Preparing for the Scrum Master certification exam requires each Scrum Master degree candidate to learn all the topics in the Scrum Guide perfectly.
Preparation for Scrum Master certification exam – part one
The Scrum framework is made up of events, artifacts, and roles. Sprint event is one of the events of Scrum and in this article we share sample topics for preparation for the Scrum Master certification exam.
Although these questions are best suited for successfully taking the BVOP Certified Scrum Master exam, if you learn them, you will be very well prepared for both CSM and PSM certifications. Reference: “Preparation for Scrum Master certification and tips for Scrum professionals”, https://www.kievpress.info/preparation-for-scrum-master-certification/
Scrum Master and team
Your team is very eager to go on holiday and asks you to postpone the retrospective of your sprint to the beginning or end of the other sprint.
I would explain to them that this disrupts the work process and it is not good to resort to such practices. The retrospective is the last meeting and we will have to wait at least until we finish it.
During the retrospective, we will discuss all the problems and obstacles we have encountered and make suggestions for future sprints to work more effectively.
Since we are at the end of the sprint, there was no technical reason or one on the part of the client to stop/postpone the whole sprint, and they only talk about the leave during the retrospective I will have to refuse them.
The team informs you this morning that they are ready with all their work two days before the end of the sprint and ask you to arrange a meeting with the client to hold a Sprint Review meeting with him and start the new sprint tomorrow. While you are at the Sprint Review meeting, they will attend an interesting company training, but promise to make amends by asking the HR department to give you an extra day off this year.
It is not possible and I will have to refuse them. The Sprint Review requires everyone to attend this meeting. It is impossible to say without the Development team, the Product Owner, or both units. In addition to the review, we must have a retrospective, so the new sprint can’t start the next day.
The team informs you that they prefer not to work with a fixed time for sprints, but prefer each sprint to have a duration according to their work and judgment. They have already discussed this proposal with the Product Owner role and he said he has no claims.
I categorically refuse, because the very idea of the sprints is to run on a specific time interval and to follow the methodology of Scrum. We cannot arbitrarily change the whole way we work.
Sprint the event and the client
The client informs you that he/she is starting repair procedures in his / her office and asks you to send him/her a summary by e-mail from your meeting with the team and your opinions about the Sprint Review meeting. He trusts you completely for your analysis.
It is possible, but it is good if the client has his representatives and they attend the meeting so that they can express their opinion as observers and participants.
During the review, I, as a scrum master or a colleague as a product owner, would present, but a summary of the presentation meeting itself would not be the best idea. I would suggest that we make a video recording of the presentation so that the client can get a more complete picture of the past meeting and draw his conclusions. Also, if there are representatives, they could supplement their opinion when talking to the client.
Read more: “Preparation with sample questions for Scrum Master certification exam CSM & PSMI”, https://wikipedia-lab.org/preparation-sample-questions-scrummaster-certification-exam/
The Director and your User Stories
Your principal has heard that your Sprint is over, but there is unfinished business. He is angry and asks you to remove some of the big User Stories from those planned by the end of the sprint and replace them with smaller ones that you can find in the general list.
I would respectfully refuse because the colleagues from the Development team have decided for themselves at the meetings what volume and what specifically User Stories will be able to perform.
When removing already established and specified both in number and type, their possible removal/addition would lead to misunderstanding, fatigue, and dissatisfaction with the Scrum Master.
Here I have to intervene so that I can balance between the director and my colleagues from Development. The product owner has already prepared them by priority, and the fact that the colleagues from Development did not choose the right number or quantity of user stories will be discussed in retrospect with them why they failed to cover them, specifically as a reason and how to avoid it. in the future. We will move the unfinished user stories back to the backlog and the owner will judge their priority.
Product Owner role
Your assigned Product Owner on a project goes on a business trip to the client and sent you a Sprint Goal this morning for the next sprint. He has also made a collection with all the user stories that the team will work on.
There is no way we can start working without user stories being prioritized. I need to communicate with him and direct him to send us prioritized services or the whole process will be delayed.
The Product Owner of the project has sent you an email stating that he will collect detailed information on many details and plans to communicate with the client on an ongoing basis so that he can describe as many details as possible about the work for a long time to come.
