Certifying a Scrum Master with a PSM, CSM, and BVOSM title is not easy. You have to study a lot and pass an exam to get your certificate. Becoming a Scrum Master is not easy.
However, there are also easy ways to prepare for your certification exam. I provide you with numerous sample questions and answers that are directly related to the work of any Certified Scrum Master. Suitable for Sample Exam (Mock) Questions for the BVOP™ Scrum Master Certification Test
Scrum Master Certification Exam Preparation
The Certified Scrum Master document is usually given after successfully passing an exam. Most often, this is an automated and computerized test. Some certification bodies require you to enroll in a course, but this is expensive. CSM certification also requires a course. BVOP.org’s PSMI, PSMII, PSMIII, and BVOSM will only ask you to pass a certification exam. Reference: https://managementeducationinc.wordpress.com/2023/01/11/preparation-for-the-certified-scrum-master-certification-exam-for-all-certification-organizations/
No matter which major and degree you choose, the following sample questions and answers will be of great help to you.
Your team wants to go on vacation and they ask you to postpone your sprint retrospective until the beginning or end of the next sprint.
This point of the whole Sprint is, in my opinion, very important. It helps to define achievements and shortfalls in the completed sprint and thus helps in planning the next sprint. The deadline of each sprint should be clear to all teams and should be respected.
Postponing important meetings might not be an optimal solution. In this case, a possible option would be to move to the start of the next sprint and do the retrospective of the previous sprint and the planning of the new sprint at the same time. See more: “Preparation for the Scrum Master certification exam PSM, CSM, and BVOP“
Another option would be to do it before the end of the sprint itself when the whole team is not on vacation. The development team knows how far they have come with the given tasks and should give a report even before they are fully completed if they know that there are minimal details left until the completed task. Reference: “Sample questions for Certified Scrum Master Preparation“, https://www.kosovatimes.net/sample-questions-for-certified-scrum-master-preparation/
The client tells you that they are starting renovations in their office and asks you to email them a summary of your meeting with the team and your thoughts on the Sprint Review meeting. You are fully trusted for your analysis. Original link: “Scrum Master certification exam preparation with sample questions“, https://www.polyscm.com/scrum-master-certification-exam-preparation-with-sample-questions/
The fact that my client trusts my analysis is a good sign. In this case, it is a question of a non-standard situation due to which the customer will not be able to attend the sprint review. It is not a problem for me in such a situation to send the client a report or something similar with the key elements of the meeting. I would even invite him when it is convenient for him to an online meeting to clarify if something is not clear to them. In this way, I believe that I will be able to maintain their trust and have transparency for the development of the project. Another valuable article: “Preparation for the Certified Scrum Master certification exam for PSM, CSM or BVOSM“, https://securityinformationeventmanagement.com/preparation-for-the-certified-scrum-master-certification-exam/
Your director has heard that your Sprint is coming to an end, but there is unfinished business. He’s angry and asks you to remove several large User Stories from the ones planned for the end of the sprint and replace them with smaller ones that you can find in the general list. Source: “Preparation for PSM, CSM, and BVOSM Scrum Master certification exam with sample questions“, https://www.policymatters.net/preparation-for-psm-csm-and-bvosm-scrum-master-certification-exam-with-sample-questions/
In this case, I would directly discuss with the Product Owner to terminate this sprint. And to be able to start a new sprint with the highest priority tasks. Incomplete tasks will be reviewed by the Product Owner and re-prioritized. Read more: “Preparation for Certified Scrum Master certification exam with sample questions”, https://www.azarnewsonline.com/preparation-for-certified-scrum-master-certification/
In this way, we can be sure that the new sprint will be successful and the director satisfied.
The team tells you this morning that they are done with all their work two days before the end of the sprint and asks you to arrange a meeting with the customer to have the Sprint Review meeting with them and start the new sprint tomorrow. While you’re at the Sprint Review meeting, they’ll attend some interesting company training, but they promise to get back at you by asking HR to give you an extra day off this year.
This situation is quite interesting and sounds like a bribe to me. Get our work done and you’ll have more vacation time. Everyone on the team should be at the sprint review. Company training should be planned and included in the planning. One important task should not be neglected for another. In this case, it should be discussed with the Product Owner and the sprint review should be done and then they can go to this training. There’s no point in ending the sprint early in my opinion. However, the sprint review must be done and discussed so that the next sprint can be optimally planned. Source: “Preparation for Certified Scrum Master certification exam with sample questions“, https://www.shihannews.net/preparation-for-certified-scrum-master-certification-exam/
Your team tells you that they prefer not to work to a precise fixed time for the sprints, but prefer that each sprint have a duration according to their work and their judgment. They have already discussed this proposal with the Product Owner role and he has said that he has no objections.
