SMPC Tests 2020 Scrum Guide Precision — Not Agile Folklore or 2017 Vocabulary
SMPC is CertiProf's entry-level Scrum Master credential. Answers come straight from the 2020 Scrum Guide and Agile Manifesto, so swap habits like the Development Team and three Daily Scrum questions for current wording.
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CertiProf lists nine learning-objective headings but no weights. The 40 questions mix straight Guide recall (timeboxes, commitments, who cancels a Sprint) with short scenarios asking for the Scrum Master's best first move. Scaling frameworks such as SAFe and LeSS sit outside this syllabus.
The Scrum Master chairs it and keeps the manager's questions short
The Daily Scrum belongs to the Developers and inspects progress toward the Sprint Goal. The Scrum Master teaches them to keep it within 15 minutes and coaches the manager on why it is not a reporting meeting.
Extend the Sprint so the committed items can be completed
Sprint length is fixed and the next Sprint starts immediately. Work failing the Definition of Done cannot be presented at the Review or released; it returns to the Product Backlog for the Product Owner to reorder.
Blame inspection and add more frequent status checks
The issue is visible and inspected, so the failing pillar is adaptation. The team should commit to at least one improvement, possibly adding it to the next Sprint Backlog, and act on it as soon as possible.
Let the most experienced Developer set estimates to save time
Early reveal causes anchoring, which Planning Poker exists to prevent. The Scrum Master suggests simultaneous reveals, discussion of the outliers and a re-vote, so sizing reflects every Developer's view.
The 2020 Guide has one Scrum Team with Developers as an accountability, says self-managing rather than self-organizing, and drops the three Daily Scrum questions. Options built on the Development Team or mandatory yesterday/today/blockers are distractors.
Each artifact has exactly one commitment: Product Backlog to Product Goal, Sprint Backlog to Sprint Goal, Increment to Definition of Done. Matching items rotate these on purpose, and the Product Goal is the one older material omits.
For a one-month Sprint: Planning up to 8 hours, Review up to 4, Retrospective up to 3, Daily Scrum 15 minutes at any Sprint length. The Retrospective concludes the Sprint, so it comes after the Review, never before.
The values are commitment, focus, openness, respect and courage. Transparency, inspection and adaptation are the empirical pillars. A Product Owner refusing an executive's low-value mid-Sprint request shows courage, not openness, even though she explains her reasons.
Scrum is purposefully incomplete: stories, points, Planning Poker, burndown charts and Kanban boards are optional practices layered on top. Removing an event, accountability or artifact, however, means the result is no longer Scrum.
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SMPC leaves room for only eight misses. Check whether your 2020 Scrum Guide recall holds up.