Scrum Interview Questions

Scrum Interview Questions and Answers: Scrum is a framework within which people can address complex adaptive problems, while productively and creatively delivering products of the highest possible value. Scrum Interview Questions and Answers will help you in accessing your knowledge & skills as a Scrum Master or Product Owner. Welcome to Scrum Interview Questions and Answers – II.

Please read Agile Interview Questions and Answer for questions related to Agile Fundamentals.

Scrum Master Interview Questions and Answers – Part I : Click Here

Scrum Master Interview Questions and Answers – Part III : Click Here

Scrum Interview Questions and Answers

51. When is a Sprint Review held?

Answer: A Sprint Review is held at the end of the Sprint to inspect the Increment and adapt the Product Backlog if needed.

52. What is done during the Sprint Review?

Answer: During the Sprint Review, the Scrum Team and stakeholders collaborate about what was done in the Sprint. Based on that and any changes to the Product Backlog during the Sprint, attendees collaborate on the next things that could be done to optimize value. This is an informal meeting, not a status meeting, and the presentation of the Increment is intended to elicit feedback and foster collaboration.

53. How long are the Sprint Review meetings?

Answer: This is at most a four-hour meeting for one-month Sprints. For shorter Sprints, the event is usually shorter. The Scrum Master ensures that the event takes place and that attendees understand its purpose. The Scrum Master teaches everyone involved to keep it within the time-box.

54. What are the elements of the Sprint Review:

Answer: Elements of Sprint Review meeting are

  1. Attendees include the Scrum Team and key stakeholders invited by the Product Owner;
  2. The PO explains what Product Backlog items have been “Done” and what has not been “Done”
  3. The Dev. Team discusses what went well during the Sprint, what problems it ran into, and how those problems were solved
  4. The Dev. Team demonstrates the work that it has “Done” and answers questions about the Increment
  5. The PO discusses the Product Backlog as it stands. He or she projects likely target and delivery dates based on progress to date
  6. The entire group collaborates on what to do next, so that the Sprint Review provides valuable input subsequent to Sprint Planning
  7. Review of how the marketplace or potential use of the product might have changed what is the most valuable thing to do next and 8) Review the timeline, budget, potential capabilities, and marketplace for the next anticipated releases of functionality or capability of the product

55. What is the result of the Sprint Review?

Answer: a revised Product Backlog that defines the probable Product Backlog items for the next Sprint. The Product Backlog may also be adjusted overall to meet new opportunities.

56. What does the Sprint Retrospective allow for?

Answer: The Sprint Retrospective is an opportunity for the Scrum Team to inspect itself and create a plan for improvement to be enacted during the next Sprint.

57. When does the Sprint Retrospective occur?

Answer: The Sprint Retrospective occurs after the Sprint Review and prior to the next Sprint Planning.

58. What does the Scrum Master do in the Sprint Retrospective?

Answer: The Scrum Master ensures that the meeting is positive and productive. The Scrum Master teaches all to keep it within the time-box. The Scrum Master participates as a peer team member in the meeting from the accountability over the Scrum process.

59. The purpose of the Sprint Retrospective is to:

Answer: The purpose of sprint retrospective is

  1. Inspect how the last Sprint went with regards to people, relationships, process, and tools
  2. Identify and order the major items that went well and potential improvements
  3. Create a plan for implementing improvements to the way the Scrum Team does its work

60. What should be accomplished by the end of the Sprint Retrospective?

Answer: By the end of the Sprint Retrospective, the Scrum Team should have identified improvements that it will implement in the next Sprint. Implementing these improvements in the next Sprint is the adaptation to the Inspection of the Scrum Team itself. Although improvements may be implemented at any time, the Sprint Retrospective provides a formal opportunity to focus on inspection and adaptation.

61. What are the three Scrum Artifacts?

Answer: Scrum artifacts are

  1. Product Backlog
  2. Sprint Backlog
  3. Increment

62. What are Scrum Artifacts?

Answer: Scrum’s artifacts represent work or value to provide transparency and opportunities for inspection and adaptation. Artifacts defined by Scrum are specifically designed to maximize transparency of key information so that everybody has the same understanding of the artifact.

63. What is the Product Backlog?

Answer: The Product Backlog is an ordered list of everything that is known to be needed in the product. It is the single source of requirements for any changes to be made to the product.

64. Who is responsible for the Product Backlog?

Answer: The Product Owner is responsible for the Product Backlog, including its content, availability, and ordering.