Here I would remind the team of Scrum rules. The time frame is specified at the beginning of the project with their help and thus helps to maintain a certain standard of work. It must be respected. At each sprint, the tasks must be discussed so that they are achievable within the given time frame. Check this article also: “Example questions for the Scrum Master certification exam“, https://customer-service-us.com/example-questions-for-the-scrum-master-certification-exam/ Here, with the help of the product owner, the tasks should be structured according to priority and at the right time. Thus, for one sprint, more small tasks can be integrated, and other sprints have fewer but larger tasks.
Your assigned Product Owner on the project is away on a business trip to the client and has sent you the Sprint Goal for the next sprint this morning. Also made a collection of all the user stories the team will be working on.
We can say that the product owner is quite responsible here. Before he left, he provided me with the necessary information so that the sprint itself could be planned. We have a Purpose. We also have tasks. His business trip in this case should not affect the planning. Of course, after planning I would let him know via email or a quick meeting about the sprint plan. Reference: “Preparation for the certification exam for CSM and PSM I (BVOSM) Scrum Master“, https://www.mu7club.com/preparation-for-certification-exam-scrum-master/
The Product Owner of the project has sent you an email stating that he will be collecting detailed information on several details and plans to engage with the customer in an ongoing manner to describe as many details as possible about the work for a long time to come.
Having a vision for the product for a long period is good, but it should not be taken as a concrete plan. After each sprint, however, new information must be considered and the integration of the long-term plan should be planned based on it. It is good to have a vision for the product, but it must be adapted to the needs of the market. It is also important that all the information it collects be filtered and not accumulated and subsequently be confusing in User stories etc. Read more: “Certified Scrum Master exam preparation with sample questions“, https://customessaysonline.net/certified-scrum-master-exam-preparation-with-sample-questions/
You are coming back from vacation. The team and the Product Owner of the project tell you that there is no time and the sprint should start without planning, with the team working independently and selecting the User Stories ranked at the top of the Product Backlog collection.
We are without a plan for anywhere I would say. If we don’t have a whole but just check off tasks, firstly there is a risk that the team itself will be reworked and slow us down later, and secondly, we cannot provide results for a sprint if we have not specified the goals for this sprint. This situation, as urgent as it is, is not an option in my opinion. It can be on a fast-track layout, but it is important to specify the goals and tasks. Once specified, the team can work on them and issue accurate results. Reference: “Preparation for the Certified Scrum Master exam (PSM, CSM, BVOSM)“, https://mpmu.org/preparation-for-the-certified-scrum-master-exam-psm-csm-bvosm/
Your Product Owner role has been shared with the team and certain functionality is expected in a few months. Your team plans to do technology research now to save themselves potential problems and skill gaps later.
This is a good idea. As much as standards and needs change, these changes are usually not overnight. With a good Q survey, we can be prepared for the exact requirements and if there is a need to train the team personnel in advance. I would even add myself to this situation by researching with the devs team who has what knowledge in the field of integrating this function. We may already have someone trained on the team who can take on the new tasks. Visit original article: “Preparation for Scrum Master certification exam on Sprint event“, https://medfd.org/preparation-for-scrum-master-certification-exam-on-sprint-event/
A member of your team who plans to take a leave of absence soon has just started working on a User Story that he expects to be scheduled for the next sprint.
The tasks of the current sprint must be completed. I’m a bit 50/50 about the situation here. If everything needed for the current sprint has been completed by him and during the start of the next sprint he will release it. I don’t see a problem in advance to start. That way there will be no delay when he returns and he will be able to continue on schedule. At the same time, he may have completed his tasks but there is a blockage somewhere else and he may be of help to complete the current sprint successfully. For that, a lot depends on the situation. It is important not to remake people. More on the topic on PM.MBA: “Professional Scrum Master Certification Online“, https://pm.mba/posts/scrummaster-certification-online/
A team member expresses dissatisfaction with the idea of everyone knowing what the other is working on. He is used to solitude. He prefers to work without explaining what exactly or having his work visible in software systems. It guarantees to deliver very good results and right on time.
