Practice for the Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I) exam with 18 exam-style practice questions, instant answer reveals, and concise explanations of every correct answer. Topics include: Select all the formal opportunities to inspect and adapt.. Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- Select all the formal opportunities to inspect and adapt.
- Who is responsible for managing the Product Backlog?
- At the Sprint Retrospective, the Scrum Team identified some improvements that could be made. What should the…
- How does the Scrum Master help the Product Owner? (choose the best three answers)
- When do the Developers create the Sprint Backlog?
- What is the Sprint Backlog?
Answers and explanations
Tap a question to expand the answer and the exam reasoning. Try to commit to your own pick first.
Q1. Select all the formal opportunities to inspect and adapt.
Answer: A,B,C,D. The Sprint Planning || The Sprint Review || The Daily Scrum || The Sprint Retrospective
All four official Scrum events are formal opportunities to inspect and adapt. The Sprint itself wraps these events, enabling the transparency required for empirical process control.
Q2. Who is responsible for managing the Product Backlog?
Answer: A. The Product Owner
The Product Owner is solely accountable for effective Product Backlog management, which includes ordering items and ensuring transparency. While others may help, final accountability always rests here, so avoid choosing options that shift this core duty to Developers or the Scrum Master.
Q3. At the Sprint Retrospective, the Scrum Team identified some improvements that could be made. What should the Scrum Team do?
Answer: D. They address the most impactful improvements as soon as possible. They may even add those to the Sprint Backlog for the next Sprint.
The team should address its most impactful improvements as soon as possible, often adding them directly to the next Sprint Backlog. Avoid options that mandate assigning specific individuals or require tackling every item simultaneously, as Scrum favors self-management.
Q4. How does the Scrum Master help the Product Owner? (choose the best three answers)
Answer: A,D,E. Facilitating stakeholder collaboration as requested or needed || Helping find techniques for effective Product Goal definition and Product Backlog management || Helping establish empirical product planning for a complex environment
The Scrum Master serves the Product Owner by facilitating collaboration, finding effective management techniques, and establishing empirical planning. Be careful not to select coaching the organization, which is a valid duty but serves the organization rather than the Product Owner directly.
Q5. When do the Developers create the Sprint Backlog?
Answer: A. During the Sprint Planning
Developers create the Sprint Backlog during Sprint Planning to map out the work needed for the upcoming Sprint. It is not created after the Sprint starts or during the review, making Sprint Planning the only correct phase.
Q6. What is the Sprint Backlog?
Answer: B. The Product Backlog items selected for this Sprint plus the plan for delivering them
The Sprint Backlog comprises the selected Product Backlog items for the Sprint plus the Developers' plan for delivering them. Options listing only the items or only the plan are incomplete, so always choose the comprehensive definition.
Q7. What provides guidance to the Developers on why they are building the Increment?
Answer: D. The Sprint Goal
The correct answer is the Sprint Goal because it provides the overarching purpose for the Sprint. For the exam, remember that the Sprint Goal acts as the guiding objective for why the team is building the Increment.
Q8. Scrum has a role called "Project Manager."
Answer: A. False
The answer is false because Scrum only defines three accountabilities: Developer, Product Owner, and Scrum Master. A practical exam cue is to instantly dismiss any mention of project managers.
Q9. What are the characteristics of a Scrum Team? Select three most appropriate choices.
Answer: B,C,D. The entire Scrum Team is accountable for creating a valuable, useful Increment every Sprint || Scrum recognizes no sub-teams in the Scrum Team || Developers hold each other accountable as professionals
The correct answers work because Scrum Teams are cross-functional, self-managing, and lack internal sub-teams. A practical exam cue is to eliminate any option implying specialized roles or hierarchies.
Q10. At the Sprint Planning, who is responsible for ensuring that attendees are prepared to discuss the most important Product Backlog items and how they map to the Product Goal?
Answer: E. The Product Owner
The Product Owner works because they are accountable for managing the Product Backlog. A practical exam cue is to remember that the Product Owner ensures attendees are ready to discuss key items.
Q11. Which of the following is not an Agile principle?
Answer: D. Following a plan over responding to change.
The correct answer works because the Agile Manifesto values responding to change over following a plan. A practical exam cue is to always favor flexibility and adaptability over rigid adherence.
Q12. The main duty of the Product Owner is:
Answer: B. Maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team
The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team. Guarding developers is a common myth; the entire team is self-managing and resilient to interruptions.
Q13. Which of the following is not a pillar of Scrum?
Answer: A. Empiricism
Empiricism is the foundation of Scrum, but its three pillars are transparency, inspection, and adaptation. Remember the distinction between the overarching theory and the specific pillars supporting it.
Q14. Scrum is best described as a
Answer: A. Framework for generating value through adaptive solutions for complex problems
Scrum is defined as a lightweight framework that helps people generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems. Avoid calling it a methodology or a collection of best practices, as those terms violate the guide.
Q15. Which of the following does NOT apply to Scrum?
Answer: A. Static requirements
Scrum requires adaptation, meaning requirements cannot be static or fully predicted upfront. The framework relies on empirical process control to manage complex work rather than rigid predictive planning.
Q16. Which statement best describes Scrum?
Answer: C. A framework to address complex products in complex environments.
Scrum is specifically a lightweight framework designed to address complex problems in unpredictable environments. Dismiss any options calling it a defined methodology, a predictable process, or a collection of best practices. It is grounded in empiricism, not rigid computer science principles.
Q17. Which are considered Scrum Values? (Choose all that apply)
Answer: A,B,D,E,F. Focus || Commitment || Respect || Courage || Openness
The five official Scrum Values are Focus, Commitment, Respect, Courage, and Openness. Self-organization is a core characteristic of successful teams, but it is categorized as a structural pillar rather than an official value. Memorize these five to easily spot tricky distractors.
Q18. Who is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team?
Answer: B. The Product Owner
The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing product value. For the exam, watch for questions trying to shift this specific accountability to the Developers or Scrum Master. The Product Owner manages the Product Backlog to optimize value.
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