Top 50 Scrum Master Interview Questions and Answers

Introduction

Learn the top fundamentals to clear your Scrum interview with perfection and confidence. Find the most asked questions related to Scrum in this Scrum Master Interview Questions and Answers. The scrum interview, being a challenging screening round, requires extraordinary research, study, and preparation. To be a part of any organisation that requires you to have relevant knowledge of Scrum, you must prepare meticulously for the interview with the reference questions and answers presented in this article.

We have compiled a list of the most important Scrum master interview questions and answers, which you can refer to ace your upcoming Scrum interview. The recruiter might ask you the following questions, and the provided answer will help you to respond appropriately to them. So, refer to the following question/answer guide and gear up for your next interview.

Question 1: Are You Ready for Your Scrum Interview?

Answer: To break the ice and also to make the candidate comfortable, the HR might ask this question. This can be answered amicably by providing a quick brief as to how you feel about the interview round. The answer can further be closed with a short introduction of the self before the recruiter starts asking the main interview questions for the scrum master role.

Scrum Master Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers

Learning Scrum is an invaluable skill that is valued highly by companies nowadays. This is not just a project management process for the team but a seamless way to manage and execute projects that contribute to achieving an end goal. This article is a questionnaire on Scrum interviews, which talks about how one should appear for the discussion if you are a fresher.

Certified Scrum Master Interview Questions

Question 2: Explain the Different Roles in Scrum?

Answer: Scrum involves three different roles, namely, those of a product owner, scrum master, and product developer. The product owner is responsible for building the value of the product and also maximising its value. The scrum master is the one who guides the scrum team and regulates every process within the team, and lastly, the product developer is the one building the product increment and determining the work process to be followed.

Problem Solving and Scrum Master Scenario-Based Interview Questions

In addition to evaluating an individual’s candidature for the scrum master role with their behavioural aspects, the recruiter throws a range of questions, which are designed to gauge an individual’s expertise in handling real-time, practical situations. With the answers provided by the candidate in the scenario-based interview questions for a scrum master round, the HR gets to screen their analytical mindset, decision-making skills, and work approach.

So, here we have provided a list of Advanced Scrum Master Interview Questions for Experienced Candidates for you to refer to:

Question 3: How do you handle dependencies between Scrum teams?

Answer: Before we answer this question and explain how Scrum teams handle dependencies, let us first talk about what a “dependency” refers to in a Scrum team. Dependency is a situation in which a team or an individual is dependent on another for an output or action before they can proceed to the next step. Dependencies can be of different types - technical, sequential, external, or resource-based.

The reason that makes dependencies a point of concern in Scrum is that they end up causing blockers, obstructions, and obstacles in the process.

Question 4: What's your approach to continuous improvement beyond retrospectives?

Answer: In Agile, the best part that promotes consistent growth is reflection. The Scrum team gets sufficient scope to work on things that either did not go well in the previous sprint or simply need improvement or additions. If you are a part of a scrum team and the recruiter asks about your approach towards continual improvement, state the things you do or the steps you follow to ensure enhanced performance and overall growth. 

For instance, you can mention:

• Focus on skillset development and learning
• Implement root cause analysis to track core problems
• Use boards to build visibility during work and retain focus
• Follow the PDCA cycle to oversee small-scale improvements
• Assign priority tasks with a specified timeline to a dedicated team

Question 5: What are the Different Events That Take Place During the Scrum Process?

Answer: The five major events that are involved in a scrum framework include:

• The Sprint: Known as the Scrum fundamental, the sprint is defined as a fixed duration that typically lasts for about one month or, at times, less than that, to deliver a valuable product.
• Sprint Planning: As the term makes it evident enough, sprint planning is all about structuring the ultimate sprint goal, typically scheduled at the onset of the sprint, where the scrum team collaborates to evaluate the what, why, and how behind a product delivery.
• Daily Scrum: A short, everyday meeting that typically runs for 15 minutes to oversee the overall development of the work done towards achieving the final Scrum goal. This also involves curating the next day's plan for the team to work on.
• Sprint Review: Usually takes place at the closure of the Sprint to assess the status of the development done to date and update the product backlog. In this, future decisions are taken based on the inputs received from the stakeholders and clients.
• Sprint Retrospective: This is the last leg of the Sprint, where the Scrum team assesses their process and focuses on the areas of concern that can be taken care of in the next sprint, so that effectiveness can be maintained.

