25 Most Important Questions to Ask During Your 2023 Scrum Master Interview

An agile methodology for project management, the Scrum framework strives to deliver maximum value in the shortest possible time. This piece elucidates on the definition of Scrum and offers insight into individuals’ roles within the team, Scrum artefacts, and an empirical process control model. Moreover, it provides an outline of what to anticipate in a Scrum master interview.

This article aims to provide answers to all your concerns.

Queries to Ask while Hiring an Inexperienced Scrum Master

  1. Can you define Scrum?

    Scrum is an agile methodology developed to assist cross-functional teams in staying aligned with their objectives and achieving their project goals. It is a project management framework that facilitates the division of large, intricate projects into more manageable segments. By utilizing Scrum, it’s feasible to decrease the duration required for completing tasks and assist teams in accomplishing projects in shorter, more effective cycles.
  2. How does Scrum operate?

    The features of Scrum comprise of…
    • Boosting Exposure
    • Improved Transparency
    • Flexible Release
    • Constant Improvement
    • Quick Adaptation to Changing Situations
    • Rapid Execution of Ideas
    • Fully Satisfied Clients
  3. What is the hierarchy of a Scrum Team?

    Scrum disperses responsibilities among a “Scrum Master,” “Product Owner,” and “Development Team.”
    • Scrum Master

      When utilizing Scrum methodology, it’s crucial to have an assigned Scrum Master to guarantee effective delivery. The Scrum Master’s duties comprise of defining goals, scheduling regular meetings, and tracking progress. They may also be in charge of supervising numerous teams from diverse organizations and highlighting any emerging issues.
    • Product Owner

      The Product Owner’s responsibility is to guarantee that the team remains aligned with the product’s desired outcomes. This involves managing the product’s roadmap, assessing progress, and delivering timely feedback. Moreover, Product owners communicate with external stakeholders to revise product objectives.
    • Development Team

      Depending on project requirements, a development team may consist of experts in fields such as engineering, data analysis, and user interface/experience design.

  4. What is a Scrum Sprint?

    A Scrum Sprint is a timeframe of four weeks, where the team concentrates solely on accomplishing a single goal. This could relate to the development of a new feature or the enhancement of an existing one.
  5. Scrum Artifacts

    Scrum artifacts consist of the product backlog and any associated tasks or documentation employed throughout the development process. These artifacts are segmented into three groups:


    Product Backlog
    The product backlog encompasses a complete list of tasks required to enhance the product, ranging from introducing new features to resolving technical glitches and updating the underlying infrastructure.

    Sprint Backlog
    The team’s objectives for the sprint are outlined in the corresponding sprint backlog. It’s possible for both the product backlog and sprint backlog to contain the same items.

    Product Increment
    The product increment comprises completed items from the product backlog and value added by prior sprints.

  6. Daily Stand-ups in Scrum

    Scrum mandates a daily 15-minute “stand-up” meeting to review progress, plan for the following day, and discuss any issues the team is facing.
  7. What is Scrum-ban?

    Kanban is a methodology for achieving DevOps and agile software development, and Scrum-ban is a hybrid of both. Scrum-ban combines the structured approach of Scrum with the flexibility of Kanban. By utilizing Scrum-ban, teams can benefit from an adaptable approach to managing their workflow.

Intermediate Interview Questions for Scrum Masters

  1. Empirical Process Control in Scrum

    Scrum adopts the ’empirical process control’ methodology, which emphasizes decisions made based on past experience and verifiable data. This approach guarantees that the software development process is transparent and influenced by prior events, thereby assisting current endeavors as well as facilitating the planning of future projects.
  2. Preventing Burnout in Scrum Projects

    Scrum burndown charts are graphical and depict the remaining time left for a project and any unfinished work.

    Time-to-burn charts in Scrum consist of:
    Guidelines for optimal effort
    Indicators of genuine achievement
    Workdays on the calendar (x-axis)
    Remaining work on the y-axis

  3. Sashimi and Impediments in Scrum

    Scrum employs the term “sashimi” to signify when a task is finished, whilst “impediments” refers to anything that hinders the flow of work.
  4. User Stories in Scrum

    User stories in Scrum serve as a means of explaining the benefits of a particular piece of software to end-users. These stories outline the advantages of the software features to the user in a way that is easy to comprehend, clarifying project components in simple terms.

    At the outset of product development, teams may discuss and document user stories for individual features. As the development process continues, teams may create new user stories or add further detail to existing ones.

    A typical user story format is provided below:For the User Type> that you are
    I seek to accomplish user objective>
    In order to achieve user benefit >.For example, as a shopper, I prefer online shopping to visiting the market.

  5. Advantages of Using a User Story

    Below are some of the benefits of utilizing a user story:
    1. Enhanced communication between the team and the customer
    2. User stories are characterized by a specific syntax that encapsulates the user’s objective, value, and benefit.
    3. To personalize the acceptance criteria for each user story,
    4. Ability to modify user stories to accommodate evolving requirements

  6. Major Differences Between Scrum and Agile

    Differentiating Scrum vs Agile in the Scrum Master Interview

  7. Identifying a High-Quality User Story

    A high-quality user story should have the attributes of INVEST – independent, negotiable, valuable, estimable, small, and testable. It should also feature a well-defined acceptance criteria and minimal dependencies, allowing teams to finish it within one sprint.
  8. Scrum’s INVEST Principle

    INVEST principles consist of:

    I – A user story must be self-contained and independent, without relying on other user stories.
    N – User stories must be flexible enough to adapt to the decisions of the team and product owner.
    V – The user story should be valuable to the client.
    E – The user story must include an estimated time frame.
    S – The user story should be small enough to be completed within a single sprint.
    T – The user story must be testable and have well-defined acceptance criteria.

