Free Practice Questions for Scrum PSM-I Exam

Three topics for the Developers to discuss at the Daily Scrum as they inspect their progress toward the Sprint Goal are:

What have we learned since yesterday, and how should we modify our plan to increase our ability to meet the Sprint Goal?

Are there any impediments blocking progress toward the Sprint Goal?

Are there any decisions that need to be made to maintain progress toward the Sprint Goal?

These topics are suggested by [6]: “The structure of the meeting is set by the Developers and can be conducted in different ways if it focuses on progress toward the Sprint Goal. Some Development Teams will use questions, some will be more discussion based.”

The Product Owner is responsible for ensuring that the most valuable functionality is produced first, at all times, by ordering and prioritizing the Product Backlog. The Product Owner also interacts with stakeholders to understand their needs and expectations, and to communicate the vision and progress of the product. The other options are not part of the Product Owner role according to Scrum, as they are either too prescriptive or too technical.

According to the Scrum Guide1, there are five values that guide decisions within Scrum teams:

Commitment

Focus

Openness

Respect

Courage

By not building Product Backlog items that have low business value, Scrum teams exhibit respect for their stakeholders and customers, as they deliver what is most valuable and relevant for them. They also exhibit focus, as they concentrate on what matters most for achieving their Product Goal and Sprint Goal. They also exhibit courage, as they are willing to say no to low-value work and face possible conflicts or disagreements.

According to the Scrum Guide, management external to the Scrum Team is not involved in the Daily Scrum at all. The Daily Scrum is an internal event for the Development Team to inspect their progress toward the Sprint Goal and plan their work for the next 24 hours. The other options are not valid ways for management to be involved in the Daily Scrum, as they are either intrusive (such as giving an update or speaking on behalf of others) or unnecessary (such as being represented by the Product Owner or the Scrum Master).

According to the Scrum Guide, estimates are made by the people doing the work, which is the Development Team. The Development Team is responsible for all estimates in the Product Backlog and the Sprint Backlog. The other options are not valid guidelines for estimating work in Scrum, as they are either too prescriptive (such as requiring story points or relative units), incorrect (such as forbidding estimating or having the Product Owner make estimates), or unnecessary (such as checking estimates with the Development Team).

All of the above topics should be discussed in the Sprint Review, as stated in [4]: "The purpose of this meeting is to inspect what was delivered during this sprint and adapt what we want to deliver next. This means we will discuss three things:

What did we do this sprint?

How did we do it?

What do we want to do next?"

According to the Scrum Guide1, the Sprint Planning meeting has a time-box of eight hours or less for a one-month Sprint. The Scrum Master ensures that the meeting is time-boxed and keeps the Scrum Team focused on the objective. If the Development Team cannot forecast how many Product Backlog items it can complete, it should still start the Sprint and work on the most likely items to meet the Sprint Goal. The Sprint Backlog can be updated throughout the Sprint as more is learned. The Scrum Master should also support the team to discuss the reasons for the lack of clarity in the Product Backlog items and how to prevent it from happening again in the next Sprint Retrospective.

References: Scrum Guide