Product Backlog Grooming

Correct Answer: Engage stakeholders to prioritize the backlog and provide clarification, and then confirm these decisions with the Product Owner.

In the Scrum framework, the Product Owner is responsible for managing the product backlog, which includes backlog grooming to prioritize and clarify items. If the Product Owner is not available, the Scrum Master does not take over their responsibilities, as in 'Make decisions on behalf of the Product Owner regarding the backlog'. This action would violate Scrum principles. Similarly, 'Ask the development team to prioritize the backlog in the absence of the Product Owner' is not the best answer because it is not the team's responsibility to prioritize the backlog. This is the Product Owner's role. 'Cancel all backlog grooming sessions until the Product Owner is available' is also not a practical solution because it might slow down progress and delay product delivery. The most appropriate action, as in the correct answer 'Engage stakeholders to prioritize the backlog and provide clarification, and then confirm these decisions with the Product Owner', is for the Scrum Master to facilitate the process by collaborating with stakeholders. These stakeholders can help shed light on business needs, which can guide effective backlog grooming. However, since ultimate decision-making authority rests with the Product Owner, these decisions should be confirmed with the Product Owner to ensure alignment.

Correct Answer: Facilitate a meeting with the Product Owner for backlog refinement where less valuable items can be removed or deprioritized.

The best approach in a scenario where the product backlog is large and unwieldy is for the Scrum Master to facilitate a meeting with the Product Owner for backlog refinement, where less valuable items can be removed or deprioritized. This approach ensures collaboration, respect for roles and continuous improvement which are key principles in Scrum. The Scrum Master should help in managing the product backlog but should not make decisions on what to keep or remove, that's the Product Owner's responsibility. Therefore, removing the low priority items without consulting the Product Owner, directing the development team to only work on high priority items regardless of backlog order, or ignoring the backlog, violates the Scrum principles and undermines the role of the Product Owner.

Correct Answer: Work closely with the Product Owner to evaluate the relevance of these items and determine if they need re-prioritization or removal from the Product Backlog.

The correct answer involves collaborating with the Product Owner to reassess the current value of each stale backlog item based on changing market conditions and decide whether they should be re-prioritized or removed. Removing or keeping items without reassessment, assigning them directly to be worked on, or waiting for external stakeholder sessions for decisions could delay important backlog management activities and detract from focusing on delivering value.