  9. Purpose of Timeboxing in Scrum

    Scrum teams are given a fixed amount of time to finish a task when using the timeboxing approach. Typically, a timebox lasts for 15 minutes. However, if a team predicts that a task will take longer, they may ask the product owner to cancel the timebox.

Top Practices for Interviewing a Scrum Master

  1. Understanding Sprint0 and Spike in Scrum

    Sprint0 is the first phase of the product backlog, which includes target delivery dates and is still in the early stages. The objective has a simple structure and moves at a slower pace.

    Spike is a concentrated programming effort involving activities such as experimentation, design, research, and investigation. It is a valuable tool for gathering information that can be utilized in developing reliable products.

  2. Meaning of DoD in Scrum

    The ‘Definition of Done’ (DoD) in Scrum is a checklist of completed tasks that usually includes source code, test cases, release notes, and design documents. The purpose of DoD is to ensure that projects are developed in an organized and effective manner, providing clear guidance for identifying the required deliverables on time.
  3. One of the several benefits of the Definition of Done is…

    • Facilitating the gradual development of a product over time
    • Developing the necessary processes for repetition
    • Enforcing a review of the product backlog
    • Supporting sprint reviews and retrospectives
    • Developing a checklist for the product backlog
    • Improving productivity with task-specific and context-based technology
  4. Attendees at the Sprint Review

    At the Sprint Review meeting, the efficiency of the product is assessed and improved through a retrospective discussion. The Scrum Master, Product Owner, and the entire Development Team may be in attendance.

  5. Risk Management in Scrum

    Scrum involves five stages to manage potential risks.


    Identifying Risks: It’s crucial to identify any potential risks to the product’s development, including legal, environmental, governmental, and market-related risks.

    Assessing Risks: Here, you evaluate the full extent of the risk and its potential benefits or drawbacks to the organization.

    Quantifying Risks: Tasks are prioritized based on the potential damage to the business if they are completed late.

    Risk Mitigation: After identifying a risk, the next step is to determine necessary actions to mitigate it.

    Risk Review: The process of reviewing risks, from identifying them to deciding whether or not to address them, may take some time.

  6. What is the significance of a vote of confidence in Scrum?

    A ‘confidence vote’ is used in Scrum to gauge the overall confidence of team members in the final output. After completing all product tasks and user stories, team members can vote to express their level of confidence.

    The team’s confidence vote encourages open communication by allowing everyone to voice their opinions and feelings about the product.

  7. Where can I learn more about Scrum of Scrums?

    A Scrum of Scrums is a large team consisting of multiple smaller scrum teams. For example, Scrum A may be the main scrum team, and the others (e.g. Scrum B, C, D, E and F) may serve as supporting scrums. The main scrum group oversees the work of the subordinate scrums and makes the final delivery decision.

    Scrum of Scrums allows for the division of large teams into smaller, autonomous units that still maintain open communication with the main and other teams. This process ensures continuous inspection and transparency throughout the product development cycle, resulting in the successful production of a complex product.

  8. What are the key components of a user narrative?

    A user narrative consists of three components: Card, Dialogue, and Confirmation. ‘Card’ refers to a written description of a user story, which includes a plan for the user narrative and an estimated completion time.

    Through conversations and dialogue, Scrum teams work together to create high-quality user stories by discussing issues and potential solutions in detail. The acceptance criteria is used to verify that the user narrative meets the requirements under specific circumstances.

  9. What is the definition of scope creep in Scrum?

    Scope creep is a valuable tool for project managers used to measure the rate at which a project’s requirements are modified due to decisions made by internal teams or external stakeholders. This helps teams manage change effectively by identifying the increasing demands of the project and the rate at which they are increasing. The following are some of the advantages of scope creep for project managers:

    Reviewing the progress of ongoing projects and laying the groundwork for future project estimates.
    Creating a chart to show how the work has deviated from the original plan.
    Identifying the source of changes and considering their impact on subsequent steps.
    Determining whether to take preventative or corrective measures based on feedback.


  10. What is a velocity chart in Scrum?

    A Scrum team is expected to complete a certain amount of work during a sprint, which can be tracked with a velocity chart. Velocity, a metric based on the number and percentage of completed user stories for each feature from previous sprints, is used to estimate completion time.

Summary

Scrum is a well-known project management methodology that encourages open communication and fosters trust among team members. During the interview process, hiring managers may ask applicants a range of questions about Scrum, varying in complexity, to evaluate their understanding of the method. As a result, developers should adequately prepare for such questions ahead of time.

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FAQ

What are three common questions asked during daily Scrum meetings?

During our daily Scrum meetings, we cover three main topics: what was accomplished the previous day, current progress, and plans for the day ahead. We also address any challenges that have arisen in recent days.

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