Creating Value With Scrum

TL; DR: Scrum Master Interview Questions on Creating Value With Scrum

If you are looking to fill a position for a Scrum Master (or agile coach) in your organization, you may find the following 12th set of the Scrum Master interview questions useful to identify the right candidate. They are derived from my eighteen years of practical experience with XP as well as Scrum, serving both as Product Owner and Scrum Master as well as interviewing dozens of Scrum Master candidates on behalf of my clients. 

So far, this Scrum Master interview guide has been downloaded more than 27,000 times.

Scrum Master Interview Questions: How We Organized Questions and Answers

Scrum has proven time and again to be the most popular framework for software development. Given that software is eating the world, a seasoned Scrum Master is even nowadays, given the frosty economic climate of Spring 2024, in high demand. And that demand causes the market entry of new professionals from other project management branches, probably believing that reading one or two Scrum books will be sufficient, which makes any Scrum Master interview a challenging task. 

The Scrum Master Interview Questions ebook provides both questions as well as guidance on the range of suitable answers. These should allow an interviewer to dive deep into a candidate’s understanding of Scrum and her agile mindset. However, please note: 

• The answers reflect the personal experience of the authors and may not be valid for every organization: what works for organization A may not work in organization B.
• There are no suitable multiple-choice questions to identify a candidate’s agile mindset, given the complexity of applying “Agile” to any organization.
• The authors share a holistic view of agile practices: Agility covers the whole arch from product vision (our grand idea on how to improve mankind’s fate) to product discovery (what to build) plus product delivery (how to build it).

Creating Value as a Scrum Master

The following questions and responses are designed to draw out a nuanced understanding of a candidate’s experience and skills in applying agile product development principles to improve customer value and economics of delivery and enhance predictability in various organizational contexts to address the current economic climate:

Question 74: Resistant Industries

How have you tailored Scrum practices to elevate customer value, particularly in industries resistant to Agile practices?

Background: This question probes the candidate’s ability to adapt Scrum principles to sectors where Agile is not the norm, emphasizing customer-centric product development. It seeks insights into the candidate’s innovative application of Scrum to foster customer engagement and satisfaction, even in challenging environments. It is also an opportunity for the candidate to build confidence in the interview process and rapport with the interviewers.

Acceptable Answer: An excellent response would detail a scenario where the candidate navigated resistance by demonstrating Agile’s benefits through small-scale pilot projects or workshops. They would probably even describe specific adjustments to Scrum events or artifacts to align with industry-specific constraints, culminating in enhanced customer feedback loops and ultimately leading to product features that directly addressed customer pain points.

Question 75: Reducing Product Costs

Please describe a scenario in which you significantly reduced production costs through strategic Scrum application without compromising the product’s quality.

Background: This delves into the candidate’s proficiency in supporting the optimization of a team’s capacity allocation and streamlining workflows within the Scrum framework to cut costs. It’s about balancing maintaining high-quality standards and achieving cost effectiveness through Agile practices.

Acceptable Answer: Look for a narrative where the candidate identifies wasteful practices or bottlenecks in the development process and implements targeted Scrum practices to address them. Examples include refining the Product Backlog to focus on high-impact features, improving cross-functional collaboration to reduce dependencies, or leveraging automated testing to speed up lead time while preserving quality standards. The answer should highlight the candidate’s analytical problem-solving approach and ability to help the team accept a cost-conscious entrepreneurial stance to solving customer problems without sacrificing quality.

Question 76: Improving Predictability in a Volatile Market

Please share an experience where you used Scrum to improve predictability in product delivery in a highly volatile market.

Background: This question explores the candidate’s capability to use Scrum to enhance delivery predictability amidst market fluctuations. It’s about leveraging Agile’s flexibility to adapt to changing priorities while maintaining a steady pace of delivery.

Acceptable Answer: The candidate should recount an instance where they utilized Scrum artifacts and events to better forecast delivery timelines in a shifting landscape. This example might involve adjusting Sprint lengths, prioritizing Product Backlog items more dynamically, or involving closer stakeholder engagement to reassess priorities during Sprint Reviews or other alignment-creating opportunities, for example, User Story Mapping sessions. The story should underscore their strategic thinking in balancing flexibility with predictability and their communication skills in setting realistic expectations with stakeholders.

Question 77: Successfully Promoting Scrum Despite Skepticism

How have you promoted the value of Scrum in organizations where the leadership and middle management met Agile practices with skepticism?

Background: This question examines the candidate’s ability to champion Scrum in environments resistant to change. Such an environment requires a deep understanding of Agile principles and strong advocacy and education skills.

Acceptable Answer: Successful candidates will describe a multifaceted strategy that includes educating leadership on Agile benefits, organizing interactive workshops to demystify Scrum practices, and securing quick wins to demonstrate value. They might also discuss establishing a community of practice to sustain Agile learning and sharing success stories to build momentum. The answer should reflect their perseverance, persuasive communication, and their role as a change agent. (Learn more about successful stakeholder communication tactics during transformations here.)

Question 78: Effective Change

Please describe your approach to conducting effective Sprint Retrospectives that drive continuous improvement.

Background: The question probes the candidate’s techniques for facilitating Retrospectives that genuinely contribute to team growth and product enhancement. It seeks to understand how they ensure these events are productive, inclusive, and actionable.