Question 6: What Should Be the Ideal Size of a Scrum Team?

Answer: Ideally, a scrum team involves 10 or fewer people, where the product owner, scrum master, and developer are the core members. The main purpose of setting up the scrum team is to ensure that there is deliberate skill management of the employees, and there is quality output at the end of the session. If you are someone who is just starting and planning to establish a scrum team, starting small is the key to success. As with smaller teams, there is better collaboration, but as the team members grow beyond a certain count, managing the work done becomes difficult.

Question 7: How to Track Sprint Progress?

Answer: There are several tools, charts, and techniques to track sprint progress. Teams can use Kanban boards, burndown, or burnup charts, cumulative flow diagrams, and participate in the daily scrum meetings to track the sprint progress. All of these tools and software work as a central system that allows the team members to visualise everything happening within a project at a glance, so that it becomes easier to track the work being done by the team at a point.

Question 8: Is It Possible to Cancel a Sprint Process? And Who Can Cancel it?

Answer: Yes, the cancellation is possible, and only the product owner (PO) has the right to do it.

Question 9: Name Some of the Tools Used in the Scrum Project?

Answer: Jira, Asana, Trello, Slack, Zoom, Confluence, Monday.com, ClickUp, Teamwork, Notion, etc., are some of the popular Scrum tools that facilitate project management and also enhance communication, visualisation, collaboration and flexibility within the projects.

Question 10: How Is a Scrum Master Beneficial to the Product Owner? 

Answer: A scrum master instructs and guides the product owner from the beginning to the end, and also assists in eliminating limitations or hindrances from the project so they can prioritise the product being built seamlessly. With their guidance, they make sure their team is aware of maximising the product value, product backlog refinement, and enabling communication.

Question 11: What Are Some of the Metrics Used by the Scrum Team to Measure the Work Done?

Answer: As mentioned in one of the previous questions, the Scrum team uses burndown and burnup charts, velocity, WIP limits, cycle time, customer satisfaction, and team happiness to measure the work progress done by the team members over a project.

Question 12: What Is Timeboxing in Scrum?

Answer:Timeboxing in Scrum is the maximum time taken by any event, project or activity to sustain the efficiency, priority and productivity of the deliverables. This is achieved by maintaining the scope of the project and sticking to a timeline. In Scrum, the timeboxes work like:

• Sprint: Extends for up to one month (maximum) or less.
• Sprint Planning: Approximately 8 hours devoted to a one-month sprint session
• Daily Scrum: Daily meeting lasting up to 15 minutes
• Sprint Review: Approximately 4 hours devoted to a one-month sprint session
• Sprint Retrospective: Roughly 3 hours for a one-month sprint session

Question 13: What Is Discussed During the Sprint Planning Meeting?

Answer: In a sprint planning meeting, any discussion mostly revolves around the work to be done in the future sprint and the process that will be followed to achieve that. This gathers the focus of the team to look into the ultimate objective of the project first, followed by the backlog that is to be cleared.

Question 14: What is your understanding of the Scrum Framework?

Answer: The scrum framework comprises a Scrum team that has a product owner, a scrum master and developers, each of whom works on a different set of responsibilities. The Scrum framework is mainly used by the software development team and engineers who are required to act promptly and adapt to dynamic scenarios, keeping in mind the financial scope of the projects. The Scrum framework involves a set of values, principles, ceremonies, and practices that the Scrum team members take care of to deliver an output.

Question 15: Share the key aspects of a successful sprint planning session.

Answer: Everything that is involved in a successful sprint planning session is a well-defined goal, synchronisation and disintegration of priority backlog items from the sprint, development of a realistic project management schedule, and allocation of tasks to the team members (as per individual capacity) and keeping the key stakeholders informed and on loop. Additionally, ensuring to keep track of the overall progress being made by the team.

To execute sprint planning successfully, the scrum team must oversee the status of backlog refinement, examine the team members’ pace of work, and confirm their availability for the tasks before they brief them about what is to be done over an interactive discussion.

Question 16: How to guide a team towards using the Agile methodology?

Answer: There is a step-by-step process that can be followed when guiding a scrum team. These steps are defined to acclimate the team members to using the agile methodology. It all begins with extending quality training to the members, imbibing a sense of collaboration and cooperation within the team by defining clear goals for everyone to achieve. Additionally, it also involves altering the perspectives and mindsets of the members, asking for continual feedback from both the internal and external parties, using productive tools and techniques to boost deliverables and following an iterative process throughout the cycle.

