Professional Scrum Master (PSM I) practice assessment

#1. Who should the Scrum Master report to?

The Lead Scrum Master

The Agile Coach

The Development Manager

The Project Manager

None of the above

Scrum is a lightweight framework that helps to generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems. It does not provide guidance in designing the organisational structure.

#2. What best describes the Definition of Done?

Select all that apply:

A formal description of the state of the Increment when it meets the quality measures required for the product

It creates transparency by providing a shared understanding of what it means for work to be completed

If the Definition of Done is part of the standards of the organisation, all Scrum Teams must follow it as a minimum

The Product Owner has the final say on whether the Definition of Done has been met and if an Increment can be released

#3. Who must attend the Daily Scrum?

Developers

Developers and Scrum Master

Developers, Scrum Master and Product Owner

Developers, Scrum Master, Product Owner and stakeholders

The Daily Scrum is the Scrum event for the Developers to focus on progress towards the Sprint Goal and produce an actionable plan for the next day of work.

#4. How is Product Backlog refinement carried out?

The Product Owner, Scrum Master, architect and QA specialist collaboratively develop Product Backlog items, order them in the Product Backlog, and estimate how long each will take

Once per Sprint, the lead analyst presents user stories from the Product Backlog to the Developers, who use planning poker to estimate them in story points

Product Backlog refinement is carried out during the Sprint Planning event. Carrying out refinement in Sprint Planning and limiting Developers involvement until this point reduces waste as the Developers learn what needs to be done “just in time”

Product Backlog refinement is any collaborative, ongoing approach that the Scrum Team chooses to use to break down and further define Product Backlog items so that they are deemed ready for selection in a Sprint Planning event

#5. What is technical debt?

Defects in the product

Deferred work, often the result of decisions to trade quality for speed that can result in a brittle product

The gap between desired and actual velocity

Missing skills in the Scrum Team that are needed to produce “Done” Increments every Sprint

#6. What is the purpose of the Sprint Review?

For the Developers to demonstrate the Increment that was developed during the Sprint to the Product Owner for formal sign off

It is a collaborative working session between the Scrum Team and the stakeholders to inspect the outcome of the Sprint and adjust the Product Backlog based on feedback, new information and new opportunities

To hold the Scrum Team to account for producing regular value for the organization

It is the opportunity for the Scrum Team to train stakeholders in how to use the latest product Increment before it is released

#7. Even though they don’t always have something to contribute at the Daily Scrum, UX specialists on the Scrum team must still attend the Daily Scrum.

True

False

Scrum recognises no specialisms. Anybody that is committed to creating any aspect of a usable Increment each Sprint is considered to be a Developer, and attendance at the Daily Scrum by the Developers is mandatory.

#8. When there is a lot of uncertainty, for example about user needs, market potential, viability of the solution, the best way to proceed is to;

Postpone sprinting while further analysis is carried out and a more comprehensive design is created

Collaborate as a Scrum Team on how to learn and reduce risk as quickly as possible while still producing a “Done”, valuable, usable Increment each Sprint

Keep a risk register and assign the Scrum Master to manage it

Have the Product Owner make a decision about what to do, so that resources are kept utilised

Scrum is designed for complex, uncertain environments. The regular cadence of Sprints and the feedback loops given by the Scrum events enable iterative and incremental learning, enabling options for how to proceed to emerge.

#9. What is the purpose of Sprint 0?

For the Scrum Team to produce the first version of the ordered, sized Product Backlog

For the Developers to carry out a feasibility analysis of the requirements so that they can plan and estimate more accurately

For the Product Owner to build a business case that demonstrates the return on investment for the product development

There is no such thing as Sprint 0 in Scrum

#10. Scrum Masters are described as “True Leaders”. What does this mean?

They lead by serving the needs of the Scrum Team and the larger organisation

The entire organisation must respect their decisions

They lead all of the Scrum events

They are ultimately accountable for the success of Scrum implementations and the success of products

#11. The Scrum Master carries out a team health check which shows the team has poor morale. What should the Scrum Master do?

Use the Sprint Retrospective for some fun team building activities

The Scrum Master is clearly doing a poor job, and they should consider if the role is right for them

Do nothing, as long as the team is following the mechanics of Scrum and producing a “Done” Increment most Sprints, it doesn’t matter

Make the results of the health check transparent to the team and facilitate a discussion to find the root cause and agree improvement actions as a team

#12. When is the Increment released?

