Answering: “A Scrum Team is experiencing a growing list of impediments. Which techniques would be most helpful in this situation?”

The two best techniques are for the Scrum Master to talk the impediments through with the Scrum Team, and for the Scrum Team to order the list and work through it. Escalating to management or loading impediments onto the Product Backlog moves the problem away from the people who can act on it.

Exam Question

A Scrum Team is experiencing a growing list of impediments. Which techniques would be most helpful in this situation? (choose the best two answers)

• A. The Scrum Master discusses the impediments with the Scrum Team.
• B. As a Scrum Team, prioritize the list and work on them in order.
• C. Arranging a triage meeting with management.
• D. The Product Owner should add the open impediments to the Product Backlog.

Correct Answer

A and B.

Why This Is the Correct Answer

The 2020 Scrum Guide lists “causing the removal of impediments to the Scrum Team’s progress” among the ways the Scrum Master serves the team. Causing removal is not the same as removing everything personally. A growing list is a signal that the team needs to look at it together, understand which items block the Sprint Goal, and decide what to tackle first. A self-managing team that orders its impediments and works the top ones gets the biggest relief soonest. The Scrum Master facilitates that conversation and steps in for items that cross organizational boundaries.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

C. Arrange a triage meeting with management. Going to management first bypasses the team’s own ability to solve most of its impediments. Management may help with specific organizational blockers later, but it is not where to start.

D. The Product Owner adds open impediments to the Product Backlog. The Product Backlog holds what is needed to improve the product, ordered by the Product Owner. Impediments belong to the team’s own way of working and should be handled by the team, often through the Sprint Backlog or the Sprint Retrospective.

Exam Tip

When a question asks how to deal with impediments, favor answers where the Scrum Team itself makes them visible and acts on them, with the Scrum Master facilitating.

Key Takeaways

• The Scrum Master causes impediments to be removed, often by helping the team remove them.
• Ordering a long impediment list helps the team fix the worst blockers first.
• Impediments are not Product Backlog items for the Product Owner to manage.