Question 17: How would you ensure your scrum team is keeping up with work-life balance?

Answer: Every scrum team indeed undergoes a lot of pressure when it comes to keeping up with the targets. But it is important to set boundaries in addition to maintaining the work progress. What the team can do here is that they can remain clear about the deliverables they can make within a defined timeline (set realistic targets), assess how much they can easily deliver without feeling overwhelmed (burnout), and swap the visual work board in front of them with only one checklist of priority items they are working on presently. In addition to these, advise the team members to take breaks, and refuse additional work if not informed beforehand and openly highlight imbalanced work-life issues so that things can be improved.

Question 18: Keeping in mind the sprint goals, what would you suggest to your team that has external deliverables to make?

Answer: Indeed, it becomes really difficult for the team members to work under pressure, especially when new tasks are delegated to them without prior indication. But if they are capable enough and have previous experience of surviving in complex, overwhelming situations without feeling burnt out, they will be able to get through it, provided it is a rare situation and does not occur every other day. If this is an urgent task, I will make sure to sit with the team over a discussion as to how to proceed with this additional set of tasks from another department. I will try to communicate our work process, tight timelines and the targets we have to achieve in every sprint, to those who delegated the work, so that there is utmost transparency and there is enough room for understanding each other's priorities and scope of work.

Question 19: How would you resolve conflicts within your team?

Answer: To keep up with the daily work without any hindrances and delays, and to sustain a healthy and sound environment for everyone in the team, it is important to resolve the conflicts that arise. As a scrum master, make sure whenever you come across a situation like this, you take time to reflect first, rather than react. Have a word with the respective team members so you can understand their points of view before you conclude something out of it. Identify the issue and have a one-on-one discussion with the members, where you can suggest to them alternatives they can consider to resolve the issue. While speaking to both team members, show how each of their roles and responsibilities is dependent on one another and how they both play a crucial role in the project and therefore their collaboration is valuable for the company’s goals.

Question 20: What is the difference between the roles of a scrum master and a project manager?

Answer: A scrum master is in charge of the scrum team and oversees whether they follow the scrum rules to deliver the product. They are primarily the coach who instructs and guides the team members to integrate Scrum practices into their work, schedule meetings (including daily stand-ups, sprint planning and retrospective sessions), and identify problem areas to deliver successful solutions.

On the other hand, the project managers are responsible for seamless handling and timely delivery of projects to the stakeholders and clients. Project managers are the ones who outline projects, define timelines, maintain clear communication with the client party, allocate the required resources and funds to projects and constantly keep an eye on how things turn out. In addition to this, they also keep a plan B ready, which comes into action during contingency situations.

Question 21: What is your way of handling situations where employees resist change?

Answer: As a manager, it is important to imbibe the right guidance and principles for any team that they are overseeing. At times, scrum masters do find employees who are not flexible enough to embrace change, and it becomes difficult for everyone in the team to align their way of working with those stubborn employees. This is where open communication does the job. Not only does clear communication with the team members help the scrum master understand the root cause, but it also gives them a chance to assess what the employee’s actual perception is regarding the matter.

If I ever face this kind of situation, I will highlight the advantages of acknowledging change to my team members and share past instances where taking risks and tackling complex situations pushed projects to their successful completion. And I would be supportive enough to them because I know changes take time to be embraced.

Question 22: Share how you would guide or train a team member who is not performing well.

Answer: Throughout our journey as a scrum master, we meet people who may not be great performers but are open to learning and growing. If we ever come across people like that, we make sure to talk to them and understand their problems. I personally feel that if we try to dig deep to know what their concerns are and why some people fail to perform like their colleagues, it will be easier to identify the root cause behind this underperformance. My action plan to help them improve their performance would be:

• To train them meticulously with proper resources and sessions
• To assign a professionally sound team member to guide them
• To evaluate their training with a time-to-time assessment
• To eventually assign these employees small tasks which they will deliver within a timeline

Question 23: What is an ideal way, according to you, to train a newly established Scrum team?

Answer: Training a scrum team consists of a structured process where you set the foundation for the principles you will share with your newly set-up team. Although team members will already be familiar with the Scrum methodology, roles, and responsibilities, as a mentor, you should guide them through the fundamentals of Scrum and Agile principles, while defining their goals and the roadmap they should follow. Brief everyone on the core concepts, theories, and practices, and ensure that everyone is well-aligned with the status of projects and products to be delivered, so that there is no confusion or chaos in the process.

