Professional Scrum Product Owner I (PSPO I) Exam Questions

Which statement best describes the Product Owner’s overall accountability according to the Scrum Guide?

⬜ Maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team
⬜ Facilitating the Daily Scrum and removing impediments for the Developers
⬜ Writing and personally testing every Product Backlog item
⬜ Approving the Definition of Done used by a different Scrum Team

According to the Scrum Guide, the Product Owner is:

⬜ One person, not a committee
⬜ A role that rotates among the Developers each Sprint
⬜ The person who assigns individual tasks to Developers each day
⬜ Optional on Scrum Teams with fewer than five members

A Product Owner wants the Product Backlog to reflect the interests of many different stakeholders. What does the Scrum Guide say about this?

⬜ The Product Owner may represent the needs of many stakeholders in the Product Backlog, but the accountability itself remains with one person
⬜ Each major stakeholder group should have its own Product Owner for the same product
⬜ Each stakeholder group should maintain a separate backlog and merge them at Sprint Review
⬜ The Scrum Master should mediate stakeholder requests and make the final ordering decision

A stakeholder asks a Developer to personally move a favorite feature to the top of the Product Backlog. What does the Scrum Guide indicate should happen?

⬜ The Developer should direct the stakeholder to the Product Owner, since ordering the Product Backlog is the Product Owner’s accountability
⬜ The Developer may reorder the Product Backlog directly, since Developers do the work
⬜ The Scrum Master should reorder the Product Backlog on the stakeholder’s behalf
⬜ The whole Scrum Team should vote on the new order at the next Daily Scrum

If a Product Owner delegates the work of managing the Product Backlog to someone else, who remains accountable for the outcome?

⬜ The Product Owner
⬜ Whoever performed the delegated work
⬜ The Scrum Master
⬜ Accountability transfers permanently to the delegate

Which TWO of the following are explicitly listed in the Scrum Guide as part of the Product Owner’s Product Backlog management accountabilities?

⬜ Developing and explicitly communicating the Product Goal
⬜ Ensuring that the Product Backlog is transparent, visible, and understood
⬜ Facilitating the Sprint Retrospective for the Developers
⬜ Personally estimating story points for every Product Backlog item

A single product is being built by three separate Scrum Teams. According to Scrum.org, how many Product Backlogs should exist for that product?

⬜ One Product Backlog, used to describe the upcoming work on the product
⬜ One Product Backlog per team, synchronized weekly
⬜ One Product Backlog per Developer specialty (e.g., frontend, backend, QA)
⬜ As many Product Backlogs as there are stakeholder groups

Which TWO of the following are ways the Scrum Guide says the Scrum Master serves the Product Owner?

⬜ Helping find techniques for effective Product Goal definition and Product Backlog management
⬜ Facilitating stakeholder collaboration as requested or needed
⬜ Deciding the final order of the Product Backlog whenever the Product Owner is unavailable
⬜ Writing and publishing Product Backlog items on the Product Owner’s behalf without review

Per Scrum.org’s description of Product Backlog Management, who ultimately decides what work the Scrum Team pursues now, later, or not at all?

⬜ The Product Owner
⬜ A majority vote of the Developers
⬜ The most senior stakeholder
⬜ The Scrum Master, based on the roadmap

How many accountabilities does the Scrum Guide define within a Scrum Team, and what are they?

⬜ Three: the Developers, the Product Owner, and the Scrum Master
⬜ Four: the Developers, the Product Owner, the Scrum Master, and a Project Manager
⬜ Two: the Development Team and the Product Owner
⬜ It is left undefined and varies by organization

According to the Scrum Guide, what is the Product Backlog?

⬜ An emergent, ordered list of what is needed to improve the product, and the single source of work for the Scrum Team
⬜ A fixed list of requirements signed off before work begins
⬜ A list of technical tasks maintained solely by the Developers, without Product Owner involvement
⬜ A backlog of defects only, kept separate from feature requests

What is Product Backlog refinement, per the Scrum Guide?

⬜ The act of breaking down and further defining Product Backlog items into smaller, more precise items, done on an ongoing basis
⬜ A formal ceremony that the Guide requires to consume exactly 10% of every Sprint
⬜ A one-time event that happens only at the very start of a product’s life
⬜ A task performed exclusively by the Scrum Master, without the Developers

Who is responsible for sizing (estimating) Product Backlog items, according to the Scrum Guide?

