SSM Sample Questions Answers

An anti-pattern is a behavior that seems helpful but actually undermines Agile principles. In the context of Iteration Retrospectives, one anti-pattern for Scrum Masters or Team Coaches is focusing only on what to improve and not on what to preserve.

Effective retrospectives are balanced—they highlight both what went well and what can be improved. Recognizing and reinforcing successful practices helps the team sustain productive behaviors while targeting specific areas for change. Ignoring positive aspects can lower morale and overlook practices that contribute to success.

From SAFe guidance:

“Teams use the retrospective to discuss what went well, what didn’t, and what actions to take. Recognizing what to preserve reinforces effective team habits and strengths.”

Therefore, the correct answer is B. They focus only on what to improve and not what to preserve, as this behavior disrupts balanced reflection and continuous improvement.

According to the SAFe 6 Scrum Master documentation, one of the elements on the Scrum Master/Team Coach responsibility wheel is to facilitate PI Planning. PI Planning is a two-day event where all the teams and stakeholders of an Agile Release Train (ART) collaborate to align on a common vision, define and commit to the PI objectives, and identify and manage risks and dependencies. The Scrum Master/Team Coach facilitates PI Planning by 1:

Helping the team prepare for the event, such as reviewing the business context, vision, and backlog, and creating draft plans

Supporting the team during the event, such as facilitating breakout sessions, resolving issues, and ensuring alignment and collaboration with other teams

Assisting the team after the event, such as finalizing the plans, updating the PI board, and conducting a retrospective

Facilitating PI Planning is one of the ways the Scrum Master/Team Coach helps the team and the ART achieve their goals and deliver value.

Hackathons are one of the activities that can be done during the IP Iteration to foster innovation and learning. They allow the team members to work on whatever they want, with whomever they want, as long as the work reflects the mission of the company. The teams then demo their work to others at the end of the hackathon. Hackathons can help the team explore new ideas, technologies, and solutions that can benefit the business and the customers. They can also increase the team’s engagement, creativity, and collaboration. References: Innovation and Planning Iteration - Scaled Agile Framework, Exam Study Guide: SSM (6.0) - SAFe® Scrum Master

In SAFe®, the Team Sync (Daily Stand-up) is a short, timeboxed event (typically 15 minutes) designed to synchronize activities, discuss progress toward iteration goals, and identify impediments. To maintain effectiveness and respect the timebox, teams must avoid deep dives during the sync.

When an issue requires more discussion than the timebox allows, the Scrum Master (or Team Coach) should encourage participants to move the detailed conversation to a “meet-after.” This ensures that the Team Sync remains focused on quick status alignment while allowing deeper problem-solving immediately afterward without disrupting the cadence.

From SAFe guidance:

“Team members discuss progress and impediments briefly during the Team Sync. If a topic requires further discussion, they schedule a meet-after to maintain the timebox.”

This practice preserves flow, promotes discipline, and ensures everyone’s time is used effectively. Therefore, the correct answer is A. When conversation about any one issue gets too detailed, move the issue to a meet-after that is held right after the Team Sync.

The first step of the problem-solving workshop is to agree on the problem to solve. This step is important because it helps the teams to clearly state the problem, highlight the what, where, when, and impact of the problem, and avoid addressing the symptoms instead of the root causes. By agreeing on the problem to solve, the teams can focus their investigation and analysis, and save time and effort. The problem statement should be succinct and specific, and should not include any assumptions or solutions.

PI Planning is one of the events that aligns teams on a train. PI Planning is a cadence-based event for the entire Agile Release Train (ART) that aligns teams and stakeholders to a shared mission and vision. PI Planning provides an opportunity for the ART to review the business context and priorities, identify and resolve dependencies and risks, and commit to a realistic and achievable plan for the next Program Increment (PI). PI Planning is essential to SAFe: If you are not doing it, you are not doing SAFe1 

