Practice for the Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I) exam with 17 exam-style practice questions, instant answer reveals, and concise explanations of every correct answer. Topics include: What could be a source of requirements for any changes to be made to the product?. Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- What could be a source of requirements for any changes to be made to the product?
- A Scrum Team is at the end of a Sprint. The next Sprint starts:
- The Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team in several ways, including:
- How much time is required after a Sprint to prepare the next Sprint?
- Which of the following statements is true?
- It is normal to have a "hardening" Sprint to remove all technical debt and prepare the Product for the upcomi…
Answers and explanations
Tap a question to expand the answer and the exam reasoning. Try to commit to your own pick first.
Q1. What could be a source of requirements for any changes to be made to the product?
Answer: B. The Product Backlog
The Product Backlog is the single source of requirements for any changes made to the product. For the exam, remember that stakeholders can request features, but those features only become actionable requirements once they are added to the Product Backlog by the Product Owner.
Q2. A Scrum Team is at the end of a Sprint. The next Sprint starts:
Answer: A. Immediately after the Sprint Retrospective
A new Sprint starts immediately following the conclusion of the previous Sprint Retrospective. This continuous cycle ensures no downtime between Sprints. Do not assume a release to production is required before starting the next Sprint.
Q3. The Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team in several ways, including:
Answer: A,B,D. Causing the removal of impediments to the Scrum Team's progress || Coaching the team members in self-management and cross-functionality || Helping the Scrum Team focus on creating high-value Increments that meet the Definition of Done
The Scrum Master serves the team by coaching self-management, focusing on value, and removing impediments. Eliminate any option suggesting the Scrum Master acts as a direct manager or unilaterally changes team composition based solely on velocity.
Q4. How much time is required after a Sprint to prepare the next Sprint?
Answer: A. None. A new Sprint starts immediately after the end of the previous Sprint
A new Sprint starts immediately after the previous Sprint concludes, requiring no preparation time in between. For the exam, strictly reject any options suggesting downtime for testing, documentation, or breaks between Sprints.
Q5. Which of the following statements is true?
Answer: B. The Sprint Retrospective focuses on Scrum Team's process and people aspects while the Sprint Review focuses on the product
The Sprint Retrospective focuses on processes and people, while the Sprint Review focuses on the product. A key exam cue is that the Review inspects the Increment, whereas the Retrospective inspects team processes.
Q6. It is normal to have a "hardening" Sprint to remove all technical debt and prepare the Product for the upcoming release.
Answer: A. False
It is false because a hardening Sprint to clear technical debt violates the Definition of Done rule for every Increment. For the exam, always insist that each Sprint must result in a potentially releasable product.
Q7. What are the accountabilities in a Scrum Team? Select all that apply.
Answer: F. None of the above
The only specific accountabilities in Scrum are Developers, Product Owner, and Scrum Master. Job titles like architect or tester do not exist as separate roles within the official rules.
Q8. At the eighth Sprint Review, the stakeholders are upset that the product being built is not what they expected and will incur additional costs that were not planned for. What may have led to this?
Answer: B. The Scrum Master has not ensured that the project is transparent. The Product Owner has not made the stakeholders aware of the progress of the project. The stakeholders have not been attending the Sprint Reviews.
This scenario indicates a lack of transparency and missed stakeholder feedback at the Sprint Review. The empirical process requires regular inspection by stakeholders to avoid costly late-stage surprises.
Q9. The frequency of updating the product backlog is:
Answer: D. Anytime, as needed
The Product Backlog is a living artifact that can be updated anytime as needed to reflect changing priorities. Expect exam questions linking continuous backlog refinement to empirical process control. It never freezes or waits strictly for Sprint boundaries.
Q10. What would be the main benefits of self-management?
Answer: A. Increased creativity, self-accountability, commitment.
Self-management directly fosters increased creativity, self-accountability, and commitment within the team. Rule compliance and sheer output contradict the agile mindset. Recognize that empowering developers to solve complex problems drives true ownership and successful deliveries.
Q11. What are the inputs to Sprint Planning? (Choose four)
Answer: A,B,C,D. The latest product Increment || Projected capacity of the Scrum Team during the Sprint || The Product Backlog || Past performance of the Scrum Team
Sprint Planning requires the Product Backlog, the latest product Increment, past team performance, and projected capacity. While stakeholder feedback is valuable, it typically influences the backlog earlier. Focus strictly on these four inputs when tackling planning questions.
Q12. It is the responsibility of the Scrum Master to engage the stakeholders to maximize the value of the product
Answer: A. False
This statement is false because maximizing product value is the accountability of the Product Owner. The Scrum Master focuses on ensuring Scrum is understood and enacted, acting as a facilitator and coach rather than managing product value.
Q13. For the Product Backlog Refinement, the Scrum Team needs to define a recurring preset time every week outside the current working hours of the Developers.
Answer: A. False
Product Backlog refinement is an ongoing activity consuming no more than ten percent of Developers' capacity. Scrum does not prescribe a specific weekly time outside working hours. The Developers size items during this continuous refinement process.
Q14. The Developers of the Scrum Team are waiting for a specific software component that they need to integrate and use. The component should be ready in two months. The Product Backlog items with highest priorities depend on this specific comp…
Answer: D. Re-order the Product Backlog to maximize utilization of the Developers and deliver at least some Increment of product functionality in the next Sprint.
The Product Owner should re-order the Product Backlog to ensure the Developers can deliver a valuable Increment without being blocked by dependencies. A practical exam cue is that Product Owners must always maximize value by sequencing work to deliver functional increments every Sprint.
Q15. Who is responsible for crafting the Sprint Goal at the Sprint Planning?
Answer: D. The Scrum Team
The entire Scrum Team collaborates to craft the Sprint Goal during Sprint Planning. While the Product Owner proposes objectives, the Developers must figure out how to deliver the goal, ensuring everyone shares a clear focus for the Sprint.
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