Preparing for a Certified Scrum Master certification exam is often a long and slow process. Applicants for this prestigious document often spend months studying.
A large percentage of people simply give up.
We present you with a collection of questions and answers for the certification exam for Scrum Master. For each topic, there is an appropriate situation-reaction of the Scrum Master role.
Exam topics are suitable for the BVOP Certified Scrum Master title, CSM, and Professional Scrum Master II (PSM II).
The Certified Scrum Master Role
To better understand the function of Scrum Master, we must first clarify what Scrum means.
The Scrum method of work is a system of techniques for more productive and rapid achievement of business goals. In this regard, we can now say that we recognize several roles that perform certain functions in Scrum activities. These are the Scrum Master role, Development Team (Team by development), and the Product Owner role.
Briefly explain the concept so far, we can define the Scrum Master role, generally speaking, as a unifying unit of the other 2 roles in this process.
The key responsibilities of the Scrum Master role include:
- Monitoring and removing obstacles to the work process
- Protecting the team from outside interference
- Support meetings and Scrum events
- Collaborate with the Product Owner role
Training and guidance to all persons involved in the product (Scrum team and business stakeholders) on Scrum practices and concepts.
Scrum Master is often referred to as a service leader for his ability to encourage and assist the Development team to develop their maximum potential and productivity, develop their skills and increase the value they create.
Among other things, he acts as a buffer between the team and all external influences, problems, personalities, and phenomena.
Using modern methods such as Scrum to optimize the working structural units and production in the business sphere opens up new opportunities to improve the quality of production saving time and resources. This happens with the help of Scrum Master, which improves communication between employees and the potential of its specialists, unites and focuses the energy of the team in a productive and creative direction, nurtures the self-initiative and responsibility of people, builds respect, tolerance, and openness in their relationships.
Preparation for Certified Scrum Master certification exam with sample questions
The development team shares your idea that they want to nominate you for a Product Owner appointment and take over its functions, and for the Product Owner assigned to your team to go to another team and have no contact with it.
I understand that the team has a problem or at least some reservations about the current Product Owner, so my question to them would be whether they think there is an opportunity to talk to him and clarify the situation or if they think it’s a waste of time will I am looking for another colleague who could perform this function. Regarding my position in the team, I have decided that my knowledge at the moment cannot cover the role of Product Owner, but I will still thank them for the trust that they still thought in this way. Reference: “Example questions for the Scrum Master certification exam“, https://customer-service-us.com/example-questions-for-the-scrum-master-certification-exam/
In 2 days you have a meeting to present the current progress of the product. Your Product Owner role and most of the Development team are on leave for another 5 days.
I will clarify this issue in advance and change the date of the interview for later so that the presentation can be with the participation of the whole team and be complete.
Business stakeholders share the view that the product is not progressing as expected.
I would like to share this comment from them with the team and I will meet with them to discuss the details with the team to understand the reason for this.
You notice that the team spends more and more time in the games and entertainment hall in your office.
I will comment with them on my impressions and ask if the meetings are not too stressful and if this is a reason for them to need more rest. -the duration, the start of the meetings, or maybe the intervals in which we take our obligatory breaks so that the meetings can keep their maximum capacity. Reference: “Preparation for the certification exam for CSM and PSM I (BVOSM) Scrum Master“, https://www.mu7club.com/preparation-for-certification-exam-scrum-master/
The Product Owner role in your team goes on a business trip for 2 months to one of your customer support centers. No one has made any plans, no comments. The client has not shared anything more, the Development team does not know what it will work on and your colleagues are worried about the future of the project.
I will talk to the team about this, including the Product Owner, to think and consider together in this situation what would be the best solution in terms of successful completion of the current project. If the Product Owner and the Development team agree, the meetings can continue to be held online for the Product Owner, although this would reduce the usefulness of the final product following the Scrum logic. If this proposal is not agreed upon, another option would be to look for a colleague to take on the Product Owner role, or if one of the Development team wishes to take the place, although here too the implementation of 2 roles at the same time, which in turn is more stressful and concentration will not be focused.