65. Is a Product Backlog ever complete?

Answer: No. The earliest development of it lays out the initially known and best-understood requirements. The Product Backlog evolves as the product and the environment in which it will be used evolves. The Product Backlog is dynamic; it constantly changes to identify what the product needs to be appropriate, competitive, and useful. If a product exists, its Product Backlog also exists.

66. What does the Product Backlog list?

Answer: The Product Backlog lists all features, functions, requirements, enhancements, and fixes that constitute the changes to be made to the product in future releases.

67. What are some attributes of a Product Backlog item?

Answer: Description, order, estimate, and value. Product Backlog items often include test descriptions that will prove its completeness when “Done”.

68. Describe Product Backlog refinement?

Answer: Product Backlog refinement is the act of adding detail, estimates, and order to items in the Product Backlog. This is an ongoing process in which the Product Owner and the Development team collaborate on the details of Product Backlog items. During Product Backlog refinement, items are reviewed and revised. The Scrum Team decides how and when refinement is done. Refinement usually consumes no more than 10% of the capacity of the Development Team.

69. Who is responsible for Product Backlog estimates?

Answer: The Development Team.

70. What is the Sprint Backlog?

Answer: The Sprint Backlog is the set of Product Backlog items selected for the Sprint, plus a plan for delivering the product Increment and realizing the Sprint Goal. The Sprint Backlog is a forecast by the Dev. Team about what functionality will be in the next Increment and the work needed to deliver that functionality into a “Done” Increment.

71. What does the Sprint Backlog do?

Answer: The Spring Backlog makes visible all the work that the Development Team identifies as necessary to meet the Sprint Goal. To ensure continuous improvement, it includes at least one high priority process improvement identified in the previous Retrospective meeting.

72. How is work added or remove from the Sprint Backlog?

Answer: As new work is required; the Development Team adds it to the Sprint Backlog. As work is performed or completed, the estimated remaining work is updated. When elements of the plan are deemed unnecessary, they are removed. Only the Development Team can change its Sprint Backlog during a Sprint. The Sprint Backlog is highly visible, real-time picture of the work that the Dev. Team plans to accomplish during the Sprint, and it belongs solely to the Dev. Team.

73. What is an Increment?

Answer: The Increment is the sum of all the Product Backlog items completed during a Sprint and the value of the increments of all previous Sprints. At the end of the Sprint, the new Increment must be “Done”, which means it must be in useable condition and meet the Scrum Team’s definition of “Done”. An increment is a body of inspectable, done work that supports empiricism at the end of the Sprint. The increment is a step towards a vision or goal. The increment must be in useable condition regardless of whether the Product Owner decides to release it.

74. What is the importance of Artifact Transparency?

Answer: Scrum relies on transparency. Decisions to optimize value and control risk are made based on the perceived state of the artifacts. To the extent that transparency is complete, these decisions have a sound basis. To the extent that the artifacts are in completely transparent, these decisions can be flawed, the value may diminish and risk may increase.

75. What is the definition of “Done”?

Answer: When a Product Backlog item or an increment is described as “Done”, everyone must understand what “Done” means. Although this may vary significantly per Scrum Team, members must have a shared understanding of what it means for work to be complete, to ensure transparency. This is the definition of “Done” for the Scrum Team and is used to assess when work is complete on the product Increment.

76. Could the Sprint Planning be finished if only work planned for the first days of the Sprint is decomposed to units of one day or less?

Answer: The Scrum Guide requires only the work planned for the first days of the Sprint is decomposed by the end of the Sprint Planning, often to units of one day or less. However, the Development Team should be able to explain to the Product Owner and Scrum Master how it intends to work as a self-organizing team to accomplish the Sprint Goal and create the anticipated Increment.

77. Agile Manifesto states that we value?

Answer: Agile Manifesto states

  1. Individuals and interactions over process and tools.
  2. Working software over comprehensive documentation.
  3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
  4. Responding to change over following a plan.

78. When was scrum first introduced?

Answer: 1995 at a conference presentation by Dr. Jeff Sutherland is one of the inventors of the Scrum software development process. Together with Ken Schwaber he created Scrum as a formal process at OOPSLA’95.

79. What are Values?

Answer: When the values of Commitment, Courage, Focus, Openness and Respect are embodied and lived by the Scrum Team, the Scrum pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation come to life and builds trust for everyone. The Scrum Team members learn and explore those values as they work with the Scrum events, roles and artifacts.