Question 24: How is the Scrum Master responsible for training the Scrum team?

Answer: The Scrum master, as everyone knows, is responsible for instructing and coaching the Scrum team about Scrum and Agile principles, and is additionally accountable for facilitating Scrum events and ensuring improvements, integrating practices, establishing a collaborative workplace culture and eliminating blockers, so that the team can deliver value in every sprint.

To ascertain that the scrum team is properly trained, the scrum masters walk an extra mile to foster a sense of ownership within the team members, so they can proactively participate in the development process, yield effective results, and confidently take things ahead to ensure the continual growth of the company.

Question 25: Define Scope Creep? What are the reasons for it?

Answer: In project management, scope creep is a situation where the parameters of a project (as discussed initially) change beyond control. These parameters can vary, ranging from the addition of new features to a product, redesign of a gadget, or renovation of a progressing construction site. There could be many more similar examples that define scope creep extensively, and most of us are already familiar with them. But the reason why scope creep is defined as a major issue is that all these alterations to an existing product or project mess up the predetermined budget and resources, and also end up demanding more time.

Many people cite improper planning as the sole reason behind it. Also, when things are randomly rushed from the beginning without proper assessment, a workable strategy is absent, core team members get involved at the last minute and share insights for the project, everything gets out of control, and therefore lacks precision, and the project fails to turn out the way originally planned. So, it is important to be ready when it comes to planning for a project and not act haphazardly without evaluating the project carefully.

Question 26: What are the major phases of Risk Management?

Answer: Risk management is an integral part of every project, and every company or business has a reliable risk management strategy in place that comes into play whenever an emergency occurs. Risk mitigation is not a one-time thing; it is an ever-developing process that requires evaluation.

If a specific risk management strategy fails to work, it is immediately identified and taken care of with either a new approach or required modifications. Risk management primarily involves the five phases that we have listed below:

1. Risk Identification - The first step or stage in the risk management process is risk identification, where the potential risks are identified. Members from the senior management and others in an authoritative position come together to pick out and discuss the identified risks (which can range from legal risks, market risks and regulatory risks, etc.) so that their root causes can be analysed, and eventually a solution can be figured out to address that.
2. Risk Analysis - The next stage in this is where the nature of the risks is analysed. In this, the magnitude of the identified risks and how they can impact the business is carefully scrutinised. During the analysis, everyone oversees whether this risk is potential enough to affect operations, reduce revenue, stall deliverables and cause inconveniences to the stakeholders and customers. It is only after this analysis that a risk management framework is designed to be followed by the team.
3. Risk Evaluation - Not every risk is of the same nature. Some risks are low-intensity while others involve priority settlement. So, once the risk is identified, it should be assessed, keeping in mind the impact it can cause. Categorise the risks so that the concerned team can work on them without any external influence or delay in the process. Make sure to address the high-risk areas first before the medium or low-intensity risks are taken care of.
4. Risk Mitigation - Finding ways and strategies that can help mitigate the risks is important. For this, it is important to discuss the issues that the potential risks can raise with the professionals of the risk management industry or those who are a part of the organisation’s risk mitigation team. The meeting conducted for this would involve stakeholders, people from the senior management team, the clients, and those involved in the company’s decision-making process. The purpose of this discussion would be to list out the risks, agree on a practical solution and issue a prompt implementation of the same.
5. Risk Monitoring - To ensure that any form of risk does not disrupt the functioning of the business or hamper the day-to-day deliverables, it is important to constantly keep a tab on them. Since this is not practical to achieve singlehandedly by employees, the risk management teams should have a lookout for this with their risk tracking systems. Every company, more or less, has a well-integrated risk management setup that stays vigilant towards such issues and promptly notifies the organisation regarding any upcoming crisis or emergency.

Question 27: List out the advantages of Scrum implementation.

Answer: Teams implementing the Scrum methodology can benefit significantly. It promotes adaptability, is open to continuous improvement with regular feedback from customers, encourages effective collaboration among the team members, maintains transparency by supporting open communication with team heads, supervisors, as well as subordinates, and promises prompt delivery of products, with minimal scope of flaws.

Question 28: Who can become a Scrum Master? What are the essential Scrum Master skills one should possess?

