Scrum is not a simple thing. Many people ask me questions on different Scrum topics. I will publish my answers here.
What are the two essential features a Scrum Team should possess?
- It should choose how best to accomplish their work, rather than being directed by others outside the team
- It should have all competencies needed to accomplish the work without depending on others not part of the team
- It should use tools, processes and techniques approved by the Organization
- It should be flexible enough to complete all the work planned for the Sprint even if some team members are on vacation
Though the explanation mentions 1 &2 as the answer for this but shouldn’t option 3 also be the answer for this question. Development team should be using tools, process and techniques approved by organization and if there is any hindrance the scrum master should notice this as impediment and talk to respective stakeholders?
Mikhail: For me #3 looks like a contradiction to #1. As long as the team creates increments according to the DoD, it can use any techniques, tools, etc.
Mikhail: I think, Scaled Scrum does not prescribe any particular architecture. It only says the dependencies between teams should be minimized and we should inspect and adapt frequently. So, it is an ongoing process. Evaluating the current architecture and suggesting ways to improve it is a part of every Sprint.
As I remember, the open Scaled Scrum quiz contains only the following topics:
Q: A system is decomposed into elements like workflows, features, capabilities, etc. How it affects Scrum Teams on a scaled project?
A: It will be reflected in the implementation.
Q: Two ways how Dev Teams can ensure a good application architecture?
* Architecture is an ongoing discussion
* The DT should have a set of architecture principles and follow them
Q: How to start a big complex project?
A: Form 1-2 teams of best developers for implementing the core, add more teams later.
You see, there are no any specific architectural questions. So, nothing to read about this. 🙂
However, the exam contains references to SOA (service-oriented architecture). It is worth to get a high level view of SOA, or at least read its definition. For example at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service-oriented_architecture
Mikhail: The idea is simple. Sprint is a special event that is nothing more than a time-box for other events. The Scrum Guide explains it in this way: “Other than the Sprint itself, which is a container for all other events, each event in Scrum is a formal opportunity to inspect and adapt something.”
Mikhail: The Scrum Guide says: “The Development Team of the Scrum Team must define a definition of “done” appropriate for the product.” So, the correct answer is the Development Team.
From my point of view, DT owns DoD on behalf of the whole Scrum Team. So, it is possible to say “Scrum Team creates DoD”, however “Development Team creates DoD” is more precise.
Mikhail: The Product Owner is responsible for this.
In the Scrum Guide you can find that the PO is responsible for:
* Ensuring that the Product Backlog is visible, transparent, and clear to all, and shows what the Scrum Team will work on next;
At the Sprint Review:
* The PO explains what Product Backlog items have been “Done” and what has not been “Done”;
* The entire group collaborates on what to do next, so that the Sprint Review provides valuable input to subsequent Sprint Planning;
The Product Owner is the Lead Facilitator of Key Stakeholder Involvement. The PO is responsible for identifying the key stakeholders for the product and involving them as necessary throughout the development effort.
Mikhail: Of course, the team can proceed. Right, PB is the single source of requirements for any changes to be made to the product. If the Scrum Team does not understand what should be done next, it means the PB needs to be refined. The Product Owner should put his product vision as backlog items, maybe with help of the Development Team.
A product backlog item should contain everything necessary to be understood by any member of the Scrum Team. So, if a new UI markup needs to be developed, it should be a part (task) of some item (story) in the PB. When the markup is ready, it should be attached to the item.
So, the answer is not a simple “yes/no”. I would carefully look at the wording of the suggested answers to be maximally close to the point I described above.
Mikhail: I would say the PO should not usually do this. The PO must be the arbiter of product value and how it is represented to the team. Frequently key stakeholders do not know exactly what they want and how it can be achieved. This is a job for the PO to understand their needs, decide how they can be fulfilled with the maximum value.
Probably, in rare cases a key stakeholder can be invited as a domain expert to a product refinement session. However, the PO should have the final word.
Mikhail: No. The Scrum Glossary gives the following definition for Product Backlog: “It is an ordered list of the work to be done in order to create, maintain and sustain a product.” So, Scrum is not specific about exactly what a Product Backlog Item is or how it should be expressed. It is just “work to be done”.
The Scrum Guide gives a bit more details about a PBI: it should have the attributes of a description, order, estimate, and value. However, it does not change the “work to be done” definition much. For example, a Product Backlog can contain knowledge acquisition tasks, prototyping, technical chores etc.
However, there is one important moment: a Product Backlog should contain items that the Product Owner cares about, in the sense that they add clear business value and can be ordered by him or her. If there are some “Developer Stories”, i.e. removing technical debt, they can be introduced by the Development Team into their own Sprint Backlog, if they think such stories are necessary in order to help mitigate a technical risk.
Mikhail: The following points should be taken into the account:
1. The Development Team is responsible for the Definition of Done.
2. There is no direct requirement in the Scrum Guide for a formal approval of the DoD by the PO.
3. The PO as a member of the Scrum Team participates in the Sprint Retrospective where the DoD is revised and adapted.
‘No’ answer is more comfortable for the question. However, the PO can affect the DoD at the Sprint Retrospective by making suggestions for the Dev Team how to improve it. Also the PO can bring some non-functional requirements for the product and the Dev Team usually applies them via DoD. See 11. How to address non-functional requirements? and 46. Non-functional requirements, PO and DoD
Mikhail: The Scrum guide says:
The Product Owner is the sole person responsible for managing the Product Backlog… The Product Owner may do the above work, or have the Development Team do it. However, the Product Owner remains accountable.
Creation of a PBI relates to PB management. So, certainly the PO is responsible for this. However, he can delegate this work to the Development Team.
If the Scrum Master combines his role with the Developer role (the most common situation), he is a part of the Development Team and can create PBIs when it is agreed with the PO. Otherwise, I think, he should not do it.
In my quizzes I have a similar question: who can change the PB? The answer is “The PO and the DT with permission of the PO.”
Mikhail: Non-functional requirements describe qualities of the system being developed. E.g. the system should be secure, extensible and have acceptable performance. The only way to meet such requirements is to have them as a part of the DoD and check every Increment against these criteria.
From my side I would mention that if some non-functional requirements relate only to a part of the Product (i.e. to some feature), most likely the requirements should be processed as a sub-task within this feature instead of the DoD.
Mikhail: The DoD helps to reveal the work necessary to complete a PB item. So, it helps to estimate how much time it will take. With better estimations the Development Team can better plan which items can be completed in the upcoming Sprint.
Mikhail: The whole Scrum Team should come to a solution about the first Sprint length before starting it. The length of the following Sprints can be changed (adapted).
There is no a formal event for this purpose. The Scrum Guide limits only the maximum length by one month. However, the following points can be taken into account:
- The pace at which the PO wants to have increments (new features implemented), demonstrate them to the Key Stakeholders and get feedback.
- Experience of the SM. What was the optimal length for teams doing a similar work.
- Experience of the DT. Too long Sprints make planning difficult. Too short Sprints do not allow to implement bigger features in one chunk, but give faster feedback.
From my experience, the optimal Spring length is 2 weeks.
Mikhail: A first Sprint requires no more than a Product Owner, a team, and enough ideas to potentially complete a full Sprint.
Mikhail: First of all, there is no Project Manager role in Scrum. So, the manager from the question is an external person for the team.
My best options are below:
a. Invite the manager to the next Sprint Review. There the manager will see what was completed in the Sprint, what is the feedback from the Key Stakeholders, what are the priorities for the next Sprint, get some review of the timeline and budget.
b. In agile practices the duty of all participants is to be transparent. Those who need information are responsible for getting it. They have a duty to ensure that the information they act on is obtained in a timely fashion and with minimal filtering.
So, the manager can investigate the artifacts of the Scrum Team: the Product Backlog, the Sprint Backlog, the Increment. The team is responsible for sharing these artifacts and any information radiators that can help to make the artifacts more transparent (e.g. burn down charts, story boards, etc.)
One more point is that proper use of Scrum makes sure that the most valuable features are implemented first and the proof of success lies in ongoing delivery and not in reporting.
Update: I got the suggested options for the question:
1) Scrum doesn’t have PMs
2) Share the PB and forecast for the sprint
3) Share the current roadblocks
4) Share the last stakeholder report by PO
I see the options fit well with my answer:
1) Scrum doesn’t have PMs
* Correct
2) Share the PB and forecast for the sprint
* Correct. Scrum Team artifacts should be transparent.
3) Share the current roadblocks
* Wrong. Sharing artifacts is much better.
4) Share the last stakeholder report by PO
* Wrong. The PO does not have duty to prepare a special report for the Key Stakeholders.
