Answering: “During Sprint Planning the Product Owner and the Developers are unable to reach an understanding about the highest order Product Backlog items. Because of this, the Developers are unable to determine how many Product Backlog items they can forecast for the upcoming Sprint. However, the Product Owner and the Developers are able to agree on a Sprint Goal.”

The Scrum Master should support starting the Sprint with the items most likely to meet the agreed Sprint Goal, and then discussing at the Sprint Retrospective why Sprint Planning got stuck. Cancelling, pausing or extending Sprint Planning past its timebox are not good options.

Exam Question

During Sprint Planning the Product Owner and the Developers are unable to reach an understanding about the highest order Product Backlog items. Because of this, the Developers are unable to determine how many Product Backlog items they can forecast for the upcoming Sprint. However, the Product Owner and the Developers are able to agree on a Sprint Goal. Which two of the following actions should the Scrum Master support? (choose the best two answers)

• A. Cancel the Sprint. Send the entire team to an advanced Scrum training and then start a new Sprint.
• B. During the next Sprint Retrospective discuss why this happened and what changes will make it less likely to recur.
• C. Ask everyone to take as much time as needed to analyze the Product Backlog first, and then reconvene another Sprint Planning event.
• D. Forecast the Product Backlog items that are most likely to meet the Sprint Goal and create a Sprint Backlog. Conclude the Sprint Planning and start the development work. Continue to analyze, decompose, and create additional functionality during the Sprint.
• E. Continue the Sprint Planning event past its timebox until an adequate number of Product Backlog items are well enough understood for the Developers to make a complete forecast. Then start the Sprint.

Correct Answer

B and D.

Why This Is the Correct Answer

The Sprint Goal is the single objective for the Sprint, and here the team already has one. The Scrum Guide says Sprint Planning ends with a Sprint Backlog made of the Sprint Goal, selected items and a plan, but it does not require every item to be fully understood. Work can be refined and decomposed during the Sprint, and “scope may be clarified and renegotiated with the Product Owner as more is learned.” Starting with the best available forecast keeps the timebox and the empirical loop intact. The Sprint Retrospective is then the right place to inspect why refinement fell short and plan an improvement.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

A. Cancel the Sprint and send everyone to advanced Scrum training. Only the Product Owner can cancel a Sprint, and only when the Sprint Goal becomes obsolete. Here the team has a valid Sprint Goal.

C. Take as much time as needed to analyze the backlog, then reconvene. This breaks the Sprint Planning timebox and delays the Sprint for the sake of up-front analysis.

E. Continue Sprint Planning past its timebox until enough items are understood. Timeboxes in Scrum are maximums. Running over undermines the discipline that makes inspection and adaptation regular.

Exam Tip

If a Sprint Goal exists, the Sprint can start. Options that extend timeboxes or wait for complete understanding are usually wrong.

Key Takeaways

• A clear Sprint Goal is enough to start the Sprint.
• Refinement and decomposition continue during the Sprint.
• The Sprint Retrospective is where the team fixes recurring planning problems.