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CSO (Other exams) practice questions

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Question 1Scrum Theory and Principles

Which statement best describes the three pillars of empirical process control in Scrum?

  1. Planning, execution, and closure
  2. Estimation, commitment, and delivery
  3. Transparency, inspection, and adaptation Correct answer.
  4. Vision, backlog, and increment

Explanation

Scrum is founded on empiricism, which rests on three pillars: transparency, inspection, and adaptation. Transparency means the process and work are visible to those responsible for the outcome; inspection means artifacts and progress are frequently examined; adaptation means adjustments are made quickly when deviations are found. These three together allow decisions to be based on observed reality rather than assumption.

Question 2Scrum Theory and Principles

What is the primary purpose of the Sprint Retrospective within an empirical process?

  1. To demonstrate the finished Increment to stakeholders
  2. To renegotiate the contract with the customer
  3. To inspect how the last Sprint went and plan improvements Correct answer.
  4. To approve the next Sprint's Product Backlog items

Explanation

The Sprint Retrospective is the event where the Scrum Team inspects how the last Sprint went with regard to individuals, interactions, processes, tools, and their Definition of Done. The team then identifies the most helpful changes and may adapt its way of working immediately. This closes the empirical loop on process quality rather than product content.

Question 3Scrum Theory and Principles

A team wants to reduce the frequency of inspection to once per quarter to save meeting time. How does this conflict with Scrum theory?

  1. It has no effect because inspection is optional
  2. It is required whenever the team is distributed
  3. It weakens empiricism because feedback arrives too late to adapt Correct answer.
  4. It is acceptable if the Product Owner approves it

Explanation

Empiricism depends on frequent inspection so that deviations are detected while there is still time to adapt. Stretching the feedback loop to a quarter means problems surface long after the work that caused them, making corrective action costly or impossible. Scrum therefore prescribes short, fixed cadence events rather than long intervals.

Question 4Scrum Theory and Principles

Which best describes the relationship between the Scrum Master and the Scrum Team's self-management?

  1. The Scrum Master assigns tasks to reach the Sprint Goal
  2. The Scrum Master approves each team member's daily plan
  3. The Scrum Master coaches the team so it can manage its own work Correct answer.
  4. The Scrum Master removes the team's authority over process

Explanation

Scrum Teams are self-managing, meaning they decide internally who does what, when, and how. The Scrum Master serves the team by coaching, teaching, and removing impediments so that this self-management can flourish. Directing individual work would undermine the autonomy the framework requires.

Question 5Scrum Theory and Principles

What does the Scrum value of Courage most directly enable in practice?

  1. Raising hard problems and saying no to unreasonable demands Correct answer.
  2. Avoiding difficult conversations to keep harmony
  3. Delivering more features than planned each Sprint
  4. Documenting every decision for auditors

Explanation

Courage in Scrum means people do the right thing and work on tough problems, which includes surfacing bad news and pushing back on unrealistic requests. Without courage, problems stay hidden and empiricism breaks down because inspection reveals nothing useful. The other values support this, but courage specifically addresses speaking up and tackling difficulty.

Question 6Scrum Theory and Principles

Which pair of Scrum values most directly supports the pillar of transparency?

  1. Speed and efficiency
  2. Silence and deference to authority
  3. Openness and honesty in communication Correct answer.
  4. Competition and individual reward

Explanation

Transparency requires that the state of the work and the artifacts be visible and understood by everyone accountable for it. Openness, together with honesty and respect, makes it safe to surface real status rather than a comfortable version of it. Values that discourage speaking up undermine transparency.

Question 7Scrum Theory and Principles

A Scrum Team finishes every Sprint with unfinished items and repeatedly extends the Sprint by a few days. What does Scrum theory say about this?

  1. Extending the Sprint is fine if the team agrees
  2. The Sprint length should be doubled next time
  3. The Product Owner should add more developers
  4. Sprints are fixed-length and should not be extended Correct answer.

Explanation

Sprints are fixed-length events of one month or less, and their duration does not change once started. A consistent cadence creates the rhythm of inspection and adaptation that empiricism depends on. If a team cannot finish within the timebox, the response is to improve forecasting and slicing, not to move the finish line.

Question 8Scrum Theory and Principles

What is the main reason Scrum favors cross-functional teams?

