Scrum Professional Scrum Master II PSM-II Exam Questions

Answer : B

During the Sprint Review of a scaled development effort, the Scrum Teams should demonstrate the integrated Increment that they have collectively delivered, not their individual Increments separately. This ensures that the stakeholders can provide feedback on the value and quality of the product as a whole, and that the Scrum Teams can inspect their alignment and collaboration.

Scrum Guide 2020, page 14: ''The purpose of the Sprint Review is to inspect the outcome of the Sprint and determine future adaptations. The Scrum Team presents the results of their work to key stakeholders and progress toward the Product Goal is discussed.''

Nexus Guide 2020, page 7: ''The Nexus Sprint Review is an event where appropriate stakeholders review the Integrated Increment that has been built throughout the Sprint by all Scrum Teams in a Nexus.''

Answer : A, C

According to the Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) framework, one of the principles for scaling agile development is to descale the organization, which means simplifying the structure and reducing dependencies and handoffs. A well-structured Product Backlog can help achieve this by enabling feature teams, which are cross-functional and cross-component teams that can deliver a complete customer-centric feature. Feature teams minimize and often eliminate Developers working on multiple Scrum Teams during a Sprint, as they can focus on one Product Backlog item at a time. This also improves productivity, quality, and learning, as Developers can avoid context switching and multitasking, which are known to reduce efficiency and effectiveness. A person working on multiple Scrum Teams at the same time is often less productive than when that person can focus on the Sprint Backlog of a single Scrum Team.

The Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) framework also states that Scrum does not change when scaling up to multiple teams. The core Scrum framework remains intact, with one Product Owner, one Product Backlog, and potentially releasable Increments every Sprint. The only changes are adding a few coordination practices to cope with the increased complexity and interdependencies. Therefore, changes to the core Scrum framework are not needed to be successful with Scrum at large scale.

Scrum Team members do not have to be working full time on a team, as long as they are committed to the Sprint Goal and deliver a Done Increment every Sprint. However, it is recommended that they spend as much time as possible with their team, as this fosters collaboration, communication, and alignment.

The Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) framework | Atlassian, accessed on September 30, 2023

Overview - Large Scale Scrum (LeSS), accessed on September 30, 2023

Practices for Scaling Lean & Agile Development: Large, Multisite, and Offshore Product Development with Large-Scale Scrum, Craig Larman and Bas Vodde, 2010

Leading Large Scale Product Development with Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS), Kamlesh Ravlani, 2015

Answer : A, C, E

A: Arrange one-on-one coaching sessions where concerns the Scrum Master has identified can be discussed. This is a good way to provide individual feedback and guidance to the Scrum Team members and other people involved in the Scrum process. The Scrum Master can help them overcome any challenges or misunderstandings they may have about Scrum.

C: Schedule group training about Scrum. This is a good way to educate and inform a larger audience about the principles and practices of Scrum. The Scrum Master can use this opportunity to share their knowledge and experience with Scrum, and answer any questions or concerns that may arise.

E: Educate stakeholders and customers about Scrum. This is a good way to ensure that the people who have a stake in the product or service understand the benefits and expectations of Scrum. The Scrum Master can help them appreciate the value of empirical feedback, transparency, and collaboration that Scrum provides.

Scrum Guide 2020, page 6: ''The Scrum Master is accountable for establishing Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. They do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory and practice, both within the Scrum Team and the organization.''

Professional Scrum Master II Course, page 8: ''The role of the Scrum Master is to help everyone involved in creating products with Scrum to understand, apply, and improve upon the use of the framework.''

Answer : C

The Scrum Master is responsible for promoting and supporting Scrum, which includes helping the Scrum Team and the organization understand and enact Scrum values, principles, and practices. The Scrum Master should offer guidance that:

Addresses the root cause of the conflict, not just the symptoms or the consequences.

Empowers the Scrum Team to self-organize and collaborate effectively, without relying on external intervention or authority.

Fosters a culture of transparency, inspection, and adaptation, where feedback is welcomed and used to improve the product and the process.

Focuses on delivering value to the customer and meeting the Sprint Goal, not on following a fixed plan or satisfying individual preferences.

Therefore, the best option is to address why requirements change during the Sprint Retrospective , which is an event that allows the Scrum Team to inspect how they worked together and create a plan for improvements. The Scrum Master should ask the Developers and the Product Owner to talk about why the requirements are changing and consider the impact on value during this discussion. This will help them understand each other's perspectives, clarify their expectations, and align their goals.

