Preventing Impediments

Correct Answer: Facilitate a retrospective to identify and address factors affecting velocity consistency

Facilitating a retrospective is the best approach to address inconsistent velocity across Sprints. During the retrospective, the Scrum Master should guide the team in identifying the factors causing velocity fluctuations. These factors may include inaccurate estimations, scope changes, external dependencies, or other impediments. By discussing and analyzing these issues, the team can develop strategies to mitigate them and improve velocity consistency in future Sprints. Increasing the Sprint duration or lowering the velocity commitment without addressing the underlying causes will not solve the problem sustainably. Working overtime is not a recommended solution as it can lead to burnout and decreased productivity in the long run. The retrospective allows the team to collaborate, inspect their process, and adapt to ensure a more predictable and sustainable pace.

Correct Answer: Divide the team into smaller, manageable sub-teams and facilitate the coordination between them

The best approach when finding the team size too large and causing coordination problems is to divide the team into smaller, manageable sub-teams and facilitate the coordination between them. This is because Scrum promotes small, close-knit teams capable of self-management and efficient, effective communication. The approach maintains the advantages of collaborative work while eliminating the impediments caused by a large team size. Asking less assertive members to leave the team can not only destroy the team morale but also goes against the Scrum values of Respect and Openness. Increasing the sprint's length to accommodate all, on the other hand, may give rise to the issue of work piling up and hence, further complicate coordination. Ignoring the issue assuming the team will automatically adjust contradicts active problem-solving, a key aspect of a Scrum Master's role.

Correct Answer: Implement a clear and shared understanding of responsibilities and roles within the team

As a Scrum Master, one of your primary roles is to facilitate clear communication within your team. This includes clarifying roles and responsibilities. When team members are arguing about who does what, it's usually because there's confusion about these roles/responsibilities. The best solution is to 'Implement a clear and shared understanding of responsibilities and roles within the team'. This can be achieved through discussion, documentation, and constant reinforcement. The other options are not ideal: 'Assign tasks to each member personally' can lead to a micromanagement situation which goes against the scrum principles of self-organization and leads to a less motivated team. 'Start a team competition to increase motivation', while a fun idea, doesn’t address the issue at hand. It might even lead to further confusion and arguments about roles. 'Ignore the issue assuming things will settle down with time' is an irresponsible approach and doesn't resolve the issue. It is possible that with time the confusion might increase leading to a decrease in productivity and team morale.