  1. To have all skills needed to deliver an Increment each Sprint Correct answer.
  2. To reduce the number of meetings held
  3. To guarantee that no one is ever idle
  4. To make performance appraisals easier

Explanation

A cross-functional team has all the competencies necessary to create value each Sprint, which reduces dependencies on outside groups. Fewer handoffs shorten feedback loops and support the empirical cycle of delivering a usable Increment. Cross-functionality is about capability coverage, not meeting counts or utilization.

Question 9Scrum Theory and Principles

Why does Scrum keep the Sprint length consistent over time?

  1. To allow the team to skip the Daily Scrum
  2. To make the Product Owner's job easier to schedule
  3. To let stakeholders predict when they can inspect results and adapt Correct answer.
  4. To prevent the Definition of Done from changing

Explanation

A consistent Sprint cadence creates a predictable rhythm in which stakeholders know when they can inspect a new Increment and provide feedback. That predictability is what makes empirical adaptation efficient, because expectations align with the cadence. Consistency is about the feedback rhythm, not about administrative convenience.

Question 10Scrum Theory and Principles

Which statement reflects the Scrum principle that the Product Backlog is emergent rather than fully specified up front?

  1. The backlog evolves as understanding grows Correct answer.
  2. The backlog is replaced each Sprint
  3. The backlog is frozen at project start
  4. The backlog is owned by stakeholders

Explanation

Scrum assumes that requirements cannot be fully known in advance, so the Product Backlog is refined continuously as the team and Product Owner learn more. This emergence is a direct expression of empiricism: decisions follow evidence rather than prediction. Freezing or discarding the backlog would break that learning cycle.

Question 11Scrum Theory and Principles

A stakeholder asks the team to commit to a fixed scope and date at Sprint Planning. Which response is most consistent with Scrum theory?

  1. Add buffer items to hide uncertainty
  2. Refuse to give any forecast at all
  3. Commit to the exact scope and date as requested
  4. Commit to the Sprint Goal and forecast, adapting scope as evidence emerges Correct answer.

Explanation

Scrum replaces fixed-scope commitment with a Sprint Goal that gives the Sprint focus and coherence, plus a forecast the team updates as it learns. This preserves the ability to adapt when inspection shows the original assumptions were wrong. Promising exact scope and date up front reintroduces predictive control that empiricism rejects.

Question 12Scrum Theory and Principles

Which behavior most clearly violates the Scrum value of Respect?

  1. Asking clarifying questions about acceptance criteria
  2. Raising an impediment to the Scrum Master
  3. Disagreeing with a teammate's technical proposal during refinement
  4. Publicly dismissing a colleague's input as worthless Correct answer.

Explanation

Respect means team members treat one another as capable professionals and give each other the space to contribute. Publicly dismissing a colleague's input as worthless attacks the person rather than the idea and shuts down the openness the team needs. Disagreement and questioning are healthy when directed at the work.

Question 13Scrum Theory and Principles

How does the Scrum value of Focus support empiricism?

  1. It prohibits changing the Sprint Goal
  2. It limits the team to one shared objective at a time so progress is measurable Correct answer.
  3. It requires the team to ignore stakeholder feedback
  4. It means only the Product Owner may speak at events

Explanation

Focus means the team concentrates on the work of the Sprint and its goals, which makes progress and deviation visible against a clear objective. When effort is scattered across competing priorities, inspection loses a meaningful baseline for adaptation. Focus therefore sharpens the signal that empiricism depends on.

Question 14Scrum Theory and Principles

What distinguishes Scrum from a methodology that relies primarily on predictive planning?

  1. Scrum accepts that knowledge comes from experience and adjusts plans continuously Correct answer.
  2. Scrum documents more artifacts than predictive methods
  3. Scrum plans once and follows the plan strictly
  4. Scrum eliminates the need for any planning

Explanation

Scrum is founded on the recognition that knowledge comes from experience and that decisions should be based on what is observed. Plans therefore serve as a current best forecast that is revised as evidence accumulates. Predictive approaches instead try to specify the path in advance and measure conformance to it.

Question 15Scrum Theory and Principles

The Scrum Team's Definition of Done is not met at the end of a Sprint. What does Scrum theory require?