One of the programmers in the team asks the designer for regular adjustments to the visual concepts he offers.
I will assess whether the situation requires my intervention in the case, whether the colleague has visible reactions of dissatisfaction with the adjustments he has to make, or whether the requests of the programmer are justified. Reference: “Certified Scrum Master exam preparation with sample questions“, https://customessaysonline.net/certified-scrum-master-exam-preparation-with-sample-questions/
The QA specialists on your product testing team plan to integrate additional technologies, tools, and testing procedures. According to the product owner, this will double the work and the progress after the sprints will decrease.
I will ask you to discuss what others think, whether these additional tools are really needed and how much they increase the quality of the product, what additional information they bring us, can we replace this testing with another that takes less time if it has been confirmed that the testing in question will save the product from more frequent automatic errors, for example, and increase its value as a quality product.
The designer and the programmer have decided to exchange part of their work on their initiative. The designer will take on some of the easy programming tasks, and the programmer will make parts of the interface.
This issue should be discussed first with the team to assess with other colleagues whether this will not affect the work of any of them or otherwise have a negative impact. If in general it does not interfere with others and does not violate technical processes, openly discussed with the team to let everyone know about these changes, such a self-initiative could be useful if colleagues have clarified this point, why this change and what is the usefulness of the idea here. Reference: “Preparation for the Certified Scrum Master exam (PSM, CSM, BVOSM)“, https://mpmu.org/preparation-for-the-certified-scrum-master-exam-psm-csm-bvosm/
QA specialists want you to assign them good testing tools for the next sprints, as you will already be developing new components that require a different type of test.
If it is a question of assisting in the use of more technically powerful and new equipment with which to perform testing, I will ask you to clarify the details – what is currently used, why it would not be useful, what we will save or prevent if we use current test tools and what, if used as required by them. This way we will have enough information to make the decision together with the team and if necessary use other types of test tools to present this information accurately and clearly to stakeholders in case of possible equipment costs.
The development team wants to replace the main software part of your product. We currently use the paid Enterprise popular environment. The license is paid by your customer, who does not think that the cost is a problem.
I will initiate a discussion on the topic with the team – what does this change require, how would the product change as a result of this change, will it retain its basic functionalities, will we add value to the product in this way, possible studies on replacement costs and losses the license of the already existing program (remaining period in which the old license will be paid but will not be used), although we have information that the client would be inclined to additional costs in this regard. we make the best decision based on the result of the pros and cons filtering, which should form a product with maximum value to the end customer for an optimal development period with zero or minimum / allowed cost by stakeholders and zero or minimum / allowed cost on the part of the client sponsoring the project/product development. Reference: “Preparation for Scrum Master certification exam on Sprint event“, https://medfd.org/preparation-for-scrum-master-certification-exam-on-sprint-event/
The Product Owner role wants the designer to increase communication with the product testing team.
If there is no visible dissatisfaction with this in the discussion we will have in this regard with the team (citing the reasons for this on the part of the Product Owner), we would think that small adjustments here were needed in connection with communication, but it would not be superfluous here and offering possible other ways to optimize the work, however, we all have ways to deal with certain situations and sharing experiences would be useful. To encourage an open conversation in this direction Scrum Master will tell about his personal experience in a few short sentences in a similar situation. Read more: “Professional Scrum Master Certification Online“, https://pm.mba/posts/scrummaster-certification-online/
Your client is not happy with the tests and wants to urgently increase the number of QA specialists in your team, with an additional 6 people as soon as possible. He wants three more senior programmers to join the team by the end of the week. The project budget has been increased accordingly.