In this situation, I would spend time with this team member to explain the idea and principles of Scrum. It is important to be transparent and not to hide from each other. The idea of sharing the information is not to monitor who is doing what and how fast, but to have a general idea of who is working on what and where they have reached. This way, potential problems can be found before they happen and the team can get the help they need. Further reading: “Preparation for Scrum Master certification and tips for Scrum professionals”, https://www.kievpress.info/preparation-for-scrum-master-certification/
Your colleague, the Scrum Master of your organization, meets you in the hallway and asks for advice on the length of his team’s sprint. No one on the team can suggest a duration for their sprint. He asks you to recommend him a time for their sprint.
Here the tasks at this stage should be discussed with the team and the strengths and weaknesses of each team member should be known. I can point him in the right direction, but I can’t offer him an exact time to complete the sprints. It might be a shorter sprint if they want to do more with fewer tasks. If they want to have the option of short or long tasks, it can be medium. It mustn’t be more than 1 month, and this is the longest period, which in general is better to be shorter. Wiki Ref: “Preparation with sample questions for Scrum Master certification exam CSM & PSMI”, https://wikipedia-lab.org/preparation-sample-questions-scrummaster-certification-exam/
The Product Owner role on your team wants to change the sprint duration to 6 weeks because you are starting a very complex systems integration and don’t want to discredit yourself, your team, and the organization to the customer with sprints where there is a risk that you won’t be able to deliver actual work done.
Sprint should not exceed 1 month. We must maintain one constancy. In every single Sprint, there are Sprint Goals. They must be adapted to the complexity of the project. Thus, the client will be familiar with the development of the project in shorter periods. In my opinion, in this way, the client will be more familiar with the conditions and complexity of the work and would not have any complaints or defects, and would be more familiar and understood towards the team. Reference: “Free preparation for the Scrum Master certification exam (CSM, PSMI, PSMII, BVOP)”, https://brightonbot.com/preparation-scrum-master-certification-exam/
You receive an email from your client’s Project Manager. It asks if there is any problem if your sprint is 6 business days. He expects a quick response so he knows what to pass on to his superiors.
It’s good to space the sprints at least 1-week minimum. In this case, 1 day more would allow us not to rush, no matter how elementary the tasks are, and to be able to work in peace on the part of the developers. It will also be much easier to structure the sprints and their reviews. Go and find more answers: “Free training to prepare for the Scrum Master Certification exam”, https://www.islandjournal.net/scrum-master-certification-exam/
Your director tells you that he has read a lot of information on the Internet about Scrum and wants you to time your sprints to one work week to reduce potential risk.
The definition of sprints should be discussed with the team and should correspond to the real conditions and backlog. If the tasks are long and cannot be released every week, it is not logical to put them in short sprints because not only will it not reduce the risk, but it can also increase it. This short sprint time frame is most likely to create high stress and errors. The time for sprints should not be influenced by external wishes but should represent the real situation and all factors in the development of the project. Reference: “Best Scrum Master Certifications for 2022 and 2023“, https://eduwiki.me/best-scrum-master-certifications-for-2021-and-2022/ (EduWiki’s Scrum Preparation material)
Your team wants to go on vacation and they ask you to postpone your sprint retrospective until the beginning or end of the next sprint.
If we don’t have a Sprint Retro before sprint planning, then planning would be incomplete without the event to improve upon as part of the sprint goals. I suggest that we can do Sprint Retro the next day and have Sprint Planning right after and start the Sprint right after Sprint Planning. Thus, we may not lose the time to work in the fixed term of the spirant. It would not be superfluous to also encourage the team to phase out colleagues on leave and not all at once in order not to jeopardize productivity. More on the topic: “Best Scrum Master certification online”, https://scrumtime.org/best-scrum-master-certification-online/ (Scrum Time Magazine)
The client tells you that they are starting renovations in their office and asks you to email them a summary of your meeting with the team and your thoughts on the Sprint Review meeting. You are fully trusted for your analysis.
The Scrum framework emphasizes face-to-face meetings to enhance team communication. While some Agile teams are spread across multiple locations around the world, virtual meetings still serve to bring people together and ensure that everyone on the team stays in the loop.
The purpose of the meeting for the Sprint Review meeting is to have transparency that brings information to the customers about the work:
What has been done?
What hasn’t been done yet
Work that has been added and work removed from the sprint.