  1. Do not present the incomplete work as part of the Increment Correct answer.
  2. Lower the Definition of Done for that Sprint
  3. Extend the Sprint until the work is finished
  4. Present the work as done and fix it later

Explanation

The Increment must meet the Definition of Done to be considered part of the release-ready product, so work that falls short is not presented as complete. This keeps the artifact transparent, which is a precondition for meaningful inspection. Quietly relabeling unfinished work destroys the empirical basis for decisions.

Question 16Scrum Theory and Principles

Which statement captures why Scrum prescribes events with explicit timeboxes?

  1. To let managers monitor attendance
  2. To keep inspection frequent and focused so adaptation stays timely Correct answer.
  3. To fill the working day with structured meetings
  4. To prevent the team from talking to stakeholders

Explanation

Timeboxed events create regular, bounded opportunities to inspect artifacts and progress and to adapt accordingly. Keeping each event within a maximum duration forces the participants to focus on what matters most. The purpose is timely empirical feedback, not meeting volume or supervision.

Question 17Scrum Theory and Principles

A team argues that because it is self-managing, it can change the Definition of Done without involving the Product Owner. How should this be evaluated?

  1. Only the Scrum Master may change it
  2. Only external auditors may change it
  3. The team may change it freely because it self-manages
  4. The Definition of Done is a shared commitment and changes should involve the whole Scrum Team Correct answer.

Explanation

Self-management gives the team authority over how it organizes its work, but the Definition of Done is a shared quality standard that the whole Scrum Team, including the Product Owner, must understand and agree on. Changing it unilaterally risks delivering work that does not meet the organization's expectations. Shared commitment keeps the Increment transparent.

Question 18Scrum Theory and Principles

Which outcome best demonstrates that the pillar of adaptation has worked in a Sprint Review?

  1. The team presents slides describing what it intends to build next quarter
  2. The Product Owner reads the backlog aloud without discussion
  3. The team reports that no stakeholder attended
  4. Stakeholders confirm the Increment and the team updates the Product Backlog based on feedback Correct answer.

Explanation

Adaptation occurs when inspection produces a change in the artifacts or the plan, such as revised Product Backlog ordering based on stakeholder feedback. The Sprint Review is designed as a working session, not a status presentation, precisely so this adjustment can happen. Without a resulting change, inspection has not led to adaptation.

Question 19Scrum Theory and Principles

What does the empirical principle of transparency require of the artifacts themselves?

  1. They must be identical across every organization
  2. They must be stored in a specific software tool
  3. They must be approved by a steering committee
  4. They must have a common, shared understanding of what they mean Correct answer.

Explanation

Transparency means that the significant aspects of the process are visible and understood in the same way by those accountable for the outcome. An artifact can be fully visible yet misleading if people interpret its state differently. Shared meaning, not a particular tool, is what makes inspection reliable.

Question 20Scrum Theory and Principles

Which statement best explains why Scrum favors delivering a usable Increment every Sprint?

  1. It removes the need for a Product Owner
  2. It eliminates technical debt permanently
  3. It provides a tangible basis for inspection and early value delivery Correct answer.
  4. It guarantees the product will be profitable

Explanation

An Increment is a concrete, usable step toward the product goal, which gives stakeholders something real to inspect and respond to each Sprint. This shortens the time between building something and learning whether it was worth building. Profitability and debt elimination are outcomes that depend on many factors beyond the framework.

Question 21The Scrum Team

In Scrum, which statement best describes the Scrum Team?

  1. A temporary committee of managers who approve work before it is released
  2. A large program-level group that coordinates several unrelated projects
  3. A small, self-managing group of people who share accountability for delivering a valuable product increment Correct answer.
  4. A group of specialists who each report to a separate functional department

Explanation

The Scrum Team is a small, cross-functional, self-managing unit that collectively owns delivery of a valuable, useful increment each Sprint. It contains the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers, and no sub-teams or separate reporting lines exist inside it.

Question 22The Scrum Team

Which three accountabilities make up the Scrum Team?

  1. Stakeholders, sponsors, and auditors
  2. Customers, users, and operations staff
  3. Product Manager, Project Manager, and Tech Lead
  4. Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers Correct answer.