Mikhail: The most important individuals for maximizing value for the Product are the Key Stakeholders. The PO should identify and involve them as necessary throughout the development effort. The Key Stakeholders are typically customers, purchasers, users, and the people that fund the product’s development. These people may be internal or external to the Organization.
Mikhail: The PO can delegate writing Product Backlog Items.
The Scrum Guide contains:
The Product Owner is the sole person responsible for managing the Product Backlog. Product Backlog management includes:
…
* Clearly expressing Product Backlog items;
…
The Product Owner may do the above work, or have the Development Team do it.
The PO is responsible for identifying the Key Stakeholders and involving them as necessary.
The Scrum Master is responsible for facilitating the Scrum events.
Mikhail: There are several possible good answers. I would suggest the PO should focus on:
* Key Stakeholder Involvement
In order to maximize value, the PO should identify the key stakeholders for the product, and involve them as necessary throughout the development effort.
* Product Marketplace
The Product Owner should be expertly aware of the marketplace for the product. They should constantly be gathering and re-gathering information and data regarding the marketplace, so that the product value is maximized.
* Product Release Decisions
The PO is the one and only person who can decide whether to release the latest increment of the Product. In order for value to actually be captured, a release of the product must occur.
Mikhail: Of course not. This question is very similar to the question #17 above.
Who does the work of updating and managing the Product Backlog is a collaboration between the Product Owner and the Development Team. However, the Product Owner is solely responsible and accountable for the decisions in the Product Backlog.
For example, the PO can write nothing, but explain everything in detail to the Development Team. Then the team will create the required PB items and write down all the details.
- A. Writing clear, transparent User Stories
- B. Working with customers and stakeholders to identify the most important product requirements
- C. Being with the Scrum team all the time, just in case they need me to clarify a requirement
- D. Clearly communicating project or release status and strategies to customers and stakeholders
Mikhail:
- C is wrong because the PO does not have to spend all the time with the DT. The PO has other things to do. For example, communicating with Key Stakeholders. The main PO commitment is product value delivery. So, he or she should spend enough time (but not all the time) with the DT to meet that commitment.
- A is just partially right. Writing clear user stories is important, but the Product Backlog also contains many other things like features, functions, requirements, enhancements, etc. The PO is responsible for the whole management of the Product Backlog. Also the PO can ask the DT to write the stories.
- D is partially correct because the PO should communicate his product vision not only to the Key Stakeholders, but also to the Scrum Team.
- B is correct. Identifying the most valuable Product features one of the most important PO responsibilities.
- So, I would answer B and D.
Mikhail:
I think, in the broad sense the answer is “yes”. The PB is the source for the Sprint Backlog. The Sprint Backlog is the source of the Dev Team work. However, only the Dev Team knows how to implement Sprint Backlog Items. It can involve technical tasks, for example, removing some technical debt or even installing a development environment for a new developer.
Mikhail:
The Scrum Guide says: the SM helps the PO to understand and practice agility. Agility means using the most effective ways to collaborate. Direct collaboration between the PO and the DT is the most effective one. So, the best technique for SM is to monitor communications between the DT and the PO and facilitate direct collaboration.
Mikhail:
No. It is just one of the first steps to success. Success in Scrum is getting maximum value with the existing resources. Value, as defined in a Scrum context, is the financial (or social) benefit an organization receives or might receive by creating and releasing the product under development. In order for value to actually be captured, a release of the product must occur. The sooner you release, the sooner you can start capturing the value created by the product.
Increase in team’s velocity shows that the Dev Team became more mature and can do more in the same time frame.
Mikhail:
The Scrum Guide says: During the Sprint Review, the Scrum Team and stakeholders collaborate about what was done in the Sprint.
So, the answer is “the Scrum Team and stakeholders”.
A) Its productivity is likely to stay the same
B) Its productivity is likely to increase
C) Its productivity is likely to decrease
Mikhail: C.
In a short term the productivity will decrease because the new teams will spend time to get up to speed with the Product. The old team will spend a lot of time for communications with the new teams.
A) The frequency at which team formation can be changed
B) The organization has mandated similar length sprints
C) The risk of being disconnected from the stakeholders
D) The level of uncertainty over the technology to be used
E) The ability to go to market with a product release.
Mikhail: C, D, E.
A. is wrong because Development Teams in Scrum are self-organizing and can decide to change at any time.
B. is bad because Organization is not responsible for the Sprint length. It is determined by the Scrum Team. The PO and the Dev Team should agree on this. The SM may have some coaching duties to perform in that regard.
C. is good because the bigger part of interaction with the Key Stakeholders happens at the Sprint Review meeting. If the Sprint length is bigger, this feedback loop becomes longer.
D. Shorter Sprints is an effective way to hone in on the requirements or try out the technology before committing to a solution.
E. Shorter Sprints suppose that the Dev Team produces “done” increments more frequently. It allows the PO to release the increments more frequently too.
A) Manger would divide them depending on location, bonding between members and xyz…
B) Developers will form teams themselves.
C) Scrum master will assign them according to budget.
D) Understanding scrum encourage self organization, developers will organize themselves into teams based on skills.
E) Product owner brings all developer working on same product together for planning and depending on functionalities , developer with self organize themselves into teams.
Mikhail: All the options related to self-organization are correct: B, D and E.
Mikhail: Of course the answer is “True”. The PO comes to the Sprint Planning with an idea for the Sprint Goal and then all the Scrum Team crafts the final version of the Goal.
A) The scrum process and how it was used during the Sprint
B) Coding and Engineering practices
C) Sprint Results
D) All of the above
Mikhail: The Scrum Guide says “A Sprint Review is held at the end of the Sprint to inspect the Increment and adapt the Product Backlog if needed.”
So, D. option would be great for the Sprint Retrospective meeting, but it is wrong for this question. All the topics related to the development process are discussed at the Sprint Retrospective.
So, the correct answer for this question is C. Sprint Results.
- In which meetings the Key Stakeholders are allowed to participate? The correct answer is “The Sprint Review”. The Sprint Planning was evaluated as wrong in this question.
- Select the two meetings in which people outside the Scrum Team are allowed to participate. The correct answers are “The Sprint Planning” and “The Sprint Review.”
The Key Stakeholders are people outside of the Scrum Team, so in the second question they are allowed to participate in the Sprint Planning, in the question #1 they are not. Is there an error in one of the questions?
Mikhail: The difference between “participate” (come to the meeting and speak) and “attend” (come to the meeting, but not speak) is a bit difficult. However, the real exam uses it for sure.
The question #1 is correct. The Sprint Review is the only formal Scrum event where the Key Stakeholders are allowed to take part in. They are invited by the Product Owner and actively give their feedback on the Product.
The question #2 is also correct. It looks like your confusion comes from mixing together concepts of “Key Stakeholders” and “technical experts”. The Key Stakeholders are typically customers, purchasers, users, and the people that fund the product’s development.
In “Sprint Planning” chapter the Scrum Guide says: “The Development Team may also invite other people to attend to provide technical or domain advice.” So, these people are not the Key Stakeholders. They are technical and domain experts. And these people give technical advice. It obviously means they can speak at the meeting. Using the word “attend” here looks like a little inconsistency between the Scrum Guide and the questions.
I hope, now you see the Key Stakeholders go to the Sprint Review and technical domain experts could go to the Sprint Planning. So, there are two meetings when people outside of the Scrum Team can come and speak.
A) It reduces long-term operational costs
B) It increases customer satisfaction
C) It is delivered on time
D) It has all the features that the Product Owner expected
Mikhail: The answers are A and B.
If you take a look at the Evidence Management Guide, you will find A and B among the Key Value Measures in Current Value section. C and D are absent in this list.
A) Managed by the Product Owner.
B) Ordered based on priority, value, dependencies, and risk.
C) An inventory of things to be done for the Product.
D) An exhaustive list of upfront approved requirements to be implemented for the system.
E) Only visible to the Product Owner and stakeholders.
Mikhail: I would choose A, B and C.
E is wrong because all the Scrum Team members can see the Product Backlog.
C and D answers are similar. I like C better because a Product Backlog is never complete, so it cannot be exhaustive. From the other side, if a requirement is in the Product Backlog, it is approved by the PO. So, “an exhaustive list of upfront approved requirements” could be also valid. I do not like this question much because of the ambiguous wording.
A) Customer satisfaction
B) Velocity
C) Time to market
D) Budget spent
E) Productivity
Mikhail: A and C are correct. If you take a look inside the EBM guide, you will find “Customer Satisfaction” KVM and “Time to Market” KVA. Budget, velocity and productivity do not contribute directly to capturing Product value.
A) Each task is estimated in hours.
B) It is a complete list of all work to be done in a Sprint.
C) Every item has a designated owner.
D) It is the Development Team’s plan for the Sprint.