As long as this information is clarified and sent, it can be assumed that the customer will not be harmed by the information needed by the sprint. Reference: “Preparation for the Scrum Master certification exam (BVOSM, CSM, PSM)“, https://mstsnl.net/preparation-for-the-scrum-master-certification-exam-bvosm-csm-psm/ (MSTSNL)
Your director has heard that your Sprint is coming to an end, but there is unfinished business. He’s angry and asks you to remove several large User Stories from the ones planned for the end of the sprint and replace them with smaller ones that you can find in the general list.
This proposed approach is nothing to be angry about. The director doesn’t always necessarily have the best Scrum visibility on breaking down big tasks into smaller ones and tracking them. In this particular situation, the person who could judge what to replace with something else or not, as well as whether to continue a particular User Story in the next sprint, is the Product Owner. There must be trust, and what is planned to be worked on in the sprint in question can be evaluated and presented by the Scrum team along with the reasons for prioritization to the director. Reference: “Quick and easy preparation for the Scrum Master certification exam“, https://www.businesspad.org/quick-and-easy-preparation-for-the-scrum-master-certification-exam/(BUSINESSPAD)
In most teams, unfinished stories are completed in subsequent sprints and this does not interfere with work.
Adding and moving tasks/stories during the sprint or even at the end is also not unprecedented.
The team tells you this morning that they are done with all their work two days before the end of the sprint and asks you to arrange a meeting with the customer to have the Sprint Review meeting with them and start the new sprint tomorrow. While you’re at the Sprint Review meeting, they’ll attend some interesting company training, but they promise to get back at you by asking HR to give you an extra day off this year.
Only the team can add a new job. If the team finishes early, the team must work with the Product Owner and agree to add work to the sprint. Often teams get into trouble when the Scrum Master starts negotiating with the Product Owner outside the team. The Scrum Team should plan this work that can be improved, as they would during Sprint Planning. This involves assessing the tasks and agreeing on the order in which the tasks are most likely to be completed for maximum efficiency. The Product Owner must communicate this change to key stakeholders as needed. Source: “Lessons for Scrum Master certification and practicing professionals“, https://newia.info/lessons-for-scrum-master-certification-and-practicing-professionals/(NEWIA)
The practice of a member of the Scrum team doing a Review by himself and being compensated with a day off is not correct, honest, and professional.
Your team tells you that they prefer not to work to a precise fixed time for the sprints, but prefer that each sprint have a duration according to their work and their judgment. They have already discussed this proposal with the Product Owner role and he has said that he has no objections.
Either way, if the team wants to work with Sprints, they should have clear deadlines because of the many benefits such as building work habits and rhythm. Easily compare sprint results. Team members consider their performance and productivity and can make planning easier. Product Owners also need certification: https://www.muzonet.com/certified-product-owner-and-product-owner-certification-online/ (MUZONET)
If the duration of each sprint is “discretionary”, then the idea of fixing the time exactly will not give the participants of an event the opportunity to be clearer, more precise, and focused on their goals.
The most appropriate continuation of the length of sprints should be taken at the very beginning of the project when the team is formed and familiar with the idea of the project and has carefully discussed what it will face.
Your assigned Product Owner on the project is away on a business trip to the client and has sent you the Sprint Goal for the next sprint this morning. Also made a collection of all the user stories the team will be working on.
If the upcoming work is defined, and the Product Owner has included the Story in the Sprint Goal, then the dev. the team can work on them. The Development team itself selects and assesses exactly how many User Stories it can complete during the upcoming sprint. It is the responsibility of the RO to organize the work of the Development team in order of importance. Even without the presence of the Product Owner for the duration of the sprint, dev. the team can work and refer to the customer for questions and ambiguities. Dev. it is not appropriate for the team to work on the story outside of the sprint schedule, and if there are any questions, consult with the client. In case he wants to add or remove some work, then this can be done in another sprint.
The Product Owner of the project has sent you an email stating that he will be collecting detailed information on many details and plans to engage with the customer in an ongoing manner to describe as many details as possible about the work for a long time to come.
It makes sense for the Product Owner to have detailed and granular clarity for a long time ahead on the project. so-called Big picture and project goals must be communicated to the team and evaluated. Either way, the power of Scrum principles is to encourage iterative, adaptive work processes that lead to the delivery of a working product as soon as possible after the start of the project (within weeks, not months). Planning very far ahead in software development is not always one of the most beneficial moves for the process. Often in dynamic industries such as IT, there are many rapid changes in the market, which lead to changes in the requirements for the final product/service of the customer.
The Product Owner should focus on how to gather and share with his Scrum team detailed information about the short-term work needed, rather than the very long-term ahead.