Explanation

The Scrum Team consists of one Product Owner, one Scrum Master, and the Developers. These are accountabilities within a single team, not job titles tied to separate departments. Everyone else, such as customers and managers, sits outside the Scrum Team.

Question 23The Scrum Team

What is the recommended size for a Scrum Team?

  1. Typically ten or fewer people in total, including the Product Owner and Scrum Master Correct answer.
  2. Between twenty and fifty people to ensure broad coverage
  3. Exactly three people, one per accountability
  4. As large as the organization requires, with no guidance given

Explanation

Scrum guidance suggests a team of ten or fewer people in total, including the Product Owner and Scrum Master. Smaller teams communicate better and are more productive, while larger groups generate coordination overhead. If the team grows too large, it should reorganize into multiple coherent Scrum Teams.

Question 24The Scrum Team

A Scrum Team needs a decision on how to structure its daily work. Who is responsible for making that decision?

  1. The Product Owner, who decides all internal work allocation
  2. The engineering manager, who approves technical choices
  3. The Scrum Master, who decides process details for the team
  4. The team itself, because it is self-managing Correct answer.

Explanation

Self-managing means the team decides internally who does what, when, and how. The Scrum Master coaches the team toward self-management rather than directing its work, and the Product Owner focuses on product value and ordering.

Question 25The Scrum Team

Which statement describes the Developers accountability on a Scrum Team?

  1. They manage the team's budget and external contracts
  2. They commit to delivering every item requested by stakeholders within the Sprint
  3. They approve the Sprint Goal on behalf of management
  4. They are the people in the Scrum Team who create the product increment each Sprint Correct answer.

Explanation

Developers are the team members who create the usable increment during each Sprint. They hold themselves accountable for quality, for the Sprint Backlog, and for adapting their plan daily. They are not a committee that approves goals or manages budgets.

Question 26The Scrum Team

What does it mean that a Scrum Team is cross-functional?

  1. The team has all the skills needed to create value from one Sprint to the next Correct answer.
  2. The team borrows specialists from other departments whenever needed
  3. Team members are assigned to several teams at once to share expertise
  4. Every member holds an identical skill set and can replace any other member

Explanation

Cross-functional means the team collectively possesses the skills required to deliver a valuable increment without depending on people outside the team. It does not require each individual to be interchangeable. Shared specialists across teams undermine the team's ability to finish work independently.

Question 27The Scrum Team

How many Product Owners exist on a single Scrum Team?

  1. Two, one for business and one for technical priorities
  2. As many as there are major stakeholder groups
  3. One Correct answer.
  4. Zero, because the team prioritizes its own work

Explanation

A Scrum Team has exactly one Product Owner, who is accountable for maximizing product value and managing the Product Backlog. Having multiple Product Owners fragments decision-making and confuses priorities. The Product Owner may delegate work but remains accountable.

Question 28The Scrum Team

Which behavior is most consistent with the Scrum Master serving the Scrum Team?

  1. Deciding which backlog items are most valuable
  2. Approving or rejecting the increment before release
  3. Coaching the team in self-management and helping it remove impediments Correct answer.
  4. Assigning daily tasks to Developers to keep the Sprint on track

Explanation

The Scrum Master serves the team by coaching self-management, facilitating events, and helping remove impediments. The role is one of teaching and enabling, not of directing work or making product decisions. Value decisions belong to the Product Owner, and the increment is inspected by stakeholders.

Question 29The Scrum Team

A team of nine people, including the Product Owner and Scrum Master, keeps missing its Sprint Goal because Developers are pulled into unrelated support work mid-Sprint. What is the best interpretation?

  1. The team is not protecting its focus, and self-management requires it to decide how to handle interruptions Correct answer.
  2. The team should extend the Sprint length until the support work disappears
  3. The team should add a second Scrum Master to absorb the support work
  4. The Product Owner should assign each Developer a fixed daily task list

Explanation

Self-managing teams are expected to decide how to handle competing demands and protect their Sprint commitment. The Scrum Master can coach and help remove organizational impediments, but the team owns the response. Adding roles or lengthening the Sprint does not address the underlying loss of focus.

Question 30The Scrum Team

During a Sprint, the Developers discover they need a skill the team lacks to finish the increment. What action best reflects Scrum?

