Scrum Master interview questions

Scrum Master interview questions


Before going through the interview questions below, ask yourself how good you know about Scrum and the role of a Scrum Master. Go through some of the Leanpitch resources like videos, blogs, and podcasts/webcasts to get more knowledge on the roles and responsibilities of the Scrum Master. The podcasts and webcasts are available on the Leanpitch mobile app for viewing. 


Scrum Master interview questions:


  • Of all the Scrum ceremonies, which one you can never skip and why?
  • Which is the most useful ceremony in Scrum which you would like to tell and why?
  • If one of the team members does not want to participate in the Scrum ceremonies, then how do you handle such situations?
  • You have identified one good process for the team, which you think is good for the team, but then the team does not want to follow - what will you do as an SM here?
  • If one of the team members is unable to complete his user stories, Consistently impacting the velocity of the team. How will you, as SM, address the issue?
  • If team members get sick in between the Sprint, then as an SM, how will you handle his stories?
  • What is the benefit of estimating user stories in story points overestimating it in time?
  • As a scrum master, how will you make your team cross-functional and self-organized?
  • Due to time crunch, if there is an event, need to go away, what would that be?

        Read Answer here

  • How will you handle a scope change?

        Read Answer here

  • What is Technical debt? How will you deal with it?
  • What is Spike? Are there points or hours applicable for it? If so, how to calculate the efforts?
  • What is the minimum time for a sprint?
  • What is Sprint 0 in Scrum?
  • The Scrum team finished all PBIs in the Sprint, 2 days before. The team can’t take any new PBIs in the current Sprint because the PBIs are large. How will you handle this situation as a Scrum Master?
  • How will you plan Sprint if programmers can do more programming, but QA cannot complete the testing due to the scope of testing is high?
  • Consider a story where the change is one line of code but impacts the entire application what could be the story points?
  • In a matrix organization where team members have set/defined roles (e.g., Programmer, QA, Database Architect, UX Developer, and so on), how will you make them understand the concept of cross-functional teams working culture in a scrum team?
  • What is the difference between Agile and Scrum?
  • When will you use the different hats of coaching, mentoring, teaching, and consulting? Give some examples.
  • What are some of the impediments you helped your teams eliminate?
  • If the PO is absent for a couple of Sprints, will you take up the Proxy PO role? Justify your answer.

        Read Answer here

  • How will you explain the management that the team has variations in their velocity in every Sprint?
  • Where is Scrum applicable?

         Read Answer here

  • If you are approached by an Organization to implement Scrum in their organization, how and where will you start?
  • For software development, what are the other things you need to consider other than Scrum?
  • What is the velocity?
  • Explain empiricism with an example.
  • Explain the purpose of all the Scrum events
  • What is a definition of done?
  • What is an acceptance criteria?
  • Is the definition of done uniquely for each product backlog item?
  • Why is the Scrum Master expected to be a servant leader?
  • If scope creeps regularly makes its way into every Sprint, what can be done?

        Read Answer here

  • How will you calculate Sprint Length?
  • What is vertical slicing?
  • How do you convince the team members about the value of Scrum?
  • If one of the team members is unwilling to attend Daily Scrum, how do you approach them?
  • If the team continually fails to meet the sprint goal, what will you do?
  • What are some of the responsibilities of a Scrum Master?
  • How will you make the leadership team understand Scrum?
  • Scrum and XP both have timeboxes, what is the difference?
  • Is Scrum applicable everywhere? Why?

        Read Answer here

  • Who crafts a Sprint Goal in Scrum?
  • What is the core of Scrum?
  • What is a release, and when can you do a release in Scrum?
  • What is the difference between the burn-down and burn-up charts?
        Read Answer here

  • Is Scrum Master a facilitator? What do they facilitate?
  • Let’s say you are a Scrum Master in a service organization. PO comes from the client-side and doesn’t want to spend time with the teams. How do you ensure PO is present for the team’s queries?
  • Let’s say you are a Scrum Master in a service organization. PO comes from the client-side and doesn’t want to spend time with the teams. How do you ensure that the team’s queries are addressed during the Sprint?
  • What are the factors that determine the performance of a Scrum Master?
  • How do Scrum Masters get appraised?
  • Why do you consider yourself a good Scrum Master?
  • How do you address team dysfunctions?
  • What is a Product Backlog item?
  • Is the bug a product backlog item?
  • How frequently can we change the Sprint Backlog?
  • What are the possible reasons for cancelling a sprint?
  • What happens when the Sprint goal gets changed during the middle of Sprint?
  • What are some of the critical metrics that can help a scrum team?
  • How many teams can a Scrum Master coach at the same time?
  • One of the teams that you are coaching doesn’t want to retrospect, and they consider that as a waste of time. How will you help them understand about retrospectives?

        Read Answer here

  • What is the ideal duration for a Sprint?
  • Why do fortune 500 companies use Scrum?
  • Why Scrum uses timeboxing?
  • Can a Product Owner and the Scrum Master be the same person?

        Read Answer here

  • Can a Scrum Master participate in development activities?
  • There is no full-time Scrum Master for a Scrum Team. Each member in the Development Team
  • How does testing happen in Scrum? Is it after the development or on the next Sprint?
  • How do you relate Agile and Scrum?
  • What are the chances inside Sprint for the Scrum Team to inspect and adapt?

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