Escalating Impediments

Correct Answer: Arrange for training or mentoring to develop the needed skills in the team

The most effective approach as a Scrum Master for a team that is unable to meet sprint goals due to lack of specific technical skills is to 'Arrange for training or mentoring to develop the needed skills in the team'. This helps address the root cause of the problem, which is a skills gap, and empowers the team to perform better in future sprints. Hiring new team members immediately (as proposed in another response) can be disruptive and doesn't necessarily guarantee that the same issue won't recur. Blaming the team for lack of skills is counterproductive and goes against the principle of shared responsibility in Scrum methodology. Finally, ignoring the problem in the hope that it will improve over time is not generally a good strategy, as it may lead to further setbacks and demoralization among team members.

Correct Answer: Communicate with the stakeholder about the impact of their actions and find out how to manage the priorities

The duty of a Scrum Master in such a situation is to assure that everyone understands and adheres to Scrum's principles and values. Constant changes in backlog priority by a stakeholder can disrupt the team's progress, therefore, the Scrum Master should communicate with the stakeholder about the impact of their actions and find a mutual agreement on managing priorities. The Scrum Master should avoid conflicts such as public arguments, which is inappropriate and does not solve the issue at hand. Ignoring the stakeholder's changes and following the original backlog can lead to project failure due to misalignment with stakeholders' current requirements. Lastly, stopping work on the current sprint to accommodate changes is not a suitable solution, as this would disrupt the team's work and not address the core issue of backlog mismanagement and communication.

Correct Answer: Talk to the other team's Scrum Master or leader about the interruptions

The ideal course of action for a Scrum Master facing regular interruptions from another team is to directly address the issue by having a conversation with the other team's Scrum Master or leader. This approach fosters a constructive dialogue to tackle and seek solutions for the problem at hand. The goal here is to maintain the team's focus while also respecting other teams' needs so that each can function effectively. The other answers are ineffective or potentially harmful. Working over the weekend to meet deadlines might temporarily solve the problem but can lead to burnout, unchanged negative patterns and does not address the core issue. Asking your team to ignore the other team's requests is not a professional approach and can lead to strained inter-team relationships. And escalating it to the management without discussing it with the other team first bypasses the chance to resolve it directly and can create unnecessary tension.