  1. Collaborate to acquire the skill or adjust the Sprint Backlog within the team Correct answer.
  2. Escalate to the Product Owner to reduce the Sprint Goal immediately
  3. Ask the Scrum Master to hire a contractor without involving the team
  4. Wait until the next Sprint to raise the gap in the retrospective

Explanation

The team is accountable for the increment and should adapt its Sprint Backlog as it learns. Acquiring skills, pairing, or re-planning within the Sprint is expected self-management. Deferring the issue or pushing decisions outside the team reduces the team's ownership.

Question 31The Scrum Team

A manager asks the Scrum Master to report each Developer's individual velocity so performance can be ranked. What is the most appropriate response?

  1. Ask the Developers to self-report rankings to the manager each Sprint
  2. Explain that the team is accountable collectively and individual output metrics misrepresent Scrum Correct answer.
  3. Provide the individual numbers because managers own performance reviews
  4. Refuse all measurement and state that Scrum forbids any data collection

Explanation

Scrum Teams hold accountability as a whole, and individual output metrics conflict with self-management and collective ownership. The Scrum Master can educate the manager and offer team-level transparency instead. Refusing all measurement overstates the framework, and self-ranking undermines team cohesion.

Question 32The Scrum Team

A Scrum Team has grown to fifteen people and its Daily Scrum now takes too long, with work frequently overlapping. What does Scrum suggest?

  1. Add a layer of team leads to coordinate the Developers
  2. Split into multiple coherent Scrum Teams that share the same product Correct answer.
  3. Reduce the Daily Scrum to twice per week to save time
  4. Keep the size and add a separate integration team

Explanation

When a team grows beyond a practical size, Scrum advises reorganizing into multiple Scrum Teams that work on the same product with a shared Product Owner and Product Backlog. Adding coordination layers or reducing event frequency does not restore the communication benefits of small teams.

Question 33The Scrum Team

Who is accountable for the effectiveness of the Scrum Team?

  1. The Product Owner
  2. The most senior Developer
  3. The stakeholders who fund the team
  4. The Scrum Master Correct answer.

Explanation

The Scrum Master is accountable for the Scrum Team's effectiveness, helping the team improve its practices and its use of the framework. This accountability is about enabling the team, not directing its work. Product value belongs to the Product Owner, and technical decisions belong to the Developers.

Question 34The Scrum Team

A Product Owner is overwhelmed and asks the Developers to decide the order of the Product Backlog. How should the team respond?

  1. Decline and help the Product Owner find ways to manage the backlog effectively Correct answer.
  2. Ask the Scrum Master to own the backlog ordering instead
  3. Have the Developers vote on priority order each Sprint
  4. Accept, because self-managing teams own all decisions

Explanation

Backlog ordering is the Product Owner's accountability, and the team should respect that boundary while helping the owner succeed. Self-management covers how the team does its work, not product value decisions. Transferring ordering to the Developers or Scrum Master dilutes clear ownership.

Question 35The Scrum Team

Which pairing of accountability and primary focus is correct?

  1. Developers - managing the Product Backlog order
  2. Product Owner - maximizing product value Correct answer.
  3. Product Owner - coaching the organization in Scrum adoption
  4. Scrum Master - maximizing product value

Explanation

The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value delivered by the product, largely through effective backlog management. The Scrum Master focuses on effectiveness and Scrum adoption, while Developers create the increment. Mixing these focuses blurs accountability.

Question 36The Scrum Team

A Scrum Team is distributed across several time zones. Which approach best supports Scrum principles?

  1. Assign one member to make all decisions on behalf of the remote members
  2. Remove the Scrum Master role because coordination is handled by tools
  3. Find ways to preserve regular synchronous collaboration and shared team identity Correct answer.
  4. Replace the Daily Scrum with written status reports sent to the Scrum Master

Explanation

Scrum favors direct, regular collaboration, so distributed teams should invest in synchronous contact and a shared sense of team. Written status reports and decision proxies erode self-management and transparency. Removing an accountability does not solve distance.

Question 37The Scrum Team

New Developers join an established Scrum Team. What best reflects Scrum's expectation for how the team operates?