The intended value of the Backlog Refinement event is that the team is able to prepare requirements for Iteration Planning. Backlog Refinement is an ongoing process where the team collaborates with the Product Owner and other stakeholders to review, split, prioritize, and estimate the stories in the Team Backlog1 One of the main objectives of Backlog Refinement is to ensure that the stories are ready for Iteration Planning, which means they are clear, feasible, testable, and small enough to be completed in a single Iteration2 By doing so, the team can improve the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of their work, as well as deliver value to the customers and the organization123

One purpose of iteration goals is to align team members to a common purpose and vision. Iteration goals are a high-level summary of the business and technical goals that an Agile Team agrees to accomplish in an iteration. They help the team and the product owner to reach agreement on the business value they intend to deliver, align their work to their team PI objectives, and ground everyone on their shared purpose. Iteration goals also provide transparency and management information, as well as support the coordination and dependency management of the Agile Release Train (ART).

According to SAFe, one output of a successful Iteration Retrospective is the creation of a few improvement Stories that enter the Team Backlog for the next iteration. These stories reflect the team’s agreement on what they can do better in terms of their process, practices, and performance. The improvement stories are visible and prioritized along with the other stories in the backlog. They help the team implement the concept of relentless improvement, which is one of the core values of SAFe.

During PI Planning, the Coach Sync is a coordination meeting among Scrum Masters, Team Coaches, and the Release Train Engineer (RTE). One of its key purposes is to ensure alignment and visibility across all Agile Teams on the Agile Release Train (ART).

A Scrum Master/Team Coach must be prepared to answer the question: “Have you identified any ART risks?” Identifying, communicating, and escalating risks early supports proactive management and helps the ART achieve its PI objectives. These risks are later reviewed and categorized during the ROAM (Resolved, Owned, Accepted, Mitigated) process in PI Planning.

From SAFe guidance:

“During the Scrum Master/Team Coach Sync at PI Planning, teams share progress, dependencies, and risks that may impact the ART, ensuring transparency and alignment.”

Therefore, the correct answer is C. Have you identified any ART risks?, as risk visibility and management are central to successful PI execution.

In SAFe®, the Coach Sync (also known as the Scrum of Scrums or SM/TC Sync) is a coordination event for Scrum Masters and Team Coaches within an Agile Release Train (ART). The main purpose of this event is to gain visibility into team progress, discuss impediments, and ensure cross-team alignment.

Facilitated by the Release Train Engineer (RTE), the Coach Sync promotes transparency across the ART by allowing Scrum Masters to share information about iteration status, dependencies, and challenges that may affect other teams. It also serves as a forum for escalating ART-level impediments.

From SAFe guidance:

“The Coach Sync provides Scrum Masters and Team Coaches with visibility into progress and dependencies across teams and enables them to coordinate and remove impediments at the ART level.”

Thus, the correct answer is C. To gain visibility into progress, as this captures the event’s primary purpose.

During PI Planning, the Scrum Master/Team Coach (SM/TC) plays an important facilitative and support role. One key responsibility is to participate in the management review and problem-solving meeting that occurs midway through PI Planning.

This meeting allows leaders and Scrum Masters to review the teams’ progress, resolve cross-team risks, address scope challenges, and ensure alignment before finalizing PI objectives. The Scrum Master’s insights into team capacity, dependencies, and risks are crucial for ART-level decision-making.

From SAFe guidance:

“Scrum Masters participate in the management review and problem-solving session during PI Planning to help resolve issues that may prevent teams from meeting their objectives.”

Therefore, the correct answer is B. Participate in management review and problem-solving.

In the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®), Scrum Masters or Team Coaches (SM/TCs) support their teams by making work visible and ensuring transparency around progress and delivery. One of the most effective tools for visualizing team delivery is the Burn-up Chart.

A Burn-up Chart shows progress toward the completion of work over time. It tracks the amount of work completed compared to the total scope, helping teams and stakeholders visualize how close they are to meeting iteration or PI objectives. This visualization enables data-driven discussions, supports predictability, and helps identify delivery risks early.

While other metrics like Cycle Time or Cumulative Flow Diagrams are valuable for measuring flow and efficiency, the Burn-up Chart specifically visualizes delivery progress.

From SAFe guidance:

“Teams use burn-up charts to visualize progress toward the goal and communicate delivery status. They enable transparency and support empirical planning and adaptation.”