The test results will be discussed with the team and the details and origins of the root cause of customer dissatisfaction will be considered – whether it is an example of shortcomings in product testing or possible improvements to the product’s functionality. ways to improve in areas highlighted by the client and only then will consider whether the need to include additional specialists in the team is real and if so, how many people and what specialists will be needed will be discussed with the team again. the client’s comment, but knowing that according to Scrum the intervention of other outsiders in the actions of the team would not lead to positive results, we will communicate the decisions of subsequent corrective actions to stakeholders and the client. Reference: “Preparation for Scrum Master certification and tips for Scrum professionals”, https://www.kievpress.info/preparation-for-scrum-master-certification/
Your director wants you to move temporarily, for about a month, to another team. He has discussed moving your role with the Product Owner, who will take over the Scrum Master function in a month, as he said he has time for that.
Since such a change is necessary and the Product Owner has decided that they will handle the Scrum Master role, there should be no worries, but the people in the team are used to the dynamic and rapidly changing business environment. the director needed to give Scrum Master the opportunity to discuss this change with the team so that all roles for the changes were known and if comments arose to be discussed, as the Scrum team was presented with a fait accompli without presenting the situation. the opportunity to suggest other options or to express concerns, if any, and this may affect the team’s motivation, its effectiveness to varying degrees and, consequently, the result of Scrum. Read more: “Preparation with sample questions for Scrum Master certification exam CSM & PSMI”, https://wikipedia-lab.org/preparation-sample-questions-scrummaster-certification-exam/
Preparation for Scrum Master certification exam on Development Team
The director of your organization wants to start developing three new products and informs you that for the largest product in terms of volume, he wants a team of 10 people. The available specialists for all new products are a total of 15 people.
I will talk to him and tell him that according to the Scrum concept this would be quite difficult and the basic rules set for the number of people involved in product development would not be met, which in turn would thwart the expected successful results and leave its negative effects both on the product and on all parties involved in the process. I would suggest 5-6 people participate in the project with a large volume, which does not include Scrum Master and Product Owner roles, the rest of the people are to be assigned to the other 2 projects. It is assumed that in the beginning there will be visibility more people in team 1, and another specialist from the other 2 teams can join to master the volumes. Read more: “Free preparation for the Scrum Master certification exam (CSM, PSMI, PSMII, BVOP)”, https://brightonbot.com/preparation-scrum-master-certification-exam/
The director believes that lower priority products do not need to have a Product Owner role.
In this sense, I will talk to him that people from the Development team can play the Product Owner role if there is a shortage of people, but we should not underestimate the workload of the team as a whole and the ability to play the Product Owner role. from an outsider to the Development Team person to work at full capacity.
The director insists that because he has many years of experience in people management, he wants to be the general manager of the largest team, set tasks daily, and request reports from each member of the team.
I will talk to him and explain the basic principles of Scrum, which exclude the hierarchical model, as the people in the Development team take care of their tasks, which in turn are prioritized by the Product Owner, who does not care how to do tasks. All performances, test discussions, and information on work processes are performed during sprints, transparency there is secure and every member of the Scrum team is informed about current processes. Read more: “Free training to prepare for the Scrum Master Certification exam”, https://www.islandjournal.net/scrum-master-certification-exam/
The director tells you that for each product, the client has appointed a project manager, who in case of urgent requests, will assign to each member of the team, a priority task for the day.
I will clarify that it is against Scrum principles outside the team people from or outside the company to participate in the decisions of the Scrum project. This would make it difficult to communicate in meetings and would take unnecessary time and lead to negative consequences for project development.
However, if the client cannot be persuaded to think about this issue and we risk losing a certain investment on his part that we cannot afford, it may be necessary to consider another strategic approach, because each strategy is proven. successful because, among other things, it obeys certain rules and norms.
One of the senior programmers of the team told everyone that since the team is large and he has a lot of experience, he will officially accept the role of Team Lead. He adds that he will choose technologies, offer a way to work to each member of the team, and monitor the progress of tasks.