E) It is ordered by the Product Owner.
Mikhail: The Scrum Guide contains
“The Sprint Backlog is the set of Product Backlog items selected for the Sprint, plus a plan for delivering the product Increment and realizing the Sprint Goal.”
“The Development Team modifies the Sprint Backlog throughout the Sprint, and the Sprint Backlog emerges during the Sprint. This emergence occurs as the Development Team works through the plan and learns more about the work needed to achieve the Sprint Goal.”
A) Wrong because there is no requirement to have estimation in hours
B) Wrong because the team cannot foresee all the work in the beginning of a Sprint
C) Scrum does not require a designated owner for items
D) The best option here
E) Wrong because the Dev Team owns the Sprint Backlog
A) Developers on the Development Team work closely with business analysts, architects, developers and testers who are not on the team.
B) The Development Team is a virtual team drawing from separate team of business analysts, architects, developers and testers.
C) The Development Team includes not only developers but also business analysts, architects,developers and testers.
D) The Development Team includes cross-skilled individuals who are able to contribute to do what is necessary to deliver an increment of software.
Mikhail: The best option is D. Scrum recognizes just one role “Developer” within the Development Team. The Scrum Guide tells:
– Development Teams are cross-functional, with all the skills as a team necessary to create a product Increment;
– Scrum recognizes no titles for Development Team members, regardless of the work being performed by the person;
– Individual Development Team members may have specialized skills and areas of focus, but accountability belongs to the Development Team as a whole.
Mikhail: The Scrum Guide says: “When the values of commitment, courage, focus, openness and respect are embodied and lived by the Scrum Team, the Scrum pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation come to life and build trust for everyone.”
So, the answer will be: commitment, courage, focus, openness and respect.
Mikhail: The same as in question #36, the answer will include some of these: commitment, courage, focus, openness and respect. For me the most suitable answer looks like focus (focusing on the most important things) and openness (the PB items and their values are transparent to everyone).
I would disagree because the Teams must do integrated increment in the end of the Sprint. It means Sprint length of all the Teams must be the same.
Mikhail: The Scrum framework does not require the same Sprint length or aligned Sprints for all teams. The Nexus framework is built on top of the Scrum and also has no requirements regarding this.
However, if several teams work together using the Nexus Framework, they work in the same Nexus Sprint, have common Nexus Sprint Planning and other events. You are right, the teams should use (but do not have to) the same Sprint length and all Sprints should start and finish together to avoid inefficiency.
Usually the emphasis is placed on having a shared Definition of Done. Another option could be when one team has 2 week sprint length, whereas another teams use 4 weeks.
One of the best things about Nexus – it is less prescriptive when compared to SAFe & LeSS. Usually there are many ways to solve the inefficiencies. But definitely not by making something prescriptive.
Mikhail: The PO is the lead facilitator of Key Stakeholder involvement. The PO should involve them as necessary throughout the development effort. The PO is responsible for making sure that the Key Stakeholders attend and interact in the Sprint Reviews, but really the Stakeholders can be involved with the Scrum Team any time where it’s valuable to have the stakeholder input.
Product ownership is not a committee. The PO is responsible for the product value and how it is represented to the team. So, in the case of any contradiction, the issue must be explained to the PO as soon as possible. Then the PO will communicate with the Stakeholders, resolve it and communicate solution back to the team.
It is an anti-pattern if someone does the PO work for the Dev Team.
Mikhail: I completely agree that any valuable idea how to make the product better should be added to the backlog. However, only the top items for one or two next Sprints should be refined enough (be in “ready” state).
With bigger backlogs it becomes harder to order the items and find dependencies. However, there are helping techniques. For example, the stories could be grouped into epics.
Mikhail: It is because of two reasons:
1. All the previous work is required for the Increment done in this Sprint to have value and to be potentially releasable
2. An Increment must be tested adequately. This includes regression testing.
Mikhail: First of all, the Scrum Guide tells: “The result of the Sprint Review is a revised Product Backlog that defines the probable Product Backlog items for the next Sprint. The Product Backlog may also be adjusted overall to meet new opportunities.”
The second option relates to the Daily Scrum: “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.”
I agree, at the Sprint Review the PO explains what Product Backlog items have been “Done” and what has not been “Done”. However, what is more important, the whole group collaborates on what to do next, so that the Sprint Review provides valuable input to subsequent Sprint Planning.
1. Who is responsible for creation of ‘Definition of Done’?
– Answer is mentioned as ‘Development Team’
2. What belongs solely to the Development Team?
– Answer is only “The Sprint Backlog” and it didn’t include ‘Definition of Done’
If the answer for #1 is Development Team, the answer for #2 should also include “Definition of Done” as per my understanding. Can you please throw some light on the answers to these questions?
Mikhail: The Scrum Guide contains: “Only the Development Team can change its Sprint Backlog during a Sprint. The Sprint Backlog is a highly visible, real-time picture of the work that the Development Team plans to accomplish during the Sprint, and it belongs solely to the Development Team.”
and
“the Development Team of the Scrum Team must define a definition of “Done” appropriate for the product.”, “This is the definition of “Done” for the Scrum Team and is used to assess when work is complete on the product Increment.”
So, the DoD is for the whole Scrum Team. However, the DT is responsible for it (on behalf of the Scrum Team).
There is no any contradiction.
Mikhail: The Scrum Guide contains: “Only the Development Team can change its Sprint Backlog during a Sprint. “
So, the answer is “False”.
Mikhail: The Scrum Guide clarifies it: “The Development Team modifies the Sprint Backlog throughout the Sprint, and the Sprint Backlog emerges during the Sprint. This emergence occurs as the Development Team works through the plan and learns more about the work needed to achieve the Sprint Goal.
As new work is required, the Development Team adds it to the Sprint Backlog. As work is performed or completed, the estimated remaining work is updated. When elements of the plan are deemed unnecessary, they are removed.“
So, the answer is “No”, not frozen.
Q1: The Product Owner wants to apply some non-functional requirements to the Product. What is the best way to proceed?
A1: Add the non-functional requirements to the DoD and check every Increment against these criteria
Q2: Who is responsible for creation of the Definition of “Done”?
A2: The Development Team
Mikhail: It looks like your confusion is like this:
The Product Owner wants to apply some non-functional requirements… The best way is to add the non-functional requirements to the DoD… The Dev Team is responsible for the DoD. How the PO can add the requirements into the DoD?
Well, there is no any contradiction.
Non-functional requirements describe qualities of the system being developed. E.g. the system should be secure, extensible and have acceptable performance.
The PO explains the requirements to the Dev Team. The team has two options how to handle these requirements:
1. Add a new sub-task for every Product Backlog Item to make sure the non-functional requirements are met for this particular item (feature)
2. Add the non-functional requirements to the DoD. So, every Increment will be validated against these requirements.
The second way looks more robust because having the requirements as part of the DoD won’t allow the team to forget about them when working on new items. It also will increase transparency.
So, the PO does not change the DoD. He asks the Dev Team to produce Increments that meet the non-functional requirements. The Dev Team adds the new requirements to the DoD because it is more robust way of doing the work.
You can also check my answer for 9. Should the PO approve the DoD?
A) The stakeholders haven’t been using the Sprint Reviews to actively engage , and inspect and evaluate progress
B) Changes to the project plan were not adequately documented and shared. The change request procedure was not diligently followed
C) The PMO and its project managers have not been engaged adequately causing the project plan to become inaccurate
D) The Product Owner has not been interacting frequently with stakeholders keeping them aware of the progress.
E) The stakeholders were not allowed to attend daily scrum
F) The scrum master has not ensured transparency
Mikhail: Let’s go through all the options:
A) Looks good except that the PO is responsible for Key Stakeholder engagement. Probably there are better answers.
B) Wrong because Scrum does not have a “change request procedure”.
C) Wrong. Scrum does not have a Project Manager role.
D) The best option.
E) Wrong. Stakeholders have nothing to do at Daily Scrums.
F) Good enough. The whole team is responsible for transparency, however the SM should notice if there is a lack of transparency and help the team to address it.
A) The Development Team uses some time in each Sprint to analyse, estimate and design high ordered Product Backlog items.
B) A separate Scrum Team of business analysts and functional testers analyse high-ordered requirements one sprint ahead of development.
C) The Product Owner works with the stakeholders to prepare Product Backlog items outside of the sprint so the development team will not be disrupted.
D) The analysts on the Development Team document high ordered Product Backlog items during a Sprint when they are not busy working on the forecast.
Mikhail: A) Correct. The name of this activity is Product Backlog Refinement. However, why the PO is not mentioned here? The Scrum Guide says “Product Backlog refinement is the act of adding detail, estimates, and order to items in the Product Backlog. This is an ongoing process in which the Product Owner and the Development Team collaborate on the details of Product Backlog items.”