The other options are not appropriate because they:

Take everyone to a 2-day off-site event to relax and re-align (A), which may be a nice gesture, but does not solve the underlying problem or help the Scrum Team improve their collaboration skills. It may also be seen as a distraction or a reward for poor performance.

Ask each person's functional manager to instruct their employees that they must collaborate better, or be removed from the team (B), which undermines the self-organization and autonomy of the Scrum Team and introduces a threat of punishment that may damage trust and motivation. It also violates the Scrum value of respect and the principle of servant leadership.

Ask for a project manager or other external resource to mediate and temporarily take over for the Product Owner (D), which creates a dependency on an outsider who may not have the necessary knowledge, authority, or vision to manage the product. It also violates the Scrum role of the Product Owner and the principle of single-wringable-neck.

Answer : C, D

C: Velocity has no direct relationship with value. This is a true statement, as velocity is a measure of the amount of work done by a Scrum Team in a Sprint, not the value or quality of that work. Velocity can vary depending on many factors, such as the size, complexity, and priority of the Product Backlog items, the skills and experience of the Developers, the Definition of Done, and the Sprint length. Therefore, velocity is not a reliable indicator of value creation or team performance.

D: Velocity is the amount of business functionality that a Scrum Team creates in a Sprint. It is unique to that team and used as an input to Sprint Planning. This is a true statement, as velocity is a team-specific metric that reflects how much business functionality the Scrum Team can deliver in a Sprint. Velocity can help the Scrum Team to forecast how many Product Backlog items they can select for the next Sprint, based on their past performance and current capacity. However, velocity is not a goal or a target for the Scrum Team, and it should not be compared across teams.

Professional Scrum Master II Course, page 15: ''Velocity is a measure of how much work a team can complete in a given time period. It is usually expressed in terms of story points or function points per Sprint.''

Professional Scrum Master II Course, page 16: ''Velocity is not a measure of value or quality. It does not tell us anything about the usefulness, usability, or desirability of the product increment.''

Professional Scrum Master II Course, page 17: ''Velocity is unique to each team and depends on many factors, such as the size and complexity of the work items, the skills and experience of the team members, the definition of done, and the length of the Sprint.''

Professional Scrum Master II Course, page 18: ''Velocity can be used as an input for Sprint Planning, to help the team forecast how much work they can realistically accomplish in the next Sprint. However, velocity is not a goal or a target for the team, and it should not be used to compare or evaluate teams.''

Answer : A, B, C, D

Scrum is a framework for addressing complex adaptive problems, such as product development, that require empirical process control and frequent inspection and adaptation. Scrum helps to mitigate the risks of:

The timescale of the planned work (A), by delivering potentially releasable increments of value at the end of each Sprint, which is a fixed time-box of one month or less.

The stability and complexity of the technology (B), by allowing the Development Team to self-organize and choose the best way to create a ''Done'' increment that meets the Definition of Done.

The complexity and unpredictability of the requirements , by enabling the Product Owner to manage the Product Backlog, which is an ordered list of what is needed in the product and can change as more is learned about the product, users, market, and technology.

The skills and working relationships of the people on the teams (D), by fostering a culture of collaboration, transparency, and accountability among the Scrum Team members and stakeholders.

Answer : C, D

This is a good option because the Scrum Master's role is to help the Scrum Team understand and apply the Scrum framework and its principles12.The Scrum Master should also facilitate and enable the team's self-organization and collaboration12.By coaching the Scrum Team, the Scrum Master can help them realize that the Daily Scrum is not a status update or a performance review, but a time to inspect and adapt their progress toward the Sprint Goal3. D. Tell the Product Owner your concerns about how his behavior may impact the Developers, and ask him to stop attending the Daily Scrum for some time.

This is another good option because the Scrum Master's role is to protect the Scrum Team from external interference and distractions12.The Scrum Master should also coach the Product Owner on how to maximize the value of the product and collaborate effectively with the Developers12. By telling the Product Owner your concerns, you can help him understand that his behavior may create pressure, dependency, or resentment among the Developers, which can harm their motivation, creativity, and autonomy . By asking him to stop attending the Daily Scrum for some time, you can give the Developers some space to self-manage their work and communication.