Answer: Anybody can pursue becoming a scrum master if they are keen to know and learn about the agile principles. There is no specific set of guidelines or requirements that one has to follow to be a scrum master. All it requires for an individual with no prior relevant experience in Scrum methodology is to be interested in managing teams and prioritising timely outcomes. Some of the key scrum master skills include:

1. Being collaborative and understanding
2. Being a keen observer and communicator
3. Having core leadership and management skills
4. Being open to exploring, experimenting and learning new things
5. Supervising and guiding the scrum team on the scrum framework
6. Fostering a sense of practice of the Scrum principles by the team
7. Resolving conflicts within the team and eliminating obstacles from the process
8. Keeping a problem-solving attitude towards any small and big issues

Question 29: Define the three pillars of Scrum.

Answer: The three Scrum pillars include Transparency, Inspection and Adaptation, where transparency refers to the openness and clarity of concepts among the team members, ensuring informed decision making. Inspection is all about keeping a check on the progress made by the team in the direction of the established goals. This assessment is carried out by clients, team members and stakeholders, and lastly, adaptation is about the team’s way of integrating suggestions and improvements into the development process to release an ideal output.

Question 30: What happens in the Sprint Retrospective?

Answer: Once a particular sprint session is over, a review session is held where the team members look back on their performance to identify areas that can be improved in the future sprint. In this meeting, everyone in the team comes together to sit and precisely reflect on things, where they discuss the sprint issues, the achievements and the future tasks to work on.

Question 31: What is Daily Standup? What are the different ways of conducting daily standups?

Answer: Daily standup is a brief meeting that takes place daily and lasts for about 15 minutes. The purpose of this discussion is to share daily task updates with the team and stay informed on the work status and the progress made by the team on the previous day or during a specific duration. The agenda behind conducting daily standups is to evaluate the completed tasks, the yet-to-be-completed tasks and resolve any issues stated by the team.

There are various ways of conducting daily standups - it can be done over a short break, formally or informally, or even through Zoom meetings or conference calls, if the members are operating from different locations.

Question 32: What are the Scrum Artefacts?

Answer: The primary Scrum artefacts include product backlog, sprint backlog, and product increment. Additionally, experts refer to velocity charts and burndown charts as the last two Scrum artefacts, which are not considered as important as the first three. Scrum artefacts can be defined as the core information tools in the Agile Scrum framework that ensure transparency in work, help measure progress and provide product details to the stakeholders as well as the entire scrum team, so that everyone can have a clear understanding of the concept.

We have provided a brief explanation of the Scrum artefacts right below:

• Product Backlog - The product backlog is a structured list of priority items (or tasks) prepared for the development team to deliver the final product. This list acts as a detailed document that sequentially displays the tasks based on their priority (i.e. as per the timeline defined for it).
• Sprint Backlog - The set of tasks that the Scrum team agrees to deliver within a predefined period (which we refer to as a sprint, that lasts for about 3 to 4 weeks) is known as the Sprint Backlog. The sprint backlog is nothing but a dashboard displaying four aspects of the tasks that the team is working on, and shows up as statuses like “To Do”, “Ongoing”, “To Be Reviewed” and “Done”, each of which defines the work update.
• Product Increment - In simple terms, product increment is the current model of the product built by the development team, plus whatever new features the team completed in the previous sprint. Effective integration of both the developments and the final evaluation of the designed product is referred to as a product increment. This is an accessible version of the designed product that is released for the audience evaluation.
• Velocity Chart - The velocity chart is not considered to be an official Scrum artefact. This is why most resources do not mention it in the list of Scrum artefacts. But to understand what velocity charts are, one has to know that these are popular extended metrics that measure the amount of work done, and additionally assist the scrum teams to keep a check on the work progress and help plan future sprints.
• Burndown Chart - The burndown chart is also not officially counted as a Scrum artefact, but it remains a widely used tool and an extended artefact that helps teams to visualise the development the team members have made towards the ultimate sprint goal. Through this chart, one can easily track the pending work, discover concern areas to discuss and etch out a plan to fulfil future tasks.

Question 33: What is your understanding of the different Scrum roles?