B) Wrong. Scrum does not have separate teams for business analysts.
C) This is a good option, but it won’t get enough clarity at the Sprint Planning. When the PO is ready with a new PB item, the PO should discuss it with the DT to make sure it is understood well before taking it into the next Sprint.
D) Wrong. Scrum recognizes only Developer role in the Development Team.
It looks like the correct answer is A. However, if it were my question, I would mention the PO in this option.
A. Prepare it by himself
B. Tell the PO to prepare and submit to the Manager
C. Ask the DT to include the report into their Sprint Backlog
D. Tell the Manager that status will be visible during the Sprint Review
Mikhail: The best option is D (status will be visible at the Sprint Review).
A duty of the Scrum Team is to be transparent. Those who need information are responsible for getting it. So, the manager can investigate the artifacts of the Scrum Team (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog) and visit the next Sprint Review.
A. False
B. True and they should be available 100% dedicated to the Scrum Team
C. True and the productivity and progress depends on their availability
Mikhail: C is correct. PO, SM and even Dev Team members can work on more than one Product at the same time, but productivity will suffer because of switching focus.
(not sure about other options)
A. tell the DT to figure out themselves
B. Ask the PO to adjust the PB items according to the technical expertise of the DT, so they can plan the work.
Mikhail: A is correct. The Scrum Guide says: Teams in Scrum are self-organizing and cross-functional. Self-organizing teams choose how best to accomplish their work, rather than being directed by others outside the team. Cross-functional teams have all competencies needed to accomplish the work without depending on others not part of the team.
Mikhail: No, the statement is incorrect.
The Scrum framework does not require the same Sprint length or aligned Sprints for all teams. So, the start date can be different.
a. An increment of working software that is done
b. An increment of software with minor known bugs in it
c. Some sort of documentation
d. Failing unit test, to identify acceptance tests
Mikhail: The Scrum Guide contains:
“At the end of a Sprint, the new Increment must be “Done,” which means it must be in useable condition and meet the Scrum Team’s definition of “Done”.
a. Perfectly suits to this definition
b. Wrong because we do not know the DoD of the team in the question. So, we cannot tell are the minor bugs acceptable for a “Done” Increment.
c. and d. are wrong because the Scrum Guide says:
“Development Teams deliver an Increment of product functionality every Sprint.”
They cannot deliver only documentation or an unit test.
a. Ask the Development Team to think about whether they can add these features to the current Sprint
b. The Scrum Master add these features to the current Sprint
c. Add it to the Product Backlog
d. Introduce these features at the next Daily Scrum
Mikhail: c. is definitely correct because the Product Backlog is the single source of requirements for any changes to be made to the product.
b. is wrong because the Scrum Guide says: “Only the Development Team can change its Sprint Backlog during a Sprint.”
d. is wrong because the PO cannot introduce the features at the Daily Scrum because he or she does not participate in it
a. is correct because the Sprint scope can be re-negotiated if the Sprint Goal and quality are out of danger (see a quote from the Scrum Guide below)
During the Sprint:
* No changes are made that would endanger the Sprint Goal;
* Quality goals do not decrease; and,
* Scope may be clarified and re-negotiated between the Product Owner and Development Team as more is learned.
a) Talk to the Dev team, challenge and inspire them to complete all the work so that they meet their commitment to the PO and have the forecasted velocity.
b) Advise the product owner that the dev team owns the Sprint Backlog and it is up to them to meet the commitment. No one tell the Dev team how to turn Product backlog into increment of potentially releasable functionality.
c) Add more people to Dev team to meet the commitment to PO.
d) Coach the PO that with complex software development you cannot promise the entire scope that was forecasted during Sprint planning. As more is learned during the sprint, work may emerge that affects the Sprint backlog.
Mikhail:
a) is not a good option. The Dev Team has no commitments to the PO. There is no goal in Scrum to meet the forecasted velocity by any price.
b) is correct. The Scrum Guide says: “No one (not even the Scrum Master) tells the Development Team how to turn Product Backlog into Increments of potentially releasable functionality;” So, it up to the Dev Team to meet the commitment.
c) is definitely wrong because adding more people to a team decreases productivity in a short term and won’t help to meet the commitment.
d) Fair enough. Sometimes the Dev Team discovers completely unpredicted work during a Sprint and cannot deliver all the items. In this case the Sprint Scope should be negotiated with the PO as soon as possible.
Mikhail: This question is about handling external dependencies in Scrum. The rule of thumb here is not to take any work into a Sprint if there are some unresolved external dependencies. The reason is the Dev team cannot take a commitment to finish the item in this case.
Another point to keep in mind is a piece of functionality should be delivered in every Sprint.
In real life I would ask the following questions at the Sprint Planning in this situation:
* Will the external component be delivered during this Sprint? Rarely the answer is “yes” if there is a person representing the external team and making the commitment.
* If the component is not delivered, will work on this item produce some valuable functionality for customers?
If the answers to the both questions are “no”, the dev team will take the next items from the Backlog into the Sprint.
The primary concern of the PO is the flow of value reflected in the ordering of product backlog. Timeline of the flow might be affected by such dependencies but doesn’t necessarily change the ordering.
Mikhail: Scrum addresses the most of the risks involved in software development.
For example, Scrum addresses timescale of the planned work via Sprint Planning and fixed Sprint length. Scrum guarantees the best possible value will be delivered in the specified time frame.
Scrum addresses the risks related to the Team: missing skills or bad relationships. The Scrum Guide tells: “Development Teams are cross-functional, with all the skills as a team necessary to create a product Increment;” and “teams are self-organizing”. It means if some skills are missing, the team can organize itself to gain them. The same is with bad relationships. Teams can overcome them by ourselves with a help from the Scrum Master.
Scrum allows to mitigate the risk of an unstable or complex technology through Product Backlog management. The most risky items will be identified and put close to the top. They will be addressed early that guarantees minimal loses in the case if something goes wrong with the technology.
Complexity and unpredictability of requirements are addressed by Scrum via constant work of the PO with the Key Stakeholders and the Development Team (Sprint Reviews, Backlog refinement sessions, etc.)
As the Scrum Master what will your do (choose two)?
a) Raise a concern to HR and get Jason removed from the team.
b) Take Jason aside and express your concern over this behavior. Tell him to act as team player and comply to team decision.
c) You suggest to open it up with full team now so that is does not further worsen. You propose to help initiate this discussion but not being the one to start it.
d) You observe this in Retrospective whether discussion on design and architecture is initiated, if not then check how comfortable is everyone with the way it is handled in project.
Mikhail: This question relates to the group of questions where a team member behaves in a wrong way. There are following ideas for the Scrum Master how to handle this:
* As the Scrum Master you are responsible for supporting Scrum, facilitating Scrum events as requested and removing impediments. So, you definitely should take an action.
* Do not immediately suspect lack of commitment. It can be unfair and even harmful. Try to understand what’s going on. Find it out by asking the individual (privately) or someone who knows the individual (discreetly).
* Scrum Teams are self-organizing, so they can handle this for themselves. You should bring it up in the next Retrospective and try to come to a solution that everyone is happy with.
So, the correct answers are c and d.
Definitely, it needs to be discussed with the team. However, it is worth to understand what’s going on before this. Sometimes the root cause of the bad behavior is very different than it seems. In many questions about harmful developer behavior B would be a good option if it was formulated like “Take Jason aside and ask why does he behave in this way”.
As usually, there is no need to wait for a formal event to inspect and adapt. This can be done as soon as the issue is identified.
a) Tell the PO that dev team owns the DoD and it is their duty to decide on acceptable performance standard
b) Encourage the PO to bring this up to the team so that team can come up with improved DoD, with strong SLA requirements for performance issues
c) Wait till retrospective because this is the appropriate time for dev team to re-consider the DoD
Mikhail: Of course, the PO needs to bring up the concerns to the team. I think it is better to do as early as possible.
However, changing the DoD during a Sprint seems not a good practice because of 2 reasons:
* If the DoD is strengthen in a middle of a Sprint, it could affect the Sprint Goal because items from the Sprint Backlog will require more time to be completed.
* Sometimes a Dev Team could desire to weaken the DoD in a middle of a Sprint to make some unfinished items “complete”. In my opinion it could endanger quality.
So, the best time to change the DoD is at the Retrospective right before the next Sprint.
a. Focus
b. Commitment
c. Courage
d. Respect
e. Openness
Mikhail: The Scrum Guide itself does not contain details about the Scrum Values. However, I found a very good series of articles on this topic at Scrum.org that explains every value:
Focus
Openness
Courage
Commitment
Rspect
I think the following values were touched in the question: openness, courage and respect (c, d, e):
Openness:
Openness enables team members to share their perspectives, feel heard by their peers, and be able to support team decisions.
