team knows how to conduct a Daily Scrum and does so.

Who is responsible for managing the progress of work during a Sprint?

The Development Team *Reason:* The Development Team uses the Daily Scrum to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and to inspect how progress is trending toward completing the work in the Sprint Backlog.

Who has the final say on the order of the Product Backlog?

The Product Owner

The Development Team should not be interrupted during the Sprint. The Sprint Goal should remain intact. These are conditions that foster creativity, quality and productivity. *(Which one the following answers is FALSE?)*

The Sprint Backlog is fully formulated in the Sprint Planning meeting and does not change during the Sprint.

Why is the Daily Scrum held at the same time and same place?

The consistency reduces complexity.

What does it mean to say that an event has a time-box?

The event can take no more than a maximum amount of time.

What are the two primary ways a Scrum Master keeps a Development Team working at its highest level of productivity?

1) By facilitating Development Team decisions 2) By removing impediments that hinder the Development Team

Which two things does the Development Team do during the first Sprint?

1) Deliver an increment of potentially releasable software. 2) Develop and deliver at least one piece of functionality.

An organization has decided to adopt Scrum, but management wants to change the terminology to fit with terminology already used. What will likely happen if this is done?

1) Management may feel less anxious. 2) The organization may not understand what has changed with Scrum and the benefits of Scrum may be lost. 3) Without a new vocabulary as a reminder of the change, very little change may actually happen.

Select three incorrect, untrue, or misleading statements about Scrum?

1) Scrum is like traditional processes but with self-organization to replace Project Managers. 2) Scrum is a framework that eliminates complexity. 3) Scrum is a methodology where you can pick and choose which parts of Scrum you think will work for your environment. *Reasons:* Project Managers are not simply replaced by self-organizing teams. Scrum does not eliminate the complexity that is inherent in delivering a product in today's world, instead it offers a framework for dealing with complexity. The five events in the Scrum Guide are mandatory, as each event has a specific purpose.

The length of a Sprint should be:

1) Short enough to keep the business risk acceptable to the Product Owner. 2) Short enough to be able to synchronize the development work with other business events. 3) No more than one month.

Which three behaviors demonstrate that a team is NOT self-organizing and are NOT following the Scrum Guide?

1) Stakeholders attend the Daily Scrum to check progress and work with the Scrum Master to optimize the functional scope for the Sprint. 2) The Development Team invites external people to the Sprint Planning to ask them how to turn a Product Backlog item into an Increment via a complete and detailed Sprint Backlog. 3) The Development Team members are working within the boundaries of their functional description and nicely handing off work from analyst to developer to tester to integration. *Reasons:* The Daily Scrum is attended by the Development Team and should not be used by external stakeholders to check progress. During Sprint Planning, the Scrum Team crafts the Sprint Goal based on the set of Product Backlog items selected for the sprint. Scrum Development Team members don't have titles, and no sub-teams such as testing, architecture, or operations are recognized.

The time-box for a Daily Scrum is?

15 minutes

What is the recommended size for a Development Team (within the Scrum Team)?

3 to 9 *Reason:* Fewer than 3 Development Team members decreases interaction and results in smaller productivity gains. More than 9 members simply requires too much coordination.

The maximum length of the Sprint Review (its time-box) is:

4 hours for a monthly Sprint. For shorter Sprints it is usually shorter.

The time-box for the Sprint Planning meeting is?

8 hours for a monthly Sprint. For shorter Sprints it is usually shorter.

Which statement best describes Scrum?

A framework within which complex products in complex environments are developed. *Reason:* Scrum is not a process or a technique for building products; rather, it is a framework within which you can employ various processes and techniques.

Which of the below are roles on a Scrum Team? Alternatively: Who is on the Scrum Team?

Development Team, Product Owner, Scrum Master

Upon what type of process control is Scrum based?

Empirical *Reason:* Scrum is founded on empirical process control theory, or empiricism. Empiricism asserts that knowledge comes from experience and making decisions based on what is known.

What is the main reason for the Scrum Master to be at the Daily Scrum?

He or she does not have to be there; he or she only has to ensure the Development Team has a Daily Scrum.

When does a Development Team member become the sole owner of a Sprint Backlog item?

Never. All Sprint Backlog Items are "owned" by the entire Development Team, even though each one may be implemented by an individual development team member. *Reason:* Sprint Backlog and all of its items are collectively owned by the Development Team. No individual team member can claim ownership over an item as this would block communication and collaboration.

Which statement best describes a Product Owner's responsibility?

Optimizing the value of the work the Development Team does.