Answer: We have heard of the Scrum team as a dedicated team of experts, where people performing distinct tasks come together and aim towards delivering a consumer-friendly product. They manage work in short sprints (which are brief iterations), where a team accomplishes a set of designated tasks. But, mainly, there are three roles in Scrum, including that of a - 

1. Product Owner - The product owner is the one who conveys customer requirements to the scrum team after careful evaluation. He is the one responsible for communicating the customers’ voice to the developer so they can curate a suitable product for their needs. The product owner interprets the value of the product and the company’s vision to ensure the team delivers maximum product value by fulfilling the product backlog items.
2. Scrum Master - The role of a scrum master is to guide the scrum team towards the accomplishment of goals. They oversee everything happening within the team, right from the day-to-day tasks handled by the team members and ensure there are no obstacles along the way. Precisely, a scrum master leads the scrum team. He is responsible for upholding the Scrum values, principles, and protocols within and outside the team to ensure an in-depth understanding of Scrum concepts.
3. Developers - The developers or the development team are the ones responsible for the design, buildout, and delivery of the product. Then there are quality analysts who conduct final checks on the curated products before they are released to the audience. This is the core team behind the entire development process of the product, and also the one that ensures successful product delivery. The key members of this cross-functional development team are many, from design architects to developers, DevOps engineers to UI/UX designers, etc.

Question 34: What is the difference between the Burnup and the Burndown Chart?

Answer: Both burnup and burndown charts are essential tools in project management, used for tracking project progress. The burnup chart shows completed work in addition to the total scope of the project over a period. Whereas the burndown chart shows the pending work in any project or in an iteration.

To differentiate between the two, the visuals for both show up differently. The burnup chart is displayed as two lines, where progressive, completed tasks are shown with a line going up, and another one showing the total scope of the project is displayed as a flat line that goes up and down, depending on the change in scope.

Question 35: Explain the Sprint Review process in detail.

Answer: The review session meeting that is carried out at the end of the sprint process is known as the Sprint Review. In this meeting, the scrum team and the stakeholders are involved, where the scrum team assesses the completed work (product increment) before presenting it to the stakeholders for review and feedback and additionally prepares the product backlog for upcoming sprints.
The objectives of conducting sprint reviews are:

1. Tracking the list of completed tasks
2. Identifying problem areas in the last sprint
3. Reflecting on the feedback gathered during stakeholder meetings
4. Putting together a plan for the future sprints

Question 36: What are the downsides of using Scrum?

Answer: No matter how beneficial Scrum is, it also has certain limitations or disadvantages. We have listed them right below:

1. Projects in Scrum can extend over a long period due to the absence of a specified timeline.
2. As Scrum is all about an ongoing process (consistent development and constant improvement), there is no exact closure or final step.
3. The Scrum methodology does not yield great results when implemented in a large team, as it is specifically designed for smaller teams.
4. Only experienced team members or employees can make the most out of this methodology, and not everyone.
5. The daily standup meeting in Scrum is often considered impractical for the team members, as it fails to show significant work done over a period of time, but only reflects primarily on the previous day’s progress.
6. As Scrum prioritises regular changes, the product delivery remains changing
7. If the scrum teams are not trained properly, the developments cannot be implemented easily.

Question 37: What do you mean by Backlog Refinement?

Answer: Backlog refinement, also popularly known as backlog grooming, is an ongoing (continuous) process where the agile team goes through a sequence of steps to oversee the development done to that date. This involves assessment, elucidation, prioritisation and estimation of the product backlog items to ensure the top-ranking items in the backlog are ready for release. Since this is a regular, systematised activity, it often takes place through planned meetings.

A few key aspects of the Backlog Refinement process are mentioned below:

1. New, useful ideas are taken into consideration
2. Irrelevant user stories are removed from the list
3. Stories are adjusted all over again based on priority
4. Stories without a specified estimate are allotted one
5. Items are categorised as per priority, using story points
6. Complex items are simplified into small, manageable chunks
7. Dependencies are identified in the tasks, and collaboration is done
8. Estimations are reworked, provided new data is found

Question 38: What is the Definition of Done (DoD), and who prepares it?

Answer: In Scrum, DoD refers to the qualifying criteria (checklist) that must be met to label a product increment (i.e. any given task) as complete. Definition of Done (or DoD) is a formal name given to the status of the increment. And the entire scrum team (consisting of the product owner, scrum master and the developers) is responsible for the preparation of the DoD.

Question 39: Explain Scrum Sprint.

Answer: We can define a scrum sprint as a time-boxed period where a defined set of tasks is accomplished and presented to the stakeholders for review. In a scrum sprint, the deliverables primarily consist of the improvements and additions made to the product from the developers’ end, as per the client's request and suggestions. A scrum sprint typically lasts for about one month (i.e. 3-4 weeks).

Question 40: What is a User Story? Elaborate with an example.

