CSPO Managing the Product Backlog 2 â Questions and Answers
Question 1: Who is ultimately accountable for the content and ordering of the Product Backlog?
- The Scrum Master
- The Development Team
- The Product Owner (Correct answer)
- The stakeholders
Correct answer: The Product Owner
The Product Owner is solely accountable for managing and ordering the Product Backlog to maximize value.
Question 2: A Product Owner notices that many backlog items have not been updated in months. What is the BEST course of action?
- Leave them as-is since they may become relevant later
- Delete all items that are more than 90 days old
- Conduct a backlog refinement session to review, update, or remove stale items (Correct answer)
- Ask the Scrum Master to archive old items
Correct answer: Conduct a backlog refinement session to review, update, or remove stale items
Backlog refinement keeps items current, relevant, and ready, which is a continuous responsibility of the Product Owner.
Question 3: Which attribute is NOT typically included in a Product Backlog item?
- Description
- Estimate
- Order
- Name of the developer who will implement it (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Name of the developer who will implement it
Product Backlog items include description, order, estimate, and value â assigning a specific developer is a team-level decision made during the Sprint.
Question 4: During backlog refinement, the Development Team indicates that a high-priority item is too large to complete in one Sprint. What should the Product Owner do?
- Move the item to the bottom of the backlog
- Split the item into smaller, more actionable stories (Correct answer)
- Remove the item from the backlog entirely
- Schedule a separate project for it
Correct answer: Split the item into smaller, more actionable stories
Large backlog items (epics) should be split into smaller items so they can be planned and completed within a Sprint.
Question 5: What does it mean for a Product Backlog item to be 'Ready'?
- It has been approved by the project manager
- It is small, well-understood, and estimated so the team can pull it into a Sprint (Correct answer)
- It has a detailed technical specification attached
- It has been prioritized by all stakeholders
Correct answer: It is small, well-understood, and estimated so the team can pull it into a Sprint
A 'Ready' item is sufficiently small and clear that the Development Team can confidently select and complete it in a Sprint.
Question 6: A stakeholder insists that their requested feature be added to the top of the Product Backlog immediately. How should the Product Owner respond?
- Add it to the top as requested to maintain stakeholder satisfaction
- Refuse the request because stakeholders cannot influence the backlog
- Evaluate the feature's value and order it appropriately relative to other items (Correct answer)
- Escalate the decision to the Scrum Master
Correct answer: Evaluate the feature's value and order it appropriately relative to other items
The Product Owner listens to stakeholders but retains authority to order the backlog based on value, risk, and dependencies.
Question 7: How frequently should Product Backlog refinement occur in Scrum?
- Once at the beginning of the project
- Only before Sprint Planning
- Continuously as an ongoing activity throughout the project (Correct answer)
- Once per release cycle
Correct answer: Continuously as an ongoing activity throughout the project
Refinement is a continuous activity â the Scrum Guide recommends teams spend no more than 10% of the Sprint's capacity on it on an ongoing basis.
CSPO Managing the Product Backlog 2
Who is ultimately accountable for the content and ordering of the Product Backlog?