⬜ The Developers who will be doing the work
⬜ The Product Owner, based on business value
⬜ The Scrum Master, using historical velocity
⬜ A separate estimation committee

What does the Product Goal represent?

⬜ A future state of the product that serves as a long-term target for the Scrum Team to plan against
⬜ The exact list of Product Backlog items to be finished in the current Sprint
⬜ A short-term target owned jointly by the Scrum Master and Developers
⬜ A marketing slogan approved by the organization’s executives

Each Scrum artifact has an associated commitment that provides transparency and focus. What is the commitment for the Product Backlog?

⬜ The Product Goal
⬜ The Sprint Goal
⬜ The Definition of Done
⬜ The Sprint Backlog

How many Product Goals can a Product Backlog have at any given time, per Scrum.org’s explanation?

⬜ Only one; the Scrum Team must fulfill or abandon it before taking on the next
⬜ As many as there are active stakeholders
⬜ One per Sprint
⬜ Unlimited, as long as each is listed in the backlog

When are Product Backlog items generally considered ready for selection in a Sprint Planning event?

⬜ When they can be Done by the Scrum Team within one Sprint, usually after refinement activities
⬜ As soon as the Product Owner writes a one-line title for them
⬜ Only after a formal sign-off from every stakeholder
⬜ When the Scrum Master assigns them a numeric priority

According to the Scrum Guide, what does the Sprint Backlog consist of?

⬜ The Sprint Goal (why), the Product Backlog items selected for the Sprint (what), and an actionable plan for delivering the Increment (how)
⬜ Only the Product Backlog items selected for the Sprint
⬜ A fixed plan that cannot be updated once the Sprint begins
⬜ The Product Goal plus the Definition of Done

The Scrum Guide describes the Sprint Backlog as “a plan by and for” whom?

⬜ The Developers
⬜ The Product Owner
⬜ The Scrum Master
⬜ The organization’s leadership

During a Sprint, the Developers learn that some planned work is unnecessary to reach the Sprint Goal. What does the Scrum Guide say happens to the Sprint Backlog?

⬜ Scope may be clarified and renegotiated with the Product Owner as more is learned
⬜ The Sprint Goal itself must be changed to match the new scope
⬜ Only the Scrum Master is allowed to modify the Sprint Backlog
⬜ No change can occur until the next Sprint Planning event

What does the Scrum Guide say about Product Backlog item attributes such as description, order, and size?

⬜ They often vary with the domain of work
⬜ They are standardized identically for every industry by the Guide
⬜ They must always include a fixed story-point estimate
⬜ They are set once when an item is created and never revisited

Beyond ordering the Product Backlog, what is the Product Owner accountable for ensuring about it?

⬜ That it is transparent, visible, and understood
⬜ That every item carries a fixed delivery deadline
⬜ That it never contains more than a set number of items
⬜ That every Developer signs off on each item before it is added

What does Scrum.org say is a core purpose of the Product Owner role?

⬜ To bridge the gap between strategy and agile product management in order to create valuable products using Scrum
⬜ To manage the organization’s HR processes for the Scrum Team
⬜ To act as a substitute Scrum Master when needed
⬜ To own the codebase and approve every pull request

The Scrum Guide is intentionally minimal about how to order the Product Backlog for value. Which statement is accurate?

⬜ The Scrum Guide does not mandate any specific prioritization technique such as MoSCoW or WSJF — it only requires that the Product Backlog be ordered
⬜ The Scrum Guide requires the MoSCoW method for ordering the Product Backlog
⬜ The Scrum Guide mandates Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) as the ordering technique
⬜ The Scrum Guide requires a numeric business-value score on every Product Backlog item

How does Scrum.org define Product Backlog Management?

⬜ The act of adjusting and ordering items on the Product Backlog so the Scrum Team can deliver the most valuable product possible
⬜ The act of writing detailed acceptance criteria for every user story
⬜ A quarterly roadmap review conducted by executives
⬜ Assigning story points to items using a fixed formula

Which three pillars uphold every implementation of empirical process control that the Product Owner relies on for product planning?

⬜ Transparency, Inspection, and Adaptation
⬜ Planning, Estimating, and Reporting
⬜ Prioritization, Negotiation, and Sign-off
⬜ Budgeting, Scheduling, and Staffing

Per the Scrum Guide, the Scrum Master helps the Product Owner with which empirical practice?

