You are the Scrum Master of a Scrum Team that is new to Scrum. The Product Owner comes to you halfway through the Sprint and says, "l do not feel like the De-velopers will be able to meet the forecast that they developed during Sprint Planning." What should you do in this situation? (choose the best answer)

The Scrum Master's role is to be a coach and a teacher of Scrum principles. The Product Owner's concern highlights a common misunderstanding for teams new to Scrum: confusing the Sprint Backlog (a forecast of work) with the Sprint Goal (the commitment). The Scrum Master's best action is to coach the Product Owner on this distinction. The Sprint Backlog is a flexible plan that can be adjusted by the Developers as they learn more during the Sprint. The primary objective is to achieve the Sprint Goal, and the Scrum Team collaborates to find the best way to do so, which may involve changing the initial plan. This coaching empowers the Product Owner and fosters a correct understanding of empiricism.

B. This positions the Scrum Master as a go-between, undermining direct collaboration and reinforcing the incorrect idea that meeting the forecast is the primary objective.
C. Adding people mid-Sprint is a known anti-pattern (Brooks's Law) that typically disrupts the team and decreases productivity due to increased coordination overhead.
D. This applies pressure on the Developers to meet a plan rather than achieve a goal, which can lead to poor quality and undermines their self-management.

1. Schwaber, K., & Sutherland, J. (2020). The Scrum Guide. Scrum.org.

Page 6, "Scrum Master": The guide states the Scrum Master serves the team by "Coaching the team members in self-management and cross-functionality" and serves the Product Owner by "Helping find techniques for effective Product Goal definition and Product Backlog management." This supports the coaching stance in option A.

Page 9, "Sprint Goal": "The Sprint Goal is the single objective for the Sprint... If the work turns out to be different than they expected, they collaborate with the Product Owner to negotiate the scope of the Sprint Backlog within the Sprint without affecting the Sprint Goal." This clarifies that the forecast (scope) can change, but the goal is the commitment.

Page 10, "Sprint Backlog": The Sprint Backlog is described as "a plan by and for the Developers" and a "real-time picture of the work that the Developers plan to accomplish... to achieve the Sprint Goal." This emphasizes its nature as a flexible plan, not a rigid contract.

2. Hohl, P., et al. (2018). The Scrum Master as a team coach. In 2018 IEEE/ACM 11th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering (CHASE) (pp. 20-23). IEEE.

Section III.A, "Coach and Facilitator": This paper emphasizes that a Scrum Master's main responsibility is to help the team perform at its highest level by acting as a coach. Coaching the Product Owner on the purpose of the Sprint Goal versus the forecast is a direct application of this core responsibility.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3195836.3195840

3. Paasivaara, M., Durasiewicz, S., & Lassenius, C. (2008). Using Scrum in a globally distributed project: A case study. In Software Process: Improvement and Practice, 13(6), 525-538.

Section 4.2, "Lessons Learned": This study notes the importance of coaching and that "the forecast for the sprint is not a commitment." It highlights that the real commitment is to the Sprint Goal and to working sustainably. The Scrum Master's role is to ensure this principle is understood and followed.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/spip.398