After it has been reviewed and signed off as “Done” in the Sprint Review

Following the user acceptance testing phase that follows the Sprint after the Increment was Done

As soon as a Product Backlog item meets the Definition of Done, an Increment is born and the decision to release it can be made

The decision to release an Increment is at the sole discretion of the Product Owner, regardless of the state of the Increment

Multiple Increments may be created and released during a Sprint. The Sprint Review should never be considered as a gate to releasing value. For an Increment to be releasable it must meet the Definition of Done.

#13. What place does Project Management have in Scrum?

Scrum does not recognise Project Managers; Project Management skills and the Project Manager role is obsolete

Although no role of Project Manager is recognised in Scrum, Project Management skills may be needed by the Scrum Team, and the competencies may be carried out by Scrum Masters, Developers or Product Owners

Project Managers are required in a separate PMO function. They create the Sprint by Sprint plan, the end of Sprint report, and ensure that the Scrum Master, Developers and Product Owner are fulfilling their duties

The Scrum Master is an Agile Project Manager

#14. What would be a suitable strategy for a Scrum Team that consistently does not complete Product Backlog items in a Sprint, and continually carries items over from one Sprint to the next?

Lengthen the Sprint duration

Add more developers to the team

Split the Scrum Team into functional teams that work more efficiently in their specialist areas, with a separate integration Sprint before each release

The Scrum Master should coach the team to break Product Backlog items into smaller items that can be completed within a Sprint

#15. It is mandatory in Scrum to use technical practices such as Continuous Integration and automated testing.

True

False

Scrum is a lightweight framework, on top of which complimentary practices can be added. Technical practices are not mandatory, but they could be a great benefit.

#16. What is a cross-functional team?

All team members can perform any task needed

The team has all skills needed to turn Product Backlog items into "Done" Increments

The team has at least one architect, developer, designer and tester assigned to the team

Each team member has a specialist skill, and a secondary skill in at least one other area

Scrum Teams are cross-functional, meaning the members have all the skills necessary to create value each Sprint. This does not mean that Scrum expects the team to be made up of cross-functional individuals.

#17. A Scrum Team’s Sprint duration is 2 weeks. What should the maximum duration for the Sprint Planning event be?

8 hours

6 hours

4 hours

However long is needed

The Sprint Planning event is timeboxed to a maximum of 8 hours, regardless of Sprint length.

#18. Which of the following are part of the Scrum framework?

Select all that apply:

Velocity

User Stories

Story Points

Definition of Ready

None of the above

Scrum is a lightweight framework with various processes, techniques and methods that can be employed within the framework, such as the use of user stories and story points.

#19. By the end of the Sprint Planning event, the Scrum Team should have decomposed the Product Backlog items forecasted to be done for the upcoming Sprint into all of the tasks that need to be completed, and placed them on to the Sprint Backlog.

True

False

Scrum Teams recognise that for complex work, what will happen is unknowable. Therefore it is expected that adaptations to the work to be done during the Sprint will be needed.

#20. What happens in-between Sprints?

The Scrum Team has some downtime to catch up on reading emails, and to carry out hardening tasks on the product such as refactoring and bug fixing

Nothing. As soon as one Sprint ends, the next Sprint starts

The Increment is released and the Scrum Team monitors its performance to validate that it delivered the expected value before starting the next Sprint

Enough time is spent refining the next set of Product Backlog items so that the next Sprint can begin

#1. Who should the Scrum Master report to?

#2. What best describes the Definition of Done?

#3. Who must attend the Daily Scrum?

#4. How is Product Backlog refinement carried out?

#5. What is technical debt?

#6. What is the purpose of the Sprint Review?

#7. Even though they don’t always have something to contribute at the Daily Scrum, UX specialists on the Scrum team must still attend the Daily Scrum.

#8. When there is a lot of uncertainty, for example about user needs, market potential, viability of the solution, the best way to proceed is to;

#9. What is the purpose of Sprint 0?

#10. Scrum Masters are described as “True Leaders”. What does this mean?

#11. The Scrum Master carries out a team health check which shows the team has poor morale. What should the Scrum Master do?

#12. When is the Increment released?

#13. What place does Project Management have in Scrum?

#14. What would be a suitable strategy for a Scrum Team that consistently does not complete Product Backlog items in a Sprint, and continually carries items over from one Sprint to the next?

#15. It is mandatory in Scrum to use technical practices such as Continuous Integration and automated testing.

#16. What is a cross-functional team?

#17. A Scrum Team’s Sprint duration is 2 weeks. What should the maximum duration for the Sprint Planning event be?

#18. Which of the following are part of the Scrum framework?

#19. By the end of the Sprint Planning event, the Scrum Team should have decomposed the Product Backlog items forecasted to be done for the upcoming Sprint into all of the tasks that need to be completed, and placed them on to the Sprint Backlog.

#20. What happens in-between Sprints?

Results