Therefore, the correct answer is B. Burn-up chart—it is the primary visualization tool for tracking and communicating team delivery progress.

In SAFe®, the team backlog is the source of work for the Agile Team and includes all the user stories, enablers, and defects that represent potential upcoming work. It is owned and managed by the team, often guided by the Product Owner, who ensures the backlog remains prioritized and ready for iteration planning.

A crucial ongoing activity related to the backlog is refinement (or backlog refinement)—the process of reviewing, clarifying, and breaking down backlog items into smaller, well-understood Stories that are ready for implementation. During this activity, the team collaborates to ensure backlog items have sufficient detail, appropriate acceptance criteria, and relative sizing estimates.

From SAFe guidance:

“The team backlog is the source for stories, enablers, and defects planned in iterations. Teams continuously refine the backlog to ensure upcoming work is well understood and ready for planning.”

Therefore, the correct answer is C. The team backlog is where the team refines possible Stories.

One of the responsibilities of a Scrum Master/Team Coach is to help the team achieve flow, which is a state of continuous and sustainable delivery of value. They do this by teaching and coaching the team on SAFe Scrum and SAFe Team Kanban practices, such as limiting work in progress, visualizing work, managing queues, and reducing batch sizes. They also help identify and eliminate impediments and bottlenecks that hinder the team’s progress and performance.

According to the SAFe® (Scaled Agile Framework) guidelines, an effective Scrum Master or Team Coach (SM/TC) exhibits several key traits that enable them to support Agile Teams effectively. One of the most emphasized characteristics is the ability to navigate conflict constructively.

A "conflict navigator" refers to someone who helps the team identify and work through disagreements in a productive way. Rather than avoiding or suppressing conflict, a skilled Scrum Master uses it as an opportunity to surface issues, enhance team learning, and drive continuous improvement. This aligns with the servant-leadership stance encouraged both in SAFe and the Scrum Guide.

While traits like being charismatic or ambitious may be personally beneficial, they are not explicitly listed in SAFe or Scrum literature as core attributes for Scrum Masters. Similarly, competitiveness could actually contradict the collaborative, team-focused nature of Agile frameworks.

From the SAFe® Scrum Master role description:

“Effective Scrum Masters are servant leaders who display characteristics such as active listening, empathy, persuasion, and conflict facilitation.”

This highlights the importance of conflict facilitation, making “Conflict navigator” the correct answer.

For full reference, see:

???? SAFe Scrum Master Role – Scaled Agile Framework

An essential coaching technique for Scrum Masters/Team Coaches in SAFe® is asking powerful questions. Instead of providing direct solutions, effective Scrum Masters guide the team toward self-discovery and collaborative problem-solving.

Powerful questions are open-ended, thought-provoking inquiries that stimulate deeper reflection and creative thinking. This approach aligns with the servant-leader mindset, enabling team members to take ownership of their challenges and develop collective accountability.

Examples include:

“What options have we not yet considered?”

“What’s the smallest next step we could take?”

“What’s blocking our progress, and how might we remove it together?”

From SAFe guidance:

“Scrum Masters and Team Coaches enable teams to find their own solutions by asking powerful questions rather than providing answers. This encourages collaboration and fosters a culture of continuous learning.”

Therefore, the correct answer is A. Asking powerful questions, as it directly supports self-management and team empowerment.

One way a Scrum Master/Team Coach can support productive team Backlog Refinement sessions is to ensure subject matter experts are invited. Subject matter experts (SMEs) are people who have specialized knowledge or skills related to the domain or technical aspects of the product or solution. They can provide valuable input and feedback to the team during Backlog Refinement, such as clarifying requirements, validating assumptions, identifying dependencies, and suggesting solutions. SMEs can also help the team to split, estimate, and prioritize the backlog items more effectively and accurately. By inviting SMEs to the Backlog Refinement sessions, the Scrum Master/Team Coach can facilitate better collaboration, communication, and alignment among the team and the stakeholders.

The Team Sync (or Daily Stand-up) in SAFe® is a short, focused, timeboxed event that allows the team to align on progress toward iteration goals, identify impediments, and plan the next 24 hours.