Courage:
It takes courage to share a dissenting opinion with a team member and engage in productive conflict.
It takes courage to admit our mistakes. This could apply to our technical work, our decisions, or how we conduct ourselves.
Respect:
When there is respect for all opinions and perspectives, we can ensure everyone has the opportunity to be heard. When we feel we have been heard, it is possible to fully support team decisions even if the decision was not our preference.
A. Sales Executive or Sales Leader
B. CEO
C. Customers and Prospects
D. Market research results and analyst reports
E. Development Team
Mikhail: Actually, the Product Owner can work with anyone any time (possibly during Product Backlog Refinement and other activities) who can supply good ideas to capture more value for the Product.
In order to maximize value, the PO should identify the Key Stakeholders for the Product, and involve them as necessary throughout the development effort.
There is a good article at Scrum.org that explains everything about the Key Stakeholders. It divides the Key Stakeholders into three broad categories:
- The Users – The human people who actually use the Product. Sometimes the Development team acts as a “Production Support Engineer” user
- The External Customers – The people responsible for paying to use the Product
- The Internal Customers – The people responsible for making the funding decisions for the Product development effort
The Scrum Glossary gives a definition:
A Key Stakeholder is a person external to the Scrum Team with a specific interest in and knowledge of a product that is required for incremental discovery. Represented by the Product Owner and actively engaged with the Scrum Team at Sprint Review.
So, the PO might consider all the suggested options. However, we can try to arrange them:
C. Customers and Prospects (The Users)
B. CEO (The Internal Customers)
A. Sales Executive or Sales Leader (specific interest in and knowledge of the Product)
E. Development Team (sometimes acts as a “Production Support Engineer” user, can give useful feedback during Product Backlog Refinement and other activities)
D. Market research results and analyst reports
(A): You identify the dependencies and re-order the Product Backlog for them.
(B): You work with the Development Teams on how to best parse the work.
Mikhail: Actually, it is easy to answer using the Nexus Guide. It has special events for identifying and minimizing dependencies between the teams and forecasting which team will deliver which Product Backlog items: Refinement and Nexus Sprint Planning. Both meetings involve representatives from all the teams.
So, the correct answer is B.
There is a good paper describing this process in detail: Cross-Team Refinement in Nexus™
A. Add at least one high priority item into the Product Backlog
B. Add at least one high priority item into the Sprint Backlog
C. Aim for highest priority item to be implemented in the next Sprint
D. Add the highest priority item into the Product Backlog
Mikhail: A and D are wrong because they suggest adding a team process improvement directly into the Product Backlog. Remember, the Product Backlog lists all features, functions, requirements, enhancements, and fixes that constitute the changes to be made to the product in future releases.
B (add a process improvement into the Sprint Backlog) looks good. However, the current Sprint is almost over at the time of Retrospective. The scope of the next Sprint will be defined at the following Sprint Planning. So, B is not the best choice.
The Scrum Guide contains: The Sprint Backlog makes visible all the work that the Development Team identifies as necessary to meet the Sprint Goal. To ensure continuous improvement, it includes at least one high priority process improvement identified in the previous Retrospective meeting.
So, C option is the best.
A. Report daily progress to stakeholders
B. Do the work planned in the Sprint Backlog
C. Increase velocity
D. Pull Product Backlog items for the Sprint
E. Reorder the Product Backlog
F. Set the time for the Daily Scrum
Mikhail: A. Wrong. There is no such a duty.
B. Correct
C. Wrong. There is no a formal commitment for this.
D. Correct. The Guide states: “The number of items selected from the Product Backlog for the Sprint is solely up to the Development Team.” I would rephrase it as the DT pulls items from the PB until it feels it is enough.
E. Wrong. This is a PO responsibility.
F. Correct
Check 1 Answer:
A. The productivity of the first team decreases
B. The productivity of the first team increases
C. The productivity of the first team remains unchanged
Mikhail: The correct answer is A. Productivity will decrease because the first team should spend time on interaction with the other team and resolve dependencies. In the very beginning the productivity will drop even more because members of the first team will have to do some knowledge transfer to the new team.
A. Facilitating and also participating as a Scrum team member.
B. Summarizing and reporting the discussions to management.
C. Acting as a scribe to capture the Development Team’s answers.
D. Prioritizing the resulting action items.
Mikhail: A. Correct. The Scrum Guide states: “The Scrum Master ensures that the meeting is positive and productive. The Scrum Master participates as a peer team member in the Retrospective from the accountability over the Scrum process.”
B. Wrong because management is not part of Scrum
C. Wrong because there is no Scribe role in Scrum
D. Wrong because the whole team should do it
A. During Sprint Planning.
B. After they have been discussed and agreed to at the Sprint Retrospective.
C. Whenever needed.
D. Before a Sprint begins.
E. Prior to starting a project.
Mikhail: The correct answer is C. Teams in Scrum are self-organized. There is no need to wait until a formal event. Scrum events give formal opportunities to inspect and adapt. However, any adjustments to practices or processes can be made whenever it is needed.
A. When the Product Owner identities a new work.
B. When the Scrum Master has time to enter them.
C. As soon as possible after they are identified.
D. During the Daily Scrum after the Development Team approves them
Mikhail: The correct answer is C “as soon as possible”. The Scrum Guide clarifies it:
“As new work is required, the Development Team adds it to the Sprint Backlog.”
“The Sprint Backlog is a highly visible, real-time picture of the work that the Development Team plans to accomplish during the Sprint”
There is no need to wait for the Daily Scrum to approve it.
A. As much as the Product Owner and Development Team agree is necessary to create enough ready Product Backlog Items
B. Up to 10% of the capacity of the Development Team
C. As much as the Product Owner deems necessary to create enough ready Product Backlog Items
D. Up to 10% of the capacity of the Development Team in a typical Sprint, but as much as 90% in early Sprints
Mikhail: At first glance it seems that answer should be B. However, it is A. The Scrum Guide states:
“This is an ongoing process in which the Product Owner and the Development Team collaborate on the details of Product Backlog items.”
“Refinement usually consumes no more than 10% of the capacity of the Development Team.”
So, Refinement takes as much time as the PO and the DT agree. Usually, it takes not more than 10% of the total Sprint time.
A. Instruct the Development Team to split into 2 teams with 5 Developers in each
B. Instruct the Development Team to split into 2 teams, they should decide the appropriate sizes
C. Raise the increased team size as a potential impediment and help the Development Team decide what to do about it
D. Do nothing, the Development Team must fix its own issues
Mikhail: The Scrum Guide advises optimal team size of 3 to 9 people. A and B are wrong because teams are self-organizing. C is better than D because the Dev Team can be not aware of the potential risks. Your job as the Scrum Master is to clarify it and facilitate coming to a solution.
A. Development team plans work for next 24 hours
B. Inspect work since last daily scrum
C. Forecast upcoming sprint work
My confusion: A and B looks correct. C is not clear to me, do they mean upcoming work of the current sprint or the work of upcoming sprint?
Mikhail: The Scrum Guide contains “The Daily Scrum is held every day of the Sprint. At it, the Development Team plans work for the next 24 hours. This optimizes team collaboration and performance by inspecting the work since the last Daily Scrum and forecasting upcoming Sprint work.”
So, all the options are correct.
A. No, that is far too hard and must be done in a hardening Sprint.
B. No, each Scrum Team stands alone.
C. Yes, but only for Scrum Teams whose work has dependencies.
D. Yes, otherwise the Product Owner (and stakeholders) may not be able to accurately inspect what is done.
Mikhail:The Nexus Guide states: “A Nexus consists of multiple cross-functional Scrum Teams working together to deliver a potentially releasable Integrated Increment at least by the end of each Sprint.”
So, all the teams should integrate their increments by the end of each Sprint. The answer is D.
A. True
B. False
Mikhail: True (A). The Scrum Guide states: “The heart of Scrum is a Sprint, a time-box of one month or less during which a “Done”, useable, and potentially releasable product Increment is created.”
Q1 :Who creates the Increment?
A1: Only members of the Development Team create the Increment.
Q2: What belongs solely to the Development Team?
I think, the answer here should include “Increment”, but the answer was : The Sprint Backlog
Mikhail: I think, there is no any contradiction between the questions. The Scrum Guide contains:
“Only members of the Development Team create the Increment.”
“Only the Development Team can change its Sprint Backlog during a Sprint. The Sprint Backlog is a highly visible, real-time picture of the work that the Development Team plans to accomplish during the Sprint, and it belongs solely to the Development Team.”