80. List five responsibilities of the Development Team?

Answer: Development team’s responsibility are

  1. Provide estimates
  2. Forecasts delivery of PBIs
  3. Volunteers for tasks
  4. Makes technical decisions
  5. Designs software.

81. When is work or further decomposition of the work added to a Sprint Backlog?

Answer: Whenever it is identified.

82. Determine the number of weeks to next release Sprint length = 2 weeks
Velocity of team = 35 points
Number of story points (MMF) = 280

Answer: 16 weeks, MMF/Velocity of Team = 8 , 8xSprint length = 16 .

83. What are the few key activities/outcomes during Scrum events?

Answer: Below are the key activities/outcomes during scrum events.

  • Sprint planning = Sprint Goal creation
  • Sprint retrospective = adapt the definition of “done”
  • Sprint retrospective = adapt the definition of “done”
  • Daily Scrum = inspect and adapt
  • Sprint review = demonstrate functionality

84. Which Scrum value is affected by lack of trust in the Scrum Team?

Answer: Respect, Commitment, Openness, Courage & Focus.

85. Scrum Team and development team are the same thing?

Answer: False, Scrum Team consists of Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Development Team.

86.Every Scrum Team must have a Product Owner and Scrum Master

Answer: True. Outcomes are affected by their participation and availability.

87. High performing teams feature which characteristics?

Answer: Constructive disagreement, empowered, self organizing.

88. What is Velocity?

Answer: An optional, but often used, indication of the average amount of Product Backlog turned into an Increment of product during a Sprint by a Scrum Team, tracked by the Development Team for use within the Scrum Team.

89. What factors should be considered when deciding on the Sprint length?

Answer:

  • Availability of feedback
  • Experience of the Scrum Team
  • Environmental factors
  • Project duration.

90. What does the word “development” mean in the context of scrum?

Answer: When the words “develop” and “development” are used in the Scrum Guide, they refer to complex work including software and hardware development, development and releasing of products and enhancements, development and sustaining product operational environments, research and identifying of viable markets and technologies, and even more.

91. Which of the following are useful projective practices to forecast progress in Scrum?

Answer: Cumulative flows, Burn-ups & Burn-downs.

92.What is Scrum Board?

Answer: A physical board to visualize information for and by the Scrum Team, often used to manage Sprint Backlog. Scrum boards are an optional implementation within Scrum to make information visible.

93. How does Definition of “Done” help to the Scrum Team?

Answer: DoD helps Scrum Team to

  1. Helps ensure artifact transparency
  2. DoD guides the Development Team in knowing how many Product Backlog items it can select during a Sprint Planning
  3. DoD is used to assess when work is complete on the product Increment

94. Some Team Members are not sure about the meaning of one of the Sprint Backlog items. What should they do?

Answer: They should ask the Product Owner about this. It is the Product Owner’s responsibility to clarify the meaning of the backlog items.

95. The Development Team realizes that the volume of work of one of the items in the Sprint Backlog is estimated incorrectly, and the current volume of work of the whole Sprint Backlog is 130 instead of 100. What should we do?

Answer: They shouldn’t do anything now. The Sprint Backlog is frozen when the Sprint Planning is done, and no one can change it for any reason. In extreme cases, the Product Owner has the authority to cancel the Sprint.

96. It’s time for the Sprint Review. Team Members believe that they should only demonstrate the one completed item, but the Product Owner believes that they should also demonstrate the three items that are almost finished. What’s the right choice?

Answer: Team Members are right. Only the 100% “Done” items are to be demonstrated, even the 99.999% done items should not be presented to the customer.

97. The Scrum Master realizes that Product Owner attends all Daily Scrums and asks Team Members about their tasks and gives them directions for the following day. What should the Scrum Master do?

Answer: It’s wrong, the Product Owner should not speak in Daily Scrum. The Daily Scrum is intended for the Development Team only. If they need guidance from Product Owner, this will be done outside of Daily Scrum.

98. We are going to form the Sprint Backlog. The Development Team prefers to choose 100 points of work for the first Sprint, but the Product Owner believes that they should select at least 150 points. What should we do?

Answer: It should be 100 points. It is up to the Development Team and nobody else to estimate the volume of work of the backlog items and their own capacity of work in each sprint.

99. Having fewer than three Development Team members will?

Answer: Result in smaller productivity gains, decrease interaction & Cause possible skill constraints during the Sprint.

100. What does Cone of Uncertainty show?

Answer: Describes the evolution of the amount of uncertainty in a project. Also shows how much you’re learning about the product. 

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