PSM-II Exam Dumps : Professional Scrum Master II

The Scrum Master is responsible for promoting and supporting Scrum, which includes helping the Scrum Team and the organization understand and enact Scrum values, principles, and practices. The Scrum Master should offer guidance that:

• Addresses the root cause of the conflict, not just the symptoms or the consequences.
• Empowers the Scrum Team to self-organize and collaborate effectively, without relying on external intervention or authority.
• Fosters a culture of transparency, inspection, and adaptation, where feedback is welcomed and used to improve the product and the process.
• Focuses on delivering value to the customer and meeting the Sprint Goal, not on following a fixed plan or satisfying individual preferences.

Therefore, the best option is to address why requirements change during the Sprint Retrospective ©, which is an event that allows the Scrum Team to inspect how they worked together and create a plan for improvements. The Scrum Master should ask the Developers and the Product Owner to talk about why the requirements are changing and consider the impact on value during this discussion. This will help them understand each other’s perspectives, clarify their expectations, and align their goals.

The other options are not appropriate because they:

• Take everyone to a 2-day off-site event to relax and re-align (A), which may be a nice gesture, but does not solve the underlying problem or help the Scrum Team improve their collaboration skills. It may also be seen as a distraction or a reward for poor performance.
• Ask each person’s functional manager to instruct their employees that they must collaborate better, or be removed from the team (B), which undermines the self-organization and autonomy of the Scrum Team and introduces a threat of punishment that may damage trust and motivation. It also violates the Scrum value of respect and the principle of servant leadership.
• Ask for a project manager or other external resource to mediate and temporarily take over for the Product Owner (D), which creates a dependency on an outsider who may not have the necessary knowledge, authority, or vision to manage the product. It also violates the Scrum role of the Product Owner and the principle of single-wringable-neck.

References: : [Scrum Guide], The Scrum Master : [Scrum Guide], The Sprint Retrospective : [Scrum Guide], The Product Owner : [Scrum Guide], The Developers : [Scrum Guide], Scrum Values

 The Sprint Retrospective is a Scrum event in which the Scrum Team inspects how the last Sprint went with regards to individuals, interactions, processes, tools, and their Definition of Done1. The purpose of the Sprint Retrospective is to plan ways to increase quality and effectiveness1. The Scrum Team should focus on improving the quality of the product Increment, not on increasing the measured velocity. Velocity is a metric that indicates how much work the team has completed in a Sprint, but it does not reflect the value or quality of that work. Working product is one of the primary measures of progress in Agile.

Some actions that the Scrum Master can take in this situation are:

• Facilitate a discussion on how to improve the quality to a level sufficient for production, even if the measured velocity will drop in the next Sprint. This action will help the Scrum Team to identify and address the root causes of the quality issues, and to plan actions for improvement. The Scrum Master should encourage the Scrum Team to inspect their Definition of Done, their testing and quality assurance practices, their technical debt, and their collaboration with stakeholders. The Scrum Master should also help the Scrum Team to prioritize quality over quantity, and to understand that delivering a potentially releasable Increment at the end of every Sprint is one of the goals of Scrum.
• Stress the value of working product over measured velocity. This action will help the Scrum Team to align their work with the Agile values and principles, and to focus on delivering value to the customers and users. The Scrum Master should remind the Scrum Team that velocity is not a goal or a measure of success, but a tool for planning and forecasting. The Scrum Master should also help the Scrum Team to avoid falling into the trap of velocity-driven development, where they sacrifice quality, sustainability, and customer satisfaction for higher numbers.

Some actions that the Scrum Master should not take in this situation are:

• Agree and praise the Developers for their hard work, so they are motivated to do even more in the next Sprint. This action will not help the Scrum Team to improve their quality or effectiveness, but rather reinforce a false sense of achievement based on velocity. The Scrum Master should acknowledge and appreciate the Developers’ efforts, but also challenge them to inspect and adapt their work processes and outcomes. The Scrum Master should also help the Developers to balance their motivation with realism, and to avoid overcommitting or overestimating their capacity.
• Acknowledge the hard work, but remind the Developers that they need to improve to do even more in the next Sprint. This action will not help the Scrum Team to improve their quality or effectiveness, but rather put pressure on them to increase their velocity. The Scrum Master should not imply that doing more work is equivalent to doing better work, or that higher velocity is expected or desired. The Scrum Master should also help the Developers to avoid burnout, stress, and fatigue caused by unrealistic or unsustainable expectations.

References:

• The Sprint Retrospective - What It Is & Tips for Making the Most of Your Meeting | Scrum Alliance
• How to Measure Sprint Velocity in Agile | Parabol
• What is a Sprint Retrospective? - Zeolearn
• What Is the Goal of Sprint Retrospective Meeting? | Wrike
• What is a Sprint Retrospective? | Scrum.org
• [Principles behind the Agile Manifesto]
• [What is a Product Increment? | Scrum.org]
• [Velocity-driven development: A trap waiting for you | Agile Alliance]

A Product Backlog item is a description of a feature or functionality that adds value to the product. It is selected by the Scrum Team during the Sprint Planning, based on the Product Owner’s proposal and the Developers’ forecast. It is expected that the Product Backlog item will be completed by the end of the Sprint, meaning that it meets the Definition of Done, which is a formal description of the state of the Increment when it meets the quality standards required for the product.

However, if a Product Backlog item is not completed by the end of the Sprint, meaning that it does not meet the Definition of Done, then:

• The item is not included in the Increment for this Sprint (B), which is a valid option as it ensures that only “Done” work is delivered to the customer and stakeholders. The Increment is a concrete and usable outcome of a Sprint that provides value and feedback. It should not contain any undone or partially done work that may compromise its quality, usability, or value.
• It is put on the Product Backlog for the Product Owner to decide what to do with it (D), which is another valid option as it respects the authority and accountability of the Product Owner to manage the Product Backlog, which is an ordered list of what is needed in the product. The Product Owner can decide whether to re-prioritize, re-estimate, refine, or remove the incomplete Product Backlog item based on new insights and stakeholder needs.

The other options are not correct because they:

• Review the item, add the done part of the estimate to the velocity and create a Story for the remaining work (A), which is not a good option as it violates the principle of commitment and transparency that underlies the Definition of Done. The Scrum Team should not count or report any work that is not “Done” as part of their progress or performance. The Scrum Team should also not split or create new Product Backlog items during or after the Sprint, as this may affect their alignment and focus on the Sprint Goal.
• Only the stakeholders decide over acceptance of undone work and whether to release it ©, which is not a good option as it violates the role and responsibility of the Product Owner and the Developers to deliver a potentially releasable Increment at the end of each Sprint. The stakeholders can provide feedback and suggestions for the product, but they cannot accept or release any work that does not meet the Definition of Done.

References: : [Scrum Guide], The Product Backlog : [Scrum Guide], The Definition of Done : [Scrum Guide], The Increment : [Scrum Guide], The Sprint Planning : [Scrum Guide], The Product Owner : [Scrum Guide], The Developers