Home › CSM® › Practice questions › Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization

CSM® · Scrum Alliance · Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization · Bank updated 2026-07-03

CSM® practice questions: Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization

5 free questions from 45 on this area · answer and explanation for each · no sign-up

These 5 questions come from the Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization section of our CSM® bank (45 questions on this area, which carries 32% of the real exam). Every question is original, with the correct answer explained and linked to the source it is drawn from.

Start 6 free in study mode → All CSM® sample questions

1/5 · Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization · easy

Why does the Scrum Guide (2020) not define a project manager accountability on the Scrum Team?

AThe Scrum Master title is simply Scrum's renamed version of the project manager, carrying the same command-and-control duties.

BThe three Scrum accountabilities (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Developers) distribute planning, prioritization, and delivery responsibility across a self-managing team rather than centralizing it in a single controlling role.

COrganizations using Scrum are contractually prohibited from employing anyone with a project management title.

DScrum forbids any form of organizational planning or coordination beyond the Sprint.

Show answer & explanation

B is correct. The Scrum Guide 2020 defines only three accountabilities within the Scrum Team — Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers — with the Developers self-managing how work gets done. This distributed model replaces the need for a centralized, directive project-manager role.
↗ the Scrum Guide (2020) + Scrum Alliance CSM Learning Objectives (2022/2024) — Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization

2/5 · Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization

During the Daily Scrum, the Scrum Master routinely asks each Developer to report status to them and then assigns follow-up tasks for the day. What is the issue with this practice according to the Scrum Guide (2020)?

AThe issue is only that the Daily Scrum should include the Product Owner giving out assignments instead of the Scrum Master.

BThere is no issue as long as the Daily Scrum still happens within 15 minutes.

CThere is no issue; the Scrum Master is accountable for running the Daily Scrum and directing its outcomes.

DThe Daily Scrum is an internal event for the Developers to inspect progress and adapt the Sprint Backlog; having the Scrum Master collect status and assign tasks turns it into a status meeting and undermines Developer self-management.

Show answer & explanation

D is correct. The Scrum Guide 2020 describes the Daily Scrum as an event for the Developers to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt their plan for the next 24 hours. A Scrum Master collecting status and assigning work converts self-management into a directive status meeting, a well-known anti-pattern.
↗ the Scrum Guide (2020) + Scrum Alliance CSM Learning Objectives (2022/2024) — Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization

3/5 · Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization

A Product Owner regularly writes vague, poorly ordered Product Backlog items and asks the Scrum Master to 'just clean them up' before each Sprint Planning. What is the most appropriate way for the Scrum Master to serve the Product Owner in this situation?

ACoach the Product Owner on effective backlog management techniques, such as clear ordering and refinement, rather than rewriting the items personally

BTell the Developers to interpret the vague items as they see fit without further clarification

CEscalate to management to have the Product Owner replaced

DRewrite the Product Backlog items on the Product Owner's behalf each Sprint so Sprint Planning is not delayed

Show answer & explanation

A is correct. The Scrum Guide lists helping the Product Owner find techniques for effective Product Goal and Product Backlog management as a core way the Scrum Master serves the Product Owner; taking over the work would undermine the Product Owner's accountability.
↗ the Scrum Guide (2020) + Scrum Alliance CSM Learning Objectives (2022/2024) — Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization

4/5 · Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization

Leadership repeatedly pressures a Development Team to cut corners on automated testing to hit external deadlines, causing technical debt to grow Sprint after Sprint. Which Scrum Master action best reflects service to both the team and the organization?

AQuietly agree with leadership and tell the Developers to keep cutting corners since deadlines matter most

BPersonally take over testing tasks from the Developers to relieve the pressure

CMake the growing technical debt and its long-term cost visible to leadership using concrete data, while helping the team maintain its Definition of Done

DHave the Product Owner secretly lower the Definition of Done without informing the Developers or stakeholders

Show answer & explanation

C is correct. Serving the organization includes helping leadership understand the trade-offs of Scrum and product development, such as the true cost of technical debt, while serving the team means protecting agreed-upon quality standards rather than unilaterally overriding them.
↗ the Scrum Guide (2020) + Scrum Alliance CSM Learning Objectives (2022/2024) — Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization

5/5 · Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization · hard

A Developer tells the Scrum Master that a slow shared test environment has blocked progress for three consecutive Sprints, and the team has stopped raising it because 'nothing ever changes.' Based on the Scrum Guide's description of the Scrum Master's accountability, what should happen next?

AThe Scrum Master must personally reconfigure the test environment during the Sprint, since impediment removal is defined as a hands-on technical task exclusive to the Scrum Master

BThe Scrum Master causes the removal of the impediment, which may require escalating beyond the team when the team cannot resolve it alone

CThe Product Owner is instructed to permanently shrink the Sprint Backlog every Sprint to compensate for the recurring delay

DThe impediment is logged and revisited only at the next Retrospective, since impediments are solely the Developers' responsibility to resolve

Show answer & explanation

B is correct. The Scrum Guide states that the Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team by causing the removal of impediments to its progress. This is a facilitation and escalation accountability, not necessarily a personal technical fix, and a recurring unresolved impediment signals the Scrum Master should act beyond simply noting it for later.
↗ the Scrum Guide (2020) and Scrum Alliance CSM Learning Objectives — Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization

Practise all 45 Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization questions - start free → See the whole CSM® bank

Other CSM® areas

The same kind of free sample for every other section of the CSM® bank:

Scrum Team roles, accountabilities & theory34 q Scrum events & activities45 q Scrum Master core competencies25 q

Study Service to the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Organization with instant feedback

6 free questions · filter study mode by area and difficulty · error log with spaced repetition · no card, no dumps, no ads.

Create your free account →