  1. The team develops its skills and practices together, with members helping each other grow Correct answer.
  2. The Scrum Master assigns each newcomer a permanent specialist role
  3. The Product Owner decides which tasks newcomers may perform
  4. New members work in isolation until they reach the team's performance level

Explanation

Scrum Teams are expected to develop cross-functional skills over time, with members teaching and learning from one another. Isolation, fixed specialist roles, and task assignment by others all conflict with self-management and cross-functionality.

Question 38The Scrum Team

The Developers want to change a technical practice that the Scrum Master disagrees with, though it does not violate Scrum. Who decides?

  1. The Product Owner, because value is at stake
  2. A vote of all stakeholders affected by the change
  3. The Developers, because technical practices are theirs to decide Correct answer.
  4. The Scrum Master, because they guard the framework

Explanation

Developers own the how of the work, including technical practices and tooling, provided the team stays within Scrum. The Scrum Master coaches but does not veto technical choices. The Product Owner and stakeholders focus on value and requirements, not internal engineering practice.

Question 39The Scrum Team

A Scrum Team keeps its Sprint Goal but the Developers realize halfway through that a backlog item is far larger than expected. What is the most Scrum-aligned action?

  1. Ask the Scrum Master to extend the Sprint by a week
  2. Silently drop the item and say nothing until the review
  3. Add more Developers from another team to absorb the work
  4. Collaborate with the Product Owner to renegotiate scope while protecting the Sprint Goal Correct answer.

Explanation

Scope may be clarified and renegotiated between the Product Owner and Developers as more is learned, while the Sprint Goal remains stable. Silent changes destroy transparency, and extending the Sprint or borrowing people disrupts the timebox and team stability.

Question 40The Scrum Team

Which situation most clearly shows a Scrum Team failing to be self-managing?

  1. The team adjusts its Sprint Backlog after learning new information
  2. The team asks an outside manager to assign each member's daily tasks Correct answer.
  3. The Developers decide among themselves who pairs on a tricky item
  4. The team invites a stakeholder to clarify a requirement

Explanation

Self-management means the team determines internally who does what, when, and how. Relying on an outside manager to assign daily tasks removes that authority from the team. The other options show healthy internal decision-making and collaboration.

Question 41The Scrum Team

An organization wants one person to serve as both Product Owner and Scrum Master on the same Scrum Team. What is the main concern?

  1. It only matters if the team is distributed
  2. It is fine because both roles serve the same team
  3. It is required whenever the team is small
  4. The two accountabilities have conflicting focuses, which blurs ownership and reduces the checks the roles provide Correct answer.

Explanation

The Product Owner focuses on maximizing value and ordering the backlog, while the Scrum Master coaches the team and organization on Scrum. Combining them on one team can blur accountability and weaken the coaching relationship. Team size or distribution does not remove that tension.

Question 42The Scrum Team

A Scrum Team delivers increments, but stakeholders say the product does not solve their problem. Which accountability is most directly implicated?

  1. The Product Owner, for not maximizing value through effective backlog management Correct answer.
  2. The Developers, for not writing enough tests
  3. The stakeholders, for changing their minds
  4. The Scrum Master, for not facilitating the review well enough

Explanation

The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing product value, which includes understanding stakeholder needs and ordering the backlog accordingly. The Scrum Master addresses process effectiveness, and Developers address the quality of the increment. A mismatch between product and need points first to product ownership.

Question 43The Scrum Team

Two Scrum Teams work on the same product and each maintains its own Product Backlog with different priorities. What does Scrum recommend?

  1. Merge the teams into one very large team to avoid conflict
  2. Use one Product Owner and one Product Backlog for the product, with teams coordinating Correct answer.
  3. Keep separate backlogs so each team stays autonomous
  4. Let each team's Scrum Master negotiate priorities between them

Explanation

When multiple Scrum Teams work on one product, they share a single Product Owner and one Product Backlog so priorities stay coherent. Separate backlogs create conflicting direction and waste. Merging into an oversized team reintroduces the problems Scrum advises against.

Question 44The Scrum Team

A Scrum Team consistently finishes every Sprint but never improves its engineering practices. Which observation is most accurate?

