More in Agile & Scrum — page 14
What's the relationship between Cycle Time, WIP, and Throughput?
This tests your grasp of Little's Law. A great answer defines Cycle Time, WIP, and Throughput, states the formula (Cycle Time = WIP / Throughput), and explains why lowering WIP reduces cycle time.
Burn-up vs. Burn-down Charts: What's the Difference?
Tests your understanding of project tracking metrics and their implications. A burn-down shows work remaining vs. time. A burn-up shows work completed vs. total scope, making it better for visualizing scope creep. A red flag is just describing the lines.
How do you provide a probabilistic forecast for completing 25 stories?
This tests your ability to move beyond single-date estimates to probabilistic forecasting. A good answer outlines using historical cycle times in a Monte Carlo simulation to generate a range of dates with confidence levels.
How would you set a WIP limit for code review?
This tests your ability to use data to diagnose a bottleneck and facilitate a solution. A great answer gathers flow metrics, proposes an initial limit based on team size (e.g., N/2), and frames it as an experiment.
How do you handle a critical blocked task?
This tests your proactivity, communication, and ability to manage dependencies. A great answer involves immediate investigation, clear async communication of status and impact, and actively driving the resolution by pulling in the right people.
CI vs. Continuous Delivery vs. Continuous Deployment
This tests your grasp of release automation maturity and risk management. Define CI (merge/build/test), Continuous Delivery (auto-release to staging, manual to prod), and Continuous Deployment (auto-release to prod).
Team Velocity Dropped for 3 Sprints. How Do You Diagnose?
This tests your ability to use data for diagnosis, not blame. A good answer gathers quantitative (cycle time, unplanned work) and qualitative data, then presents hypotheses to the team.
How do you handle a critical bug mid-sprint?
Tests your pragmatism and ability to navigate crisis. A good answer involves triaging the bug's impact, assessing the cost to the Sprint Goal, empowering the Product Owner to make a trade-off, and transparently adjusting the plan.
Team struggles with Sprint spillover. How do you investigate?
This tests your ability to diagnose systemic issues, not just recite Scrum rules. A great answer prioritizes data gathering, categorizes root causes (refinement, tech debt, etc.), and proposes team-led experiments.
How do you prioritize tech debt against new features?
This tests your ability to translate engineering risk into business impact. A great answer frames debt as a business cost (slowdown, bugs), quantifies the impact, and proposes a specific capacity allocation. A red flag is framing it as an 'us vs. them' battle.
How do you fix a disconnect between team velocity and value?
This tests your ability to distinguish output from outcome. A good answer investigates the "why" with the PO, proposes experiments to test value hypotheses, and suggests refining processes like sprint planning, rather than just blaming the PO or trying to…
How do you convince a PO to prioritize technical debt?
Tests your ability to influence without authority by translating technical issues into business impact. A great answer quantifies the cost of inaction (e.g., slowed velocity) and proposes concrete Scrum strategies like allocating 20% capacity.
How do CI and testing support the Scrum value of Commitment?
Tests if you can connect technical practices to business value. A great answer links CI/CD to the 'Definition of Done' and explains how automated tests de-risk the sprint commitment.
How do you respond when a team blames estimates for missed sprints?
This tests your ability to diagnose root causes beyond surface complaints. Acknowledge the frustration, then pivot the discussion from blaming estimates to analyzing what *surprised* the team, like blockers or scope creep.
A bug you wrote is in production. What are your next steps?
Tests ownership, communication, and process under pressure. A great answer prioritizes triage and clear communication with the team/PO before jumping to a fix, then follows up with a retro.
How do you measure your effectiveness as a Scrum Master?
Tests your ability to link coaching to business outcomes, not just team output. A great answer quantifies impediment removal, team health improvements, and stakeholder satisfaction, avoiding vague claims or simply citing team velocity.
How do you explain tech debt's business impact to a Product Owner?
Tests your ability to translate technical issues into business value. A great answer quantifies the slowdown (e.g., cycle time), proposes an iterative plan (e.g., 20% capacity), and connects the work to future feature velocity.
How do you handle an unavailable Product Owner?
Tests your ability to solve process bottlenecks collaboratively. A great answer starts with data, then direct communication with the PO, proposes solutions like office hours, and escalates only as a last resort.
A PBI is vague. How do you get clarity?
This tests ownership and proactive communication. A great answer involves documenting questions in the ticket, engaging the PM and tech lead for a discussion, and updating the ticket with clear acceptance criteria before starting any work.
Definition of Done vs. Acceptance Criteria: What's the difference?
Tests your grasp of Agile quality gates. Define both, then contrast scope (global DoD vs. local AC) and ownership (Team vs. PO). Connect them to creating a shippable, valuable Increment. A red flag is treating them as interchangeable.