I would like to kindly ask you to explain exactly what details he means. For questions from the team, the Product Owner must be available to answer. If the information he will collect is extremely important for the project and he thinks that he can balance and respond quickly when asked by colleagues without one influencing the other would not be a problem.
You are returning from vacation. The project team and Product Owner tell you that there is no time and the sprint should start without planning, as the team will work independently and choose User Stories, ranked at the top of the Product Backlog collection.
Not possible. There is a way and structure of work. When working on the Scrum methodology, it is necessary to follow the model of work and, if changes are needed, to be in really extreme cases, for example when the client has wished.
The product owner selects and distributes the tasks, so it is unthinkable for the team to choose their own user stories, especially if they start making them in a row from the product backlog.
The Product Owner role has told your team that some functionality is expected in a few months. Your team plans to do technology research from now on to save yourself any problems and lack of competencies over time.
I don’t think it’s a good idea, because technology is constantly changing and improving. Collected detailed information may not be up to date in a few weeks, months, etc. I recommend that this type of research be carried out as soon as possible before starting work on the functionality in question.
Scrum Development Team members
A member of your team who is planning to go on vacation soon has just started working on User Story, which is expected to be planned for the next sprint.
There are two options – either to postpone your leave to finish your work and not slow down the process, or (assuming that there is a familiar colleague), to transfer this user story to another colleague from the Development team.
A member of the team expresses dissatisfaction with the idea that everyone knows what the other is doing. He is used to solitude. He prefers to work without explaining exactly what or to see his work in software systems. It guarantees that it will deliver very good results and on time.
I will politely refuse him because this desire contradicts the way the whole team works. The idea of the daily meetings is for everyone to be able to say briefly what they are doing if they have encountered problems, and to get similar information from their colleagues.
Whether he is used to working well on his own and can deliver results, there will be times when the information he has will not be enough for him or another colleague will not have received valuable information from the first problem he encountered.
Communication is essential and we will continue to follow our way of working, trying to explain in detail the benefits so that he can work better with others and integrate.
Read more: “Free preparation for the Scrum Master certification exam (CSM, PSMI, PSMII, BVOP)”, https://brightonbot.com/preparation-scrum-master-certification-exam/
Another Scrum Master from your organization
A colleague of yours, Scrum Master from your organization, meets you in the hallway and asks for advice on the length of his team’s sprint. None of the teams can offer a duration for their sprint. He asks you to recommend a time for their sprint.
There is no way I can help him determine the duration of his team’s sprint. The product owner has to select and prioritize the user stories to work on, and the development team determines how much they could handle in terms of duration.
The duration itself is his responsibility, and he must comply with and consult with his colleagues in such a way that they are not overloaded and have too many tasks during the sprint. He must take responsibility, talk to them, and then assess the duration.
Read more: “Free training to prepare for the Scrum Master Certification exam”, https://www.islandjournal.net/scrum-master-certification-exam/
The Scrum Product Owner role and involvement in the Sprint event
The Product Owner role of your team wants to change the duration of the sprint to 6 weeks as you start integrating very complex systems and does not want to discredit yourself, your team, and the organization in front of the client with sprints where you risk not being able to deliver real work done.
I invite him to talk so that he can acquaint me with his considerations. They are probably valid, and although I decide on the duration of the sprint, the feedback from colleagues and their concerns is of great importance.
People are the most important resource, especially in a smaller team. I must not allow them to be overwhelmed and lose motivation by seeking and not damaging their reputation as professionals in any way and risking unfinished or poorly done work. We must be united and listen to each other and comply as much as possible.
Read more: “Professional Scrum Master vs Professional Scrum Developer“, https://stc-montreal.org/professional-scrum-master-vs-professional-scrum-developer/
External stakeholders and Scrum
You receive an email from your client’s Project Manager. He asks you if there is a problem if your sprint is 6 working days. He expects a quick response so he knows what to pass on to his superiors.
The wishes of the client and his satisfaction are extremely important. In this case, if I understand correctly, we are looking not so much for a change in the duration of the sprint, but whether it is possible to do it for another period.
The time for the specific sprint has already been set, the tasks have been specified and prioritized, they have been distributed and are being worked on. It will not be possible to change this sprint.