What is the role of Management in Scrum?

Support the Product Owner with insights and information into high value product and system capabilities. Support the Scrum Master to cause organizational change that fosters empiricism, self-organization, bottom-up intelligence, and intelligent release of software. *Reason:* Management has no active role in the actual product development through Scrum. However, management external to the Scrum team is incredibly important in setting the vision and strategy to guide the overall direction of the organization.

Who should know the most about the progress toward a business objective or a release, and be able to explain the alternatives most clearly?

The Product Owner

*True or False:* Scrum does not have a role called "project manager."

True *Reason:* A Scrum Team has a Scrum Master, a Product Owner and a Development Team. As a whole they have all controls needed.

The Product Backlog is ordered by:

Whatever is deemed most appropriate by the Product Owner. *Reason:* The Product Owner decides what makes the most sense to optimize the value of the work being done by the Development Team.

When might a Sprint be abnormally cancelled?

When the Sprint Goal becomes obsolete. *Reason:* A Sprint can be cancelled before the Sprint time-box is over, or when the Sprint Goal becomes obsolete. This might occur if the company changes direction or if market or technology conditions change.

When is a Sprint over?

When the time-box expires. *Reason:* The duration of a Sprint is fixed and cannot be shortened or lengthened.

When many Development Teams are working on a single product, what best describes the definition of "Done?"

All Development Teams must have a definition of "Done" that makes their combined work potentially releasable *Reason:* Scrum requires an Increment to be releasable. This is an Increment of product. Many teams working on a single product are expected to deliver such an Increment.

How much work must a Development Team do to a Product Backlog item it selects for a Sprint?

As much as it has told the Product Owner will be done for every Product Backlog item it selects in conformance with the definition of "Done". *Reason:* The purpose of each Sprint is to deliver Increments of potentially releasable functionality that adhere to the Scrum Team's current definition of "Done".

Development Team membership should change:

As needed, while taking into account a short term reduction in productivity. *Reason:* Teams typically go through some steps before achieving a state of increased performance. Changing membership typically reduces cohesion, affecting performance and productivity in the short term.

*True or False:* When multiple teams work together on the same product, each team should maintain a separate Product Backlog.

False *Reason:* Products have one Product Backlog, regardless of how many teams are used. Any other setup makes it difficult for the Development Team to determine what it should work on.

*True or False:* It is mandatory that the product increment be released to production at the end of each Sprint.

False *Reason:* The product increment should be usable and releasable at the end of every Sprint, but it does not have to be released.

*True or False:* The Scrum Team should choose at least one high priority process improvement, identified during the Sprint Retrospective, and place it in the Product Backlog.

False *Reason:* To ensure continuous improvement, the Sprint Backlog rather than the Product Backlog includes at least one high priority process improvement identified in the previous Sprint Retrospective meeting.

The CEO asks the Development Team to add a "very important" item to a Sprint that is in progress. What should the Development Team do?

Inform the Product Owner so he/she can work with the CEO. *Reason:* The items selected for a Sprint have been selected as most valuable with the Product Owner. The items serve the Sprint's goal. No changes should be made that endanger the Sprint Goal. No one external to the Scrum Team can force changes on the Development Team (Sprint Backlog) and the Product Owner (Product Backlog).

The three pillars of empirical process control are:

Inspection, Transparency, Adaptation

During a Sprint, a Development Team determines that it will not be able to finish the complete forecast. Who should be present to review and adjust the Sprint work selected?

The Product Owner and the Development Team. *Reason:* During the Sprint, scope may be clarified and re-negotiated between the Product Owner and Development Team as more is learned.

Who creates the definition of "Done"?

The development organization (or Development Team if none is available from the development organization) *Reason:* If the definition of "done" is part of the conventions, standards or guidelines of the development organization, all Scrum Teams must follow it as a minimum. The Development Team of the Scrum Team can complement it with elements specific for the product or context.If "done" for an increment is not a convention of the development organization, the Development Team of the Scrum Team must define a definition of "done" appropriate for the product.

*True or False:* The purpose of a Sprint is to produce a done increment of working product.

True *Reason:* The heart of Scrum is a Sprint, a time-box of one month or less during which a "Done", usable, and potentially releasable product Increment is created.

The Development Team should have all the skills needed to:

Turn the Product Backlog items it selects into an increment of potentially releasable product functionality. *Reason:* The Development Team consists of professionals who do the work of delivering a potentially releasable Increment of "Done" product at the end of each Sprint. Development Teams are cross-functional, with all of the skills as a team necessary to create a product Increment.