The meeting promotes transparency and collaboration, ensuring that all team members are aware of progress and issues that could affect delivery. It also reinforces self-management by allowing the team to adapt plans daily based on new information.

From SAFe guidance:

“The Team Sync allows team members to align on progress toward iteration goals, discuss impediments, and adjust their plans to stay on track.”

Thus, the correct answer is A. The team aligns on the progress of Iteration Goals, as it captures the event’s primary intent.

The Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration is a key element in SAFe®’s Program Increment (PI) cadence. It provides dedicated time for innovation, exploration, education, and infrastructure improvements, as well as PI planning and inspect-and-adapt activities.

When teams attempt to use the IP Iteration for their “usual work,” they miss opportunities for reflection, learning, and systemic improvement. Using it as intended promotes relentless improvement and allows teams to invest in long-term value creation.

From SAFe guidance:

“The IP Iteration provides teams with time to innovate, improve infrastructure, and plan for the next PI. It ensures a sustainable pace and supports continuous improvement.”

Therefore, the correct answer is A. There will be time for infrastructure improvements, as this is one of the primary intended uses of the IP Iteration.

According to SAFe®, the Iteration Retrospective is a key event that enables relentless improvement, one of the pillars of the SAFe House of Lean. The purpose is to reflect on the previous iteration and identify what went well, what didn’t, and what can be improved.

An essential outcome of this meeting is a set of actionable improvement items that can be added to the team backlog. These items are often captured as improvement Stories, ensuring that process enhancements are visible, prioritized, and implemented in the next iteration.

From SAFe guidance:

“The retrospective concludes with actionable improvement items added to the backlog. These items should be implemented in subsequent iterations to improve performance.”

Therefore, the correct answer is D. Ensure the event ends with actionable improvement items for the backlog, as it ensures continuous learning and measurable improvement.

The Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration is designed to give teams space for innovation, exploration, learning, and improvement, not for continuing regular feature work. When a team misuses the IP Iteration to “catch up” on delivery, it misses the opportunity to experiment, innovate, and explore new ways to deliver solutions more effectively.

This reduces the long-term adaptability and creativity of the team, limiting their ability to introduce process or technical improvements that could increase efficiency in future PIs. The IP Iteration is also a time for the Inspect and Adapt event and PI Planning, both of which are critical to continuous improvement.

From SAFe guidance:

“The IP Iteration provides dedicated time for innovation and planning. Using it for normal work diminishes opportunities to innovate, learn, and explore new approaches.”

Therefore, the correct answer is D. They could lose an opportunity to consider new approaches to Solution delivery.

One method a Scrum Master/Team Coach can use to help teams overcome a fear of conflict is to give every team member the opportunity to contribute. Fear of conflict is one of the common dysfunctions of a team, which can result in artificial harmony, lack of trust, and avoidance of issues1 To overcome this fear, the Scrum Master/Team Coach can facilitate a safe and respectful environment where team members can express their opinions, ideas, and concerns without being judged, ignored, or attacked23 Giving every team member the opportunity to contribute can help them feel valued, respected, and heard, as well as foster a culture of collaboration, feedback, and learning45 The Scrum Master/Team Coach can use various techniques to ensure equal participation, such as round-robin, fist of five, dot voting, silent brainstorming, and liberating structures45 By encouraging healthy and constructive conflict, the Scrum Master/Team Coach can help the team improve their performance, creativity, and innovation23

In SAFe®, the Iteration Review is the event where the Agile Team measures and demonstrates the outcome of the iteration. The team reviews the completed work, compares it against the iteration goals, and gathers feedback from stakeholders.

This review allows the team to assess whether the iteration delivered the intended value and identify areas for improvement in future iterations. The focus is on transparency, empirical measurement, and alignment to customer needs.

From SAFe guidance:

“The Iteration Review provides the opportunity for the team to demonstrate the increment, measure progress toward iteration goals, and collect feedback.”

Thus, the correct answer is A. The Iteration Review, as it specifically measures the outcome of the iteration and validates progress.