⬜ Helping establish empirical product planning for a complex environment
⬜ Personally forecasting exact release dates on the Product Owner’s behalf
⬜ Replacing the Product Owner during stakeholder negotiations
⬜ Approving the Product Backlog order before it is published

The Scrum Guide mentions burn-down charts, burn-up charts, and cumulative flow diagrams as forecasting practices. What does it say about them?

⬜ While proven useful, they do not replace the importance of empiricism
⬜ They are mandatory artifacts the Product Owner must maintain
⬜ They are the Guide’s officially required forecasting techniques
⬜ The Guide forbids using them during the Sprint Review

Per the Scrum Guide, which activities is the Scrum Team responsible for regarding the product?

⬜ All product-related activities, including stakeholder collaboration, verification, maintenance, operation, experimentation, and research and development
⬜ Only writing and testing code; stakeholder communication belongs to a separate sales department
⬜ Only Sprint-level development tasks; product strategy is entirely external to the Scrum Team
⬜ Only the activities explicitly listed in a signed statement of work

According to the Scrum Guide’s supplementary material, what is a “product”?

⬜ A vehicle to deliver value, with a clear boundary, known stakeholders, and well-defined users or customers; it could be a service, a physical product, or something more abstract
⬜ Any output of a single Sprint, regardless of stakeholder relevance
⬜ A term reserved strictly for physical, manufactured goods
⬜ A word used interchangeably with ‘project’ in the Scrum Guide

Which TWO Focus Areas does Scrum.org list under “Managing Products with Agility” for the PSPO I assessment?

⬜ Product Backlog Management
⬜ Stakeholders & Customers
⬜ Facilitating the Daily Scrum
⬜ Writing automated test scripts

A Product Owner wants a free way to check their baseline knowledge of Product Backlog management and value maximization before attempting PSPO I. What does Scrum.org offer?

⬜ The Product Owner Open assessment, a free, non-certifying self-check of 15 questions randomly drawn from a larger pool
⬜ A mandatory paid mock exam that must be passed first
⬜ A one-on-one interview with a Scrum.org trainer
⬜ Access to retired, real PSPO I exam questions

What is the first topic addressed during Sprint Planning, according to the Scrum Guide?

⬜ Why is this Sprint valuable?
⬜ How will the chosen work get done?
⬜ What can be Done this Sprint?
⬜ Who will attend the Sprint Review?

For Sprint Planning Topic One (“Why is this Sprint valuable?”), who proposes how the product could increase its value and utility in the current Sprint?

⬜ The Product Owner, drawing on the Product Backlog and Product Goal
⬜ The Scrum Master, acting alone
⬜ An external business analyst outside the Scrum Team
⬜ The Developers, without input on value from the Product Owner

During Sprint Planning, once Product Backlog items are selected, who decomposes them into a plan for delivering the Increment?

⬜ The Developers, through Topic Three (“How will the chosen work get done?”)
⬜ The Product Owner, who assigns detailed tasks
⬜ The Scrum Master, using a Gantt chart
⬜ A separate project management office

When must the Sprint Goal be finalized, per the Scrum Guide?

⬜ Prior to the end of Sprint Planning
⬜ At the Daily Scrum on the second day of the Sprint
⬜ During the Sprint Review
⬜ It never needs to be finalized

What is the purpose of the Sprint Review, per the Scrum Guide?

⬜ To inspect the outcome of the Sprint and determine future adaptations
⬜ To assign story points for the next Sprint
⬜ To formally evaluate each Developer’s individual performance
⬜ To rewrite the Definition of Done

How does the Scrum Guide characterize the Sprint Review?

⬜ A working session, and the Scrum Team should avoid limiting it to a presentation
⬜ A one-way status presentation from the Product Owner to executives
⬜ An optional event that can be skipped whenever there is no new Increment
⬜ A private, internal meeting that excludes stakeholders

During the Sprint Review, what do the Scrum Team and invited stakeholders inspect and discuss?

⬜ The Increment and progress made toward the Product Goal
⬜ Only the individual velocity of each Developer
⬜ The organization’s annual budget approval process
⬜ Personal performance reviews for the Scrum Master

How do findings from a Sprint Review typically affect the Product Owner’s subsequent work?

