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: Each Increment must be released to production to maximize value.. Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- Each Increment must be released to production to maximize value.
- Which Scrum Value is impacted by trust?
- Developers of a Scrum Team decide to divide the Sprint Backlog and assign ownership of every Sprint Backlog i…
- A Developer's behavior causes issues to the whole Scrum Team and affects the progress of the development work…
- Technical Debt can lead to false assumptions about the current state of the system and the Increment reviewed…
- What belongs solely to the Developers?
Answers and explanations
Tap a question to expand the answer and the exam reasoning. Try to commit to your own pick first.
Q1. Each Increment must be released to production to maximize value.
Answer: A. False
An Increment only needs to be potentially releasable to meet the Definition of Done, meaning it must be in a usable state regardless of whether the Product Owner actually releases it. The Product Owner decides the optimal release timing to maximize return on investment.
Q2. Which Scrum Value is impacted by trust?
Answer: F. All the answers are correct
Trust is the foundation that enables every single Scrum Value, making the all of the above option correct. Without trust, teams lack the courage to take risks or the openness to share challenges. Expect trust and empiricism to remain heavily emphasized on the exam.
Q3. Developers of a Scrum Team decide to divide the Sprint Backlog and assign ownership of every Sprint Backlog item to each member of the team. The Scrum Master should:
Answer: A. Coach the team to collectively take ownership of the Sprint Backlog items
The Scrum Master should coach the team to collectively own the Sprint Backlog. Developers are self-managing and share accountability. Assigning items destroys collaboration and limits learning across the team.
Q4. A Developer's behavior causes issues to the whole Scrum Team and affects the progress of the development work. Who is responsible for resolving the issue?
Answer: B. Scrum Master
The Scrum Master is specifically responsible for resolving team conflicts and removing impediments that affect progress. While the Scrum Team is self-managing, the Scrum Master serves as the facilitator for addressing behavioral issues when the team cannot resolve them independently.
Q5. Technical Debt can lead to false assumptions about the current state of the system and the Increment reviewed at the end of the Sprint.
Answer: A. True
Accumulated technical debt obscures the true quality of the Increment, leading stakeholders to falsely assume the product is stable. Watch for velocity spikes on the exam, as taking shortcuts to inflate speed is a classic trap indicating hidden debt.
Q6. What belongs solely to the Developers?
Answer: C. The Sprint Backlog
The Sprint Backlog is managed solely by the Developers throughout the iteration. Note that option B is a known distractor; while the team owns the Definition of Done, the Developers are specifically accountable for adapting it, which can make this phrasing slightly ambiguous.
Q7. Who takes the ownership of Scrum Events?
Answer: A. Scrum Team
The entire Scrum Team owns the Scrum events. The Scrum Master merely facilitates these events and ensures they stay within timeboxes, so avoid choosing the Master whenever the question specifically asks about ownership.
Q8. It is good practice to maintain separate Product Backlogs for multiple Scrum Teams working on one product.
Answer: A. False
Scrum requires exactly one Product Backlog for a product, regardless of how many Scrum Teams are working on it. A single backlog ensures transparency, unified prioritization, and prevents overlapping work across multiple teams.
Q9. A Developer is requested by an important stakeholder to help them with some external tasks. The Developer referred him to the Product Owner. In this case, the Scrum Master should:
Answer: B. Do nothing since the Developer's action is correct
The Developer correctly redirected the stakeholder to the Product Owner, who solely manages the Product Backlog. Because the Developers acted appropriately by protecting their Sprint focus, the Scrum Master does not need to intervene.
Q10. When a product grows, it is quite possible that the Product Owner will get help from other Product Managers and others in the organization who interact regarding the customer facing activities and knowledge of the product marketplace. Is i…
Answer: A. No
A Product Owner can get help from others, but they cannot proxy or outsource their final accountability, especially regarding team-facing duties. They remain responsible for making the decisions and managing the Product Backlog effectively.
Q11. What are not Product Backlog characteristics? Select two.
Answer: A,C. A Product Backlog could be closed when it contains no items to include into the next Sprint || When the final version of a product is rolled out, its Product Backlog is dismissed
A Product Backlog is never closed or dismissed, and it exists as long as the product does. A strong exam cue is that a product always evolves, meaning there is never a final version in Scrum.
Q12. What would likely happen if management only changed the organization's current terminology to fit Scrum without the proper understanding and support of Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide?
Answer: B. All answers apply.
Simply renaming roles without adopting the Scrum framework prevents realizing its true benefits. Changing vocabulary alone does not change behavior. If management wants less stress, real structural change is required.
Q13. During the Sprint, the Developers track the remaining work and the trend at least:
Answer: B. Everyday
The Developers track remaining work and progress trends every day during the Daily Scrum. This daily inspection allows the team to adapt their plan immediately and ensure they are trending toward achieving the Sprint Goal.
Q14. The Scrum Team adapts the Definition of Done during:
Answer: B. The Sprint Retrospective
The Scrum Team adapts the Definition of Done during the Sprint Retrospective. This event is designed for inspecting processes and planning ways to increase quality, making it the correct place to strengthen what it means for work to be complete.
Q15. Scrum is founded on what?
Answer: B. Empiricism
Scrum is firmly rooted in empiricism, which means making decisions based on observed reality and experience. The provided question text incorrectly mentions Kanban, so ignore that prompt error and memorize the three empirical pillars for your exam.
Q16. In a Nexus context, all the Scrum Teams' Sprints must be aligned.
Answer: A. True
In a Nexus context, all Scrum Teams must align their Sprints to integrate work effectively and minimize dependencies. While Nexus is a scaling extension, the underlying principle of synchronized Sprints is universally tested in Scrum concepts.
Q17. Select the correct statement regarding the Definition of Done. Before the Sprint Planning, the Developers must have a Definition of Done formally approved by the Product Owner.
Answer: B. None of the answers is correct
The Definition of Done is created by the Scrum Team and does not require formal Product Owner approval. The other options mention user stories and Scrum Boards, which are optional complementary practices not mandated by Scrum.
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