So, according to the Scrum Guide, the both answers are correct.
It is not written in the Guide, but in fact, when the Increment is created, it does not belong to the Dev Team anymore. For example, someone hired a dev team to create a product. When the job is done, the product belongs to the person who funded the project.
Hallo Mikhail again,
could you please add the following questions to your quiz?
1) a question about auditing agile project by management. For example, when auditors set “red flag” to the project because of future plans absence.
2) about continuous Integration
3) code coverage
4) about Spikes: kind and meaning of spikes
5) work with PO. Cases if something goes wrong on the Planning, Review, with Artifacts…
6) High level and Low level documents
7) Estimations. Example: If some one can’t estimate for any reasons what SM should do.
8) Kind of Times: Ideal, work, etc.
9) Measuring: velocity, capacity, sprint progress…
I can share more original questions, case questions here to help others… but I see it’s forbidden.
Hi Alex,
Thanks for the ideas!
Maybe I will add several questions based on them.
Numbers 2,3,4,6 (continuous integration, code coverage, spikes, requirements) relate to the Developer exam. I do not remember PSM or PSPO contained similar topics.
Please, do not share any questions taken from other sources.
Best Regards,
–Mikhail
Hello Mikhail,
I got these questions and some others on the Real Exams PSM 1.
About CI and CD around 3 questions: why it’s good, meaning and situation case.
About Code Coverage – the same: meaning, situation cases (If… 40%… what should…).
About Spikes: two questions: situation case – PO bla-bla-bla… dev team bla-bla-bla… what kind of spike…, and the second one is about finding a right type of spike from the description of another situation.Functional, Design, Technical or Code spikes. It comes from SAFe I think.
About Documentation: description of situation case… something something… in that kind of documentation it should be written, and another question was: bla-bla-bla… First Sprint… high level documentation…
As You can see I tried do not write detailed questions here because of warning from you above this page.
I reread my comment one more time and – I would like to correct myself and add following:
Spike – “It comes from SAFe I think.” – it’s not exactly. Yes, but Agile is methodology and contains Extreme programming, Feature driven development, kanban and SCRUM. And Spike comes from that.
Hi Alexander,
Thanks for the feedback.
It looks like the PSM exam is changed towards more complexity and now it additionally contains new topics on continuous integration, code coverage, spikes, and documentation.
Best Regards,
–Mikhail
Hi Mikhail and Alexander,
Thank you so much Mikhail for your quizzes that help a lot for preparation.
I was planning to take the exam PSM+PSPO this week but you comment, Alexander makes me less confortable.
It seems that the scope of test has changed ?
Can we discuss about it on my mail ? ScrumCertification@outlook.fr
Thank you and have a good day to all of you
I do not want to say a lot about this point.
Just two “words”:
1) it’s a lottery. I took an exam with my group, in which I studied. Someone passed, someone not. Who passed said that almost all questions were light and short, like in Open assessment or here. But from group 8 people had a success only 3.
2) yes, I read on scrum.org that it is planned to update the exam before the summer. And my coach said that some questions from PSM2 were migrated to PSM1 and “You have to read these 5 books…”. But I didn’t do it. Just learned Guide + some materials from SO Forum + SO Open Assessment and Mikhail’s Quiz for testing myself. My be I will be more luky in the next time. But my goal is to be good SM, so I’m reading more materials now any way.
Thanks Alexander for the feedback:
“My coach said that some questions from PSM2 were migrated to PSM1 ”
This is why the exam now contains more long-worded questions. However, it should not be hard to answer them if you know the Scrum Guide well and have some development experience to understand benefits of testing, continuous integration and having good documentation.
Hello Mikhail,
I would like to ask your opinion regarding the following question (I changed it):
When Management invites the developers to work on a new product. Teams should be created and development should be started asap. Also we have to create an overall architecture and design of integration. Which Scrum and Agile principles most effectively?
Emm… the answers (changed as well, but ideas are saved):
a) The best developers are placed in one team only for the non-functional requirements and some high value functions creation. After that the left DevTeams should be created and architecture is shered among them.
b) Create cross-functionsl team of architects and designers. This team will consult other teams during the development.
c) Create Architecture and design before beginning feature development. Learn the DevTeams how to use the created architecture in develipment. After that start Sprints.
d) The best developers and designers should create an suitable architecture and design. Comprise design models that will be included by other developers during the implementing features.
I selected the last one. I think here we do not exclude ALL developers and designers from the teams. I mean in this case we can use all staff. Plus, we begin the development of features (Sprint) immediately along with the development of architecture and design.
What do you think?
Hi Alexander,
Thanks for following to my request to not publish questions from other sources here.
a) looks OK. Usually, it is a good start for a project when a team of hi-skilled developers creates a skeleton of a new system during several first Sprints
(including a piece of end-user functionality in every Sprint). However, I do not see a remark here that any end-user functionality was created.
b) is wrong because in Scrum any team should be cross-functional. Having a separate team that will help other teams breaks this rule.
c) is wrong because architecture should emerge alongside with feature development. Also, there is nothing like Sprint 0.
d) looks very close to a).
Alexander, probably you missed some important details when re-phrased the question. The answer should be a) or d). Look for the option that mentions that some usable functionality (no matter how small it is) will be delivered in every Sprint.
Best Regards,
–Mikhail
Hello Mikhail and others,
I have one more question for discussion:
“who is responsible (must to) to be sure product backlog items conform to the definition of done?”
I think this question is not correct.
If we are talking about “product backlog items…” – it’s PO
If we are talking about DoD – It’s DT responsibility.
This question confused me.
May be product backlog items taken in to the sprint mean here. It’s not clear.
what do you think?
Hi Alexander,
Is the question from my quiz?
It is not correct. Product Backlog items are just requests for some features. They cannot conform to a Definition of Done.
DoD is applied only to items that are in work or finished. DoD is just a check list to make sure all the required work was done for the item.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Hello Mikhail,
the question is from Real Exam.
I save part: “product backlog items conform to the definition of done”
because it’s really important.
I see you modified the question and did not copy the options. So, it should be OK to keep it here.
In this case, I would pick “the Development Team”. It is responsible for implementing PB items selected for a Sprint and making sure all of them conform to the DoD by its end.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Hello Mikhail and others again,
One more question for clarification.
Question:
The case when stakeholders suddenly realized deviation from expected viewing of product and real built product and product more expensive than it was expected… after the some sprints.
What is the reason? Select 3.
Possible answers like following:
a) The SM was not warred about transparency of the product
b) Product’s changes were not shared
c) Stakeholders Could Not Poke Their Nose Into Development Matters
d) PO did not inform interested parties on the development progress
e) StH were not present at sprint review
f) Insufficient involvement of management in the process
I’m sure it must be: d, e… but 3th…
It should not be F (management), C (Stakeholders should not be allowed to bother DT)… so up two points left.
Let’s review one by one:
A – it’s possible if we say that SM should teach Scrum Team to be openly and create transparent process.
B – Share product value through The Product Backlog is a responsibility of PO. Changes or not – it doesn’t matter. Always most valued and actual features should be placed on the top of PB. If suggested answer means this point, so the answer B is also correct.
But I selected A.
What do you think?
Let’s go through the options:
a) The SM was not warred about transparency of the product
It is correct. The lack of transparency for the Stakeholders lead to the problem.
b) Product’s changes were not shared
It is correct if this option assumes sharing progress with the stakeholders.
c) Stakeholders Could Not Poke Their Nose Into Development Matters
Wrong. A Stakeholder could be the Company CEO. So, it is quite normal for the CEO to ask questions about the Product.
d) PO did not inform interested parties on the development progress
Probably, wrong. It is not a responsibility of the PO to report about development progress. A good Product Backlog and transparent Sprint Backlogs, visible to the interested parties, should give a sense of development progress.
However, during a Sprint Review, the PO could project likely target and delivery dates based on progress to date (if needed) to the stakeholders.
e) StH were not present at sprint review
Correct. Sprint Reviews is the primary way to show progress to the stakeholders and collect their feedback.
f) Insufficient involvement of management in the process
Wrong because there is no Manager role in Scrum.
So, I would select a) and e). Then I would choose between b) and d) based on the exact wording.
Hi Mikhail, someone just shared this question with me and I’m struggling to find an answer here. Can you help?
——-
deleted
Hi Lucas,
I see the question is copied from somewhere. So, I had to delete it.
In the situation when misbehavior of a Developer hinders productivity of the whole team, usually it is good to talk to the Developer privately, try to understand why it happens and explain why the behavior is harmful.
If it does not help, the second step is discussing the situation at the next Sprint Retrospective meeting.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Thank you Mikhail!
Sorry for sending a copied content, i didn’t know it’s agains the policies here, my bad.
