Self-Organizing Teams

Correct Answer: Coach the team to better understand their capacity and make more realistic commitments.

In Scrum, the Scrum Master serves as a facilitator for the team and the customer. A key responsibility of the Scrum Master is to help the team understand and respect the capacity in terms of workload that they can carry for each Sprint. This includes coaching the team to limit their commitment to what they genuinely believe they can achieve during a Sprint and managing the stakeholders' expectations. This is why 'Coach the team to better understand their capacity and make more realistic commitments' is the correct answer. 'Assign less challenging tasks to the team' is incorrect as it avoids addressing the main issue of capacity planning and overcommitting. Moreover, it does not necessarily lead to better accuracy in delivery times 'Extend the deadlines without addressing the root cause' is also an incorrect decision because simply extending deadlines without addressing the problem of overcommitting can lead to a detrimental cycle of repeatedly missed deadlines Lastly, 'Take over task assignments to ensure deadlines are met.' is not correct because it goes against the principle of self-organizing teams in Scrum. The team should collectively decide who should work on which task, instead of having tasks assigned by the Scrum Master.

Correct Answer: Facilitate a team exercise to map out every member's skills and roles to encourage understanding and collaboration without imposing strict roles.

The role of a Scrum Master in a self-organizing team is not to assign specific roles and responsibilities to team members, as this goes against the principles of self-organization and empowerment. Thus, the answer 'Assign specific roles and responsibilities to the team members' and 'Assign roles based on seniority and experience on the team' are incorrect. On the other hand, the Scrum Master should not leave the team entirely on their own in determining their structure without any guidance, as suggested by the answer 'Tell the team that self-organizing means they should determine their structure without your guidance'. This could lead to confusion and inefficient work distribution. Therefore, the best option is 'Facilitate a team exercise to map out every member's skills and roles to encourage understanding and collaboration without imposing strict roles'. This allows the Scrum Master to guide the team towards self-organization, empowering them to leverage their individual skills and strengths, and promoting collaboration among the team members.

Correct Answer: Guide the team in using conflict resolution techniques to find a collaborative solution, ensuring that everyone's perspectives are heard.

As a Scrum Master, facilitating healthy team dynamics is crucial. The correct answer emphasizes the role of a Scrum Master in guiding the team towards self-organization and conflict resolution without directly imposing solutions. Disciplinary actions do not foster a collaborative team environment and are against the principles of Scrum. Consulting the product owner for task assignment is not appropriate as it undermines the team's self-organizing nature. Finally, organizing a vote, though seemingly fair, can lead to further division and does not ensure that the underlying issues are addressed.