⬜ They influence Sprint Planning and may lead to adaptations of the Product Backlog
⬜ They are disregarded, since the Product Backlog is fixed once created
⬜ They can only be applied after the entire product ships
⬜ They require creating a brand-new Product Goal after every Sprint

Is the Daily Scrum an event where the Product Owner reports status updates to management?

⬜ No — its purpose is for the Developers to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog; it is not a status-reporting meeting to management
⬜ Yes, the Product Owner is required to report status to management daily as part of the Daily Scrum
⬜ Yes, but only the Scrum Master may attend
⬜ No, because the Daily Scrum was removed from the current Scrum Guide

Alongside Sprint Planning, the Daily Scrum, and the Sprint Review, which Scrum event does the Product Owner participate in to inspect how the last Sprint went regarding people, relationships, process, and tools?

⬜ Sprint Retrospective
⬜ Backlog Grooming Committee
⬜ Quarterly Business Review
⬜ Change Advisory Board

According to the Scrum Guide, who decides how Product Backlog items are turned into Increments of value?

⬜ The Developers, at their sole discretion — no one else tells them how to do this
⬜ The Product Owner, who assigns the technical approach
⬜ The Scrum Master, in consultation with architecture standards
⬜ The organization’s technical steering committee

What does “self-managing” mean for a Scrum Team, per the Scrum Guide?

⬜ They internally decide who does what, when, and how
⬜ The Product Owner decides who does what and when
⬜ An external Scrum Master assigns daily tasks
⬜ Self-management applies only to the Product Owner’s own work

How does the Scrum Guide describe the internal structure of a Scrum Team?

⬜ There are no sub-teams or hierarchies within a Scrum Team
⬜ The Product Owner sits above the Developers in a management hierarchy
⬜ The Scrum Master supervises the Developers as their manager
⬜ Sub-teams are formed for each Product Backlog item

The Scrum Guide describes the Scrum Team as a cohesive unit. Which best reflects this description?

⬜ It is a small team, cross-functional, with members having all the skills necessary to create value each Sprint, focused on one objective at a time
⬜ It is a large, multi-layered program structure with several levels of oversight
⬜ It must always include a dedicated business analyst and a project manager
⬜ Its structure is defined purely by the Product Owner’s position on the org chart

Which Scrum Value most directly reflects a Product Owner being honest and transparent with stakeholders about the true state of the Product Backlog and progress?

⬜ Openness
⬜ Focus, to the exclusion of the other values
⬜ A value not among the five listed in the Scrum Guide
⬜ Only Courage is relevant to the Product Owner

Which TWO statements about Product Owner delegation and self-management are accurate per the Scrum Guide?

⬜ The Product Owner may delegate Product Backlog work to others but remains accountable for the outcome
⬜ Delegating backlog work does not eliminate the Scrum Team’s self-managing nature — the Developers still decide how to do the work
⬜ Delegation transfers ultimate accountability away from the Product Owner entirely
⬜ Self-management means the Product Owner assigns daily tasks to whoever received delegated work

For Product Owners to succeed, what does the Scrum Guide say the organization must do?

⬜ Respect the Product Owner’s decisions, which are visible in the content and ordering of the Product Backlog
⬜ Override the Product Owner’s ordering decisions whenever a senior executive disagrees
⬜ Require the Scrum Master to co-sign every backlog change
⬜ Replace the Product Owner if Sprint targets are missed mid-Sprint

A Scrum Master notices the Product Owner struggling to communicate the Product Goal clearly to a new Developer. Per the Scrum Guide’s description of how the Scrum Master serves the Product Owner, what is an appropriate action?

⬜ Help find techniques for effective Product Goal definition and Product Backlog management, and help the Scrum Team understand the need for clear, concise Product Backlog items
⬜ Take over the Product Owner’s accountability for the Product Goal permanently
⬜ Tell the Developer to ignore the Product Goal and just follow the Sprint Backlog
⬜ Escalate to the organization to have the Product Owner replaced

Which item is normally ordered according to business priority: the Product Backlog, the Daily Scrum, retrospective notes, or the source-code repository?

⬜ The Product Backlog
⬜ The Daily Scrum
⬜ Retrospective notes
⬜ The source-code repository

Who is accountable for ordering the Product Backlog?

⬜ The Scrum Master
⬜ Stakeholders
⬜ The Product Owner
⬜ The Developers