Acceptable Answer: A comprehensive response would outline a structured approach to Retrospectives, including preparation, facilitation, follow-up practices, and valuable enhancements to the framework, for example, embracing the idea of a directly responsible individual to drive change the team considers beneficial. The candidate might mention using a variety of formats to keep the sessions engaging, techniques to ensure all team members contribute, and strategies for prioritizing action items. They should emphasize their method for tracking improvements over time to ensure accountability and demonstrate the Retrospective’s impact on the team’s performance and morale. Again, this question allows the candidates to distinguish themselves in the core competence of any Scrum Master. 

Question 79: Balancing Demands with Principles

Please explain how you’ve balanced stakeholder demands with Agile principles to help the Scrum team prioritize work effectively.

Background: This question seeks insights into the candidate’s ability to support the Scrum team in general and the Product Owner in particular in navigating competing demands, aligning stakeholder expectations with Agile principles to focus the team’s efforts on the most impactful work from the customers’ perception and the organization’s perspective.

Acceptable Answer: The candidate should provide an example of supporting the Product Owner by employing prioritization techniques, such as User Story Mapping, in collaboration with stakeholders to align on priorities that offer the most value, leading to the creation of valuable Product Goals and roadmaps in the process. They should highlight their negotiation skills, ability to facilitate consensus, and adeptness at transparent communication to manage expectations and maintain a sustainable pace for the team.

Question 80: Boring Projects and Motivation

How do you sustain team motivation and engagement in long-term projects with high levels of task repetition?

Background: This question explores the candidate’s strategies for keeping the team engaged and motivated through the monotony of prolonged projects or repetitive tasks. While we all like to work on cutting-edge technology all the time, everyday operations often comprise work that we consider less glamorous yet grudgingly accept as valuable, too. The question gauges a candidate’s ability to uphold enthusiasm and maintain high performance in a potentially less motivating environment.

Acceptable Answer: Expect the candidate to discuss innovative approaches like introducing gamification elements to mundane tasks, rotating roles within the team to provide fresh challenges, and setting up regular skill-enhancement workshops. They might also mention the importance of celebrating small wins, giving recognition, for example, Kudo cards, and ensuring that the team’s work aligns with individual growth goals. The response should underline their commitment to maintaining a positive and stimulating work environment, even under challenging circumstances.

Question 81: Onboarding New Team Members

Please describe your experience integrating a new team member into an established Scrum team, ensuring a seamless transition and maintaining team productivity.

Background: This question assesses the candidate’s approach to onboarding new team members to minimize disruption and maximize integration speed. This approach is critical for maintaining an existing team’s cohesive and productive dynamics, acknowledging that Scrum teams will regularly change composition.

Acceptable Answer: Look for answers detailing a structured and inclusive onboarding plan that includes, for example: 

• Mentorship programs
• A buddy system
• Clear documentation of team norms and expectations, such as a working agreement and a Definition of Done 
• Team activities
• Gradual immersion into the Scrum team’s projects through pair programming or shadowing

The candidate should highlight the importance of fostering an inclusive team culture that welcomes questions and supports new members in their learning journey, ensuring they feel valued and part of the team from day one.

Question 82: Conflict Resolution

How do you approach conflict resolution within a Scrum team or between the team and stakeholders to ensure continued progress and collaboration?

Background: Conflicts are inevitable in any team dynamic. This question probes the candidate’s skills in navigating and resolving disagreements in a way that strengthens the team and stakeholder relationships rather than undermining them.

Acceptable Answer: The candidate should describe their ability to act as a neutral mediator, actively listen to understand all perspectives, and facilitate problem-solving sessions focusing on interests rather than positions. They might also discuss creating forums for open dialogue, such as conflict-themed Retrospectives, and the importance of fostering a culture of trust and psychological safety where conflicts can be aired constructively. The response should convey their adeptness at turning conflicts into opportunities for growth and deeper understanding. However, the candidate should also make clear that not all disputes among team members may be solvable and that, once all team-based options have been exhausted, the Scrum Master needs to ask for management support to bring the conflict to a conclusion.

Question 83: Scaling Scrum?

Please reflect on a time when scaling Scrum across multiple teams presented significant challenges. How did you address these challenges to ensure the organization’s success with its Agile transformation?

Background: Scaling Agile practices is a complex endeavor that can highlight organizational impediments and resistance. This question delves into the candidate’s experience in successfully scaling Scrum, ensuring alignment and cohesion among multiple teams, and helping everyone see the value in a transformation.

Acceptable Answer: This open question allows candidates to address their familiarity with frameworks like LeSS or Nexus or share their opinion on whether SAFe is useful. Moreover, at a philosophical level, it opens the discussion of whether “Agile” is scalable at all, given that most scaling frameworks apply more processes to the issue. Also, the objecting opinion points to the need to descale the organization by empowering those closest to the problems to decide within the given constraints and governance rules. The candidate should emphasize the importance of maintaining a shared vision and goals, creating communities of practice to share knowledge and best practices, and addressing cultural barriers to change. They should also reflect on the importance of executive sponsorship, the strategic engagement of key stakeholders to champion and support the scaling effort, and the necessity of a failure culture.

How To Use The Scrum Master Interview Questions

Scrum has always been a hands-on business, and to be successful in this, a candidate needs to have a passion for getting her hands dirty. While the basic rules are trivial, getting a group of individuals with different backgrounds, levels of engagement, and personal agendas to form and perform as a team is a complex task. (As always, you might say, when humans and communication are involved.) Moreover, the larger the organization is, the more management levels there are, the more likely failure is lurking around the corner. 

The questions are not necessarily suited to turning an inexperienced interviewer into an agile expert. But in the hands of a seasoned practitioner, they can help determine what candidate has worked in the agile trenches in the past.