PMP Practice Question: People — Agile, Medium
A Scrum Master notices that during the past four sprints, team members have been working significant overtime to complete their sprint commitments. While they are meeting their sprint goals, team morale surveys indicate increasing stress and work-life balance concerns. Three team members have recently mentioned feeling burned out. The Product Owner is pleased with the team's output and wants to maintain the current pace. When the Scrum Master raises concerns, the Product Owner argues that the team voluntarily commits to the work during sprint planning. How should the Scrum Master address this situation?
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More People Questions
View all →During sprint planning, your development team commits to 45 story points based on historical velocity. However, your product owner insists they must complete 60 story points this sprint because of a commitment made to a key stakeholder. The product owner argues that the team 'just needs to work harder' and threatens to escalate to senior management if the team doesn't comply. The team looks to you, the Scrum Master, for guidance. How should you respond?
Your agile team has a new member, Sarah, who joined two weeks ago. Sarah has strong technical skills but comes from a traditional waterfall background. During the current sprint, you notice Sarah working in isolation, not updating the task board, and not asking for help despite her story being blocked. In the standup, she reports 'everything is fine' even though you can see she's struggling. Other team members have offered help, but she politely declines. What is the most effective way to help Sarah adapt to the agile team environment?
Your agile team has been consistently meeting sprint commitments, but during a recent retrospective, team members admitted they have been padding estimates significantly to ensure they never miss a commitment. The team's capacity allows them to complete stories early, but they wait until late in the sprint to pull in additional work to avoid looking like they overcommitted. The product owner is frustrated because the team could be delivering more value. What should you do to address this behavior?