For future ones, of course, I prefer to determine the time for them, after consultation with colleagues, but if it is of great importance to the client, we could do them within 6 days, and we will have to consider the time first and then we distribute the tasks according to the days we have, which is not optimal.
My answer would be a refusal with respect, with a brief explanation of why (for the reasons listed above), followed by a question of why exactly 6 days so that we can discuss in the future whether it is something we should adhere to.
Read more: “Best Scrum Master Certifications for 2022 and 2023“, https://eduwiki.me/best-scrum-master-certifications-for-2021-and-2022/
Your director tells you that he has read a lot of information on the Internet about Scrum and asks you to set a time for your sprints to be one working week to reduce any risk.
With a well-coordinated team, with an experienced Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Development team, the lead time should not be a risk.
Properly prioritized and assigned tasks by the owner together with the good judgment of development colleagues for the ability to deal with them as time and mine as Scrum master, to be able to prepare the duration of the sprint to be well balanced between time and workload are a recipe for successful work with minimal risk.
It is extremely important not to overload the colleagues I have in mind when setting the term of the sprint, and proper preparation should not lead to unreasonable risk.
I would respectfully ask the director why exactly one week and after listening to him carefully, I would explain to him for the reasons described above that it is good for me and the team to set the deadline.
Read more: “Best Scrum Master certification online”, https://scrumtime.org/best-scrum-master-certification-online/
The certified Scrum Master answers questions
When implementing Scrum in organizations, employees often have questions about this incomprehensible Agile methodology. Here are some sample questions that you, as a certified Scrum Master, may receive.
Juliana Spears, Project Manager
Can I keep my current role as a project manager and not participate in Scrum roles? The current position will not change and has nothing to do with projects with Scrum roles.
What is important is the experience and knowledge of a project manager. According to the project, people are determined regardless of their position and adapt to the Scrum structure, but this does not change the job description and position in the company.
Peter Dunham, technical manager
I don’t see Scrum supporting my role. What will this mean for my career in our company? Scrum has absolutely nothing to do with the company’s career, anyone can participate in Scrum as part of a certain team, regardless of the role in the company.
Mariah Williams, graphic designer
Do I have to take part in the events that are being talked about? I’m a designer and I don’t see the point in attending meetings that don’t concern our design. If I have to participate in these modern introductions, I can easily find a job in another company.
Scrum is a way of working, not an introduction that changes the structure or processes in the company. This approach will help to improve daily work and to achieve certain goals related to individual projects.
The working principle aims to reduce redundant processes, not to burden the current ones.
Stephen Paulson, programmer
I do not understand exactly what will improve our work. Can you give simple explanations? The main problem in most work processes is the unnecessary burdening with administrative and operational responsibilities and shifting the focus from established and important work.
Through Scrum, we will “clean up” the excess in the work process and people will be able to develop their potential in a direction that corresponds to their experience and knowledge.
Separately, the structure in Scrum projects is simple but effective and everyone can participate, regardless of their position.
Kate George, Senior Public Relations Expert
I’m very excited about integrating Scrum into our work and I can’t wait to get started. Can anyone tell me what and how I will do exactly? And we enjoy working with motivated people.
Given your experience in the company, we believe that you will be extremely suitable for a Product owner in one of the sprints to the Scrum project.
The basis is communication and especially the coordination between stakeholders and maintaining the Product Backlog with priorities set in it.
Pamela Williams, Advertising Manager
I read a bit about Scrum and would like to be appointed to the Product Owner position. Please answer whether my request will be granted.
Product Owner is a role in a scrum team, not a position in the company where there is no appointment, but participation in a scrum project.
Therefore, if you are interested, you could join such a team, where the final product would be of interest to you and your experience.
Stephen Ives, Project Coordinator
I would like to participate in Scrum roles as Project Owner. I do not mind fulfilling all my current duties, as well as being assigned new ones, which I would be happy to learn and master.
Thank you for your interest and we will be happy to take on a role in the scrum team. The roles are directly determined by the Solution team and if you are interested, I can connect you and decide together where your experience would be most useful and what would be interesting for you.
After completing Scrum Master training, the role of Scrum Master would also be interesting.
Oliver Wells, head of quality control
I would like to join the Scrum team as a Quality Master, or something like that, if possible. After completing Scrum training, the role of Scrum Master would be very suitable for your profile.
