Scrum PSM-I - Professional Scrum Master I

According to the Scrum Guide, the Scrum Master is responsible for promoting and supporting Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide 1 .  Scrum Masters do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory, practices, rules, and values 1 .  The Scrum Master is accountable for establishing Scrum 2 .  They do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory and practice, both within the Scrum Team and the organization while serving the Scrum Team as well as the larger organization 2 .

Option B is incorrect because keeping track of resource allocation is not a responsibility of the Scrum Master. The Scrum Master does not manage or control the resources of the Scrum Team or the organization.  The Scrum Team is self-organizing and responsible for managing its own work within a Sprint 1 .

Option C is incorrect because managing the performance of the Scrum Team is not a responsibility of the Scrum Master. The Scrum Master does not evaluate or appraise the performance of the Development Team or the Product Owner.  The Scrum Master serves the Development Team by coaching them on self-organization and cross-functionality, and serves the Product Owner by ensuring that goals, scope, and product domain are understood by everyone on the Scrum Team 1 .

Option D is incorrect because the meetings and the objectives that a Scrum Team sets for itself are not a responsibility of the Scrum Master. The Scrum Master does not dictate or prescribe what meetings or objectives a Scrum Team should have.  The Scrum Master facilitates the Scrum Events as requested or needed, and ensures that they are positive, productive, and kept within the time-box 1 .

The correct answer is B, because the time-box for a Daily Scrum is 15 minutes. The Scrum Guide states that “the Daily Scrum is a 15-minute time-boxed event for the Development Team to synchronize activities and create a plan for the next 24 hours.”

According to the Scrum Guide, an Increment does not have to be released to customers or users at the end of each Sprint. However, it must be in a usable condition and meet the Definition of Done. The decision to release an Increment is made by the Product Owner, based on the value and feedback obtained from stakeholders. The other option is not valid, as it implies that releasing an Increment is mandatory at the end of each Sprint.

According to the Scrum Guide 1 , there is no such thing as a Release Sprint in Scrum. A Release Sprint implies that there are other Sprints that don’t produce a potentially releasable Increment, which violates the core principle of Scrum. Every Sprint should result in a “Done”, useable, and potentially releasable product Increment.

According to the Scrum Guide 1 , during each Daily Scrum, each Developer answers three questions:

What did I do yesterday that helped meet our Sprint Goal?

What will I do today to help meet our Sprint Goal?

Do I see any impediment that prevents me or our Development Team from meeting our Sprint Goal?

The Developers can select whatever structure and techniques they want, as long as their Daily Scrum focuses on progress toward achieving their Sprint Goal and producing a usable Increment. The other options are not relevant or appropriate for the Daily Scrum.

The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team. Therefore, Option A is correct. This is one of the clearest and most important responsibilities defined in the Scrum Guide. The Product Owner manages the Product Backlog, orders work to best achieve goals and missions, and ensures that the backlog is transparent and understood. Their focus is on value optimization, not on controlling people or acting as a project manager.

Option B is incorrect because while the Product Owner may help with stakeholder collaboration, shielding Developers from all stakeholder interaction is not the core accountability. Option C is incorrect because Developers are self-managing, and the Product Owner does not direct their day-to-day work. Option D is also incorrect because Scrum does not define the Product Owner’s accountability as ensuring commitments to stakeholders are met in a traditional contractual sense. Instead, the Product Owner balances stakeholder needs, product direction, and value delivery.

A strong Product Owner makes sure the Scrum Team is always working on the most valuable thing first. That value-centered accountability is the best description of the role.

The correct answer is A, because the Product Owner does not determine how many Product Backlog items the Development Team selects for a Sprint. The Scrum Guide states that “the number of items selected from the Product Backlog for the Sprint is solely up to the Development Team. Only the Development Team can assess what it can accomplish over the upcoming Sprint.” Therefore, the Development Team is responsible for choosing the scope of work for a Sprint.

According to the Scrum Guide 1 , each event in Scrum is a formal opportunity to inspect and adapt something. These events are specifically designed to enable critical transparency and inspection. Failure to include any of these events results in reduced transparency and is a lost opportunity to inspect and adapt. All events are time-boxed events, such that every event has a maximum duration. Once a Sprint begins, its duration is fixed and cannot be shortened or lengthened. The remaining events may end whenever the purpose of the event is achieved, ensuring an appropriate amount of time is spent without allowing waste in the process. The time-box for the Sprint Review is four hours for a one-month Sprint.

The Sprint Retrospective is an opportunity for the Scrum Team to inspect itself and create a plan for improvements to be enacted during the next Sprint. The topics that are appropriate for discussion are those that relate to how the team does its work, such as processes, tools, communication, collaboration, quality, etc. The value of work currently represented in the Product Backlog and arranging the Sprint Backlog for the next Sprint are not appropriate topics for discussion in a Sprint Retrospective, as they belong to the Sprint Review and Sprint Planning events respectively.