About the answer, did you mean Sprint Retrospective instead of Sprint Review?
Sure, you are right. It is Sprint Retrospective. I made a typo. Let me fix it.
Hi Mikhail,
One question, if multiple teams are working on one project then is it needed for them to align their work into one increment after sprint. Because as I know it is not needed for teams to have the same length of sprint. Some can have 3 and other 4 weeks.
Hi,
It is a good question. And it is raised regularly.
You are right. If multiple teams are working on the same Product and depend on each other, they need to deliver an Integrated Increment. However, Scrum and Nexus are not too restrictive and do not require strictly aligned Sprints or Sprints having the same length for the teams.
From the other side, in Nexus to make sense, Sprints of different teams should come into alignment regularly.
For example, one team could have 2-week Sprints and another team could have 4-week Sprints.
I found a good discussion on this topic here: https://www.scrum.org/forum/scrum-forum/7793/should-sprints-synchronized-multiple-teams-or-not
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Hi Mikhail, another question seeking for your help
—–
deleted
Hi Lucas,
I am sorry. I had to delete the question because it looks like a copyrighted one.
Actually, it was about non-funcitonal requirements (e.g. performance, security, etc.)
There are 2 ways of addressing them:
1. Add as Items into the Product Backlog
2. Have the requirements as a part of the DoD
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Another one!
—–
deleted
I had to delete the second question too.
It was about a PO who is concerned that the Dev Team won’t be able to deliver all the planned Items for the Sprint.
I would teach the PO that only the Dev Team knows how to actually implement the Items, so the Dev Team is responsible for estimates and finishing the projected work on time.
From the other side, I would teach the Dev Team to report to the PO as soon as new unplanned work is discovered to re-negotiate the Sprint scope.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Hi Mikhail,
another question, what does it need that a PBI implementation is finished? Does this mean rather a) that all things in the Sprint Backlog which relate to this PBI must be finished, or b) that this PBI has no open work and thus is potentially releaseable?
Hi,
A Product Backlog Item is considered “done” when there is no work remaining on it according to Team’s DoD, and the Increment containing this work can be immediately released.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Hi Mikhail,
another question: There are cases where you cannot prevent development team members being located in different countries (in order the DT to be corss-functional). When is the point reached, that this should be treated as impediment to be resolved by (senior) management? In other words: When the SM sees the team has much to do with organsational stuff like organizing Webex/meetings, should he rather wait for the DT to approach him and complain, or should he identify this to be an impediment himself and proactively trigger the solution himself?
Thanks for a great question!
The Scrum Master is a part of the Scrum Team. It is a primary responsibility of the SM to identify and remove impediments. In this situation I would suggest the team discuss it at the next Sprint Retrospective. Are they happy with the current way of communication or they could try to improve it?
Distributed teams are more and more common in modern globalized world. Some of them found ways to do Scrum effectively.
Several good examples and tips are described in Succeeding with Agile book.
–Mikhail
Hi Mikhail, I have a question to consult you.
What issues can lead to a “QA and release readiness Sprint” ?
——————
Mikhail: I am sorry. I see the question is probably copyrighted. So, I had to modify it and delete the options.
It means the Development Team does not complete all the required work on the Items. Probably, the Definition of Done is weak or it is not met every Sprint. Most likely, the PO could not release the Product in previous Sprints.
Best Regards,
–Mikhail
Yes Mikhail. I have another question to consult you.
Scrum Master is a Servant Leader. How does a Scrum Master demonstrate Servant Leadership?
——
The question options are removed by Mikhail
Hi Melissa,
Your question can be answered if you take a look at the Scrum Master chapter of the Scrum Guide.
It contains:
* Scrum is founded on empirical process control theory, or empiricism.
* SM helps in … Facilitating Scrum events as requested or needed.
* SM helps in … Removing impediments to the Development Team’s progress;
One of the deleted options was referring to the last point, but in a slightly different manner making emphasis on removing *all* impediments by the SM only. However, the SM, first of all, should teach the Dev Team to be self-organized and try to remove impediments by themselves. Then, sometimes, the SM needs help from the Organization side.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
I have confusion on below 2 questions:
Q 1) Who create increments?
Correct answer given on this site is: The Development Team
Q 2) What belongs solely to the Development Team? (Multiple choice options)
Correct answer given on this site is: The Sprint Backlog
My question here is, why for Q 2, the answer “The increment” should also be correct along with the Sprint Backlog. i.e. The Sprint Backlog and The increment should be the correct answer for Q 2.
Can anyone please help with it?
Hi Ramdas,
Thanks for the question.
I checked “What belongs solely to the Development Team?” question and indeed it was a multiple choice question with just one correct answer. I agree, it is confusing. So, I converted it to a single choice question.
I think, the Increment does not belong to the Development Team only. When it is produced, it belongs to the whole Organization as the result of the work.
Best Regards,
–Mikhail
Thanks that you have made a correction on the site, still I haven’t verified it yet.
For the question if increments are belongs to solely to development team or entier organizationa, on this the response is your thought only or it is verified on scrum.org? I am not sure how we can verofy it if its correct or not.
Note – I am agreeing your thought that when increments are created those should also belongs to everyone
Hi Ramdas,
The Scrum Guide does not contain an exact phrase describing who owns the Increment. However, it is obvious to me that the Increment belongs to the party who funds it. For example, an organization hires developers and decides what type of product they will work on. When the developers create the product, it belongs to the organization.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Hello Mikhail,
Thanks for your blog and it actually helps many people like me who are new to scrum world and learning. I took PSM exam on 4th Sep and i couldn’t clear it.Got 82.5%. I tried your quiz before taking exam but didn’t see the questions on blog and i wish i did that as many questions are in real exam.The questions were lengthy in real exam and i didn’t get much time to review my answers.
Could you please help me with me below questions.
1. Who must do all the work to make sure product backlog items conforms the definition of done? I know the development Team gives estimates and works on it but scrum team as whole decides definition of done? Please help me if it’s Scrum Team/Development Team or Product Owner?
2.who Creates product backlog item estimates?
I selected ‘Development Team only’ but later realized there is one more option of ‘Development team after clarifying requirements with PO’
3.Is SprintGoal and SprintBacklog both created during sprint planning? I got couple of questions on when they’ll be created.
4.If the scrum team is located across globe what should the SM do for a daily scrum i.e.on assisting team members on preparation work of setting up meetings
5. Is PO and SM are required for a scrum team? I selected True,100% allocation required for scrum team but is it right one? As scrum team consists of PO,SM and DT i selected that option.
6.If multiple scrum teams are working on same product, then should they share same start date of sprint?
7.one question on how SM ensures the communication happens between PO and DT?
8.Five new scrum teams have been created to build one product. A few of the developers on one of the development team ask the scrum master how to co-odrinate their work with the order teams.What should the SM do?
9. Could you please share information about burnt down charts.What it actually indicates? The left over work remaining or the estimates for remaining work? I got question about what does a trebd line through a release burndown chatt indicate?
10.what are the benefits of self-organizing decelopment teams?
11. what is the role of PO in a sprint retrospective?
12. Who all present in Scrum team? One of the option is Development Team member instead of development Team. I was confused whether to select Development team member along with PO,SM and finally selected. please confirm.
13. One question was on Non-functional requirements. I’m confident that it should be updated in DOD but confused whether those should be updated in product backlog or testing them in every sprint.
14. A member of the development team takes the scrum master aside to express his concerns about data security issues. What should the scrum master do?
I selected option to share with team as soon as possible. Please let me know what would be the best way.
15.If a development team asks their product owner to re-order the product backlog.The team is waiting for an external supplier to deliver a specific software compinent. Without that component there won’t be enough work in the sprint to occupy the full team.
Could you please tell what’s the advice the SM can give to PO and Development team?
Hi Sravanthi,
I am sorry you did not clear the exam from the first attempt.
You have a lot of questions! And this is good. It means when you answer them, probably, you will be good for the second attempt.
I will answer a question when I have time.
Q1. Who must do all the work to make sure product backlog items conforms the definition of done? I know the development Team gives estimates and works on it but scrum team as whole decides definition of done? Please help me if it’s Scrum Team/Development Team or Product Owner?
The Scrum Guide contains: 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. A “Done” increment is required at the Sprint Review. Only members of the Development Team create the Increment.
It looks like the question is asking who checks that all the Items taken in a Sprint, finished and included into the Increment conform to the DoD. I do not see any other role except the Dev Team who can do it. Developers to the work and make sure all the required steps are done.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Hello Mikhail,
Thanks for detailed explanation. I will be waiting for your response on rest of the questions. Yeah I’m planning to take this week and waiting for your inputs.
2.who Creates product backlog item estimates?