Answer: The User Story in Scrum is a brief description of a feature or functionality from the perspective of a user. It is aligned with the needs of the user and highlights how a particular feature can be beneficial to a user. The user story is descriptive enough to answer the ‘who the end user is’, ‘what does the end user want’ and ‘why they want it’.

An easier example to understand the concept of a user story can look like this:

“I want to see which outfits and trends have newly launched in the e-commerce space so that I can quickly get my hands on them.”

Question 41: How to prioritise and evaluate User Stories?

Answer: Any user story is prioritised according to the market value (commercial value), necessity, and dependencies, and they are estimated using user story points. These story points measure the efforts, complexity and uncertainty in a project. Prioritisation of user stories happens when the product owner and stakeholders collaborate to deliver value by working on priority tasks.

On the other hand, estimating user stories comes under agile practice, where the developers use a measuring metric like story points to assess efforts, complexity and risks (also known as uncertainties). This helps the team to compare stories easily.

Question 42: What are Epic, User Stories and Tasks in Scrum?

Answer: Epic in Scrum can be defined as the ultimate goal or objective that everyone in the team works towards. Generally, Epic is a significant piece of work and therefore accomplishing it requires multiple sprints, which usually extend up to 3-4 weeks or even more than that. The purpose of Epic is to manage smaller, related user stories with planning, alignment and tracking.

User Stories form an important part of the Product Backlog. These can be defined as a small requirement or functionality coming from the user’s point of view, which helps in establishing communication between the scrum team and the stakeholders. User stories are short enough to be managed in a single sprint. In simple terms, it can be inferred that with a user story, we can define who the user is, what and why they want it.

Lastly, tasks are actionable steps taken by the developers to address workable items required to complete a user story. These also do not last longer, and can easily be taken care of within a sprint. Examples of Scrum tasks include ‘create page layout’, 'design the 'Add to Cart' button. Key features of tasks in Scrum are that they are actionable, assignable, detailed (specified) and trackable.

Question 43: How do you keep your team encouraged?

Answer: Besides performing daily tasks and managerial responsibilities, a scrum master is also accountable for maintaining peace and harmony within the team. Being an instructor and guide, you must know how you can help your team members resolve issues, establish strong relationships with one another, recognise each other’s efforts and help each other grow. Remember, a good manager or supervisor is the one who identifies flaws to address them with clear communication and practical strategies. 

Additionally, to keep your team motivated, try to step into their shoes whenever you think there is an overwhelming situation and the team members need help. Try to consider their perspectives as well before you give out an opinion. Celebrate good times and achievements together, so that the team members also feel recognised and valued. Ensure a healthy, happy environment is maintained in your team always.

Question 44: As a scrum master, how do you decide task allocation to your team members with different experience levels?

Answer: Every team has employees from different backgrounds, qualifications, experience levels and skill sets. This is what makes collaboration in teams even more worthwhile, as everyone gets to know and learn from each other, without bringing forth their previous learning or understanding, if that does not align with the current role requirements. So, I make sure everyone participates in group discussions, meetings and calls, not to provide input but just to be present, listen and learn new things they may not have previously known.

I believe members with relatively less experience in the domain can leverage these, as they will have a significant amount of knowledge to take in. Similarly, those who are proficient in their job and have been working in the industry for a long time can also take in ideas and insights that the moderately experienced employees share, thereby building an environment where growth remains constant. So, I continue encouraging everyone in my team to connect and collaborate.

Question 45: Have you ever worked with stakeholders closely? How do you manage stakeholders who seem incompatible?

Answer: During our journey as a scrum master, we come across different people, and stakeholders are the ones that we work closely with. So, a significant share of our vision and work process gets influenced by their ideas, insights and suggestions. The most important aspect of client meetings and stakeholder management is that you get to know them only when you start working with them.

Whenever I encounter a stakeholder who is not easy to work with, I give them time and also reflect upon how I can improve this dynamic. For this, I focus on clear communication, understanding their point of view, defining mutual business objectives to work towards them with a similar mindset, taking part in each other’s problems to resolve them completely, and following a professional approach to resolve internal conflicts.

Question 46: How to coach a Scrum team?