  1. Delivering increments alone does not demonstrate effectiveness if the team neglects continuous improvement Correct answer.
  2. The team is effective because it always meets its forecast
  3. Effectiveness is irrelevant as long as the Product Owner is satisfied
  4. The Scrum Master should personally rewrite the team's technical standards

Explanation

Effectiveness includes improving practices and adapting through inspection, not just meeting forecasts. The Scrum Master is accountable for team effectiveness and should coach the team toward improvement rather than impose standards. Meeting a forecast alone is an incomplete measure.

Question 45The Scrum Team

A Product Owner wants to attend every Daily Scrum and reassign tasks based on the discussion. What is the best analysis?

  1. This is appropriate because the Product Owner owns value and should direct the work
  2. The Daily Scrum must be closed to everyone except Developers in all cases
  3. The Scrum Master should cancel the Daily Scrum to prevent interference
  4. The Daily Scrum is for the Developers to inspect progress and plan; the Product Owner may attend but should not direct task assignment Correct answer.

Explanation

The Daily Scrum is an event for the Developers to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt their plan. Others may attend if useful, but directing task assignment conflicts with self-management. Closing the event entirely or cancelling it misreads the event's purpose.

Question 46The Scrum Team

Within a Scrum Team, which accountability is primarily focused on maximizing value from the product?

  1. The Scrum Master
  2. The Product Owner Correct answer.
  3. The Developers
  4. The stakeholders

Explanation

The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value the product delivers, largely by managing and ordering the Product Backlog effectively. This accountability sits with one person so that priorities stay coherent. Developers build the increment and the Scrum Master coaches the process, but neither owns value maximization.

Question 47The Scrum Team

What is the recommended size range for a Scrum Team, and why does that range matter?

  1. Any size is acceptable as long as the Scrum Master can facilitate the events
  2. Between three and nine people, because smaller teams coordinate more easily and larger ones add communication overhead Correct answer.
  3. Exactly seven people, because that number balances skills evenly across every team
  4. Between five and fifteen people, because larger teams always produce more value per Sprint

Explanation

Scrum guidance describes a small team of typically ten or fewer people, commonly expressed as roughly three to nine excluding the Scrum Master and Product Owner where they are separate. Keeping the team small reduces communication complexity and supports self-management. Larger teams struggle to coordinate and need more structure than Scrum's events provide.

Question 48The Scrum Team

A Scrum Team has no dedicated tester, and the Developers argue that quality checks are someone else's job. Which response best reflects Scrum's expectation for the team?

  1. The Developers as a whole are accountable for quality and should acquire or share the needed skills Correct answer.
  2. Quality should be verified after release by an external team
  3. The Product Owner should add a separate testing phase to the Sprint Backlog
  4. The Scrum Master should assign one Developer to perform all testing each Sprint

Explanation

A Scrum Team is cross-functional, meaning it collectively possesses all skills needed to create value each Sprint. Quality practices belong to the Developers as a group rather than to a single designated person. Acquiring, sharing, or reorganizing skills within the team is the expected response.

Question 49The Scrum Team

During a Sprint Retrospective, the Developers propose a new definition of done item. Who holds the authority to adopt it?

  1. The Scrum Master, because process changes fall under coaching authority
  2. The Product Owner, because the definition of done affects scope
  3. The Scrum Team, because the definition of done is created and owned by the team Correct answer.
  4. The organization's quality department, because standards must be uniform

Explanation

The definition of done is created and maintained by the Scrum Team, with the Developers applying it to their work. The Product Owner and Scrum Master do not unilaterally dictate it, though the organization may set minimum standards. Adopting a stricter item is a team decision that raises quality expectations.

Question 50The Scrum Team

A Scrum Team's Sprint Reviews have become status presentations to a passive audience, and the Scrum Master keeps the Developers from speaking directly to stakeholders. Which analysis best fits Scrum's intent?

  1. The Developers should skip the review and send a written report instead, to save time
  2. The review should be a working session where the team and stakeholders inspect the increment and adapt the backlog together Correct answer.
  3. The Product Owner should present alone, because stakeholder collaboration is the Product Owner's sole responsibility
  4. The Scrum Master is protecting the team correctly, since stakeholders should only hear one consistent message

Explanation

The Sprint Review is an informal working session in which the Scrum Team and stakeholders inspect the increment and collaborate on what to do next. Treating it as a one-way status report removes the inspection and adaptation that give it value. The Scrum Master should facilitate genuine collaboration rather than gatekeep communication.