You are coming back from vacation. The team and the Product Owner of the project tell you that there is no time and the sprint should start without planning, with the team working independently and selecting the User Stories ranked at the top of the Product Backlog collection.
Sprint planning is critical to a successful sprint, helping to direct different team roles and keep them in sync with a shared vision and focus. Without a solid sprint plan, sprints can quickly fail or be doomed to fail due to unrealistic expectations. My reaction would be to insist on Sprint planning.
Your Product Owner role has been shared with the team and certain functionality is expected in a few months. Your team plans to do technology research now to save themselves potential problems and skill gaps later.
As a Product Owner building his product team, after determining the stage of the product life cycle, the necessary competencies must be initially selected and team members hired accordingly. The competencies of team members should be improved/developed as it considers the next stage of the product life cycle.
A member of your team who plans to take a leave of absence soon has just started working on a User Story that he expects to be scheduled for the next sprint.
Depending on the priority of the User Story, it can be postponed to the next sprint. Handing over the story to another team member should be avoided in order not to lose the work process achieved so far.
There is a second option that can be discussed with the team member who is planning a vacation, to finish the story started in the current Sprint, if there is the capacity, or if there is time in the Sprint.
A team member expresses dissatisfaction with the idea of everyone knowing what the other is working on. He is used to solitude. He prefers to work without explaining what exactly or having his work visible in software systems. It guarantees to deliver very good results and right on time.
Scrum operates under a set of values such as openness and courage. Openness is very important when it comes to providing clarity and transparency. Unless a person on a Scrum team is open, it is difficult to move forward in unison. In some organizations, being transparent and open is not easy, but a long-term lack of openness can harm Agile teams and the organization as a whole.
Rejecting even one team member can lead to friction and the team becoming disoriented. Therefore, the Scrum Master should meet and remind the importance of Scrum values, of which one of the most important and successful work is “Openness”
Your colleague, the Scrum Master of your organization, meets you in the hallway and asks for advice on the length of his team’s sprint. No one on the team can suggest a duration for their sprint. He asks you to recommend him a time for their sprint.
The sprint should be long enough to complete the user stories for which the team is responsible. According to the scrum methodology, sprints should never be longer than a month. In other words, a sprint should be about three times the time it takes to enter and complete an average story.
Choosing the length of the sprint with colleagues can be chosen as the product is logically divided into many small components, modules, and parts that the team can focus on and consider as independent elements.
It should not be forgotten that the entire team must reach a consensus on the length of the sprint. It is not recommended that someone else make this decision on behalf of the Scrum Team.
The Product Owner role on your team wants to change the sprint duration to 6 weeks because you are starting a very complex systems integration and don’t want to discredit yourself, your team, and the organization to the customer with sprints where there is a risk that you won’t be able to deliver actual work done.
In the condition of the need to integrate complex systems, it is most appropriate to discuss with the team to divide all functionalities into smaller parts and work on shorter sprints with the aim of good organization and regular release of a job done. Shorter sprints also mean faster identification of roadblocks for the team and more frequent feedback from the customer.
You receive an email from your client’s Project Manager. It asks if there is any problem if your sprint is 6 business days. He expects a quick response so he knows what to pass on to his superiors.
At the beginning of the Scrum Guide, the expert advice is that the optimal period is between 1 and 4 weeks and should not exceed 1 month. Terms shorter than 7 days and longer than 4 weeks would be contrary to the Scrum framework and the very idea, concept, and manifestation of its values as well as the results of the participants’ work.
If asking the PM is at the beginning of the project and the duration of the Scrum team’s sprint is still being determined, then a meeting with the whole team can be organized and discuss the complexity of the work and propose a deadline for the sprint of at least 7 days. The decision will depend on the consensus among team members on the duration of the sprint. Changing the sprint deadline in the middle of the project would lead to disruption of work habits among them, own work ability, and productivity in the team.
Your director tells you that he has read a lot of information on the Internet about Scrum and wants you to time your sprints to one work week to reduce potential risk.
The director’s suggestion is not entirely wrong, but directors in a company focus more on business value and company goals. It is proper for the Scrum team, not someone outside of it, to decide what the duration should be, but taking into account the director’s considerations. The director is above all employees in the company, but the Scrum team decides how to organize and how to deliver quality small pieces of work regularly.
Anyway, according to the Scrum philosophy, the team decides, but the team must also present why it makes this decision if the sprint is chosen to be longer than 1 week.