Holding the Daily Scrum only every three days slows down impediment handling, reduces chances to adapt the Sprint Backlog, and weakens transparency over progress toward the Sprint Goal. Gantt charts and Product Owner status reports are not Scrum concerns.
Exam Question
A Scrum Team is struggling over the fact that not all Developers work full time and that other Developers regularly work from home. To solve the difficulties in aligning daily, at the Sprint Retrospective two Developers suggest having the Daily Scrum every three days, when everyone is in the office.
What would be three key concerns if the frequency of the Daily Scrum were to be lowered? (choose the best three answers)
- A. Impediments are raised and resolved more slowly which might impact productivity and progress.
- B. Opportunities to inspect and adapt the Sprint Backlog are reduced. Re-aligning is bound to become even more difficult.
- C. Less progress information will be shared causing the plan for the Sprint to become inaccurate and transparency over progress toward the Sprint Goal is reduced.
- D. The Scrum Master loses the ability to update the Gantt chart properly, thereby obscuring the Scrum Master’s tracking of Sprint progress.
- E. The Product Owner cannot accurately report progress about the state of the forecasted work to the stakeholders.
Correct Answer
A, B and C.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
The Scrum Guide says the purpose of the Daily Scrum is “to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog as necessary, adjusting the upcoming planned work.” It also says Daily Scrums “improve communications, identify impediments, promote quick decision-making, and consequently eliminate the need for other meetings.” Meeting every three days cuts those benefits by two thirds. Impediments wait longer (A), the plan is adapted less often (B), and less shared information makes progress harder to see (C). The real problem, part-time and remote work, should be solved with options like a shared time slot or a remote format, not by dropping inspection.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
D. The Scrum Master can’t update the Gantt chart. Scrum does not use Gantt charts, and the Scrum Master does not track the Developers’ progress.
E. The Product Owner can’t report progress to stakeholders. The Daily Scrum is not a reporting event for the Product Owner. Stakeholder communication happens through the Sprint Review and ongoing collaboration.
Exam Tip
When a team wants to change an event’s frequency, ask what that event inspects and adapts. The right concerns are lost inspection and adaptation, not lost reporting.
Key Takeaways
- The Daily Scrum is held every day of the Sprint.
- Less frequent inspection means slower adaptation.
- Fix attendance problems without dropping the event.
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More PSM II exam questions
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- What are acceptable ways a Scrum Master may work to ensure Scrum is understood and enacted?