In a conversation I initiated on this topic, I share with him my concerns and embarrassment from what I heard and offer to explain why this would not work in this case when we use Scrum. so far he has not had a full understanding of participating in the Scrum project, now that he has the main points of reference for the requirements, let him still consider whether this is the format in which he will feel comfortable enough to be productive and satisfied, However, let’s be honest with ourselves and the team and if we are hesitant to follow the announcement of other projects that have different and closer to us requirements. Read more: “Best Scrum Master Certifications for 2022 and 2023“, https://eduwiki.me/best-scrum-master-certifications-for-2021-and-2022/
A new employee in your organization, recently hired, tells you that because he is a novice specialist and still on probation, he prefers not to interfere in team decisions and does not want to take responsibility for working on the product.
I approach my colleague’s concerns with understanding, but if we trust the proven efficiency of the Scrum method of work, we will find that the shared responsibility in the team unites and allows us to learn together with the team.
In addition, Pair programming practice would be appropriate in his case, as it offers senior and novice professionals to work together on a specific task, using a laptop or work tool, which speeds up the learning process of the novice employee and allows equal access to information on the same task. With all that said, the worries should be gone and the colleague should think about which of the ways to share responsibility will be most useful for him. Read more: “Best Scrum Master certification online”, https://scrumtime.org/best-scrum-master-certification-online/
You understand that most of your team members have already talked to your HR manager and received permission to work outside the office.
On the next call we have with colleagues, I will remind you why Scrum’s methods work and that in fact, it is important to hold face-to-face meetings, so I will ask the team to meet physically at a later stage, this may not necessarily be office space.
A member of the Development team introduces you with joy and enthusiasm that outside of working hours, he has written a large collection of program code that he can easily add to the product and through it speed up many of his tasks and some of those of the rest of the team.
If the idea was spontaneous in this case it will help the teamwork. In cases of repetitive actions on the project outside the sprint episode, this may distort the assessment and the results of the estimated time required to develop the product. congratulates him on his otherwise useful inspiration.
The development team offers you the idea that you set an estimated time to complete the tasks, and that they focus on their work and devote their time to the tasks. They shared this with the Product Owner role, and he was quite pleased.
One of the main tasks of Scrum Master is to guide and encourage the self-organized team to stay focused on their goals, but at the same time, all team members make a forecast of the time needed to develop tasks. Another important thing is that the team and its members choose their tasks without anyone else assigning or proposing them, which is the significance of each participant’s self-initiative. Recalling all these highlights of Scrum to my colleagues, I thank them for the offer and share with them my willingness as a member of the team to make the forecast, as any other participant should normally do. Reference: “Preparation for the Scrum Master certification exam (BVOSM, CSM, PSM)“, https://mstsnl.net/preparation-for-the-scrum-master-certification-exam-bvosm-csm-psm/
The teams of the three parallel products being developed by your organization have decided to reorganize. Their desire is to be divided into teams according to their profession and qualifications. One team will be programmers, the second will be designers, and the third will be quality control. You have been nominated as an activity coordinator.
Logic is present in this decision, but unfortunately, it would not be functional and recognizable by Scrum’s applied practices. The framework of Scrum, which it outlines, does not include homogeneous teams consisting of only one professional category and as a role in the team. Reference: “Quick and easy preparation for the Scrum Master certification exam“, https://www.businesspad.org/quick-and-easy-preparation-for-the-scrum-master-certification-exam/
The development team shares the view that User Story contains too little information and wants more details.
In this case, the Development team has the right to even refuse to work on this user story, as it is possible that the lack of this information could lead to damage to the product. It is a good idea for the team to consult and discuss this with the Product Owner and for them to take corrective action and synchronize the work plan with them.
The Product Owner has asked one of the team members not to temporarily report problems and defects on the product publicly in your defect recording system, but to fix them yourself.
This is not a good idea, as it contradicts another basic rule – to have transparency in the actions of the participants in the Scrum team so that everyone is aware of changes and the work of colleagues. Adherence to this principle minimizes loss or ambiguity concerning information related to the project if the absence of a member of the team is necessary.
