More in Agile & Scrum — page 11
A mid-sprint task jeopardizes the Sprint Goal. What now?
This tests your grasp of Scrum's core principles: adaptation and prioritizing the Sprint Goal. A great answer involves immediate transparency, collaborating with the Product Owner to renegotiate scope, and adapting the plan. A red flag is suggesting overtime.
Code Complete vs. Done: What's the Difference?
Tests your understanding of value delivery vs. task completion. A great answer defines 'code complete' as a developer milestone and 'Done' as a team-agreed state of shippable value, governed by the Definition of Done.
What is the primary purpose of the Daily Scrum?
This tests your understanding of Scrum events as tools for inspection and adaptation, not status reports. A great answer states the purpose is to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and plan the next 24 hours.
What is a Sprint Goal and how does it influence planning?
Tests if you grasp that a Sprint Goal defines a valuable outcome, not just a list of tasks. A good answer explains it's a filter for selecting work, provides flexibility, and creates team coherence. Red flag: equating the goal with 'finishing all the tickets'.
How would you fix a long, unmanageable product backlog?
Tests your ability to fix a core process failure, not just list grooming tactics. Propose a dedicated workshop to define a clear Product Goal, ruthlessly prune the backlog against it, and establish a sustainable refinement process. Red flag: blaming the PO.
How do you fix a team that consistently overcommits in sprints?
This tests diagnosing process failures, not just bad estimates. A good answer investigates root causes like external pressure or poor refinement, then proposes using historical velocity and tracking actual capacity.
How would you break down an epic into user stories?
Tests your ability to turn business goals into independent engineering tasks. A great answer maps user journeys, breaks work into vertical slices, defines acceptance criteria, and prioritizes by value.
What are the components of a well-written user story?
This tests your understanding of user stories as conversation starters, not specs. A good answer covers the 3 C's (Card, Conversation, Confirmation) and INVEST criteria. A red flag is focusing only on the "As a..."
How does a self-managing team handle technical disagreements?
This tests your ability to facilitate productive conflict, not just win arguments. A great answer outlines structured techniques like timeboxing dialogue and multi-voting with reasoning. A red flag is suggesting the senior dev acts as the sole tie-breaker.
How do you handle a PO adding work mid-sprint?
Tests your ability to protect the Sprint Goal via collaboration, not conflict. A good answer uses the Retrospective to discuss impact, proposes a 'one-in, one-out' policy for the Sprint Backlog, and involves the Scrum Master.
What's your responsibility when only frontend work remains?
This tests your commitment to collective ownership over individual tasks. A great answer prioritizes the Sprint Goal, offers to help overloaded frontend devs directly (e.g., testing, pairing), and avoids the red flag of starting future work before helping the…
What is the Definition of Done (DoD)?
This tests your understanding of how DoD creates transparency and ensures a usable Increment. A good answer defines DoD as a quality standard, explains it applies to the entire Increment, and links it to predictability.
How would you change a mandatory, stage-gated release process?
Tests your ability to influence organizational change using data, not just advocate for a technical solution. Start small with a pilot, quantify the business impact (e.g., cycle time), and address stakeholder concerns around risk.
How do you resolve cross-team friction from local optimizations?
Tests your ability to think beyond your team and address systemic, organizational impediments. A good answer involves gathering data, facilitating cross-team communication, and proposing systemic solutions.
How do you coach a dev who skips backlog refinement?
This tests your ability to coach and connect process to outcomes. First, diagnose the 'why' in a 1:1. Then, frame refinement as a solution to their pain points (e.g., fewer interruptions). A red flag is quoting Scrum rules or immediately escalating.
How do you fix a Daily Scrum that runs too long?
This tests your understanding of the Daily Scrum's purpose (inspection, not problem-solving). A good answer involves re-educating the team, using a 'parking lot' for deep dives, and coaching individuals.
Who's accountable when an increment fails the user?
Tests your grasp of shared accountability in Scrum. A great answer avoids blame, highlighting the PO's role in value but also the whole team's duty to understand the 'why.' Propose concrete fixes like better backlog refinement.
How to handle a PO defining the technical implementation?
This tests your understanding of Scrum roles and ability to influence stakeholders. A great answer seeks to understand the PO's "why," presents alternatives with data, and reinforces shared goals and responsibilities. A red flag is being confrontational.
Handling Mid-Sprint Scope Change Requests
This tests your grasp of the Sprint Goal's immutability vs. the Sprint Backlog's flexibility. Acknowledge the PO's need, assess impact on the Sprint Goal, and negotiate trade-offs. If the goal is endangered, propose deferring or canceling the sprint.
Your Role in a Product Backlog Refinement Meeting
This tests your proactive role in Scrum beyond just coding. A great answer covers decomposing work, asking clarifying questions, estimating effort, and identifying technical risks.