Answer: As a scrum master or an instructor of a group of people, it is imperative to be open to listening to a variety of perspectives. Listening is highly underestimated by people, but it plays a crucial role in establishing and training the scrum team. Additionally, a scrum master can consider the following steps to properly coach and empower the scrum team:

1. Avoid listening to their concerns just for the sake of it. Listen to understand their deep-seated issues and why they do things the way they do. Question them on the various aspects of their work, and also how they function in the team, not to raise a problem, but to help them pivot to the right roadmap to resolve the uncertainties.
2. Make sure to foster a collaborative and safe environment for the team members so they can freely discuss their issues without the fear of being judged. Do not focus solely on your rapport with the team members, but also on how they are with one another. See if everyone is eager to help the other person understand things and participate in interactive discussions.
3. Develop a sense of learning and growing among the team members, because this forms an integral aspect of the Scrum framework. Being committed, focused and transparent, other than being respectful and courageous, are a few things that help the scrum team members to be excellent problem solvers and decision makers.
4. Conduct interactive sessions where you ask multiple questions to your team members, which are both important and relevant to everyone. Try to keep the questions open-ended so you can listen to diverse perspectives from each one and gain a deeper insight into their experiences, knowledge, and understanding.
5. Uphold the principles of Scrum in every discussion conducted with the team members. Trust the process where you train the Scrum team to emphasise the Scrum framework and incorporate it in their day-to-day operations. Support open communication and a positive attitude towards the feedback received, so they can only look forward to improvements and growth.
6. Always keep in the back of your head to always support your team, track down hindrances in the process, external influences and triggers, so you are aware of the outside factors affecting the performance of your team. For this, make sure daily meetings are carried out where problem areas are openly discussed and a practical solution is developed.

Note: Advise the team to abide by the Scrum principles (theory). Understand the problems faced by your team members so they can focus on their goals without being affected by the disruptions along the process. Give time, stay patient and be open to implementing new strategies to drive maximum product value.

Question 47: What is the difference between Agile and Scrum?

Answer: Agile is a project management approach that emphasises the completion of goals in small increments. Therefore, in Agile, any project is accomplished through a series of small tasks, which are to be continuously delivered in short durations. It is because of this that adapting to new developments and adjusting to new priorities becomes easier. Agile focuses on individuals and interactions.

Scrum can be defined as an agile methodology, or a framework that implements Agile principles through the use of roles, events and rules, for developing products in a volatile environment. It focuses on the framework for implementing the Scrum values.

Question 48: How is success measured in agile projects?

Answer: Success in Agile can be represented by several metrics, including the value delivered, customer satisfaction, productivity and growth. There are ways of measuring success in Agile, and every company uses their own systems to calculate that. This is what we refer to as the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). A few things that help assess this success are:

1. The targets completed: The story points completed by a team within a sprint are a major factor in measuring success. Precisely, the sprint goals achieved by a team are the targets.
2. The team efficiency: The organisation of the team and the pace of their deliverables define how efficient they are as performers. The rate or velocity at which the assigned work progresses and is pushed towards delivery defines efficiency.
3. The ideals of the team: Not every sprint run by a team yields satisfactory results. But it is after a team fails to deliver satisfactory results, yet keeps up with the spirit and strength to continue working, that defines a flourishing team.
4. Display charts and diagrams: There are many ways in which the success of agile projects is assessed, and one of the key parameters to measure that is through the burndown and burnup charts and cumulative flow diagrams.

Question 49: What is your take on balancing flexibility and predictability in agile project management?

Answer: To ensure flexibility and predictability are sustained in agile projects, structured planning, prioritisation, and timely roadmapping are needed. With a clear roadmap, the predictability of the project remains clear and visible, and with a flexible approach, there is a flexible approach to address the numerous, dynamic changes in the project.

As a scrum master, my focus will be to ensure adherence to the Scrum framework by the team members so that there remains continual improvement in the system, clear communication with the stakeholders is maintained, and there are minimal impediments in the process.

Question 50: What does a self-structured, self-reliant agile team look like?

Answer: Any self-organising, self-reliant agile team is highly driven by principles. They know what their next action would be and how it will impact the dependences associated. They are highly decisive and take full accountability for their work. Additionally, any agile team is open to collaboration, knows the right way to manage and delegate tasks and is highly adaptive to new changes and developments. This makes each of them work decently towards the final, common goal.

EndNote

Through this blog, we want our readers to apprise themselves of the top scrum master questions and their answers, so they can prepare for any Scrum or Agile interview lined up in the future. This list of questions covers a significant section of the interview preparation guidelines and, therefore, would be a valuable resource for the candidates, both freshers and experienced individuals, to confidently perform during the interviews.