Answers to Last Week's Scrum Mastery Challenge - Quiz #4

Last Tuesday I provided you with three more challenging Scrum Mastery questions. I felt the questions were easier last week, as all of the answers come straight from the Scrum Guide. As promised I'm updating the quiz with the correct answers, along with an explanation. I've bolded the correct answers in blue. I will be posting quiz #5 tomorrow.

Thank you to all who felt courageous enough to add your answers in the comment section of the blog. The answers are in blue. So how did you do?

Question 1

How many Scrum events are there, and what are they called?

1. There are four Scrum events: Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective.

2. There are five Scrum events: Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective.

3. There are five Scrum events: Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Backlog Grooming, Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective.

4. There are five Scrum events: Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Backlog Refinement, Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective.

5. There are four Scrum events: Sprint Planning, Stand-up, Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective.

Correct Answer: 2. There are 5 events. Most people forget that the Sprint itself is a container event for the other 4 events.

Incorrect Answers: 1 is incorrect because it left out the Sprint event. 3 is incorrect because Backlog Grooming is no longer a term in Scrum, nor was it ever considered an event an event in Scrum. 4 is incorrect because Backlog Refinement, the replacement term for grooming, is not considered event an event in Scrum. Anyone want to tell us why? And 5 is wrong because Stand-up is not an event in Scrum, it is called the Daily Scrum.

Question 2

The minimum attributes of a Product Backlog item (PBI) required in Scrum include:

1. A description, estimate, value and order.

2. A user story, story points, and acceptance criteria

3. A description, estimate, value, priority and acceptance criteria.

4. A description, points, value, priority and acceptance criteria.

5. A description, estimate, value and priority.

6. None of the above.

Correct Answer: 1. A PBI has attributes of description, estimate, value and order. Order is what usually throws folks, as the Scrum Guide used the term priority in earlier versions

Incorrect Answers: 2 and 3 are wrong because acceptance criteria, or test conditions described in the Scrum Guide, are optional. 4 is wrong, as in addition to what I stated about Acceptance Criteria, Scrum does not prescribe points for estimation. 5 is wrong because priority is no longer an attribute, as mentioned.

Question 3

The Sprint Backlog can be updated as often as needed throughout the Sprint by the Development Team.

1. True

2. False

Correct Answer: 1 True. The Sprint Backlog emerges throughout the Sprint, as the Development Team learns more about what they are building. The Development Team may also negotiate with the Product Owner, as long as the Sprint Goal is still within target.