I selected ‘Development Team only’ but later realized there is one more option of ‘Development team after clarifying requirements with PO’
Mikhail: ‘Development team after clarifying requirements with PO’ is better.
3.Is SprintGoal and SprintBacklog both created during sprint planning? I got couple of questions on when they’ll be created.
Mikhail: Right. The PO comes to the Sprint Planning with an idea for the Sprint Goal and then all the Scrum Team crafts the final version of the Goal.
4.If the scrum team is located across globe what should the SM do for a daily scrum i.e.on assisting team members on preparation work of setting up meetings
Mikhail: The Scrum Master should teach the team to be self-organized and find ways to collaborate even across the globe. The SM can help the team with sharing information about the best practices around this in the Organization. The SM can help to set up the few first meetings, but later the team should do it by themselves.
“Succeeding with Agile” book by Mike Cohn contains a whole chapter devoted to collaboration in a distributed team.
Thanks Mikhail :). Looking forward for rest of the answers.
5. Is PO and SM are required for a scrum team?
Mikhail: for sure, they are part of the Scrum Team. However, they can share their roles with another teams. It is quite common for Scrum Masters.
6.If multiple scrum teams are working on same product, then should they share same start date of sprint?
Mikhail: It is a tricky question. Neither Scrum Guide, not Nexus guide require it. However, Sprints of the teams should be reasonably aligned (e.g. 1-day shift in the start date, or 2 and 4 week Sprints).
7.one question on how SM ensures the communication happens between PO and DT?
There are many ways. For example, the SM makes sure that all the required events take place (formal opportunities to communicate). Then, the SM can raise concerns at the Sprint Retro if there is a suspicion in the lack of communication. Is the Product Backlog well maintained (it is usually a result of collaboration between the PO and the Dev Team)? Are Product refinement sessions regular? Etc.
Hello Mikhail,
Regarding 7th question..actually there were multiple options like suggest PO to use technical language or practices…and suggest DT to learn business kind of options.But is it really required or SM just monitors the communication and suggests way to improv?
Of course, the Scrum Master is responsible for making sure the Dev Team and the PO communicate regularly and efficiently.
Hi
I am also planning to take the exam soon..
Did u actually gget the above questions in the exam?
Did u again take the exam??
Thanks
Hello Eakta,
Yeah the questions were from real exam and i didn’t retake yet.
8.Five new scrum teams have been created to build one product. A few of the developers on one of the development team ask the scrum master how to co-odrinate their work with the other teams.What should the SM do?
Mikhail: There is a special Nexus framework devoted to solve this problem. Read the Nexus Guide and you should be able to answer similar questions.
9. Could you please share information about burnt down charts.What it actually indicates? The left over work remaining or the estimates for remaining work? I got question about what does a trend line through a release burn-down chart indicate?
A burn down chart is a graphical representation of work left to do versus time. There is a lot of information on the Internet.
The trend line shows when all the remaining work will be done (if no additional work is discovered and the team does the work at the same velocity).
Thanks Mikhail,
waiting for your guidance on rest of the questions.
Hello Mikhail,
What could be the answer of below question?
the sprint backlog as outcome of the sprint planning?
a) Is it the plan of the development team for the sprint. b) task estimated in hours. c) complete list of all work in sprint. d) ordered by product owner. What could be the best answer?
I would say a).
Hi Ahmad,
In the Scrum Guide you can find that during the Sprint Planning the Dev Team answers the following two questions:
* What can be done this Sprint?
* How will the chosen work get done?
* The Sprint Backlog is the set of Product Backlog items selected for the Sprint, plus a plan for delivering the product Increment and realizing the Sprint Goal
From your options a) is the best answer. However, it is not complete because it mentions only “plan” whereas a full answer should include “items” + “plan”.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
I got answer from other sources that the correct answer of this question is c “complete list of all works in sprints”. I am still wondering how can this be possible.
Hi Ahmad,
You know, there is always a trade-off between the detailed list of work to do in a Sprint and the time required to create this plan. Exactly because of this, the Sprint Planning is restricted by a time frame.
The complete list of all work required in a Sprint can be identified only after doing all this work. Note, even the Scrum Guide contains the following about Sprint Planning: “Work planned for the first days of the Sprint by the Development Team is decomposed by the end of this meeting, often to units of one day or less.”
It means, the work planned for the last days of the Sprint could be not decomposed at all. It means, the Sprint Backlog contains high-level items to do and some details, but not the complete list of all work to do in the Sprint.
Probably, you re-phrased the question and I got it wrong. 🙂
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Hi Mikhail, I’m struggling to find the correct answer(s) here. Need to consult you.
——-
deleted
Melissa, I had to delete your question, because it seems like a copyrighted one.
The answer, I believe is A, B and D.
Thanks Mikhail!
Hi Mikhail, need to consult you.
———————————————
Mikhail: I had to delete the question.
Melissa, please do not post copyrighted questions.
Hi there!
I’m not Mikhail, but will try to answer your questions since I’m preparing for the exam as well.
If it’s against the website rules, my reply can be easily deleted.
So, I believe that the answer should be B) and D) since they directly relate to the Scrum guide in terms of “produce potentially releasable increments at the end of every Sprint” and “raise transparency”
Hi Mikhail, need your scrum consultation.
What are three things the Scrum Team commits to each Sprint?
(choose the best three answers)
A. Increasing velocity.
B. Working towards the Sprint Goal.
C. Getting all the forecasted work from Sprint Planning done.
D. Upholding transparency.
E. Having the Product Owner available to the Development Team on a daily basis.
F. Seeking stakeholder feedback
For this Question : I would have gone with B, D & F that’s what the Development team commits during the Sprint.
Hi,
I missed this question for some reason.
I agree with Mirnal, the best options are B, D and F.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Why not E?
Hello again,
As I see, the answer here is obvious and it should be C) Sprint Retrospective is exactly the place where such matters should be discussed.
The previous comment was for this question:
“The Development Team is increasingly angry with the Product Owner for changing thee requirements all the time and not being available enough. The Product Owner is angry with the Development Team for changing requirements during implementation. What is the stance a Scrum Master takes?”
For the “What are three things the Scrum Team commits to each Sprint?”
I believe that the correct answer should be B), C), D) as other options are not even mentioned in the Scrum guide at all.
Hi.. I am planning to take the PSM1 certificationin a couple of days time. I have read and understood the scrum guide 4 5 times. gone through the scrum.org open assesment, and the real and lm assesment here. After reading the above comments recently added about the change in PSM1 pattern exam questions.. i feel i m not prepared??
Do we need to prepare for the following:
1. Questions from PSM2 ? As mentioned some quest are migrated to PSM1 ???
2.testing,
3. continuous integration and CD
4having good documentation.
5.Spikes etc
and if yes where to read them? google?
Can some one share their latest experience please..
Thanks a lot..
Hi,
If you are not a developer, I suggest you learning about general development related topics (continuous integration, testing, spikes, etc.) There are a lot of information on the Internet.
If you have not tried, master the open Developer assessment at Scrum.org: https://www.scrum.org/open-assessments/scrum-developer-open
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Hi Mikhail,
Your quiz and question collection is very helpful. I also had two questions unanswered so though to add these to the collection.
I am rephrasing them to avoid copyright.
1. Dev Team finds in the running sprint that it can’t finish some PBI forecast because more effort is needed to do those. But they can fulfil the sprint goal. what should they do next-
i) cancel sprint – wrong. They meet goal
ii) extend sprint. Wrong- it is against scrum
iii) negotiate with PO to remove the items. add new priority if they have capacity.- This is correct but in explanation the author of book says that team first need to solve this problem on its own then they need to raise it as a blocker to SM. And then if it is still not solved then they should approach PO. My concern is why SM need to come in between, why PO can’t be directly approached by DT in this regard. Is SM involvement really needed here?
2. Can SM coach the PO to choose a tool to manage the PB?
I think yes because he should coach PO to find techniques for effective PB management as per scrum guide. But the book said this as false. Is it false just becasue of TOOL keyword here. I still feel it is wrong or ambiguous.
Thanks for your time and quick response. Cheers.
Hi,
Thanks for the good questions.
Q1. I agree with your explanation. #3 is the correct option. I think, both ways are valid. If the Scrum Team is mature, the Dev Team knows that they need to negotiate the Sprint scope with the PO directly. Otherwise, the Scrum Master should resolve the impediment and teach the Dev Team to contact the PO in this case.
Q2. It depends on the exact question wording. I think, it is perfectly fine if the SM shares own experience with the PO and the Team and they decide which tool works the best for them.
However, if the Scrum Master insists on using some particular tool without discussing it with anyone, it is not right.
Best Regards,
–Mikhail